OUR APPROACH
Montclair Breast Center is recognized as a preeminent center for breast care and surgical treatment. We are the only private, free-standing facility to have achieved this exemplary status. Many places call themselves “breast centers” these days; as a patient at Montclair Breast Center, you can rest assured that you are in the hands of a multidisciplinary team that has been recognized as one of the very best.
Lumpectomy (partial mastectomy, breast conserving surgery, wide local excision of breast cancer)
Removal of a known breast cancer with a rim of normal tissue around it.
Outpatient, same day surgery procedure.
Can be done with local anesthesia with or without sedation in our private ambulatory surgical center in our building.
Oncoplastic Reduction
Breast Conserving surgery done in combination with a reduction procedure.
Combined operation with a plastic surgeon.
The procedure allows larger tumors to be removed with lumpectomy, which would otherwise require mastectomy.
Appropriate candidates for oncoplastic reduction are determined by your breast surgeon and a plastic surgeon.
Traditional Mastectomy
Removal of the nipple, areola, i.e., the dark part around the nipple, the majority of the breast skin and the breast tissue leaving a smooth flat chest wall.
Usually done under general anesthesia.
In selected patients, it can be done as an outpatient procedure in our private ambulatory surgical center in our building or in the hospital.
Some patients require an overnight hospitalization.
Skin Sparing Mastectomy
Removal of the nipple, areola, a small amount of breast skin and the breast tissue.
Breast skin is saved for women who desire reconstruction by the plastic surgeon.
Usually done under general anesthesia.
In selected patients, it can be done as an outpatient procedure in our private ambulatory surgical center in our building or in the hospital.
Some patients require an overnight hospitalization depending on the type of reconstruction they choose.
Nipple Sparing Mastectomy
Removal of the breast tissue with conservation of the nipple areolar complex
For highly selected patients, such as women who carry a mutation in BRCA 1 or 2, women with small tumors more than 4 cm away from the nipple.
Usually done under general anesthesia
In selected patients, it can be done as an outpatient procedure in our private ambulatory surgical center in our building or in the hospital
Some patients require an overnight hospitalization depending on the type of reconstruction they choose.
If I require a surgical procedure, where will it be done?
If surgery is necessary for you, you will meet with our exceptional board-certified anesthesiologist prior to the surgery for evaluation and to answer all of your questions. On the day of surgery, you simply come to NFSC on the lower level of our building; there are no big-hospital hassles and headaches. Newer anesthetics minimize the nausea and grogginess that accompanied most surgery in the past. After being individually monitored and cared for by our nursing staff, most patients are able to go home 1-2 hours after the surgery is completed. A follow-up appointment is made for pathology review with you within 2 days.
Our Approach
At Montclair Breast Center, if the need ever arises for one of our patients to see a breast surgeon, we attend to that need immediately. For instance, if a patient has a finding on her mammogram that requires further evaluation, or if she is deemed to be at high risk for developing breast cancer, or if a patient has a relevant symptom (breast lump or thickening, skin changes, nipple discharge, etc) she will undergo the necessary imaging studies on the day of her appointment, and she will have her results explained to her personally by her breast imaging doctor (radiologist). The radiologist will then immediately consult in-office with one of our own certified breast surgeons, Dr. Nancy Elliott, Dr. Katie White or Dr. Marcie Hertz, and they will review your films together. You will then be seen privately by the surgeon, who will take a complete history, conduct a physical examination, and possibly perform a breast ultrasound examination. After a full evaluation, the surgeon will personally discuss with you, and a family member or friend if you wish, their recommendations. If further procedures are indicated, they will either be performed on the same day if possible, or scheduled within the next few days. After the results are received, a multidisciplinary plan will be put into place by our team, after complete discussion with you. Your preferences will be fully considered, your options will be explained to you, and your questions will be answered. Such hands-on, focused, coordinated care helps to ease our patients’ fears at an often stressful time. When you have a problem, it is important to feel that you are being truly taken care of by a team that will not let you down.
This service-oriented, compassionate approach is quite unique in today’s healthcare system, and it sets our practice apart from the vast majority of breast imaging facilities, which are not in side-by-side practice with breast surgeons and cannot accommodate patients in need as seamlessly as we can. This efficient rendering of service allows us to expedite the evaluation process, easing our patients’ very understandable anxiety, as well as facilitating excellent communication between your breast imaging doctor and your surgeon. We practice medicine in a way that most satisfies the needs of our patients. Our patients recognize the value of such individualized, compassionate, patient-centered care.
I have a question about my upcoming surgery
Please reach out to Nicole, Clinical & Surgical Coordinator at 862-276-2207 or nlampron@montclairbreastcenter.com.
