Reconstruction “life-changing” says cancer widow and survivor
Surgery helped retired teacher Helen get her confidence back after a mastectomy.
Last updated 19th Jan 2022
The C word took Helen McBride's husband's life away, but she wouldn't let it take hers.
The retired Lisburn teacher, now 71, lost soulmate Ian to lung cancer, and little over a year after he passed away, her life was once again about to dramatically change - she found a dreaded lump herself, and was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Helen refused breast reconstruction after her mastectomy (that's removal of the cancer and the breast tissue with it), telling doctors that she was simply not prepared to put her body through anything more than the cancer removal at that time.
However as time passed, grandmother, dog lover, keen golfer and explorer Helen realised that having one breast was holding her back and shattering her confidence.
The prosthetic, or fake boob, was heavy in two ways.
It physically was heavy to carry around, and looking down at the 'chicken fillet' tucked into her underwear weighed on her conscience too.
Having a body that didn't conform to gender stereotypes was costly in more ways than one too.
The special bras were expensive, and feeling different cost Helen her confidence.
The other C word, Covid-19, meant that many elective surgeries were axed as health services struggled to cope with the pressures of the pandemic.
This compelled Helen to think about going privately to have the surgery which was not life-saving, but would be life-changing.
She was the first patient in Northern Ireland to get a special type of reconstruction in a private setting.
Most reconstructions repurpose part of the lat muscle (at the side of your back), but the DIEP procedure at Kingsbridge meant the team of surgeons used the tissue, blood vessels and fat from Helen's lower abdomen to rebuild the breast instead.
Kingsbridge plastic surgeon Chris Hoo explains the benefit of doing it this way.
He said: "Using tissue and muscle from the back means your losing something. Then cost of the operation physically is the loss of the latissimus dorsi muscle and the gym-goers among you will know that that's a big muscle, doing a big job stabilising the shoulder.
"This way, the woman gets a modified tummy tuck and a new breast."
Indeed saving the back muscles benefited Helen, who went on to recover from her surgery and excel in her sport, winning Lady Captains Day at her beloved golf club.
Listen to our chat with Helen about living her 'breast' life after cancer here:
Fellow plastic surgeon Ciara McGoldrick says she acknowledges going privately is not an option for everyone, but that for some patients, an inability to access an NHS reconstruction quickly was taking a significant phycological toll.
"Having another option, although I know that option isn't open to everybody, the way I feel about it is that even for some of these patients if they decide to access their health insurance or go down another route to fund it, that is also relieving the pressure on our big waiting list in the city hospital as well.
"So it's not quite a win win but at least it feels like something is moving, and in these last number of years where we feel so stuck through forces outside our control, that feels like a positive thing," said the surgeon.