So 2 of my older sisters were having breast issues. Both of them went in for procedures which essentially turned into them having biopsies. Sister 1 Lynda has not gotten the results back, at least not that I know of. Sister 2 Chelle did get her results back. She has been diagnosed with Atypical Hyperplasia.
Atypical Hyperplasia, according to the Mayo clinic is a precancerous condition in the breast. So, she doesn't have a breast cancer diagnosis, but it could turn into it if it is not taken care of. For the time being she is not going to do anything. She did go in to have the BRAC testing done to see if it is genetic. If it is, then she will be getting a new set of boobs too. We should know the results of it in 2 weeks.
So that leads to my next set of concerns.
All 3 of my older sisters have had hysterectomies due to several different issues. One of the sisters actually had cervical cancer. If that isn't scary enough, my mom had a full hysterectomy years ago due to tumors that didn't appear to be cancerous, and my little sister Holli had an ovary removed during pregnancy due to a cyst.
So if this test comes back positive and already knowing of the girly part issues that there is in the family, should I push to have a hysterectomy done? The last thing that I need on top of the already devastating crap I am dealing with is to find out I have some kind of girly part cancer.
Then the question is, will the insurance cover it? Will the doctor agree to it? Would it be considered necessary or not? I know I'm probably doing more worrying than I need to right now, but this is serious stuff that is hitting all at the same time. Not that I really want a hysterectomy (while it would be nice to not have the witch visit), I don't want to do something that is not medically necessary. I also don't want to take any chances.
I'm really not sure if I want to know the information or not. I feel like it is opening Pandora's box, but on the other hand it may be great for preventative measures.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Plastic Surgeon Visit #2
So I met with Dr. Mess today. She is the plastic surgeon who would do implants if I so chose that path. She was absolutely wonderful and answered all the questions I had about implants and even answered new questions I had about the DIEP flap.
I asked her if I had enough fat in the momma pouch to give me the same size of breasts I already had. Her answer was no. So that leads to the decision that I made today. I will be going with Dr. Mess to do my surgery and I will have implants put in.
She asked about what size I currently am, and I gave her the measurements that Victoria's Secrets gave me, which is a 36 D. So after taking some pictures and measuring me, she came up with me being just shy of a D. So I told her that I would like to be a full D when we are done. She said that it was no big deal and a D is absolutely possible and would look very good. That made me happy, as I refused to be anything less than what I currently am. So I guess all of you would like to know when the surgery is to be done.
I have scheduled the surgery to be done on July 26th. That will give me enough time to gather up caretakers so that I can be taken care of during my downtime. I know I already have my mother in law and a couple of other people offer up their time, which is making this a little bit easier.
Essentially what they are going to do is do the double mastectomy and then put expanders in. I'll have to go in and have them filled up so that the skin stretches out to the size that I want to be. After that, I'll go back in and be opened up to put my real implants in.
I still haven't decided if I'm going to have the nipple reconstruction done or not. I know that they will only be able to preserve the left nipple since that breast has not been messed with. The right can't be saved. I won't have any feeling in the remaining nipple and if a reconstruction was done on the right, there would be no feeling in that. I also don't plan on having any more children that I would have to breast feed. So really, what is the point in even having the nipples reconstructed?
I can have tattoos put where the nipples are to be and they would be 3D and would look like there were nipples there. I could also do some other sort of tattoo there in place of the nipples. Maybe I'll put some pretty pink daisies there. Hell, who knows. LOL! Either way, that's the only other decision it seems that I need to make.
After sitting and talking to Dr. Mess and then talking to Andy about my decision, I can say that I am happy with it. I'm sure that it'll be trying on me at times, especially when I am dealing with having the expanders in.
Overall though, I think I'm ready for this.
I asked her if I had enough fat in the momma pouch to give me the same size of breasts I already had. Her answer was no. So that leads to the decision that I made today. I will be going with Dr. Mess to do my surgery and I will have implants put in.
She asked about what size I currently am, and I gave her the measurements that Victoria's Secrets gave me, which is a 36 D. So after taking some pictures and measuring me, she came up with me being just shy of a D. So I told her that I would like to be a full D when we are done. She said that it was no big deal and a D is absolutely possible and would look very good. That made me happy, as I refused to be anything less than what I currently am. So I guess all of you would like to know when the surgery is to be done.
I have scheduled the surgery to be done on July 26th. That will give me enough time to gather up caretakers so that I can be taken care of during my downtime. I know I already have my mother in law and a couple of other people offer up their time, which is making this a little bit easier.
Essentially what they are going to do is do the double mastectomy and then put expanders in. I'll have to go in and have them filled up so that the skin stretches out to the size that I want to be. After that, I'll go back in and be opened up to put my real implants in.
I still haven't decided if I'm going to have the nipple reconstruction done or not. I know that they will only be able to preserve the left nipple since that breast has not been messed with. The right can't be saved. I won't have any feeling in the remaining nipple and if a reconstruction was done on the right, there would be no feeling in that. I also don't plan on having any more children that I would have to breast feed. So really, what is the point in even having the nipples reconstructed?
I can have tattoos put where the nipples are to be and they would be 3D and would look like there were nipples there. I could also do some other sort of tattoo there in place of the nipples. Maybe I'll put some pretty pink daisies there. Hell, who knows. LOL! Either way, that's the only other decision it seems that I need to make.
