My name is Nancy and I am from Portland, Oregon. I came to see Dr. Bartholomew because I had a double mastectomy and Dr. Bartholomew was going to do my reconstruction. He's great at making you feel at ease. He makes you feel comfortable—comfortable with asking questions. He makes you feel comfortable with being sad, with going in there saying, 'I'm in pain.' I mean, he makes you feel like anything that you need to get off your chest, you can get off your chest.
He just cares. He cares so much, and he wants to see you back healthy. He knows that you're ill, he knows that you're sick, but his goal is like, 'I want to see you whole again. I want to see you healthy. I want to see you happy. Anything that I have to do to get you there, that's what I'm going to do.' No question was a question that he didn't want to answer. No matter how many times you ask him the same question, he's still going to answer that question for you. It was just personal.
The day of the procedure, you're so overwhelmed with calls and emails, and then you finally get there and you're like, 'Okay.' And then Dr. B finally walks in the room after you've been bombarded. When you see him, Dr. B's like, 'So tell me, how are you doing?' and I'm like, 'I'm scared.' But he's like, 'You're going to be okay.'
When you go into those procedures, Dr. B is there to make you feel comfortable. He's there to let you know, 'Look, I got your back. I know what your expectation is of me on this table, and when I'm operating, I'm thinking about what you said and about what you want and what you don't want.' And so for me, it's like I'm going to sleep because I know I'm going to be fine when I get off this table.
I felt like I was a family member. And this was the whole team—it wasn't just Dr. B, it was everybody. It was all the girls that worked there that made me feel valued and made me feel like I was literally their only patient.
I'm very happy with the final result. I like how they look and the fact that I'm at the point now where I'm comfortable. I feel like a woman, like I have my boobs back. I'm happy that Dr. Bartholomew can help women like myself to at least feel like, 'Okay, I look good. I look normal.' And that's all we're trying to get back to—we're just trying to look normal. I just want to thank them for being them and for helping women like myself who have gone through this.
I've recommended Dr. B because I've been very happy. I just wanted to say, for women of color, it is truly hard to find someone that sincerely and truly wants to help us. He is it. He truly wanted to help me. Sometimes you don't feel like you're in a safe environment, and I felt safe. I felt safe. So, I just want to thank Dr. B for making me feel safe.