Beth Ann Bernaldo-Lamboy, an administrative assistant in the bustling Radiology department at Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC), knows the hospital like the back of her hand. She navigates the hallways daily, scheduling appointments and assisting patients. But in 2019, her familiarity with the hospital took on a deeply personal meaning.
While getting dressed one morning, Beth Ann noticed a small, almost imperceptible dimple on her breast. It wasn’t a lump, not pain, just a subtle indentation. But something about it felt off. Working in a hospital, Beth Ann was acutely aware of the importance of early detection. She immediately scheduled an appointment with her doctor.
One week before Christmas, the diagnosis came back: invasive lobular carcinoma in her left breast, a type of breast cancer that often doesn’t present as a palpable lump and often goes undetected by yearly screenings like mammograms and ultrasounds. Beth Ann was shocked, but her experience within the medical field gave her a unique perspective. She knew she was in the right place.
“I felt a strange sense of comfort,” Beth Ann recalls. “I knew the doctors, the nurses, the team. They were my colleagues, my friends and I trusted them implicitly.”
Beth Ann opted for a double mastectomy, a decision she made with the support of her family and her medical team, including plastic surgeons Paul Therattil, M.D. and Stephanie Cohen, M.D., under the direction of Richard Winters, M.D., chair of The Department of Plastic Surgery at HUMC. She wanted to minimize the risk of recurrence, and losing both breasts was a daunting prospect so Beth Ann opted for reconstructive surgery. While her implant based reconstruction was initially a success, she was not prepared for some of the difficulties that complicated her procedure.
“I had capsular contracture in the left breast from the additional radiation treatment I had, which left me with a lot of discomfort,” explains Beth Ann.
Capsular contracture refers to the formation of scar tissue around the breast implant. When this scar tissue tightens, it squeezes the implant, causing it to feel hard, look distorted, and potentially become painful.
That’s when she learned about a sophisticated microsurgical procedure, called DIEP flap breast reconstruction, that uses the patient’s own abdominal tissue to create new breasts. Because the new breast is made from the patient’s own tissue, it feels softer and more natural than an implant. It also changes and ages with the body, maintaining a more natural look over time. A specialized microsurgical procedure, it requires a highly skilled and experienced surgical team, including a plastic surgeon specially trained in microsurgery. Not available at every hospital, the DIEP flap procedure is performed at Hackensack by several of our microsurgically trained plastic surgeons and was a game-changer for Beth Ann. “It felt like getting a second chance,” she says. “Not just at life, but at feeling whole again.”
Beth Ann’s journey, from diagnosis to recovery, unfolded within the very walls where she dedicates her career to helping others. Her story is a testament to the importance of self-advocacy, early detection, and the power of advanced medical techniques. It’s also a heartwarming reminder of the human connection that exists within the healthcare system.
The world-class Center for Microsurgery and Complex Reconstruction at HUMC is changing lives, by applying these complex techniques across a wide range of patients and surgeons with tertiary problems. For women like Beth Ann, it means access to cutting-edge reconstructive surgery, close to home, with a team of experts dedicated to providing the best possible care and restoring wholeness after breast cancer.
Beth Ann, the administrative assistant, became Beth Ann, the patient, cared for by the very people she worked alongside. And in her journey, she found not only healing but also a renewed appreciation for the incredible work happening within the walls of Hackensack University Medical Center.
Now 5 years out from her cancer diagnosis, Beth Ann wants other women to know that if you’re considering breast reconstruction, you don’t have to travel far for the future of healing is here.
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