For my 40th birthday, I mustered the courage to do something that I'd wanted since my 20's. At the time that I seriously began considering reconstruction, I wasn't familiar with the term ""augmentation."" My research process began with reading internet articles and advanced to peer reviewed journals from the Johns Hopkins Library. As I educated myself, I questioned my gynecologist and nurse practitioner at the gynecologist's office. I was very timid and felt some degree of guilt for even considering reconstruction. I felt like I was abandoning the values that my family taught me. When asked about reconstruction, my practitioner responded in this way, ""Now I have seen a lot of breasts and a lot of augmentations...and DR. JEFFREY DITESHEIM does wonderful work..."" At a separate appointment the following year, I asked my gynecologist to name a reputable surgeon. She quickly responded that although she would not have plastic surgery, that she would only recommend Dr. Jeffrey Ditesheim because of the high quality of his work. After visiting with one other local surgeon, I scheduled an appointment with Dr. Ditesheim. Fast forward to today (2008). I must be one of Dr. Ditesheim's most satisfied patients. He is an extraordinary doctor with superb bedside manners. After the procedure, he and the nurses routinely checked on me at home. They were all very professional and a pleasure to work with. My implants are saline, beneath the breast bone. The incisions were done beneath the breasts. My scars disappeared rather quickly. My breasts have just enough sag to command attention. They are sooooooo awesome in a bikini - but because of the sag, they look super natural. There have been no problems with my annual mammograms. My husband did not support my reconstruction ideas. He said that he loved me the way that I was. So -- I paid for it myself. I did this for me - not for him. To conclude, I am more satisfied that I ever imagined and by the way, my husband is too. Angela
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