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(CBS 5) SAN FRANCISCO Surgery for breast cancer often involves total breast removal. But there's a relatively new procedure that may help women preserve an important part of the breast.

Nipples are important to the female form. Just view the Rodin Sculptures at the Iris and Gerald Cantor Museum on the Stanford University campus, and try to imagine the beautiful female forms without the nipples.

Now imagine being told you have breast cancer and must have your entire breast - including the nipple removed. It can be traumatizing.

While women can undergo breast reconstruction and have breast implants, reconstructing the nipple on the breast is more of a challenge. Nipples and the areola can be tattooed on and a small piece of skin can be used as a nipple. But it's not the same as having your real nipple.

Dr. Carolyn Chang, a cosmetic surgeon at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, says women who undergo reconstruction want volume which they can get with an implant, but in her experience, the idea of having the nipple is first and foremost in their mind.

Chang says women really want to look as much as themselves before surgery as possible. "It's really disturbing for women to see scars and it's a constant reminder of things," said Chang.

Now a relatively new procedure is offering some women undergoing breast reconstruction an alternative - - the chance to preserve their appearance and sense of self - by sparing their nipple.

Connie Munger of Santa Rosa is about to undergo that procedure. She said when her doctor told her she could keep her nipple, she was thrilled, saying "I was like wow that's great."'

Munger was diagnosed with breast cancer eleven years ago at the age of 24 and had a total mastectomy on her left breast.

Her mother also died at a young age from the disease. Even though she has a family history of the disease, Munger was not prepared for the cancer diagnosis. Ever since her surgery, she's been worried and with good reason.

Research now confirms women who have cancer in one breast are at high risk of developing cancer in the other breast.

While Munger gets her healthy breast checked frequently, she was scared about getting breast cancer again in it. So she recently decided to have the healthy one removed as a preventive measure.

Munger elected to have what's called a prophylactic mastectomy. Her surgical team included two top surgeons at CPMC: Dr. Chang and breast cancer surgeon Dr. Nima Grissom Munger's surgery began in the early morning. Once she was put under anesthesia, the two specialists worked quickly and in tandem. Dr. Chang removed the existing implant in the left breast while Dr. Grissom began the nipple sparing surgery and removed all of Connie's breast tissue in the left breast.

Some specialists called the nipple sparing procedure as removing the skin intact from a grape. As for Dr. Grissom, "I always describe it as making an incision under the breast and lifting the skin from all sides and loosening the muscles underneath and then sliding the whole breast out."

In this way the nipple is preserved. Dr. Grissom also takes and sends samples off to the pathology lab to confirm her healthy breast has no cancer in it. The report comes back as negative, which is good news.

After Dr. Grissom is finished, Dr. Chang put adjustable saline implants in both breasts. "We put the implant in partially-filled, then you put the needle in and fill up what you need," said Dr. Grissom.

These adjustable saline implants are a great improvement. The tiny port which allows a doctor to put in more saline can be snapped off when the sizes are correct so no further surgery is needed. Munger will come in from time to time so her breasts can be sized and balanced.

Dr. Grissom said when it comes to a procedure like this, that she can make the implants or B or C cup.

But the nipple-sparing procedure is not for everyone. The best candidates are women at high risk for breast cancer. undergoing prophylactic mastectomies; women with smaller breasts; and patients diagnosed with very early stage, microscopic cancers called ductal carcinomas in situ, or DCIS for short.

Dr. Grissom said this procedure can be a reasonable alternative for these groups of women, especially those with DCIS. "As we find earlier cancer," said Grissom, "we're able to offer less aggressive surgery with a better cosmetic outcome."

As for Munger, about a month after her surgery, she said she's 100% satisfied, that "cosmetically it looks great. "It's just really nice, a really nice, lucky gift to have."