BANGOR, Maine — The first time Gwen Cushing stood bare chested in front of a mirror after reconstructive breast surgery, she cried.
“Before that, every day I got up and saw I had one breast and the other side had just one big scar,” Cushing, 53, of Hampden said Saturday. “I think, for me, it was not necessarily the physical, although I do love it. It was my emotional well being. [After surgery] that wasn’t the first thing I thought of when I got up in the morning.”
Cushing, who had reconstructive surgery two years ago, and other women who have had similar surgeries participated Saturday night in Bangor’s first Pink Runway Project, designed to celebrate and promote reconstructive surgery for women who have had mastectomies due to breast cancer.
Brooke Ismail, 48, of Glenburn underwent a double mastectomy one year and two months ago. She decided before having that surgery to have reconstructive surgery. Ismail underwent a seven-hour surgery that included having chest expander in her pectoral muscles to prepare her for reconstruction.
“I think that having that done helped me truly heal faster because I woke up and I had something,” she said. “It’s been a long process. I’ve had five surgeries, but now, I feel pretty much whole again.”
The project was the brainchild of Dr. Heidi Harrington, a plastic surgeon with Bangor Plastic & Hand Surgery in Bangor. Dr. David Branch founded the practice in 2000.
Harrington said that 70 percent of women who are diagnosed with breast cancer are not fully informed of their options for reconstructive surgery. The event was designed to raise awareness, she said as the event at the Cross Insurance Center was about to begin.
“Many patients don’t realize that reconstructive breast surgery must be covered by insurance companies under Maine state law,” she said.
Harrington said that she also wanted to give women who have undergone the process a chance to celebrate.
“What better way to do that than to get dressed up and strut your stuff,” she said.
The evening included a fashion show, dinner dance and silent auction. Proceeds from the event dedicated to support for the Maine Breast Cancer Coalition Support Service Fund, which provides financial assistance for breast health or breast cancer to uninsured and underinsured Maine women, and the Breast Reconstruction Awareness organization, based in Toronto, Canada.