Teaching at Breast Design Days in Łódź, Poland

In October I traveled to Łódź, Poland, as faculty for the second Breast Design Days. Thank you to Dr. Michał Lewandowicz, president of the scientific committee, for the invitation and for an outstanding meeting.

My talks covered three parts of reconstruction with your own tissue: the DIEP flap from the lower abdomen, the LAP flap from the flank, and stacked flaps, where two flaps are combined to rebuild one breast when a single donor site does not have enough tissue. I also spoke about efficiency in microsurgery, and how experience and a consistent team make these long operations safer and more predictable.

It was a chance to see friends. Dr. Lewandowicz, Dr. Daniel Maliszewski and Dr. Dominik Walczak were among the surgeons from Poland who spent a week with our team in Dallas earlier this year. It was also great to spend time with Prof. Anna Kasielska-Trojan, Prof. Henryk Witmanowski, Dr. Natalia Krześniak and the plastic surgery team from Barlicki Hospital, and to celebrate BRA Day, Breast Reconstruction Awareness Day, at the gala.

My wife, Emily, and I spent the rest of the week traveling. In Warsaw we toured the city, walked through Łazienki Park and heard an evening Chopin recital; it is remarkable to think the city was rebuilt after World War II. In Kraków we saw the Old Town, St. Mary’s Basilica and Oskar Schindler’s Factory. We also spent a day at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial, a sobering visit that will stay with us.

We finished the trip with a few days in Budapest: the Parliament and the Danube at night, Buda Castle and Matthias Church, and a day trip to the Herend porcelain manufactory in its 200th year.

Thank you again to the organizers, the faculty and everyone who made us so welcome in Łódź.