Psychological support for breast cancer women and mastectomy Essay

Psychological support for breast cancer women and mastectomy - Essay Example Addie Gilbert, 51, saw the final straw while trying on her favorite red dress whose front was adorned with stylish criss-cross straps, thinking she might never have to wear it again. Following her mastectomy, the heavy prosthesis underneath was clearly visible. She said, â€Å"I was so depressed that I sat on the floor of my bedroom and cut the dress up into little pieces with scissors† (Boughton, 2000). After her mastectomy, she was not only worried about her inability to wear her favorite clothes in the future, but was also troubled by the trauma brought about by the diagnosis of breast cancer every time she saw her reflection and the scar over her chest in the mirror. Gilbert thus decided to have her breast reconstructed. Her breast was molded by taking skin and tissue from her abdomen. Addition of an areola and nipple three months later with an office procedure made her whole again. Different women respond to the surgery of breast cancer in different ways depending upon th eir psychology, self-perception, age, and whether or not the surgery is accompanied by such adjuvant therapeutic procedures as chemotherapy and radiation. Mastectomy can be hard to come to terms with for women like Gilbert, though it is an acceptable alternative for many other patient of breast cancer. Women undergoing surgery for breast cancer commonly experience major regrets because of severe emotional trauma, complications of surgery, lack of postoperative psychological support, complications of reconstruction, phantom pain, and dissatisfaction with the procedure’s cosmetic outcome. Frost et al. (2000) performed a detailed research to investigate the overall social and psychological well-being and long-term satisfaction in women that have undergone prophylactic mastectomy. The researchers found a 74 per cent reduction in the emotional concern regarding the