In February 2009, 8 months after diagnosis and 5 weeks after finishing chemotherapy, I underwent a prophylactic bilateral mastectomy with immediate TRAM flap reconstruction. I was in surgery for 11 hours and in the hospital for 1 week. The recovery was much more difficult than I had anticipated and the pain much more severe. I [...]
August 2009: I should never have had radiation. Toward the end of my chemotherapy, I went to see a radiation oncologist for an initial consultation. We discussed my cancer and the genetic attributes. I told him I was planning on undergoing an oopherectomy and bilateral mastectomy. He explained that my case was not clear-cut, due [...]
My cancer saved my mom’s life, even though it almost killed her. That’s how she feels, anyway. She does, however, have a valid point. She was diagnosed in 2002, at 52 years of age. No one talked about genetic testing then. No one talked about red flags. Because she was diagnosed after 50, it was [...]