I'm seeing a growing number of women who've had to undergo a big lumpectomy of one breast and so have opted to have a surgical reduction on the other, healthy breast, so as to achieve symmetry.

This is because a large lumpectomy must remove not only the cancerous lump but also, just to be safe, a wide margin of the non-cancerous cells around it. So, some women decide to have twin surgeries that accomplish 2 objectives at once:

• They rid their body of the source of the cancer.
• They get a bilateral breast reduction that restores symmetry.

In some cases, the margins are so wide, and the cancer so small, that some women may not need to have any post-lumpectomy radiation, too. Wow, another plus!

And to get even more bang from the (insurance company's) buck, a study conducted several years ago showed that breast reductions in general reduced the risk of breast cancer in women who were at high risk, either from a previous personal or family history of cancer.

So, all around, this is a wonderful and increasingly popular option for some women. Good deal!