Getting all packed up and ready to go for my fourth surgery first thing tomorrow morning. I’ll be undergoing breast revisions including fat grafting and removing excess skin with the hopes that this will be my last surgery. Although I am supposed to be in and out of the hospital within the same day, there [...]
Hormone Therapy
Chemo, radiation, surgery. Our bodies feel like they've been put through enough. But for the large number of women with hormone receptor positive breast cancer, it is often recommended to take hormone therapy for 5 to 10 years which comes with its own set of challenges, most notably early menopause. Now that I’ve been on [...]
365 new days, 365 new possibilities
365 new days. 365 new possibilities. As this year comes to an end, I reflect back on the struggles I've overcome, the friendships I've made, and the memories that will last a lifetime. Here’s a recap of some of my biggest moments from 2017 and what I'm looking forward to in the new year: Finding [...]
The good, the bad, and the ugly
It’s hard to believe that it’s already been 6 months since my bilateral mastectomy and immediate latissimus dorsi flap breast reconstruction. Prior to my surgery, I found a lot of the information online to be focused on mastectomies using a tissue expander or implant only and it was difficult to access any personal first-hand experience [...]
Scanxiety
If you asked me what scanxiety was prior to my diagnosis, I would have responded with a confused look on my face. SCANXIETY? What does that even mean?? The tough reality is that we all experience this at some point after being diagnosed with cancer. Fear and anxiety at the thought of another scan. The [...]
Out with the old, in with the foobs
Never in a million years did I think that my regular vocabulary would include things like breast cancer, reconstruction, expanders, and that I would have to “shop” for the right size and shape breasts to replace my own. But here I am six weeks post implant exchange surgery. After waiting 5 months for my body [...]
Expanders, foobies, frankenboobs, rocks, boulders…what do you call them?
Expanders, foobies, frankenboobs, rocks, boulders. These are just a few of the names for tissue expanders coined by other breast cancer survivors. After the mastectomy and lat flap reconstruction, it was an adjustment period getting used to these new foobies. I felt like I was walking around like a robot at times because the circumference [...]
