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Creating Community to Promote Shared Decision-Making

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Throughout ancient history, we have gathered in communities to share stories. Stories change lives, change communities by connecting us with familiar human experiences. They can also elicit a call to action. Think back to a moment sitting around a family table, campfire, or standing on a neighborhood corner listening to someone’s story. Did it leave you with a lasting memory, provoke personal change, or inspire a call to action changing the trajectory of your purpose in life? How do we measure the value of creating community to promote shared decision-making? Authoring My Own Story Became My Call to Action My life changed by sharing my own story. I began writing a blog in early 2015 about my second breast cancer diagnosis that occurred in April of 2014. Seven months after a double mastectomy I had successful DIEP flap breast reconstruction using my own tissue. My surgery was performed by a Continue Reading →

WHIS Talks: Global Healthcare Thought Leaders Discuss Patient Empowerment and Shared Decisions

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Can we take concepts in healthcare and make them customary practice to improve patient care and outcomes by advancing patient empowerment and shared decisions? I invite you to consider this question yourself after watching the video and reading the summary from this session of WHIS Talks as global thought leaders discuss patient empowerment and shared decisions. Terri Coutee: Nonprofit Leadership and Shared Decisions I am a two-time breast cancer survivor who had successful DIEP flap breast reconstruction. As a trained ESL instructor turned nonprofit leader after my second breast cancer diagnosis, I appreciate the need for clear communication and understanding of language. In cancer care, patients must quickly absorb concepts and terms they have no knowledge of or intended to know about. Curating communities and discussion based on evidence-based medicine is an important aspect of cultivating the patient process helping them to understand the plethora of terms to use in Continue Reading →

Episode 16: Options for Breast Reconstruction after Mastectomy

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When a person faces a mastectomy due to breast cancer, they have options to reconstruct their breasts. The options include using an implant, using the patients own tissue, or choosing to remain flat with aesthetic flat closure. Dr. Steven Pisano of PRMA, Plastic Reconstructive Microsurgical Associates, in San Antonio, Texas discusses all the options for breast reconstruction after mastectomy in Episode 16 of the DiepCJourney podcast. The Voice of an Expert in Breast Reconstruction after Mastectomy Dr. Pisano is one of the original founders of PRMA in San Antonio. He started the practice in 1994 with partner Dr. Peter Ledoux to serve the San Antonio area with general breast reconstruction surgery. Since that time, they will be on track by the end of 2021 to perform over ten thousand flap breast reconstruction surgeries for patients from all over the world. They now have a team of eight highly skilled microsurgeons Continue Reading →

A Home for the Breast Cancer Quilt

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I first encountered DiepC Journey ~ Breast Reconstruction after Mastectomy Facebook group when researching my options for prophylactic measures due to carrying a BRCA1 gene mutation. I instantly connected with the vibe of the group. What a wealth of information! If you know the founder of DiepC Foundation and the accompanying Facebook group, Terri Coutee, you will know just how welcoming, no-nonsense, and warm she is in all her advice and education pieces. She works to give each member a personalized experience when interacting with her foundation and page and she has helped countless woman and men dealing with breast cancer or breast cancer risk. Terri and I clicked, we’re both in the Pacific Northwest, shared a mutual friend, and both chose the same reconstruction—DIEP flap (using tissue from the belly.) We even made a video together. My Breast Cancer Journey to a Twist But! Here’s where the twist comes Continue Reading →

Global Collaboration and Learning on the Topic of Breast Reconstruction

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Collaboration is defined as an action working together with someone to produce or create something. My chosen profession is education. Working with my team in school districts to share ideas exhilarated me. Now, as a nonprofit leader and Founder of DiepCFoundation, I frequently experience global collaboration and learning on the topic of breast reconstruction. Developing a Community of Collaboration Our geographic world is expansive but our ability to collaborate is only an email, text, or message away. When I opened the DiepCJourney private Facebook page, often referred to by members as “The Journey” in the summer of 2015, I had no idea the global relationships that would develop on this page, let alone the other social media accounts I use for the Foundation. The need for education, support, and resources for all options of breast reconstruction after mastectomy continues. I witness this every day on “The Journey”. I set the Continue Reading →

