"When you lose some component of your physical self, you also lose some of your emotional self, " DellaCroce says.

CNN: Cancer survivor's own fat gives her new breasts

Partridge and DellaCroce agree that regardless of the circumstances, reconstruction should be discussed as soon as possible, because having the option is an important facet in the patient's full recovery.

CNN: Cancer survivor's own fat gives her new breasts

"Those who diagnose breast cancer and those who do mastectomy are separate from the plastic surgeons who do the reconstruction, " explains Dr. Frank DellaCroce, a surgeon at the Center for Restorative Breast Surgery in New Orleans, Louisiana, the place where Anderson's breast reconstruction was performed.

CNN: Cancer survivor's own fat gives her new breasts