The Beginning

I have been encouraged by several friends to write about my experience with breast cancer. I'm not much of a writer, but I decided to give it a shot. I was diagnosed in October 2009 at the age of 32. As a wife and mother of a 4 year old, this was definitely not something on my agenda (not that it is for anyone). I have virtually no family history and no risk for this disease, especially not at 32, but tell that to the cancer! I ended up having a bilateral mastectomy in November. The cancer was only in the left side; however, a lumpectomy was not an option for me as the cancer basically involved the entire breast. My risk for recurrence in the right side was astronomical due to my age, so I decided to go ahead and just do the right side as well. Fortunately, I was able to have my surgery at a wonderful medical center with the best surgeons on the planet and was able to have immediate reconstruction done. The exact type of surgery I had is still pretty new, so it is not offered everywhere yet. For those of you who have a general idea about how reconstruction works or you know someone who has had reconstuction, I did not have expanders put in and will not have a 2nd surgery to have the implants put in. I had what is called a total skin-sparing mastectomy meaning they took out all the tissue from my breasts and left all the skin including the nipple skin. I had my implants put in that same day. This makes the recovery a little more painful and a little longer, but you don't have to go through a separate surgery to have the implants put in later. You also don't have any time where you don't have your breasts. When the pathology came back, I ended up having 75% of the cancer catagorized as DCIS. DCIS is basically cancer that stays within the ducts of the breast and does not spread; however, if untreated long enough, it can become invasive cancer. Invasive cancer is cancer that does spread. The other 25% of the cancer ended up being highly aggressive, grade 3, HER-2 and hormone-receptor positive. What all that means is it was really, really bad. If you want more details about all those terms, Google it! I have essentially recovered from surgery, but I still have to wear a bra basically 24 hours a day which really, really stinks. Because I immediately had the implants put in, they did not have very much holding them in place, just chest muscles and some skin. Wearing the bra for a couple of months nonstop gives your body a chance to heal around the implants and keep them where you want them to be; otherwise, you could end up looking like you got plastic surgery done in the back ally of a free clinic. I will start chemo on January 4th and am very nervous about that but hoping for the best. As they say, this too shall pass! I welcome your comments, thoughts, and especially prayers. I would love to know that you are praying for, thinking about, and/or buying gifts for me!