The day before she was due to give birth to her first child in 2011, television presenter Sally Obermeder was diagnosed with breast cancer.
When her daughter Annabelle Grace was born, Sally began a gruelling eight months of chemotherapy. In June 2012, she underwent her first mastectomy – because she was so weak from her treatment, doctors would only let her remove her right breast, the one with the tumour.
She then endured six months of radiation therapy, before her left breast was also removed.
“For six months I had one breast,” she told Mia Freedman on the No Filter podcast. “It was awful.”
LISTEN: Sally Obermeder tells Mia Freedman about her breast reconstruction on No Filter. Post continues after audio.
Finally, Sally was able to undergo a breast reconstruction. But things weren’t any easier: after nearly 11 and a half months of treatment – all while raising a newborn daughter – Sally was told she was unable to have implants.
“[The doctors] were worried that if the cancer came back and I needed to go back into treatment, they didn’t want my body to reject the implants and for there to be ay reason for me to need more surgery,” she said.
“Chemo and surgery don’t go well together.”
Top Comments
It is great to see you do a story on breast reconstruction but why can't you be more truthful. As someone who had a two mastectomies and a bilateral DIEP reconstruction it an very annoying when the media misrepresents the facts. A TRAM flap or DIEP flap takes about 7-8 hours and involves reconnections of blood vessels and capillaries - not nerves. And the reason why many women don't go through this surgery - so many reasons - it is a personal choice and you have the have access to the facts. One reason is the cost - even with private health insurance, out-of-pocket expenses can be in the thousands. If having the surgery public there is a long waiting list. I waited 5 years after my second mastectomy to have my reconstruction. Great topic - please dig deeper and get some facts right.
Maybe a plastic surgeon should be interviewed about a Tram flap operation and give the real details about the operation.