Upcoming Surgery:
We are gearing up for Thursday, July 25th, the
date of my exchange procedure and what will hopefully be my final breast
surgery. I am definitely ready for this
next step, but not overly excited to recover from yet another surgery. My surgery will last from 2-3 hours, but I
should be home in the early evening hours. I didn’t have many options for reconstruction. The implants will sit inside the pectoral muscle that has been stretched by
the expanders. Because I don’t have
tissue options to help smooth out the lines, they will probably look pretty
defined. I decided to go with silicone implants as opposed to saline. Although saline is very safe and are not
harmful if they leak, they feel harder and tend to show ripples under the skin
in thin women (with the absence of other tissue). Silicone implants can be
harmful if they leak, but cosmetically feel more natural and shouldn’t show
ripples under the skin. After a discussion with my surgeon, I decided silicone is
my best option. I am not sure what size implants I will end up with. It will
all depend on the size of the cavity when they go in. Most likely, I will be a
big A or a small B. Although I am a little disappointed with the size, implants
of any size will be so much better than these rock hard coconuts I have right
now. There are definitely some perks to having small tatas. The recovery is around 4-6 weeks. Just like my
surgery in October, I won’t be able to lift Charlotte for six weeks, which will
be hard. She is going through a mommy only phase, but we are hoping she can handle
my being less active than normal.
More Baby Yales:
Steve and I have talked on and off about future children and
if they are something we want to peruse.
I will be on Tamoxifen until I am 37, and most likely, with the new studies
showing 10 years is better than 5, until I am 42. Put this on top of the highly
recommended oophorectomy I should get by the age of 40, there is not a lot of
opportunity for more children. We decided to talk to a specialist and assess
our options. I went in thinking the worst, but it ended up not being as hopeless as we
thought. We actually have a few options. The first step will be to check and
see if my eggs are viable. I am not sure when that will be just yet, but it
could be soon depending on when my plastic surgeon gives her blessing, and we
may have some options available. Charlotte is by far the best thing that has
happened to us, and although we are open to hearing our options, we may not end
up pursuing them. If she is an only child, she will be loved and surrounded by lots
of caring people. Although, I do worry about spoiling her a little too much given
what we have been through.
This blog:
I started this blog to keep family and friends updated on my
treatment plan and how I was doing. That continues to be the purpose of this blog. Although, Pushing Pink Elephants, the nonprofit, is gaining momentum and is pretty
much what I spend my free time on, this blog will be separate from the great
organization Carey and I (alongside other great individuals) have created. This
blog is my personal story and the Pushing Pink Elephants organization will soon
have its own blog (not me) helping push awareness, and the mission of the
organization. I am not sure how long my
blog will continue, but I feel I should follow it through my path with breast cancer, especially for other women who are following or are starting their own
journey with BC. I will try and keep
updates going as I make it through this long journey. And it has been a long one. Sunday I signed
the hood of the demolition derby breast cancer truck that will run at the Cecil
County Fair later this week. Under my signature
I wrote the date 2/10/12, which was 17 months ago. That seems like such a long
time ago, and the journey continues…………
