Category: Travel

Whitney’s Story: Prophylactic Mastectomy and DIEP Flap Breast Reconstruction

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Our Journey personal story takes place this week with my neighbor. It is Whitney’s story of prophylactic mastectomy and DIEP flap breast reconstruction. Whitney has the genetic mutation for ATM and CHEK2 putting her at very high risk for breast cancer. She is a young woman in her mid-thirties who very much wants to be a part of her children’s’ lives. She will be having her surgery when they are one and four years old.  Whitney was the tender age of 24 when she watched her own mother die of breast cancer. She was her caregiver so her decision to undergo prophylactic mastectomy and DIEP flap has not been easy. Here is her story. A Neighbor on the Journey from Mastectomy to Breast Reconstruction I am blessed. Each day I engage with an amazing group of women on the Facebook page I administer, The Journey. When I found out Whitney Continue Reading →

Waiting for a DIEP Flap Surgery Date

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Ruth is one of over 2,400 global members of DiepCJourney Facebook group. I am honored to share her story here. The wait for her DIEP flap breast reconstruction surgery has been challenging for Ruth on many levels. She tells us her personal story and what it means waiting for a DIEP flap surgery date. Delayed DIEP Flap: The Wait Begins It was October 2014 when I received my breast cancer diagnosis. I live in a small beautiful, city tucked away in the south east corner of British Columbia. Though I was able to have a mastectomy and chemotherapy locally, unfortunately our hospital does not have the facilities to offer either radiation or reconstructive surgery. It was decided having a mastectomy would be the first course in my treatment. Opting for immediate reconstructive surgery would have meant a delay as well as travelling over 500km to Kelowna or over 800km to Continue Reading →

How to Care for the Caregiver During Your Breast Reconstruction

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How did you care for your own caregiver during your breast reconstruction? Sound a bit strange when everyone is supposed to be caring for you? Whether you choose to have autologous (using your own tissue) or implant-based breast reconstruction, you will need caregivers to help with the following at the very least. Taking you to hospital and staying in communication with the surgical team until you are back in your room to recover. Driving you home, fixing meals, driving, and performing general household responsibilities. Patients voice concerns about their own caregivers for their breast reconstruction surgery. I want to share some tips from my own DIEP flap breast reconstruction surgery. I will also share suggestions discussed on The Journey Facebook group. These gals have some helpful hints based on their own experience. Should a Caregiver Remain at the Hospital All Day for Your DIEP Flap? Spending long hours waiting in Continue Reading →

The Role of Caregiver in Breast Reconstruction: Expectations vs. Reality

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The Role of Caregiver in Breast Reconstruction: Expectations vs. Reality I am honored to present my son, Rich, and the plastic surgeon, Dr. Minas Chrysopoulo, who performed my DIEP flap breast reconstruction. The video in this blog is a great conversation between the two men. We sat down together recently at Plastic Surgery the Meeting 2018, in Chicago. The two men had never met before the conference. But, they felt they knew enough about each other to have a very comfortable conversation regarding the role of care giver in breast reconstruction. The Caregiver Meets the Surgeon I planned a surprise meeting of these two gentlemen the evening we arrived in Chicago for the conference. I walked into a restaurant we arranged to meet at for dinner and Rich waited around the corner in order to surprise Dr. C. I went in first to greet Dr. C and give him a Continue Reading →

DIEP flap Breast Reconstruction: Value of a Team Approach

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DIEP flap Breast Reconstruction: Value of a Team Approach Researching a highly skilled, board certified microsurgeon is the first and most important step in your DIEP flap breast reconstruction process. But what additional criteria might you look for? After having a detailed, shared decision-making conversation with my breast surgeon, I soon realized in DIEP flap breast reconstruction there was great value in a team approach. There are microsurgeons who work as a team during DIEP flap breast reconstruction for a variety of reasons. After my double mastectomy I researched several plastic surgeons across the United States viewing their websites to find those who work as a team. I wanted both team members, the microsurgeons, to be highly skilled and have a high rate of success.  There is other criteria I have listed on my resource page under the heading, “Board Certified Plastic Surgeons by Region”. These suggestions should also be Continue Reading →

