Suzanne Somers Opens Up About Breast Cancer Treatment
Suzanne Somers has survived breast cancer, and with the help of an experimental stem cell procedure, has been able to reconstruct her deformed breasts.
Suzanne Somers, 65, said that the experimental breast-reconstruction procedure used fat cells from her stomach to restore her bust line, which was left deformed after cancer treatment, according to Daily Mail.
After being diagnosed with breast cancer 12 years ago, the actress underwent a lumpectomy and radiation to remove a cancerous tumor from her breast. She said the the treatment left her breasts lopsided, according to an RTT news report.
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"I thought they'd take a quarter's worth," Somers said. "But the whole bottom half of my breast was gone."
According to Somers, one side of her chest was a double D cup and the other side was a B.
"It left what breast I had flatter and flatter. I had a Double D on one side and on the other side I could hardly fill a B," Somers said.
Somers later heard of the Japanese surgeon, Dr. Kotora Yoshimura, who developed stem-cell breast reconstruction.
"I invited him over to Los Angeles to see if we could work together," Somers said.
Somers ended up having the surgery performed by L.A. plastic surgeon Dr. Joel Aronowitz, so it could be an American achievement for American women.
"I decided I'd really like it to be an American achievement by an American doctor so that American women can have access," Somers said.
The experimental procedure removed fat from her stomach via liposuction. Doctors then harvested stem cells from half of it and combined it with the remaining fat.
The mixture was then injected into her smaller breast to fill it up to a C cup. Somers then had the larger breast reduced.
Somers called the procedure a win-win, saying that the it cost between $14,500 to $19,500.
"This whole thing is a win-win," Somers said. "You lose fat and get a new breast."
