'Awake mastectomy' is one of hospital's firsts

A woman has become one of a hospital's first patients to have breast surgery while still being awake.

Patricia Wilkes, 62, underwent a mastectomy after being diagnosed with a rare condition associated with breast cancer, called Paget's disease of the nipple.

It causes eczema-like changes to the skin of the nipple and the areola. It is usually a sign of breast cancer in the tissue behind the nipple.

Surgeons at Walsall Manor Hospital successfully performed a mastectomy on Ms Wilkes under a regional anaesthetic, which "blocks" an area of the body, and conscious sedation - meaning she received medicine but was still conscious for the procedure.

She was discharged the same evening.

Ms Wilkes said: "I found a lump in December last year and made an appointment with the doctor. They did a biopsy and MRI scan to confirm I have Paget's disease and needed a mastectomy.

"I have COPD [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease] and other health conditions so I was very nervous about surgery and my lungs not being able to cope if I was put to sleep.

"The staff were absolutely fantastic and reassured me all the way. They held my hand and spoke me through everything. I don't remember a thing from the surgery or being in any pain.

"I was so grateful I could go home that evening and didn't need a night in the hospital."

Matt Green, consultant breast surgeon and clinical director for general surgery at the NHS trust, said it was the second operation of its kind performed at the Walsall hospital.

He said: "It is used for patients who are not deemed appropriate for general anaesthetic due to other medical problems that would make them very high risk for the anaesthetic."

He said in Ms Wilkes's case if surgery had not been carried out "her pre-cancerous changes would have progressed to her developing breast cancer, which could then spread and become untreatable".

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