In March 2024, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and ultimately elected to undergo a bilateral…read morenipple-sparing mastectomy with DIEP flap reconstruction. What followed was a two-and-a-half-year journey involving three surgeries, unexpected complications, and a team of people who came to mean much more to me than I could have anticipated.
From the beginning, I had every confidence in Dr. Neil Tanna's surgical abilities. At our first appointment, he explained the risks of the reconstruction I wanted and shared his experience performing nearly 800 procedures of this kind. A friend who had worked in his OR years earlier described him to me in one word, brilliant, so I felt I was in exceptionally capable hands.
My recovery was more complicated than I had hoped. I experienced necrosis and ultimately lost the nipple on the breast that had been healthy before my diagnosis. That loss was almost as painful as the cancer diagnosis itself, not simply because I had lost a nipple, but because it was on the breast that had been healthy. Through those difficult weeks, Dr. Tanna and his team reassured me that things would work out. His nurse practitioner, Emily Kalberer, was especially wonderful. She was extremely personable, gentle, and reassuring, with a way of making me feel that we were in this together.
Over time, my appreciation for Dr. Tanna evolved, too. Initially, I thought of him primarily as my surgeon. After my second surgery, as I began seeing him at almost every appointment, I came to appreciate him not just for his expertise but also as a person. Over time, my professional respect grew into genuine personal fondness.
At my last appointment, Dr. Tanna told me that I might see him again someday if a suspicious lump turns out to be scar tissue. So perhaps this isn't entirely goodbye. Still, after three surgeries and two and a half years, reaching the end of this chapter is bittersweet. Dr. Tanna and Emily have been the two constants throughout my journey, and saying goodbye felt less like leaving a surgeon and his nurse practitioner and more like saying goodbye to two people I have come to think of as friends.
On a personal note, I first met Dr. Tanna and Emily, on April 5, 2024. It would take me two years to realize the significance of that date -- the 27th anniversary of my first date with my husband. It was also a very eventful morning. As my husband and I sat down to meet first with Emily, we felt the building shake. A 4.8-magnitude earthquake had struck nearby New Jersey. Once the commotion subsided and we settled back into our conversation, Emily laughed and said, "Now we are bonded for life."
I began this process wanting to get it over with, move on, and never think about it again. While I have moved forward, I know I will never entirely forget. I leave this experience deeply grateful for Dr. Tanna's surgical skill, Emily's compassion, and the unexpected human connections that made a difficult chapter of my life more bearable.
I recommend Dr. Tanna and his team without hesitation. They provided not only exceptional care, but something equally meaningful, the feeling that I was never navigating this journey alone.
