What You Want To Know

TV persona Jill Martin, finest often called a life-style contributor for the TODAY present, lately had surgical procedure to stop additional pores and skin injury following a double mastectomy, reconstruction, chemotherapy, and radiation for breast most cancers. Martin was recognized in 2023 with stage IIB breast most cancers after testing constructive for a BRCA2 gene mutation. 

The corrective reconstruction surgical procedure is her eighth breast cancer-related surgical procedure since her analysis, however Martin was fast to allay fears in regards to the most cancers taking a flip for the more serious. “It’s preventive and proactive — an emergency only in the sense that if we don’t act now, it could turn into something much bigger,” she informed TODAY. “It’s vital to say this clearly: my most cancers shouldn’t be again.”

After her analysis, Martin had a mastectomy, reconstruction, and radiation. Sometimes these remedies can injury the pores and skin across the breast and go away it weak to an infection. “When you do that, the skin left behind can be very thin,” Elisa Port, MD, a breast surgeon at Mount Sinai Health System and one among Martin’s medical doctors, informed TODAY.  

The thinned-out pores and skin can wither and scab over, resulting in the cells within the tissue dying. This is named necrosis. Martin had a surgery to replace the weakest part of her breast skin with a skin graft — a piece of skin from a different part of her body. 

Martin has not shared her exact treatment plan or type of reconstruction so it’s hard to say what the exact causes were, but a mastectomy and immediate breast reconstruction can sometimes lead to skin damage. This happens when either the blood vessels that keep the breast tissue healthy get damaged or the thinned breast skin doesn’t receive enough blood flow. The risk of skin damage is higher when the surgeon removes a larger amount of tissue during the mastectomy. 

Necrosis can occur after each implant reconstruction and flap reconstruction, but can be less severe with flap reconstruction. That’s because flaps have their own independent blood supply that promotes healing.  Radiation following breast reconstruction may also thin the skin, delay healing, and increase the risk of complications.  People who smoke, are obese, or who have diabetes are at higher risk for developing skin necrosis.

Martin informed TODAY that she feels each worn out and grateful. “Sometimes it feels like it never really ends. And still — I’m grateful. Grateful for early action, for great doctors, and for the chance to keep moving forward.”