After sitting and talking to Dr. Mess and then talking to Andy about my decision, I can say that I am happy with it. I'm sure that it'll be trying on me at times, especially when I am dealing with having the expanders in.
Overall though, I think I'm ready for this.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Met Plastic Surgeon #1
Sorry I haven't been keeping up on the blog this week. My family has been in crisis mode with other circumstances that I will not be discussing. With that being said, here's the newest.
On Monday I had an appointment up at John Hopkins. This is where I met Dr. Rosson. He is the plastic surgeon who would do the DIEP flap procedure. I think this appointment went fairly well. I heard some things that I like and some things that I wasn't too fond of.
I was told that I am a great candidate for the DIEP flap. So essentially, what that means is that my body ravaged from child-bearing has made me able to have this surgery done. What they essentially will do is take all of the fat from my momma pouch and use it to reconstruct my boobs. After that is removed, they will stretch the skin from my belly area down. This will give me no more momma pouch and no waistline for awhile. I will also have a scar that runs from hip to hip, but will be able to be hidden by my underwear. I'm not really sure how I feel about that at this point.
The downside of this all is that I have to really start working on my core to help me recover faster. So what does this really mean? It means lots of planks and yoga and all that kind of stuff that I already don't like to do. If I did most of the stuff that they want me to do to strengthen my core, then it's possible that I could flatten my stomach, and maybe even the momma pouch, which would then make the DIEP flap not necessary. Maybe not. I'm not really sure at this point.
So what I do know about the surgery at this point is that it will take 12 hours to do the surgery. Pretty much 6 hours per breast. It is extensive and I will have at least 1 drain tube on each breast and possibly 2 on each side of my waist. This surgery is also inclusive of a 3 day hospital stay.
I've had a couple of people reach out to help be my caretakers while I am recovering. That does make me feel a little bit better. I just don't want to stretch them too thin though. We'll just have to see how everything pans out. I guess I am hoping that I won't need to have people take care of me for too long. Maybe, just maybe I'll bounce back after a couple of weeks and be able to do stuff on my own. I've never had a major surgery, so honestly, I have no clue.
I've never really been one to ask for help. Sure, I like to have people to talk to in order to bounce things off of them when I have things rolling through my head, but I've never had to ask anyone to come take care of me. This part sucks. I guess this is also where I allow my pride to get in the way thinking that I can do it myself. The problem with that is that I have taken care of everything myself for so long that I am finding it more difficult to do and find that I am seeing myself as a failure.
I guess I've had this view for so long that if I take care of others, everything will be butterflies, roses, rainbows and unicorns then they will come to my rescue when I need them. Boy was I wrong! Glad I am finding this out now instead of when I am actually down from surgery.
Anyhow, that's all that I have for ya'll today. I have lots of catching up to do with my Biology classes. Only 1 more week and I am completely done with the sciences. Only 2 more years and I'll have that beautiful Bachelor's degree. Hope ya'll have a beautiful and blessed Sunday.
On Monday I had an appointment up at John Hopkins. This is where I met Dr. Rosson. He is the plastic surgeon who would do the DIEP flap procedure. I think this appointment went fairly well. I heard some things that I like and some things that I wasn't too fond of.
I was told that I am a great candidate for the DIEP flap. So essentially, what that means is that my body ravaged from child-bearing has made me able to have this surgery done. What they essentially will do is take all of the fat from my momma pouch and use it to reconstruct my boobs. After that is removed, they will stretch the skin from my belly area down. This will give me no more momma pouch and no waistline for awhile. I will also have a scar that runs from hip to hip, but will be able to be hidden by my underwear. I'm not really sure how I feel about that at this point.
The downside of this all is that I have to really start working on my core to help me recover faster. So what does this really mean? It means lots of planks and yoga and all that kind of stuff that I already don't like to do. If I did most of the stuff that they want me to do to strengthen my core, then it's possible that I could flatten my stomach, and maybe even the momma pouch, which would then make the DIEP flap not necessary. Maybe not. I'm not really sure at this point.
So what I do know about the surgery at this point is that it will take 12 hours to do the surgery. Pretty much 6 hours per breast. It is extensive and I will have at least 1 drain tube on each breast and possibly 2 on each side of my waist. This surgery is also inclusive of a 3 day hospital stay.
I've had a couple of people reach out to help be my caretakers while I am recovering. That does make me feel a little bit better. I just don't want to stretch them too thin though. We'll just have to see how everything pans out. I guess I am hoping that I won't need to have people take care of me for too long. Maybe, just maybe I'll bounce back after a couple of weeks and be able to do stuff on my own. I've never had a major surgery, so honestly, I have no clue.
I've never really been one to ask for help. Sure, I like to have people to talk to in order to bounce things off of them when I have things rolling through my head, but I've never had to ask anyone to come take care of me. This part sucks. I guess this is also where I allow my pride to get in the way thinking that I can do it myself. The problem with that is that I have taken care of everything myself for so long that I am finding it more difficult to do and find that I am seeing myself as a failure.
I guess I've had this view for so long that if I take care of others, everything will be butterflies, roses, rainbows and unicorns then they will come to my rescue when I need them. Boy was I wrong! Glad I am finding this out now instead of when I am actually down from surgery.
Anyhow, that's all that I have for ya'll today. I have lots of catching up to do with my Biology classes. Only 1 more week and I am completely done with the sciences. Only 2 more years and I'll have that beautiful Bachelor's degree. Hope ya'll have a beautiful and blessed Sunday.
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