Luncheon honors breast cancer survivors

Photo By Chuck Cannon | Dr. Hugo St-Hilaire and Dr. Stephen J. Delatte, both plastic and reconstructive surgeons, take questions from a breast cancer survivor at the fifth annual Breast Cancer Luncheon sponsored by Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital and the Vernon Parish Chamber of Commerce.  

FORT POLK, LOUISIANA, UNITED STATES

11.02.2018

Story by Chuck Cannon 

Fort Johnson Public Affairs Office

FORT POLK, La. — Seventeen breast cancer survivors were honored for winning their battle against this disease at the Fifth Annual Breast Cancer Luncheon held at Fort Polk’s Family Readiness Center.
The event was hosted by Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital and the Vernon Parish Chamber of Commerce.
Col. Marla J. Ferguson, BJACH commander, spoke to survivors, supporters and friends about raising awareness through events such as this.
“Through awareness, early detection and treatment, we can beat cancer,” she said. She asked all the survivors to stand while the crowd applauded them for their courage and determination.
“This is an amazing group of women who are with us today,” Ferguson said. “Each has their own story and are a living testament of how to defeat the enemy that we know as breast cancer.”
Sheila Anthony, a BJACH health promotion nurse at Preventive Medicine, and also a three-year, seven-month breast cancer survivor, introduced the guest speakers, Dr. Stephen J. Delatte, board certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon from Lafayette and Dr. Hugo St-Hilaire, Louisiana State University, Chief of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, New Orleans.
“Doctor Delatte and Doctor St-Hilaire, with compassion and skill, repaired an extremely poor reconstruction that caused a lot of pain and inability to use my arm with major health issues caused by my implants,” Anthony said. “They restored my physical abilities and self-esteem and gave me my life back.”
Both surgeons talked about breast reconstruction, different techniques and the variety of options now available to patients.
Delatte and St-Hilaire both emphasized their goal was to keep patients informed while giving them a good quality of life after beating breast cancer.
“Most importantly is to give our patients a variety of options now available,” St-Hilaire said. He told the group that the LSU Medical School is a leader in the field of micro-reconstruction.
“Micro-reconstruction uses tissue from other parts of the body and allows us to transplant it and reattach blood flow,” he said. “We use fat from the thigh or abdomen and add it to fill out implants for a more natural look and feel.”
“There is life after breast cancer and breast cancer reconstruction can restore a sense of wholeness,” said Delatte. “Every technique we use works toward that goal. My hope is that a year later, our patients can get up every day, get dressed and go on with their lives doing all the activities they want to do whether or not they had a mastectomy. If we can make this happen for each of our patients, then we have accomplished our goal.”

• Date Taken: 11.02.2018
• Date Posted: 11.02.2018 10:42
• Story ID: 298625
• Location: FORT POLK, LOUISIANA, US