What if……

I recently got into a conversation with someone in which I once again talked about my surgical history with the bilateral prophylactic mastectomy. I share my story often and openly in the hopes that it may help someone else. I am typically met with some amount of shock followed by questions which are usually the same. Interestingly one of the first tends to be “was it painful”. Other typical questions surround BRCA testing, family history and what lead me to make the radical decision I did to have the mastectomy.

So, back to the most recent conversation. For the first time I was asked the question, “what if you made a mistake and the surgery was not needed.” I found that to be an interesting question especially since lobular carcinoma in situ(LCIS) was found. Even after discussing the pathology this person stuck to the yeah but “what if” question. A quick reply was what if I did not and 5 years down the road I was diagnosed with Breast cancer?

I do not live in “what if”. This is why I had the surgery. I never wanted to look back with regret. SO to help land my point I tossed out a few other what if questions.

What if the Declaration of Independence was never signed?

What if Martin Luther King had never been born?

What if women never gained the right to vote?

What if we had never pushed the norms of technology?

All of these questions sound just ridiculous. Life is all about decisions. They are not always easy or comfortable and there will always be someone standing off to the side just waiting to second guess or challenge. I am not sure if I swayed the person’s opinion nor do I really care to be honest. You make decisions everyday, at the end of it all you can only hope you made more good than bad.

Sensory Overload

Pumpkins and pink items. Everywhere I go there they are. Pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin coffee, pop tarts, bagels, waffles, oatmeal, marshmallow, beer, potato chips and even vodka. Virtually anything you could imagine now available in pumpkin flavor or scent, most for a limited time of course. People everywhere are gorging themselves all in the name of the season.

When not bombarded with all things orange and pumpkin, my eyes are overwhelmed with all things pink. Walks and rallies, sports events at all levels and all products imaginable marketed in pink for Breast Cancer awareness month. Watching football this week is giving me a bit of a headache with the pink shoes, gloves and towels flying around. Don’t misunderstand, I think it is wonderful that everyone is raising money to hopefully one day put an end to Breast Cancer. But let’s be honest here, would the NFL be repainting lines in bright pink if it was not profitable?

All hype aside, maybe you do not have the extra money to buy that cute pink whatever. Maybe things are too tight to send anything in the envelope this time around. What you could do is something much more impactful, maybe pick up a phone and call a woman who you love and ask if they have had a mammogram recently. This week I shared my own bilateral prophylactic mastectomy story with 3 of the women I work with. Two of those women have breast cancer in their own families. I encouraged them to be proactive talk to their doctors and possibly get tested for the BRCA gene. I wasn’t even wearing anything pink.

A busy week and medical advances

The summer has officially ended in our house with the yearly closing of the pool. There are still some very warm days in the forecast like today’s heat in excess of 90 degrees, but once school starts there is just not enough time in the day. Speaking of school, the fist day was a success for all! Both girls had great days especially our new first grader.

The first day seems like a life time ago already. Saturday morning was picture perfect. Although there was a slight chill in the air, the sun, high in a bright blue sky was warm and comfortable. Our day started with a season opening soccer game with the youngest at 9am. At her age they play 2 fields of 4 on 4, open goal. This is my husbands first year coaching soccer and the first time most of the girls have played together. There were many bright spots. A little girl who just could not keep herself from picking up the ball mid play was not necessarily one of the brightest but the season looks to be fun none the less.

The look of a 3-0 shut-out to start the season!

The travel game with the older child was much better. I think what made this game so much fun was the fact that over the last year we sat through many (emphasis many) bad, down right ugly soccer games. With Megan as the full-time goal keeper this year we feel extra pressure to ensure she plays her best. Saturday the entire team stepped up and played the best game we have seen them play as a team. The final score was 3-0..first game of the year and first shut out of what we hope will be a wonderful soccer year for Megan and team.

The week is flying by with time split between my few hours at the school doing cafeteria and playground duty, soccer practice, karate and everything in between. How quickly our lazy days of summer have been filled with days that just do not have enough hours.

On a totally different note, I caught a few minutes of the news last night as I was getting dinner ready for the girls. The story was about a new pump to help to identify breast cancer up to 10 years sooner than with current methods. I do not know how much data they have collected on it or how accurate it is but I would like to believe that such advances are true and reliable. I think about my young daughters and the very real high risk possibility that they face of breast cancer. I can only hope and pray that the advances continue so by the time my babies have to face tough decisions, like me they will be lucky enough to be able to act proactively.

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