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Breast Cancer
Get the double mastectomy, but ask for a skin sparing mastectomy it will really help with the implants
Breast cancer
I just read your story and it is really to bad that none of you doctors told you about a surgery called "skin sparing" mastectomy, where the save the outer layer of your breast skin so that an implant can easily be inserted. More women with breast cancer need to ask about all options of reconstruction before having to go through what you are going through.
Breast Cancer
I want to thank you for all your updates. My wife was diagnosed last June, and I have been following your blog ever since. We are just finishing her sixth, and hopefully last chemo treatment next Monday. We just talked with the surgeon and have another appt with the plastic surgeon next week. This is the part we have been dreading. The doctors all recommend a bilteral mastectomy, which is what we're leaning toward, but it's still hard to grasp what she's in for. Best of Luck and again thanks for your updates.
-Pat
Moving On
Jodie-
Good Luck with your future beyond this disease. As a former Michigander, I was reading the News online one day, came across your blog and followed with you through the good and the bad. During the course of your postings I too was diagnosed but am thankfully nearing the end on my reconstruction too.
Moving on!
Congratulations Jodie on making another decision! I have been reading your blog now for more than 1 year and as I will definitely miss it, I want you to know that I have smiled & laughed and yes, even teared up some. You have been an inspiration to me as I know I have been to others.
It is a good feeling to know that I/we are not alone!
Good luck with your next/final surgery Monday ~ as I said before, it's a piece of cake:) It has been a very long road for you, but be patient...this also will take time.
You go girl! and .....thank you.
Implants
Very insightful , and answering difficult questions .
Good job . Are you a physiatrist yourself?
Tear drop it is
Jodie,
Congratulations on making your decision! I think you will be very happy with this decision however, as you have experienced in the past...it is not an instant fix...just be aware.
I had my implants placed on 6/26 and up until now was not real sure I had made the right decision. But just the past few days, I am starting to see and feel the difference. From the beginning, I wore sports bras but after about 4 weeks of that (and feeling flattened down), I was given permission to move onto a real bra. I never thought I would say this, "but I was so happy to wear a bra again"!
I went to V/S, had someone measure me and bing...I had the perfect fitting bra, that gave me true form:) I know eventually (if I choose to), bras will not be necessary but until then...a bra it is and boy, it makes me feel very womanily again!
So once again, be patient with ner new ta-ta's! As every thing else, it takes time.
Good luck with your surgery!
breast cancer
Jodie-
I too am a survivor, 3.5 years now. I know from my experience i have never really 'moved on'. Sure it is on my mind less as the days go by, but I think the thought of cancer will never really completely leave me. Like you, sometimes it is just a blip on the radar screen of my life, other days I feel it was the defining moment of my life. The only thing I can say now is that i am a stronger person than i was, and i really do appreciate things in a different way.
Hang in there, and your blog is wonderful.
After Cancer
Hi Jodi,
I think that everyone copes with their diagnosis differently, but I do believe that every survivor's psyche changes, inevitably, after they've gone through such an emotional and physical process. I am a much better person for having gone through the fight of my life - but I will never say that cancer was a gift. Cancer has changed my perspective and has helped give me clarity, a better focus on what really matters in life.
I was 38 years old when I was diagnosed, and I still felt too young to have cancer. I was Stage 2b, with cancer having also traveled into at least 2 of my lymph nodes. Pretty scary, to say the least, but still beatable. I had to undergo chemotherapy, two separate mastectomies, radiation, and breast reconstruction.
It is all a blur to me now. All I know is that to deal with this diagnosis, I had to think of my children and knew I had to fight with everything I had to stay alive for them. But, I also realized (being the eternal pessimist - or realist?) that cancer will do what it wants to do sometimes, no matter what you throw at it. So... I'm living life now just knowing that I did everything I could to kill this disease. I have to accept that whatever happens in the future is going to be alright. I always get antsy before another check-up. To be honest, I always turn into a raving b*tch whenever that time comes around.
The only method I've found to help me cope with that voice that's always there in the back of my head reminding me that I have/had cancer...is to convince myself that I put on my boxing gloves and fought with every fiber of muscle that I had within me to beat this monster. I did it for my children, for my husband, for my parents, for my friends, for myself. And I can live with that.
Trapped in Time
Good morning Jodie!
As my time has not been as long as yours, my 1 year of being diagnosed is coming up (8/28). I do understand however, what you are feeling.
I remember going through the period of feeling like I was camping out at the doctor's office, the cancer center or sleeping on the couch wondering "will this ever end?". And it did for a few weeks until my mastectomy...then I started all over again, wondering "will I get through this?". But as time passed, I began to feel better than wham...another surgery (implants).
