To my friends, Dana and Colleen, at Life it Up 365:

I found your website, “Life it Up 365” in late July of this year. After reading it I had an idea for my own private Face Book page. I wrote a blog entitled, “Breast Cancer, Breast Reconstruction & New Challenges”. I posted it to my private Face Book page with this comment:

What have you done as a result of your cancer diagnosis or finding that you are BRCA positive? Have you tried something new? Has it been fun, frightening or both? Share your story with us at the Journey in a brief comment response. I will compile your responses into another blog and share them with Dana and Colleen at Life It Up 365 in early September.

I didn’t get as many responses as I thought I might but the ones I did receive from my members are valuable and priceless so I wanted to share them with you, Dana and Colleen, to see the positive effect of your “one big dare”. Here are the separate entries.

From Jessica

Dec 29, 2014 a day I will never forget. Stage 2 invasive ductal carcinoma. Never in a million years would I think I would ever have cancer! My Journey hasn’t been an easy one, depression, sickness from chemo and whole lot of “why me” filled my head! Determined to not let cancer defeat me, I shared my “Journey” with everyone I could in the hopes of inspiring other women with and without cancer. I was a marathon runner prior to my diagnose, but was not able to keep training during chemo. I exercised as much as I could and starting doing yoga. I found my inner peace and stopped asking “why”. Today I am almost 8 weeks post op and decided it would be the start of training for another marathon in December. I oiled my rusty legs and grabbed a friend and hit the pavement! 3.34 miles today, and hope to hit 6 miles by September! With determination, the will to live and a whole lot of support, I will cross that finish line once again! As a good friend would say to me “Jess you are not a worrier, you are a warrior”!

From Diana

I think what I have done different since I was diagnosed for the second time with breast cancer is to be much more open with friends and family about my surgeries and treatments. I have encouraged lots of friends and family members to do their monthly self exams and to get their yearly mammograms. I was fortunate to be able to use the same imaging center for sixteen years where they always had my records and were able to compare. I was able to use the same breast surgeon during that time. So my records were always accessible. Upon my second diagnosis I felt comfortable with the plastic surgeon practice that my surgeon suggested. That practice is PRMA in San Antonio. Dr. Jessica Belz, the newest surgeon in the practice in 2014, did my bilateral DIEP Flap procedure.  She left the practice before I had the revision procedures completed. I struggled with having to change plastic surgeons. I chose Dr. Chrysopoulo to complete my revisions and nipple constructions. Dr. C was aware that I was struggling with having to change to a different plastic surgeon in the middle of my journey but he made me feel more comfortable about the change. I am still in the process and waiting for my tattooing.

I have shown my new breasts to any female family, friend, or acquaintance who was interested in seeing what I was having done. I know that must sound weird, but I feel like others might be interested in seeing what can be done when you are diagnosed with breast cancer and are faced with having a bilateral mastectomy.

From Carla

I don’t have anything new I am trying but rather am going back to what I loved doing before Breast Cancer derailed me. I used to volunteer at The Saddle Center for Therapeutic Horsemanship helping special needs children ride horses. It was a love of mine that I looked forward to doing every single week. Just seeing the difference in the children’s progress week after week truly brought joy to my heart. I also dug out a manuscript that I was working on that I had put away. It is about children with special needs and how horse therapy (also known as Hippotherapy in the industry) helps these children with Autism, Down syndrome and lots of other disabilities. The book is inspired from working with these children. I am going to start back at the ranch when school starts in a couple of weeks and am working on the book now!

From Cheryl S

After my diagnosis, I had to acknowledge that BC was something I was not going to be able to do alone. Asking for help is new for me, accepting it even more so. Weird as it sounds, my ex-husband’s new wife (we’ve been divorced 20 yrs, he just remarried) was one of the first people I turned to. She survived stage 3 triple negative BC three years ago. In talking to her and to him, I finished healing the rift that had been between us for so long. In fact, they drove to Texas from California to spend 2 weeks taking care of me after surgery. Since they’ve already been through it, and she has medical training, I couldn’t ask for better caregivers.

From Heather:

I wrote two children’s books.  (As an added note, Heather tested positive for the BRCA gene and decided to have a prophylactic mastectomy with reconstruction.)

And then there was this…..

A discussion started on the Face Book post one evening. Without posting the names from the discussion here is what took place:

Comment: Colleen Bokor = Rock Star

Response: Who is Colleen Bokor?

Comment: Do you know her Dr. David Song?

Response: She is my patient and inspiration

And with that, Colleen and Dana, I thank you for inspiring these women on their own Journey, to share how they have been changed by a cancer diagnosis and how they “Life it Up”.

Continue to inspire, continue to have fun, fill that bucket ~ list or no list and… “Life it Up”!!

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.