Women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer are invited to attend a Breast Reconstruction Awareness evening on March 19 at the Orange Ex-Services’ Club.
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Local McGrath Breast Care nurse Sue Kuter is hosting the event in partnership with national breast reconstruction charity Reclaim Your Curves.
Mrs Kuter said approximately 200 women across the Orange region receive treatment for breast cancer each year.
She said for many the opportunity to pursue breast reconstruction locally is not easy.
“Most women need to travel to a major city to have reconstructive surgery, and finding information on all the options available can be difficult,” she said.
Mrs Kuter said the information evening would give the women an opportunity to hear about the types of surgery from the surgeons who do the operations.
“Being informed allows women to feel more confident in making the choices that are important for their own recovery, well-being and body image,” she said.
Cathy Clark had a double mastectomy in 2014.
She said that while initially she’d found being flat quite liberating, she’d opted for the surgery after learning more about it.
“Listening to the surgeons and understanding what could be done made me realise that reconstruction wasn’t as scary as I had thought,” said Ms Clark.
“I’ve actually just completed my reconstruction in the past couple of weeks and am very happy that I changed my mind.”
Ms Clark will be one of three local women sharing their reconstruction stories at the event on March 19.
They will be joined by specialist surgeons Dr Rohit Kumar and Dr Jared Chang, who will discuss the various surgical choices available and some of the newer techniques and technologies making reconstruction more accessible for regional women.
“I hope women walk away from the event with the reassurance that there are options out there and they have all the information available for what can feel like a pretty scary decision,” said Ms Clark.
The event is free to survivors and supporters but registration is required: www.reclaimyourcurves.org.au