{"id":45689,"date":"2024-07-02T06:27:08","date_gmt":"2024-07-02T13:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.orderlyrandomness.com\/blog\/?p=45689"},"modified":"2024-07-09T08:17:30","modified_gmt":"2024-07-09T15:17:30","slug":"oo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.orderlyrandomness.com\/blog\/2024\/07\/02\/oo\/","title":{"rendered":"(o)(o)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Good Morning! How is everyone? I’m on the mend. Some of you know that I’ve recently had surgery for breast cancer- invasive ductal carcinoma in my left breast. I wanted to share my experience so far, though it may be TMI for some of you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I was newly diagnosed in January, the treatment suggested for me was lumpectomy, oncoplasty, radiation and possibly chemo, depending on the outcome of the tumor testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had SO MANY questions. Initially the most basic: How did I get it? Why did I get it? (No doubt a common question HBs ask the universe when it happens to them.) I didn’t believe it. I didn’t feel sick (just some lower back pain that was on and off for almost a year). All of a sudden it looked like another annus horribilis, following right behind my mother’s last breath the last quarter of 2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to being diagnosed, I was living an unhappy life. I had moved to the East Bay after being in Marin for 32 years. Although my job was a short commute and I had secure parking, I hated the energy in downtown Oakland. I didn’t like going into the office. I didn’t really have any close friends in Contra Costa. Thinking about my aftercare after surgery, and what that all looked like based on the info I had, and the 5 year tracking with the oncologist, I knew I couldn’t stay in California for treatment. Once I made the decision, I amazingly relocated in three weeks (how, I know not; it was a world wind and I did it alone), but I knew I needed to started making appointments with doctors in Florida. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The surgical oncologist I met with in Florida suggested the same plan of treatment as I was offered in California but she also let me know about other options (mastectomy with or without reconstruction). Mastectomy would negate the need for radiation; I also would not need future mammograms. (I had dense breasts and would always need to have an ultrasound follow-up after any mammogram.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I met with the plastic surgeon, I asked him about the lumpectomy and oncoplasty (he basically folds tissue around the incision area to “reform the area” to have less distorted shape). He could put an implant in, but not until after radiation because radiation further shrinks tissue. He could also do a mastectomy on the left breast. I was thinking, how would my right boob compare to the left, what would it look like after all that? Would I have to pay out of pocket for the right breast if I opted to have them match? That surgeon was the only one who told me about the Women’s Health and Cancer Rights Act<\/a>. Insurance has to cover symmetry!<\/p>\n\n\n

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After learning about everything, I determined radiation was bad. Often times it causes cancer down the road. It is very hard on the body. I didn’t want to do mammograms anymore; I wanted to reduce my chance of breast cancer in the future; I wanted great looking boobs at the end of it all. I decided a double mastectomy with reconstruction was the way for me. Neither surgeon blinked an eye or questioned me about my decision – they said great and moved forward with a schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After I had the surgery, the surgical oncologist told me the right breast (without cancer) had abnormal cells detected. They were not currently cancer but were markers for future cancer. She said I definitely made the right decision. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I met with my plastic surgeon, he also told me I had made the right decision. He said if his mother had my type of breast cancer, he would have recommended to her exactly what I did. He said radiation was very bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neither of these doctors initially told me this was the best route. They both told me the recommended insurance course of treatment. Thank the Goddess, I investigated it all and made my own decision. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I turned down saving the nipples, and nipple reconstruction. It just leads to more complications with recovery, and additional scars. Did you know they do 3-D nipple tattooing <\/a>now? It looks pretty good. <\/p>\n\n\n

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I’m considering not doing the the nipple work, as I’m leaning towards just tattooing the whole area, similar to the below, to get all the scars covered:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Ladies, and those that love them, I want you to know that you do have options. Do your research. What the medical community initially offers may not be the best course for you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My next hurdle: trying to make a decision on taking the endocrine disruptor medicine they are suggesting I stay on for FIVE YEARS. The side effects are no joke. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed among women in the United States. It is the 2nd leading cause of death from cancer among women. Only lung cancer kills more women each year. And note, even though black woman do not get breast cancer as frequently as white women, they suffer a higher rate of death. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you for reading my story. I wish you all healthy boobs! <\/p>\n\n\n

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I am SOOO looking forward to never wearing a bra again!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thank you for reading today's post. \r\nHave an InterStellar Day! ~PrP <\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Good Morning! How is everyone? I’m on the mend. Some of you know that I’ve recently had surgery for breast cancer- invasive ductal carcinoma in my left breast. I wanted to share my experience so far, though it may be … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,1978,9,734],"tags":[2368,2372,2371,2374],"class_list":["post-45689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gender","category-health","category-medical","category-uncategorized-ar","tag-breast-cancer","tag-breast-reconstruction","tag-plastic-surgery","tag-tattooing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orderlyrandomness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orderlyrandomness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orderlyrandomness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orderlyrandomness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orderlyrandomness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.orderlyrandomness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45689\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orderlyrandomness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orderlyrandomness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orderlyrandomness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}