Previvor Chronicles

Woohoo! No cancer for meee

I’m getting my tattoos on Saturday.

It’s hard to believe this entire process has taken just over a year. My doctor found the lump in August 2015 and I’ll be all done (with the breast cancer-related portion) this week.

I have gained so much since I found out I was BRCA positive. Does it suck knowing that I’m predisposed to breast and ovarian cancer? For sure. But it also comes with a power and control over my body that makes me feel like a total badass.

Had a little refresher on my left side today. It hadn’t healed as nicely as my doctor wanted, so she re-stitched me in the office today.

Being awake and talking to your doctor while she essentially operates on you is a strange, strange thing. Luckily, the thing that hurt the most were the shots to numb me up.

Now my already gnarly scar is a bit gnarlier (but looks great already!) and goes all the way around to my back. It hurts a tiny bit now and I’m a little nauseous, but all in all I’m a very happy camper!

Holy crap, the last 6 months have gone by so fast. Here’s how it all went down:

August 6, 2015 - My geneticist finds a lump during my yearly check up/screening strategy meeting - she thinks it’s just a cyst, but suggests I get an MRI soon.

August 27, 2015 - MRI - results show it’s probably a fibroadenoma, but they want to do a biopsy to be sure.

September 11, 2015 - Core needle biopsy of lump in left breast - results are normal, but there were some atypical cells. My geneticist refers me to Dr. Dinome, Chief of Surgery and Head of the Breast Center at St. John’s.

October 7, 2015 - Lump excision aka peace out, Gladys,

October 13, 2015 - Dr, Dinome confirmed that the lump was benign, but it had doubled in size in the few weeks between the biopsy and surgery.

November 30, 2015 - Preventative double mastectomy by Dr, Dinome and 1st phase of reconstruction with tissue expanders by Dr. La Via - no complications. Pathology of breast tissue found no cancer, but LOTS of benign junk chillin’ in my boobs.

After 9 appointments with my rockstar plastic surgeon, 4 fills, 1 stubborn incision, and countless yards of medical tape & gauze, we now arrive at...

March 4, 2016 - Exchange surgery/2nd phase of breast reconstruction - swap out expanders for silicone implants. It’s an outpatient procedure and I’ll be back to work in a week.

This whole situation is still a bit surreal. I am incredibly lucky to have had such a tremendously positive experience (with my team of badass female doctors), free of scary complications or disappointing results.  

I got the consolation prize of smaller, perkier boobs that aren’t trying to kill me, and I couldn’t be happier.

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If you want to learn more about genetic testing (it saves lives, people!) or you just need a good cry, watch this amazing film by Joanna Rudnick: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009S87D1O/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_5i.Zwb1R814NP

So it’s been 7 weeks since my surgery (bonkers) and I feel really great! 

Aside from a hiccup with my incisions healing on my left side - plus 6 weeks of the messiest cream in the world and then getting said incisions re-stitched - everything has gone shockingly well. 

I’ve had 3 fills so far and plan to get my final one tomorrow, assuming I’m happy size-wise. I still feel like the girl avatar in any video game played by a teenage boy, when they press a button and make her boobs bigger. Except instead of a button, it’s a giant needle and it takes several weeks. 

I’ve been back at work for 2 whole weeks and it’s busier than ever, but it's awesome! 

Remember that giant needle in cartoons whenever a kid gets a shot? That comically large needle? Well, it exists and today my wonderful doctor used it to pump up my expanders a little. 

You know you found the right plastic surgeon when she says “this is your Pulp Fiction moment” while she’s stabbing you in the boob with the world’s biggest needle. 

Things are finally getting funnier, people. I swear the photo below isn’t even that off-base.

Warning: Photo of me in a bra. Just sayin’.

I can’t begin to describe for you what having drains is like, but they’re a necessary evil. If there’s one thing I could tell anyone considering this surgery, other than the immense relief I’ve felt over the past 2 weeks, is that drains are the worst part of this, but they’re also the shortest. 

Side note: I remember watching True Life: I’m Getting BreasI Implants, and they NEVER mentioned this. They would cry about how awful the pain was, but no one was stripping and emptying and measuring their drains.

But I digress. The most important thing is that I’M GETTING MY DRAINS OUT TOMORROW!!!!! I decided to commemorate this with a super-attractive selfie showing them in all their glory. If you can’t tell, they come from under each side, have long tubes, then have to clip on to my bra. 

You’re welcome, America.

Yesterday started out so great! I got a visit from my best friend. She brought me chicken and pajamas, which is obviously why we’re best friends. We watched lots of tv and then got some gluten-free cupcakes. Best day ever, right?

That’s when everything went a little downhill. Drains suck. I fully understand why I need them, why I still have them, and I can even appreciate what they’re doing to help my body heal. But that doesn’t make them suck any less. I accidentally yanked on my right drain site and I was in agony. It’s the gift that keeps on giving because now it’s not taped down as nicely and therefore keeps hurting. Needless to say, I cannot wait for next Wednesday when these things are gone. I will be doing a pretty serious happy dance. We’re talking touchdown-level dancing here and it’ll be adorable.

On a totally separate note: bras. I LOVE the gigantic surgical bra my doctor gave me. It’s comfy and sits nice and low on my back. That being said, the desire to wear a bra that I can keep reasonably hidden is big. The desire to wear a black bra is bigger.

It’s really ridiculous how fast November has flown by. I’m feeling more anxious than nervous at this point. I know I’m in great hands and will lovingly doted on by my wonderful family, I’m just ready to get past the really hard part.

My surgery has officially been set for November 30th WOOHOO! Just in case I needed another sign that I’m most definitely doing the right thing, the date I wanted just so happened to work perfectly for my 2 amazing and amazingly busy doctors. Signs people, they’re real and they mean stuff.

Anyway, I have my pre-op physical tomorrow then I’ll be in BIRTHDAY mode pretty much until Thanksgiving, which just so happens to also be the weekend of my 10 year high school reunion. That’s right, I’m getting a new tattoo, turning 28, celebrating my most favorite holiday (it’s all about the food), going to my reunion and then JUST IN CASE that wasn’t a busy enough month, I’m also having a double mastectomy. 

That’s right, no cancer for meeeee. The pathology came back and Gladys was just a regular old benign fibroadenoma. She did grow over a centimeter in like 3 weeks, which is bonkers.

Gladys is gone and I feel pretty good. There’s been a little bit of pain, but nothing some ice and Tylenol can’t fix.

So my lump comes out tomorrow. I’ve named her Gladys. Gladys and I are not friends.

Once they do the excision and pathology (and give the no-cancer thumbs up), they’ll be able to schedule my big surgery.