Tag: prophylactic mastectomy

So long 2012

With the end of the year approaching, everywhere you turn you see recaps.  I did a medical recap not too long ago and quit honestly am not too interested in reliving this year.  Instead I am looking fully forward to what I hope will be a better year.

Making a statement like that always makes me pause for a second because of how close I was to cancer (according to the pathology reports).  I had the bilateral prophylactic mastectomy to prevent cancer since I was high risk but until we received those results showing cancer markers, well we had no clue just how close I was.  So, with that said the end results made 2012 a good year I suppose and I guess I should recognize that good.

The hope for 2013, well they are filled with no surgery, no medical scares and good times with my family.  I do need to get through the follow-up Ultrasound next week to check on the complex cyst.  Hopefully that shows that it took care of itself and onward we will move.Disney Trip October 22-29, 2011 627

One super bright spot that we have all been looking forward to for some time is our trip to Disney World!  We are in the home stretch and can begin an official countdown in the next week or so.  My girls do love official countdowns :-).  We are all really looking forward to this trip!  We are staying at The Animal Kingdom Villas-Kidani, right over the Savannah.  How thrilled with the girls be seeing the animals come close to the balcony.

My crew in Animal Kingdom October 2011.
My crew in Animal Kingdom October 2011.

Since we are staying in Disney we also did the meal package.  It is nice going and knowing that almost everything is prepaid.  We will be dinning with the Princesses, Mickey and crew, Chip and Dale and at the new Be Our Guest Restaurant.  Planning this trip, making the dinning reservations were a nice distraction while I was recovering from surgery.  Finally coming close to the actual experience  knowing how much we are all looking forward to it, well what can I say that Disney does not?  It is the happiest place on earth!

Post BPM day 141

Interesting when I see it broken down into days, 141 days since I made the radical life changing decision to take charge of my life and have the bilateral prophylactic mastectomy.  Three surgeries, lots of pain and some whining later I am almost through the tunnel.

Yesterdays surgery went well.  Although I had to arrive at the hospital at 5:30, I was bumped due to an emergency before me.  I was not taken back until about 9am.  Although I was a bit frustrated due to having to arrange for care for the girls etc, I took it in stride remembering my time in the ICU and the possibility that I could have been that emergency.  I breezed through recovery with no issues at all, thankfully!  The last time was a real issue!  Because things went so well there we were home and laying in my own bed by 1:30.  Not too bad!

I am pleased with what we did yesterday.  The Newpple issue seems to be corrected and the girls seem to be much more even.  I do not think they are perfect but then again I do not think any woman’s are so I am pleased with them. He did revise some of the scares that were really off which was a negotiated middle ground between what I proposed and where he was so again I am pleased.  He also did a minor cut along the abdominal scare where I have had an irritating lump.  He thought it may have been a suture that did not desolve but instead turned out to be an area of scare tissue that had formed.  Although the incision point is sore, I already feel better having the lump out!

So with all of that said, barring some strange outcome from the healing I have to go through over the next days, I have achieved a level of peace with the “girls” and see no reason why I would need to have any further surgeries on them! I follow up with the Surgeon on Wednesday.

More surgery

We have a date for the next round of surgery, November 19th.  I am referring to it as either “tieing up loose ends” or “the clean up”.  My surgeons scheduler chuckled a little but I don’t think either of us thought it would be a good idea to refer to it in such a way to him.  The consent is calling it, “revision of bilateral reconstructed breasts and revision of abdominal scar”.  I think it should really say revision to the revision but hey who am I?

It has been over 3 months now since the Bilateral Prophylactic Mastectomy and DIEP flap surgery and almost 2 months since the nipple reconstruction.  This has been a long process.

SO more blood work, another early morning arrival at the hospital, more anesthesia.  I wonder if I will miss all of the coordination, tests, scheduling and recovery  once all of the procedures are over? (KIDDING!)  I am glad that we have this scheduled, one step closer to finished, I hope!

ON a different note, Madison lost another tooth today and it happened at school.  She was so excited when she got off the bus wearing the tooth necklace given to her to secure the tooth.  It was almost like she knew it was going to be a special day.  When she woke up she requested to wear a “pretty” dress and “high heels”.  I see a visit from the tooth fairy this evening!