Tag: mastectomy

I have never reblogged someone else’s thoughts before but I fully share my friends outrage here! I wonder if the New York Times article author watched her mother die a long and at times very painful death. I wonder if she ever had to stare into the eyes of her children as she was told she had at minimum a 50/50 chance of developing breast cancer, a disease that has no cure nor is one close to being found after millions and millions spent.

My story is different from my friend at “Beatingcowdens” but when it comes to the prophylactic mastectomy we are sisters.

I wish I could have the last two years of my life back. I wish that I did not have to surgically alter my body. I wish there was no such things as breast cancer. I wish those who would like to speak out in judgement would do their jobs and maybe the rest of us could maybe have our wishes come true but since none of these things can or will happen I want to be clear, I have NO regrets in the decisions I made. Those decisions were not taken lightly and the pathology proved with great certainty that I WOULD have developed breast cancer.

I finish with the same line as my friend, “Don’t talk about my boobs until you have walked in my shoes!”

 

beatingcowdens's avatarbeatingcowdens

“Breast cancer becomes very emotional for people, and they view a breast differently than an arm or a required body part that you use every day,” said Sarah T. Hawley, an associate professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan. “Women feel like it’s a body part over which they totally have a choice, and they say, ‘I want to put this behind me — I don’t want to worry about it anymore.’ ”

The quote above is the last paragraph from a New York Times article published January 21st.  I first read about it here in this blog

Preventative mastectomies under fire

And I must agree with “The Pink Underbelly” as my blood is boiling a bit.

I underwent a prophylactic bilateral mastectomy on March 5, 2012.  I had been diagnosed with Cowden’s Syndrome, alongside my 8 year old daughter, just months before.  I was presented, in January of…

View original post 677 more words

It has been a long week

I am tired.

I have been to the pediatrician twice this week, had a follow-up with the plastic surgeon and an endometrial biopsy all while the hubby has been out-of-town for work.

It could always be worse!

So, I had my little one home sick today with fever and sore throat.  Thankfully does not seem to be strep so just keeping her loaded up with Motrin and we will wait it out.  Megan continues to have sinus issues, an ENT visit is probably in the near future.  I need to get both of them healthy in the next 35 days…that is the official Disney countdown!  Tomorrow is my nieces birthday and the girls have been looking forward to it since we found out the date.  It is to be a bowling party.  I will evaluate everyone’s condition in the morning.  I hope to be able to go for at least a little while.  FIngers crossed.

My visit with the plastic surgeon was uneventful.  I am still not fully finished with him.  I still have some discomfort from the scare line on the right side.  We agreed to one more appointment in 3 months to make sure that scare settles.

The biopsy was also pretty uneventful.  I do not know if I have a high pain threshold or after the experiences of the last years surgeries, the many years of breast biopsies or child birth but it was really nothing.  It seems that they schedule for at least 30 minutes and often get a bunch of whining, squirming and requests for breaks.  Since we did not have any of that we finished pretty quickly so with the extra time the doctor drew the blood work for the CA-125.  That saves me a trip to the lab!  We did discuss the lack of reliability of the blood work and she explained that it is just part of the puzzle.  I get it and agree.  The blood results should be back next week, 10-14 days on the biopsy.  Until then, I have plenty of other things to think about.

The list begins

On my continued search for “what I want” I think I have begun to develop some thoughts maybe even a list.

1-I would like to worry less about well everything.  In my head I am fully aware that I can not control everything, even most things. This is what causes the worry.  I wish I could live life and just allow it to happen.  This will require work!smile

2-I want to smile more.  2012 was a rough and at times very painful year.  The year leading up to it was possibly even more scary since that was the year of abnormal biopsy and breast MRI.  Now with the pelvic Ultrasound results, I am heading for yet another biopsy Thursday. I feel like I have been under a cloud for a long while now and am ready to attempt to outrun it! Although the outcome has been good to date, it has been a long and stressful time that affected my entire family.  I believe our Disney trip is a big part of helping this change this mood and we are all looking forward to this trip!  The other night  we started to pack, a little more each day  The guest room is filling up with small piles just waiting to be put into a suitcase.  Disney is the happiest place on Earth, we can’t wait!Walt Disney World Gallery Photo

3-I would love to be able to pay off my credit cards but since that won’t happen anytime soon I will again focus on #1.

This of course is not an all-inclusive list.  It instead is just the beginning of one that I expect will grow and change in the coming weeks/months.