1900 Patients Share Stories About Breast Reconstruction

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Three short years ago in the summer of 2015, I opened a Facebook page dedicated to serve the breast reconstruction community. The Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/groups/diepcjourney/ grew organically by word of mouth. We started out small, as so many new social media sites do. It is growing daily and now 1900 Patients Share Stories About Breast Reconstruction. What Do We Share? Think about this. You have just been diagnosed with breast cancer. Now you face the tsunami of information about to flood your brain; lab reports and waiting on results, treatment options, surgery, lumpectomy, mastectomy. Some days you feel overwhelmed, depressed, anxious, or even jubilant. Who will understand all these feelings? Who do I talk to who has been on this Journey? Think about this. You are told your best treatment option is to have a mastectomy. Perhaps, for peace of mind, you decide to have a prophylactic mastectomy because you Continue Reading →

I Had DIEP Flap. Do You Know What That Is?

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I Had DIEP Flap. Do You Know What That Is? Picture this scenario. You walk into a physician or health care provider’s office after having DIEP flap breast reconstruction. They ask you to discuss your current health and why you came into the office for a visit. A standard question, right?  You are in a gown sitting on the exam table with only your underwear on under the gown. You know they are going to do a full exam and ask you to open the gown. Before they begin the exam, you say, “I had DIEP flap. Do you know what that is?” The answer is often one of two replies, “Oh yes, I see. You had a TRAM Flap.” Or, “No, I have no idea what a DIEP flap is.” This is when the education begins. The physician says, “Well, let’s take a look.” I open my gown and Continue Reading →

What Do Breast Cancer and BRCA Friends Share in Common?

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I know that Heather Barnard and I share a lot in common! We are both educators. Breast cancer has affected Heather and me. Heather and I have had a mastectomy. Heather and I had breast reconstruction. We both write blogs about our breast reconstruction experience. Finally, and most coincidentally, we had the same plastic surgeon perform our breast reconstruction. What makes our friendship unique? We have never met in person. Heather and I live over 9,000 miles apart. Our shared commonalities, however, have bridged those miles and made us friends. Her Twitter handle says it all, @expattravelmom. She teaches in Singapore and in her off time travels extensively with her husband and three great children. I had my DIEP flap breast reconstruction in December of 2014. Heather had a prophylactic mastectomy with immediate implant breast reconstruction in June of 2015. Dr. Chrysopoulo was our connection. Heather would message me asking Continue Reading →

Waiting for Authorization for Breast Reconstruction

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Waiting for Authorization for Breast Reconstruction It can take enormous patience for breast cancer patients who are waiting for authorization for their breast reconstruction procedure. I was once there. Now I am an advocate for all options of breast reconstruction after mastectomy. I interact with patients daily. Many times, their questions are a catalyst for topics to write a blog. Amplifying our voices to educate is part of patient advocacy responsibility. I recently received an email from a patient who was denied coverage for a revision phase of her reconstruction. Her plastic surgeon even wrote an appeal, but it was still denied. She reached out to me for help and suggestions about what to do. I take a deep breath when I get these emails and step out of my breast cancer survivor role and put on my patient advocate hat. I don’t want to offer false hope, but I Continue Reading →

DIEP flap Breast Reconstruction: Did I make the right choice?

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YES! I did make the right choice having DIEP flap breast reconstruction! Each December marks another year and anniversary of my DIEP flap surgery. I remember so much about the dark, cool, morning we left for the hospital, feeling calm, prepared, and ready on December 1, 2014. The time between my double mastectomy in mid-May of 2014 and my breast reconstruction were some of the most trying days of my life. In 2002, after my first breast cancer diagnosis, I had been through 2 surgeries, eighteen weeks of chemotherapy followed by six weeks of daily radiation. This was physically demanding because I was so sick and felt so weak. Fast forward twelve years to 2014. Waiting for my breast reconstruction was psychologically trying. Each month that passed after my double mastectomy only decreased my self-image as a woman due to the loss of my breasts and seeing myself in the Continue Reading →