Breast cancer is the leading cause of death in women between the ages of 40 and 55, but women in their teens and 20s are also at risk.

Breast cancer patient Wendy Meade says that "We went down July 1st for my mammogram, and they detected a spot that they wanted to investigate further." Wendy Meade's diagnosis. breast cancer.And she eventually made the decision to have both of her breasts removed - altering her wedding plans just a bit. "We decided to head to Key West and elope the weekend before my surgery."

Wendy also says that during what should have been one of the happiest times of her life, Wendy was dealing with breast cancer, something she never thought would happen to her at such a young age. "I have had four aunts with breast cancer but they were all diagnosed right around age 60."

That strong family history of breast cancer led Wendy to begin her yearly mammograms earlier than most women do, a decision that might have saved her life. After consulting with reconstructive surgeon Dr. Audrey Farahmand, Wendy decided to have her breasts reconstructed during the initial surgery. "About 25% of the reconstructions that I do are bilateral cases. If you're reconstructing both breasts with implants they tend to look more symmetrical." Wendy closes by saying "The results have been amazing, I mean, we are both very happy with the results."

When breast cancer is found early like Wendy's, the five-year survival rate is 96%. The total recovery time from this type of surgery and reconstruction is approximately 8 months.