I started this blog in April 2012 to track my journey toward surgery. In July 2012 I underwent a Bilateral Prophylactic Mastectomy with full reconstruction via DIEP flap. This was not a decision I took lightly. I did not have nor would I be a victim to breast cancer.
My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer while I was in college @1992. She had a mastectomy and radiation. Over the next few years the cancer metastasized to her bones. She had a hip replacement and many blood transfusions. Although well fought, she lost her battle in April 2002.
I had my first surgery in 1994. I remember being numb when I first felt the lump. I did not tell anyone for weeks until finally telling my best friend at the time. The lump turned out to be just a fibroid tumor and was removed. This was the first of several. The next was in 1998, 2002 and then June 2011. That is when abnormalities were found causing me to make some very tough decisions.
Decisions for my Family 
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Did you find out that you’re BRCA +?
Never was tested. At first insurance would not pay for the 3K plus blood test. Once the surgeries got rolling most of the doctors agreed that it did not matter for me. It is an imperfect test and it made more sense to do the colonoscopy,ultrasound etc to check. The insurance ironically has had no issue paying for all of those. I started out a 50/50 risk for Breast cancer a positive test would have made it 80%+ and a negative would not have changed my risk so no reason. For my girls on the other hand both grandmother’s had breast cancer and now my issues, they will need to be tested early.
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[…] has been a long time since I visited these pages. (Attached is a link to where it all started-About this page) Hard to believe that is has been 8 years since my preventative mastectomy. Sitting here I think […]