A 3-year Anniversary: Blogging About Breast Reconstruction

I am celebrating a 3-year anniversary blogging about breast reconstruction on March 17, 2018.

When Did I Begin Blogging About Breast Reconstruction?

It began as a cathartic experience after having successful DIEP flap surgery in early December of 2014. While I was at home healing, the events and challenges I faced the year after a second breast cancer diagnosis began to flood my thoughts daily. I put my M.Ed. program on hold to focus on my health. I met with a friend and artist in early January, 2015. We sat down together and planned two things; the artistic backdrop and platform for my blog on WordPress and an opening date, March 17, 2015. We are both Irish and it was a good goal. We met many times afterward to hammer out details. We hit our target date and celebrated together over a pint of Guinness.

Why Did I Begin Blogging About Breast Reconstruction?

The research classes I took during the year I started back to obtain my M.Ed. gave me the tools needed to research. Through research, I found out less than 25% of women and men are given their options for breast reconstruction at the time of a diagnosis and hearing the words they will be losing their breasts. That is the answer to why I blog about breast reconstruction. I am very aware it is a personal choice. However, as an educator, my job has always been to empower those I teach, young or old, with the education to make informed decisions. This time, it was about how to make a decision to reconstruct your breasts or not after being affected by breast cancer. Now I am fueled by those who reach out to me for more information. Just last week a woman in East Africa read my blog and was looking for resources for her own breast reconstruction. Yes! You can make global impact if you stay the course and keep at it. The emotional impact of being diagnosed is difficult enough to process. People look to those who have lived the experience but also reach out to assist and help through the maze of decisions. Blogging has given me that humble privilege.

Where Did I Begin Blogging about Breast Reconstruction?

I began blogging in my office at home. This is where I continue to write. In many ways, it has become my dream job. After years in the classroom I dreamed how nice it would be to work from the comfort of my home. I never feel alone. I connect my blog to the widely used social media outlets; Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google Plus, and even opened a closed Facebook page. It now has over 1,600 members and is growing daily. I schedule phone calls, personal meetings with patients and physicians, and attend medical conferences related to breast reconstruction and breast cancer, all because of typing the first words to my blog in my home office.

How Did I Begin Blogging About Breast Reconstruction?

By the grit of my teeth! If you have a notion to start blogging about anything, be prepared to fall on your face a few times. It will be difficult at first. You will have critics for a variety of reasons. They will analyze your content, your choice of words, the accuracy of your thoughts, and even punctuation errors you poured over for hours and missed. Stay the course. No lesson in life is ever learned the easy way. It was true for me when I began blogging. I learn so much from so many fine bloggers. One group who championed the beginning of my blogging days was, “Should I blog?” started by the phenomenal work of Rebecca Hogue. She was patient and an extraordinary mentor to me in those teeth grinding early days of learning about Word Press, content, accuracy, and staying true to the authentic patient experience. We have remained friends and blogging colleagues. She reminded me in a conversation the other day what we are doing is important to patients and health care professionals. She said, “We must move the dialogue forward.”

When Do I Blog About Breast Reconstruction?

I try to write one blog each week. It doesn’t always happen because I have a life outside of my patient advocacy work. Some of the best advice I was given before I started my first blog was from a friend. She told me if I was serious about starting and continuing a blog, I should make a list of 50 topics. I responded, “Fifty topics! Are you serious?”

Now I know why. Blogging, if you are going to make an impact, should be done once a week. Thus, the fifty topics. Oddly enough, it was easy for me to come up with the list. I try to write when I am fresh; in the morning, cup of coffee in hand! I have weeks, like any writer, when I’m fatigued, and the thoughts and ideas seem to be dried up. Give yourself the privilege of taking a break. Your readers will thank you.

Who Do I Thank for My Passion to Write About Breast Reconstruction?

My husband ~ Oh if you could only have been there the night we were at happy hour and I told him I was changing course from my M.Ed. to becoming a blogger. The days of watching me spend countless hours at work blogging and ultimately opening the Foundation  have tried our patience on several occasions. He has been there as my personal at home “Geek squad” when I have computer glitches. He stands quietly by the sidelines and lets me get my job done, even if it means days of being alone when I travel for my advocacy work.

Our oldest son ~ He asks me frequently about my work with great interest. He sits down and helps me hammer out spread sheets to organize the business portion of blogging and my Foundation. The best thing he ever said to me was his response to how much exposure and growth my blog was receiving. He looked at me and said, “Mom, open a Foundation. Own your worth!” I’ve never forgotten those words. He was a catalyst and inspiration in the opening of the Foundation that was a result of the blog.

Our youngest son ~ My web expert guru!  When I needed help with layout, design looks, functionality, or when I couldn’t figure it out myself, I’d have a chat with him. The best moment was the pink ribbon design he made for me and I still use to this day in my blogs. He shares my fundraisers on his social media pages and always lets me know he’s so proud of what I’m doing.

Finally, and last but not least, as they say…

My plastic surgeon ~ Many wonder why I mention Dr. Minas Chrysopoulo so frequently in my blogs. Well, he did a damn good job of rebuilding my breasts for starters! He’s a social media beast and tweets out my content and what’s not to like about that? But, what I have learned from this man is the sheer determination to carry on this mission. I have learned being an outlier is O.K. Not everyone is always going to agree with us. I have learned to listen longer, respond more carefully, and honor those we serve with humility and compassion out of a true sense of urgency to make a difference in the lives we touch. Thank you, Kind Sir!

Today I have gone way over the suggested 500 words for a blog. So be it. Today I celebrate …

A 3-year Anniversary of Blogging About Breast Reconstruction.

Disclaimer

References made to my surgical group, surgeon and healthcare team are made because they are aligned with my values and met my criterion after I did research of their practices and success rates. Any other healthcare provider that displays the same skill, compassion education and outreach to patients will be given consideration and recognition on this website.  The information contained on this website is not a substitute for or should be construed as medical advice. Please consult a licensed physician for medical advice.