Once you receive a breast cancer diagnosis, there is much to consider and many decisions to be made. Every one crucial to your wellbeing and peace of mind. For someone like me, who finds it challenging to even decide what to have for dinner, this is a difficult time lol. One of the first things on the decision making plate is surgery; as in, what kind is right for you. And, oh my, there are options!
Types of Surgery
Firstly, I will say that for me this was my first big decision as I was able to do surgery before starting treatments. When your tumour is larger, the doctor will likely suggest chemo first to shrink it down before going into surgery. So, even though this was the path for me, it will not be what all breast cancer patients start with.
Okay, you may think there are only one or two kinds of surgery when it comes to breast cancer, choose one and your done, right? Wrong? There are options within options. You need to work with your doctors to decide what is right for you personally and what is best in regard to your diagnosis. Your decision will depend on the type of cancer you have, if you have DCIS, invasive or both, the positioning of the cancer….so many factors.
What are the options you might ask? Lumpectomy, mastectomy, bi-lateral mastectomy, with reconstruction, without reconstruction, skin sparing, nipple sparing, and with all of the info your head is spinning! Ask all of the questions and read all of the things to make an informed decision.
What did I decide?
Well with speaking to my doctor, I knew right off the bat that a lumpectomy was not really an option for me. Though my tumour was not overly large, the placement of it and the size of my breast would have made it virtually impossible to save the tissue. So that decision was easy, the full right breast had to go. But would I remove the other as well. My left breast was healthy and cancer free. This decision was more difficult, and it took me a couple of weeks to decide.
I considered a lot of things, my tumour characteristics and pathology (I fall into a higher risk group for recurrence), risk of a new cancer popping up in my left side down the road, my family history, and of course my age. I also went for genetics testing, because again, my age. The genetics testing was important because if any gene mutations come up they pretty much tell you it is definitely safer to do the full bi-lateral mastectomy. There were no mutations in my results (thank goddess!). However, after careful consideration and a lot of back and forth, I decided to go with the full bi-lateral mastectomy, skin sparing yes, nipple sparing no. Trying to kill me once is quite enough, thank you! Everything must go!
Recon or No Recon?
So there it was, I had made my first big treatment decision, and I immediately had to decide the next; reconstruction or no reconstruction. And again, my age was a thing…due to my age, my doctors had a unanimous front that I should have the reconstruction for better ‘quality of life’. This one I thought about, but it was definitely an easier decision than my first. I would have the reconstruction. After all it is hard to wear a Bellydance bra with no ta-tas! (I’m a bellydancer in my other life.)
I joke, but you have to sometimes really. It’s a laugh or cry situation and I choose laughter, I choose joy, I choose life. And yes, lots of free boob job jokes were made! Government funded boobies, woo! Not so much a boob job as a boob replacement, but you know potato, potahto. It was happening. I decided on reconstruction with tissue-expanders and will receive implants (the exchange surgery for the implants has not happened just yet). That part of the decision was based heavily on my doctor’s recommendation. There are lots of recon options (again, do your research!) and I trusted his analysis.
I have to address though, that I applaud the women who do not have reconstruction. You are brave. Our breasts do not define us, we do not need them to function. In hindsight, my recovery journey would have been a lot easier had I said no to the reconstruction, but that is for another post! A full post on my type of reconstruction will be coming soon! The process is not so transparent until you have lived it. So, the Joys of Life with Tissue Expanders, keep your eyes peeled! 😛
And then we wait…
I mentioned this in my first post on my diagnosis as well (you can read that full post HERE if you feel so inclined). There is a lot of waiting game when it comes to your treatment; waiting for appointments, scan results, pathology reports, a phone call, and of course surgery dates. And I tell you the waiting game is the pits. It’s anxiety inducing to be sure. You have to learn to keep your cool or risk driving yourself mad with scenarios, most of which will never come to fruition.
I had completed all of my pre-surgery scans, blood work and doctors’ appointments. Now it was just to wait for my surgery date. A wait that felt like forever (probably only 2 weeks in reality). I honestly thought and hoped I would have received an earlier date. Alas, I finally got it, my long awaited date! January 30th it would be. And let me tell you January was long. It felt never ending. I had to distract myself from the thought that my cancer was in there all month long, until it could finally be taken out and I could be rid of it, FOREVER!
Passing the Time
My January was spent doing many things to prepare for my surgery and basically for my new life. Which, quite frankly, was happening whether I wanted it to or not.
I spent the month getting organized, researching and googling about my disease, surgery and everything else I could think of. Probably too much to be honest. I was determined to do everything I could to take control of the situation, so to speak. I researched breast cancer diets, and eliminated anything I thought might spur on the cancer. I tried to eliminate stress, meditate, and exercise as much as I could. All of these things made me feel more in control of a situation that made me feel so very out of control. Like I had no say over my body or my life. It basically felt like my life was ripped out from under me, and there was nothing I could do about it. It seemed my new, full-time job was being a cancer patient. So yes, regaining control, big priority!
And when my surgery day finally came, I was excited, anxious, nervous, and a whole bunch of other things. Surgery day and recovery post coming soon!
Your Body is a Temple
The other thing I tried to do during that long, cold month, was enjoy and remember. Enjoy my ‘normal’ day-to-day activities and remember what it was like to be in this body. Because I knew once my surgery happened I would never feel exactly that way again and I would not feel ‘normal’ again for a very long time. Love your bodies all. Be in tune with them and appreciative. They take care of you and get you through things you likely take for granted. Your body truly is a temple. Treat it as such. You and your bodies are beautiful!
Talk to me!
Of course I want to hear from you! Are you trying to decide on your own surgery path, have you had surgery with a completely different or similar outcome as my own, were you just reading to gain knowledge of breast cancer and the treatment options? Whatever the reason, I’d love to hear it 🙂
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Blessed be for now pixie dolls.
Yours in health and magick,
Krystle xo
