DIEP surgery helps breast cancer patient rally after double mastectomy
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Karen Denise Joyner works as a registered nurse, taking care of others who need her help.
"Nurses are not always the best at taking care of ourselves," Joyner said. "My physician sent me for just a normal mammogram."
When the results came back, Joyner was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma -- a form of breast cancer.
She consulted with her doctor and decided to have surgery.
"I had a double mastectomy on February 5, and my journey then following that was not as it should be," Joyner said. "It was not a straight line."
Her next step was reconstruction surgery, with the help of Dr. Anh Lee, a local plastic and reconstructive surgeon.
"It's important to have a plastic surgeon on the team to help the patient know that there is some kind of light at the end of the tunnel so that they can complete their journey and feel whole again," Lee explained.
Joyner then faced another challenge.
"I ended up with a dehiscence of one of my wounds," she said. "Everybody's body is different and my body didn't like what we were doing."
Dr. Lee and her staff helped Joyner find the proper treatment, and above all else, provided support when she needed it most.
"The day that I scheduled surgery, it just hit me. It just came in a wave because I honestly didn't believe I would ever have cancer," Joyner added. "It wasn't in my family. It wasn't anything that I thought that I needed to be concerned about."
She decided to try a less traditional reconstructive surgery, called Deep Inferior Epigastric Perforated (DEIP) surgery.
"It's taking the skin from your belly and using that tissue to reconstruct your breasts," Dr. Lee said.
Joyner believes each person has their own challenges and their own unique journey.
"They need to really look at what their health care team is telling them and then make their own decisions," she said. "Don't deny yourself the opportunity to live. That's how I feel."
