What happened, in summary

Mariann Lotenero was treated for triple-negative breast cancer with a double mastectomy at a California hospital. Afterward, she was deeply grateful to be alive and said she did not have cancer anymore, but survivorship brought a different problem. Her reconstructed breasts had very little sensation, the implants felt cold even in warm weather, and she often felt tightness and pulling in her chest. Later implant replacements did little to improve how she felt. During a Cleveland Clinic follow-up visit in 2016, Dr. Holly Pederson referred Mariann to plastic surgeon Dr. Risal Djohan, who specialized in autologous breast reconstruction. He offered a DIEP free flap procedure, using fat, skin and tissue from the lower abdomen to rebuild the breasts. His approach also involved reconnecting arteries and nerves from the abdominal tissue to the chest to restore blood flow and potentially allow sensation to return as nerve fibers regenerated. Mariann chose to try reconstruction one more time. The operation lasted 11.5 hours and was successful. Slowly, as she healed, sensation began returning. As of October 2019, about 2 years after the free flap surgery and about 6 years after cancer treatment, Mariann said she looked and felt normal again and sometimes forgot she had cancer.