My surgery is fast approaching....only 5 more days! When I was so weak from my chemo I was so dreading it, thinking I just couldn't take one more thing! But that was the chemo speaking! Now that I'm past the chemo and getting stronger, my "fight" is back and I'm ready to get that cancer out of my body and kick it's butt!!!!
The part that has me the most apprehensive is the reconstruction. I've had 3 major surgeries that cut every muscle in my stomach (up and down), so this is not my first rodeo. To be honest, I can't imagine this surgery to be worse than that....other than the disfiguring of my body. But, it won't be cutting through a bunch of my muscles! If you've never had the muscles in your stomach cut, you just can't imagine it! And you can't imagine how much you use those stomach muscles....for EVERYTHING! So, I figure I can do this surgery.
But, the reconstruction is a process that begins at the same time as my masectomy, but the whole process can take up to a year! The first 3-6 months will be spent filling the tissue expander that they place behind my muscle. They will fill it every 2 weeks with saline.
I've "heard" there can be quite a bit of pain involved (or as doctors like to call it......discomfort...that DOES sound better, doesn't it? LOL) Anyway, now that I'm feeling better and stronger from chemo, I have been doing some google searches and even found some YouTube videos of women going through the process and it's helped so much to put my mind at ease. I keep reminding myself that I tend to have a higher tolerance for pain than most. I CAN DO THIS!!!!
Here are a series of photos that show the process (nothing gory, but nudity involved).
http://www.psinteractive.net/te1.htm
This will show the reconstruction journey that I will soon be taking....except I will be doing both breasts! I've opted for the "immediate reconstruction" because I knew it would be "now or never"! It's much easier when you HAVE to have surgery rather than do it voluntarily later...LOL! I'll just keep my eye on the prize....PERKY Cs....LOL!
I do feel much better about all of this after the videos I've watched and the research on Google. I couldn't bring myself to watch an actual filmed masectomy....too gory for me!
While going through the YouTube videos, I found this one that was just filmed in Texas in June and I loved it, so wanted to share it with you. It made that "fight like a girl" well up inside of me! I wanted to join them in that mall and dance with them! These kind of things just inspire me to fight, fight, fight....
I WILL SURVIVE!!!
Until next time....whatever you're going through, be a fighter!
I've "heard" there can be quite a bit of pain involved (or as doctors like to call it......discomfort...that DOES sound better, doesn't it? LOL) Anyway, now that I'm feeling better and stronger from chemo, I have been doing some google searches and even found some YouTube videos of women going through the process and it's helped so much to put my mind at ease. I keep reminding myself that I tend to have a higher tolerance for pain than most. I CAN DO THIS!!!!
Here are a series of photos that show the process (nothing gory, but nudity involved).
http://www.psinteractive.net/te1.htm
This will show the reconstruction journey that I will soon be taking....except I will be doing both breasts! I've opted for the "immediate reconstruction" because I knew it would be "now or never"! It's much easier when you HAVE to have surgery rather than do it voluntarily later...LOL! I'll just keep my eye on the prize....PERKY Cs....LOL!
I do feel much better about all of this after the videos I've watched and the research on Google. I couldn't bring myself to watch an actual filmed masectomy....too gory for me!
While going through the YouTube videos, I found this one that was just filmed in Texas in June and I loved it, so wanted to share it with you. It made that "fight like a girl" well up inside of me! I wanted to join them in that mall and dance with them! These kind of things just inspire me to fight, fight, fight....
I WILL SURVIVE!!!
Until next time....whatever you're going through, be a fighter!
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