I have a friend that has stage 2 breast cancer, her surgeon says he might have to operate a least three times. why is that?

Breast reconstructio: Probably your friend is having mastectomy with breast reconstruction. To reconstruct the breast, you do the surgery to remove the breast, then a surgery to place an expander under the skin to stretch it, and then a final surgery to but in an implant. Most patients only need one surgery, though (a lumpectomy), followed by radiation.