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Plastic surgeon Dr. Kirsty Boyd (left) is part of a new TOH pilot program that offers a combined mastectomy and breast reconstruction surgery for women who, like Candace Cameron, don’t have active cancer but want to prevent the disease.

On the same day that Candace Cameron was booked for a preventive double mastectomy, she woke up from a 2.5-hour operation with a new pair of breasts – the result of implants from an immediate reconstructive surgery.

As if the decision to have a mastectomy wasn’t difficult enough, Cameron waited a full year to get both surgeries.

“Waiting was definitely the most difficult part for me,” said the 32-year-old mother of a toddler. “I had a very hard time living my daily life. It was always in the back of my mind.”

A new TOH pilot program, launching in November, aims to improve the timeliness and quality of care for women who, like Cameron, have a family history of breast cancer and test positive for genetic mutations that put them at high risk of developing cancer. TOH will offer these women a combined mastectomy and breast reconstruction performed as day surgery at the Riverside Campus.

“Right now, there is an unmet need for this type of surgery since the hospital focuses primarily on treating women with active cancer,” said Dr. Kirsty Boyd, a plastic surgeon who specializes in breast reconstruction.

Of the hundreds of women who have breast surgery at TOH every year, about two dozen have the genetic mutation and opt for a double mastectomy. Increasingly, many also choose to have reconstructive surgery.

The new program will use two operating rooms, with a breast surgeon in one room and a plastic surgeon in the other, allowing more women to get both surgeries in a day, said Dr. James Watters, medical director of TOH’s Breast Health Centre.

With immediate reconstruction, patients have to recover from only a single surgery and there’s the psychological benefit of going to sleep with breasts and waking up with them.

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