WSVN 7 News Breast Reconstruction

Video Transcription

News anchor: Well, there's new hope for women who have had a mastectomy: a natural way to return to normal with no cutting and no implants. 7's Diana Diaz shows us the breast cancer breakthrough. Announcer: Now, here's 7 HealthCast. Diana Diaz: For Shannon Guest, there was only one thing worse than hearing she had breast cancer.

Shannon Guest: When you hear someone tell you you need a mastectomy, I mean, I almost fainted on the spot. It was like, you know, it's just such a mutilation to your body.

Diana Diaz: After Shannon had her right breast removed, she felt like she lost a piece of herself and her self-esteem.

Shannon Guest: You're looking at yourself every day in the mirror, and I was really indented. And you could see, if I didn't wear something very high-neck you could see the concave shape of my body.

Diana Diaz: Eventually, Shannon decided on breast reconstruction. But many of the options out there, like breast implants, weren't the right choice for her.

Shannon Guest: I was worried about having a foreign object in my body.

Diana Diaz: After a lot of research, she found Dr. Roger Khouri at the Miami Breast Center. He's the only doctor in the U.S. performing a nonsurgical procedure where he rebuilds an entire breast using your own fat.

Dr. Roger Khouri: There's no cutting at all. There is no incision at all. This is simply with syringe and needles.

Diana Diaz: Dr. Khouri has invented a device called the BRAVA. Women wear these breast cups like a bra over their surgery scar for several weeks. The breast cups use mild suction to gently pull and stretch the skin forward, creating a breast mound.

Dr. Roger Khouri: This, over time, gently stretches the scar, stretches the defect. That swelling creates the space. It primes the breast for us to be able to put those fat cells.

Diana Diaz: Once the BRAVA has created a breast mound, doctors then liposuction excess fat from the body and inject those fat cells into the cavity, causing the breast tissue to expand and grow.

Dr. Roger Khouri: We are growing a breast back. And this is a process. It takes a few months.

Diana Diaz: Unlike other procedures, since the tissues and the nerve endings grow too, the breasts retain normal sensitivity and feeling.

Dr. Roger Khouri: The big advantage of this procedure is that this is her own tissue that grew back there. It has sensation. It feels like her own.

Diana Diaz: It is such a breakthrough it has gotten the attention of surgeons like Dr. Thomas Biggs, who's been around since the creation of the first breast implant.

Dr. Thomas Biggs: The use of fat grafting is a fantastic breakthrough. It's a great, great step forward.

Diana Diaz: For Shannon, the procedure was the answer to feeling whole again.

Shannon Guest: The amazing thing is that you do have full feeling in that breast again. It makes me feel really, finally as close to normal as I'm gonna feel.

Diana Diaz: The fat grafting can be used for a lumpectomy and a double mastectomy as well, and it is covered by insurance. If you'd like more information, log on to our Web site at WSVN.com. In the Plex, I'm Diana Diaz