Own It: Don’t Let Cancer Take Control of Your Future

“My advice to someone who’s battling breast cancer would be to pick your head up, stick your chest out, and own it because you have control over your future, not cancer!”

All of her life, Tanya Mosely, a Houma native, has been surrounded by a huge, loving, and supportive family. Tanya knew she was going to need their support now more than ever when she was diagnosed with Stage 2 Triple-Negative Breast Cancer, or TNBC, at 38 years old.

“I didn’t process the news very well,” said Tanya. “I was horrified. I didn’t want my breasts back [after my mastectomy], but my surgeon informed me that he saw something in me, and he didn’t want me to be reminded of breast cancer [every time I looked in the mirror.]”

Tanya’s surgeon, Dr. David Rau, arranged for her and her family to have a consultation with Dr. Jeffrey Rau, a plastic surgeon at Terrebonne General Health System and Rau Plastic Surgery. Dr. Rau explained the process of the deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap reconstruction surgery as an option for Tanya after her cancer treatment.

The DIEP flap breast reconstruction surgery is an auto-transplant that uses tissue from the lower stomach to rebuild the breast after a mastectomy. As a microsurgical procedure, tiny blood vessels are carefully dissected from the stomach and sewn into the blood vessels of the chest, giving the patient a natural result.

“The DIEP flap surgery is the pinnacle of breast reconstruction, in my opinion, for breast cancer patients,” expressed Dr. Jeffrey Rau.

Dr. Rau, alongside his plastic surgeon colleague, Dr. Mark Stalder, and their highly skilled micro team performed Tanya’s seven-hour DIEP flap reconstruction surgery at Terrebonne General.

“My experience was amazing from the first moment I met Dr. Jeff,” said Tanya. “Dr. Jeff and his staff treat their patients like family [from the moment you walk through the door.] Dr. Jeff didn’t give up [on me]; he kept his word that he would make me whole again. If it weren’t for Dr. Jeff not giving up on me, I wouldn’t be walking around with my nice, perky, firm, beautiful breasts.”

Now, Tanya looks forward to a long, cancer-free life doing the hobbies she loves: decorating, cooking, and traveling. Feeling whole again, Tanya is determined to raise awareness and educate other breast cancer patients about the DIEP flap breast reconstruction surgery.

“If you’re debating about getting the reconstruction surgery, let me say this: I totally understand because I was the same way, but God blessed me with an amazing doctor who walked and talked to me on my entire journey, and I’m so blessed he didn’t give up on me because he did an amazing job. When I look in the mirror, I see breasts, not scars that are going to remind me of my breast cancer.”