It was my understanding that once the implants were put in, I would feel total relief. Well with said, some days I do and some days I don't.
As I feel great (most of the time), I still do have those thoughts and feelings of "when will I feel normal again?"
I do believe Jodie, that we all have the same feelings! You just feel like it has been a long road, very long road perhaps, with a lot of curves and bumps! One day, I know and believe, that we will all feel like a SURVIVOR and CAN and WILL share our stories to anyone who wants to listen:)
Hang in there girl! You are an awsome woman!!
PS - what did you decide on your implant style?
Caught in Time
I think the first few years are the worst. You get the news, you do the treatments, you see a zillion dr's and BC never leaves your mind. And if you do happen to shove it to the background, then it is time for another checkup and Bam, it hits you again. I have to say it gets better with time! I am now a nine year survivor, and after a year of treatments, 3 years of Tamoxifen and 5 years of Aromasin, I am done with everything and have been released by my oncologist. In a way it seems weird to not be doing something to make sure the cancer does not return, but it is also great to know the odds are in my favor of it never returning. I think once you get done with the reconstruction, you will feel like you have moved on. Every step along the way moves you a little farther!
Good luck!
Sue
More waiting, More decisions.....
Jodi,
Perhaps it was me that you read about the tear-drop implants! I did choose to do them, texture vs smooth, they are style "410MF". They are Silocone and I was told the chances of them rotating were slim because of the texture.
Of course, nothing is a guarantee!
I'm sure you will come to a decision soon. And just so you know, this surgery is a very simple one! It is out-patient, takes about 3 hours and you are up and at 'em right away.
My surgery was 6 weeks ago and am still feeling some tightness and numbing. I was told it could take up to 6months...ugh! Therefore, I am looking forward to the new year, 2010.
Wishing you the best of luck...I will continue to read your thoughts, keeping track of you.
Implants
My surgeon suggested the silicone (Gummy Bear/Teardrop shaped) implants and I trusted his judgment since he was one of the surgeons who worked on the first human face transplant here at the Cleveland Clinic. His explanation was that the other forms were less natural in feel and to the touch. Yes, there is a risk that these implants could turn, resulting in additional surgeries, but if your surgeon is skilled - there is a very low chance that this will occur.
Silicone is what is being used now. My husband's best friend is a plastic surgeon and we asked his opinion. He gave us his "personal" opinion and said that if his daughter were to have to make this choice, he would hope that she chose the silicone implants.
My surgery has been complete for over two months and I still do not think they feel "natural." But according to others, they're the best from all the choices out there.
The reality is... and I hope this doesn't sound too dour... but our breasts will never look or feel the same again. I had been in a state of denial with regard to how I thought the whole reconstruction process would turn out. The fact is, my breasts are still hard and unnatural - but they're the best I could get with what options I was given. One important note: I might also be a different case from yours, since I had a modified radical mastectomy and then had radiation prior to having an expander put in. So... my skin is still very irritated and tight. Who knows... you might be very satisfied with yours afterwards.
I hope you don't have a difficult time with this decision. The fact is, we are survivors and these are "just breasts" - right? Sometimes I have to convince myself that this is something so trivial compared to what could have happened. We should be thankful for the fact that we're alive and able to ponder and wonder and worry about which expanders to choose! =)
Good luck Jodi! *Your friend from the 3-Day... Kelly
Expanders
Jodi:
After reading your last entry, I know what you mean! I have been following you for some time now and have placed a few comments back. I will tell you, I had a bi-lateral (both) mastectomy in February and thought I would never be the same. I also then, started the expanding process...and ouch! You are right...it is not a very pleasant feeling. The pain is not a hurtful pain, just very uncomfortable...tightness to no end! I had 6 injections with a total of 440cc's and with each one, I feared the numbing process to the sight of the HUGE vile of saline to the day after. You just feel like you have 2 large lumps on your chest...hoping you don't run into anyone (or a wall for that matter), fearing that you may knock them over dead:)
I just had my implants put in...I had the new ones (not FDA approved yet, but soon to be)...I think they are H310's?? Anyway, they are the same as the ones (soon to be of the past) but they are 'tear' dropped rather than big and round! It was a very simple, easy out-patient surgery ~ about 3 hours worth. But I felt great...nothing compared to the mastectomy recovery. I would say the worst part of it was having the drainage tubes (again).
I am yet to feel total comfort and total happiness at the sight of my new breasts, but I know it will take some time. It is such a dramatic process over a very long period of time. I am yet to have my nipples built on (could not be done at the time of implant surgery due to the location of my incision), but I am hoping once that is done and complete ~ probably Septemberish, I will be feeling good again...like a new PERKY woman:)
Wishing you the best...hang in there...no punt intended!
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