Meet Dr. Melissa Mastroianni
March 08, 2022Information
Melissa Mastroianni, MD, cares for patients that need complex reconstruction after cancer surgery.
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- 00:00I'm Melissa mastriani.
- 00:01I'm an associate professor at
- 00:03Yale and I am in the division of
- 00:06Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
- 00:08I treat primarily breast cancer patients,
- 00:10but any patient that needs any complex
- 00:12reconstruction after a cancer surgery
- 00:14might come my way through medical school.
- 00:16I tried to keep an open mind,
- 00:19but in my undergraduate years I was
- 00:21very enamored with the idea of a surgery
- 00:24that could not only take away a disease,
- 00:26but also instantaneously.
- 00:28Restore form and function to somebody's life.
- 00:31I found myself the happiest in the operating
- 00:34rooms where I could make a physical and
- 00:36immediate improvement on people's lives.
- 00:38So that's what drew me to surgery.
- 00:40There is no one size fits all,
- 00:42so I work with my patients and find out
- 00:44about their lives to figure out how I
- 00:47can best reconstruct their breasts and
- 00:49get them back to living their lives.
- 00:51Oftentimes, patients are scared
- 00:52when they come to meet me.
- 00:54They've just gotten a cancer diagnosis.
- 00:56Their head is whirling.
- 00:57They probably have had a lot of other doctor
- 01:00appointments before they come to meet me.
- 01:02Medical oncologist surgical oncologist.
- 01:03I like to be a breath of fresh air.
- 01:06I show them pictures.
- 01:08I show them diagrams.
- 01:09I let them hold an implant in their hand
- 01:11and we talk about what's important to them.
- 01:14We talk about scar placement.
- 01:16We talk about return to work.
- 01:18We talked about their recovery.
- 01:20So a lot of women to prepare before
- 01:23your appointment with me.
- 01:24I'll tell them, just go on the Internet,
- 01:26do some research,
- 01:27talk to friends and family who
- 01:29may have had breast cancer.
- 01:31Find out you know maybe what you
- 01:32wouldn't have known otherwise.
- 01:34Find out how people recovered
- 01:35from their surgeries,
- 01:36or fears that they would
- 01:38like to have addressed.
- 01:39My current interests are innovation and
- 01:41technology and breast reconstruction.
- 01:43My hope is to make reconstruction
- 01:44an easier process for everybody
- 01:46that comes through my door.