Twenty Years: My Memories of 9/11 and What I Didn’t Know

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When dates in your life approach on the calendar emotions arise. The events of 9/11 still have great impact on the world. While speaking to friends this week, on the twentieth anniversary of 9/11, we recall exactly where we were and what we were doing the morning we heard the news. Twenty years, my memories of 9/11, and what I didn’t know are told in this blog. Where Were You When You Heard the News on 9/11? September of 2001 brought exciting new beginnings for us. We were new residents to Texas having moved from Seattle to a town north of Houston in the summer of that year. It was a beautiful, warm, fall morning in Texas. Our youngest son was a few blocks away safely tucked in his classes at middle school. My husband was an hour’s drive away in Houston, a large city where the oil and gas Continue Reading →

Episode 18: Breast Cancer, the Patient Voice in Social Media

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Sharing your story as a breast cancer survivor on social media requires authenticity, creativity, vulnerability with keen knowledge of navigating the responsibility of telling stories that benefit the reader. I have learned a lot from my guest on episode 18, breast cancer, and the patient voice in social media with Marie Ennis O’Connor. She guides many breast cancer writers as a social media consultant, keynote speaker, and digital storyteller. Her creative work can be found at Journeying Beyond Breast Cancer. Marie’s work spans the globe, and her impact creating a cross continental family of writers is immeasurable. I am excited to share the summary of the DiepCJourney podcast for her presentation, The Weekly Roundup, on Twitter. How Marie Began to Use her Patient Voice Marie was diagnosed with breast cancer in her early thirties. The two myths she faced and shares with us are: She only knew breast cancer to Continue Reading →

Episode 15: Lymphedema Treatment and Surgery

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Lymphedema. It is not a disease. It is a condition breast cancer patients can experience. Skill, knowledge, expertise, experience, and compassionate care all matter when you are seeking any treatment for lymphedema. Our guest, Dr. Ramon Garza III, is well-qualified to discuss the topic of lymphedema treatment and surgery and possesses all of those characteristics. This is Episode 15 of the DiepCJourney podcast. Dr. Garza is a board certified plastic surgeon in San Antonio who practices at PRMA (Plastic Reconstructive Microsurgical Associates) and performs both surgical and non-surgical treatment for those affected by lymphedema. We discuss the value of finding a certified lymphedema therapist. You can search the LANA website for one in your area.  Understanding the Lymphatic System When Considering Treatment and Surgery The function of the lymphatic system is to move excess fluid out of our bodies. It works in unison with the immune system. It is the mismanagement of fluid that causes lymphedema. Continue Reading →

The Extraordinary Gift of the Breast Cancer Butterfly Quilt

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Breast cancer bonds you to humankind in the most curious and unexpected ways. You may never have had these opportunities were it not for a diagnosis and Journey through breast cancer. My life has been extraordinarily blessed by these unintended connections. A connection may be in person or through social media channels where I have had conversations with those who themselves have been diagnosed. This is one of those connections and story of the extraordinary gift of the breast cancer butterfly quilt. DiepCFoundation.org is the nonprofit organization I opened in 2016 after my own successful DIEP flap breast reconstruction. I knew the need to educate and provide support was a dire need for those affected by breast cancer and loss of breast and why I began the Foundation. The mission of the Foundation continues. This year, the summer of 2021, we celebrate the beginning of our sixth year of serving Continue Reading →

Episode 11: Decorative and Restorative Tattoos for Breast Cancer Patients

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Eric Eye is our guest on Episode 11 discussing decorative and restorative tattoos for breast cancer patients on the DiepCJourney podcast. He is a trained visual artist who performs 3D nipple and areola tattoos for patients who have had mastectomy and breast reconstruction after breast cancer. His work can be found on his Instagram account as well as his Facebook page. He is located in Seattle, Washington but Eric has traveled to other locations to provide services for breast cancer patients. Bringing Art to Life in Decorative and Restorative Tattoos The story of how he transitioned from years of experience in tattooing to providing restorative tattoos for breast cancer patients is a touching one. What are restorative tattoos? Eric’s work includes beautiful and artistic drawings covering a mastectomy or breast reconstruction scar. This can be across the breast area or an abdominal scar from DIEP flap surgery. They are most Continue Reading →