What if plastic surgery isn’t about changing the way you look, but helping you feel like yourself again?
In this episode of The Village Podcast with Dr. Naz, I sit down with my college friend Dr. Emma Koesters, a reconstructive microsurgeon, to talk about the side of plastic surgery most people rarely see. We get into breast cancer, BRCA mutations, what women should know about their reconstruction options after mastectomy, and the incredible ways surgeons can rebuild a breast using a patient’s own tissue.
At the time we shot this episode, Emma was also seven months pregnant, raising a young son, and performing surgeries that can last eight hours—so naturally, we talk about how any of this actually works. We get into motherhood, having children during surgical training, operating while pregnant, supportive partners, childcare falling through, and why being a working mom can feel like having “16 apps running” in your brain at all times.
This is a conversation about medicine, motherhood, the mental load, and the village that makes it possible to hold all those pieces of a life at once.
Chapters:
00:00 What Plastic Surgery Really Is
02:10 Meet Dr. Emma Koesters: Plastic Surgeon, Microsurgeon & Mom
06:31 Why Emma Chose Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery
12:18 Becoming a Surgeon & Finding the “Right” Time for Kids
15:15 Breast Cancer, Mastectomy & Reconstructive Surgery
17:47 What Women Should Know About Breast Reconstruction
20:58 Breast Health, Breastfeeding & Knowing Your Body
24:07 The BRCA Patient Emma Will Never Forget
28:10 Why Patients Need a Village, Too
29:18 Motherhood & the “16 Apps Running” Mental Load
30:48 What It’s Like to Operate While Pregnant
34:51 Marriage, Maternity Leave & Making It All Work
42:36 Building a Village: Partners, Grandparents & Hands-On Dads
48:48 Style, Self-Care & Rapid Fire
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About Dr. Emma Koesters
Dr. Emma Koesters is a plastic, reconstructive and microsurgeon at Keck Hospital of USC, specializing in breast reconstruction. Her work includes complex microsurgical procedures for patients following breast cancer and mastectomy. She is also a wife and mother of two.
