BODY IMAGE AND MASTECTOMY

A mastectomy is the surgical excision or amputation of the breast (Stefanek, 1990, p. 28). Breast cancer is almost always the underlying cause for the performance of a mastectomy (Stefanek, 1990, p. 28). The removal of a breast usually dramatically alters to clothed appearance of a woman's body. A mastectomy always results in a substantive change in the unclothed appearance of a woman's body. Thus, whatever image a woman has of her body, that image is altered by the performance of a mastectomy. The performance of a lumpectomy (wherein only a portion of the breast tissue is removed) may not result in as dramatic a change in appearance (Kreitler, et al., 1993, pp. 5262).

Depending upon the importance an individual woman attaches to her image of her own body, a variety of coping strategies may be employed. The fully clothed appearance of a woman who has experienced a mastectomy may be disguised through the use of padded clo

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old. Thus, advancing age is one factor that places women at a greater level of risk for the development of breast cancer. A 40 year old woman has a onein217 chance of developing breast cancer. The odds drop to onein93 for a 45 year old woman, to onein50 for a 50 year old woman, and onein33 for a 55 year old woman. Heredity is also a factor in the development of breast cancer, although only 2.5 percent of breast cancer cases have been positively linked to heredity, and experts think that the total proportion to breast cancer cases related to heredity is less than 10 percent. Breast cancer has also been found to be more prevalent in countries where highfat diets are common. Japanese women who consume a lowfat diet, as an example, have a lower breast cancer rate than do American women. Scientific research, however, has failed to establish a statistically significant link between diet and breast cancer. One link that has been established is that women living in economically developed countries are more likely to develop breast cancer than are women living in countries that are underdeveloped economically. When all is said and done, the fact that remains is that 75 percent of the American women who develop breast ca
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Cancer Society, Application Price, , Burbie Polinsky, Concept Development, Knobf Stahl, body image, breast cancer, University Georgia, Journal Nursing, Canadian Nurse, Mofeeley Kirkwood, body image disturbance, image disturbance, experienced mastectomy, management body, management body image, woman experienced mastectomy, context management, woman experienced, context management body, percent breast cancer, cancer society, american cancer, 1991 pp,
Approximate Word count = 1766
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)