The All Done Club

In the world of BRCA mutants there is a little thing called "The All Done Club"

I am now happily a member.  

It means you have decided to have surgery to prevent dying from hereditary breast and ovarian cancers by having your Ovaries, Fallopian Tubes and Breasts removed.

Once your surgeries are finished you are "All Done"

None of that is easy on the best of days.

I made a few detours on my way to the all done club by being diagnosed with stage 1 fallopian tube cancer.  So being "All Done" almost had a whole other meaning.

As in DONE.

Not going to lie, that haunts me and will continue to haunt me everyday.  

But the best part of the "All Done Club"

is just that...I am finished with all this cancer business and ready to move on with my life after 2 years worth of detours and frankly, huge personal growth.

I am not the person I used to be.

Cancer has aged me.  I'll admit it.  I don't take my life for granted anymore.  I'm just happy to be here!

I am still recovering from diep flap surgery.  I hit a little detour there as well.  I developed a hematoma on one breast.  But it is resolving nicely, just not as quickly as I'd like.

I'm also looking at my first mother's day without my mom.

Geez, I can't even type that without tearing up.

I guess it's all just part of the journey

Humpty Dumpty

 

I am 10 days out from Diep Flap Surgery.  That is where they take your lower abdominal fat to reconstruct breasts after a mastectomy.  I knew it was going to be a hard surgery, but it was maybe even more so than I thought.  My recovery so far has gone well.  But with 3 large incisions and 4 JP drains I have to admit I feel a lot like Humpty Dumpty after the fall.

Stranger still, my new body.  My stomach is now flatter than it was when I was 16.  I think my belly button seems about 2 inches higher...probably because my excess belly was ...much lower?

At any rate, I'm sure it will become the new normal.  I will like it.  But right now it feels like yet another new normal to adjust to.  Admittedly I am just really tired of feeling sick in any way shape or form.  

So that's what I've been up to.  Recovering, yet again.  Hanging on the couch, spending time with my family and catching up on some Netflix series' I've been meaning to watch. 

So pardon my wine...I'll go get some cheese.

We Can Rebuild Her...We Have The Technology

T-3 Days till I have Breast Reconstruction using Diep Flap Surgery

So many feelings...

Joy! No more feeling like I have a plastic plate embedded in my chest (bye bye expanders)

OMG! I'm going to have a Tummy Tuck

Ugh...Surgery/Meds/feeling like crap, again

WHOA...8 hours of surgery followed by 2 days in ICU

Gag/YIPPEE...12 weeks out of work

I am very torn between feeling a bit like the Bride of Frankenstein 

and 

Jaime Sommers The Bionic Women

 I think I will lean more towards the Bionic Women...since she was smart AND pretty.

I also had my 15 month Gyn Oncology appointment which was all good.

In a way I feel like I see a light at the end of the tunnel, or perhaps the tunnel just got more light?