Guest Blog ~ World Health Innovation Summit & Gareth Presch

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Guest Blog ~ World Health Innovation Summit & Gareth Presch I am pleased to share a guest blog from the World Health Innovation Summit and Mr. Gareth Presch .  Through the power and connection of Social Media across the globe I am pleased to present the work that Gareth is doing.  Through shared vision and outreach we are like-minded in our enthusiasm to reach communities to improve the health care experience.  Thank you Gareth for your work and for sharing this blog! Health touches us all, every sector, and we support sharing knowledge between those sectors to improve health and social care around the world – Gareth Presch It started with a tweet! – Gareth Presch Posted on October 11, 2015 by World Health Innovation Summit “Together, We Inspire” World Health Innovation Summit CIC – Community Led “Patients, Clinicians, Managers, Voluntary Sector, Education and Businesses” Supporting the sharing of knowledge to Continue Reading →

#IAmTheFaceOfBreastReconstruction

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#IAmTheFaceOfBreastReconstruction #IAmTheFaceOfBreastReconstruction.  October 21, 2015 is Breast Reconstruction Awareness Day 2015 in the United States. I have been an advocate and educator for all choices of Breast Reconstruction for just over a year since being diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time in April of 2014. I knew I was going to be faced with a double mastectomy, but, I was informed, I was educated the day I was told I had to have a mastectomy. I was told about my options for breast reconstruction by my breast surgeon. I was fortunate. This year I learned that many women are not given that information and are not as fortunate. They are not given a referral to a plastic surgeon at the time of diagnosis. But, I also found a community of women who work tirelessly to educate and inform others about what they have gone through, what choices they Continue Reading →

#NoBraDay Done the Right Way!

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#NoBraDay Done the Right Way! Today is National #NoBraDay and should be done the Right way by choosing a reason to actually project breast cancer awareness in a constructive, valuable way. Take PRMA, for example. This is a group of class act, well-trained, compassionate surgeons whose main passion is rebuilding women’s lives after breast cancer with reconstructive plastic surgery. Today, the patient liaison at their practice decided to post this info graphic using the hash tag #NoBraDay. This is valuable. This is constructive. Awareness, education and not flaunting the day in a tasteless, disrespectful way like so many have done on Social Media. Thank you PRMA for stepping up to the plate and respecting Breast Cancer Awareness Month and #NationalNoBraDay with dignity and purpose!     And Then There is This….. National No Bra day has a Face Book page and what I find most offensive about their page is Continue Reading →

#FlashbackFriday

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#FlashbackFriday and A Chance Encounter I wanted to share a chance encounter that I had yesterday and post it for #FlashbackFriday. While I was busy doing what I’ve been calling my “boots on the ground” work to promote Breast Reconstruction Awareness Day 2015, I had a fortuitous circumstance, an encounter of compassion. Tweeting in the Stairwell My Twitter account was full of activity yesterday thanks to some overwhelming support from Social Media friends and supporters. I was at the imaging center to hand out flyers for my Breast Reconstruction Awareness event. It seemed like a logical place to drop off promotional material for women getting mammograms and screenings. I took the stairwell trying to be inconspicuous and out of the way of the patients. OK, so I was also admittedly latching on to the imaging center’s WI-Fi so I could check the craziness of my Tweets coming in. It was Continue Reading →

Measuring the Breast for Breast Reconstruction

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The paper, Population Analysis of the Perfect Breast: A Morphometric Analysis, was a study done to determine current trends in what is considered the aesthetically pleasing breast shape in measuring the breast for breast reconstruction using a measurement of form (morphometric). It was a comprehensive survey study with cross-cultural opinions from men, women and plastic surgeons regarding ideal breast proportions. The consensus was a 45:55 ratio meaning; 45 percent of breast fullness lies above the nipple line and 55 percent below the nipple line. Simply stated, this measurement tool was determined by the study to be the guide in achieving the “perfect” breast shape for use by plastic surgeons.  History has shown that this perception of the perfect breast shape dates back to the sculpture of Venus de Milo discovered on the island of Melos in 1820. A Complex & Meticulous Procedure I was far from having the “perfect breast” Continue Reading →

A Letter to My DIEP Flap Sisters

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A Letter to My DIEP Flap Sisters I hear from a number of DIEP flap sisters when they are having upcoming surgery for phase one or two of breast reconstruction. Some currently have cancer. Others have gone through their cancer surgery and treatments and are at the point they can now physically proceed with DIEP flap surgery. There are those of you who are having prophylactic mastectomies due to a gene mutation and still others are ready to complete phase two and finalize their journey. There is excitement and exuberance in their comments. I am so excited I have a date for my surgery! My insurance has been accepted for my DIEP flap! My surgery is just two weeks away! I will be able to look back soon on this entire process and be able to move on! I know how you feel. I sense your anticipation in removal of Continue Reading →

October & Pink

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October is the month that you can find pink in a vast array of merchandise in every imaginable form. You find it in retail stores, on websites, the shoes of NFL football players, pink M & M’s, pink, pink and more pink. Some of the very products that slap the pink ribbon on their merchandise contain chemicals known to increase the risk and occurrence of breast cancer.  A bit unsettling, right? October vocabulary Pinktober, Pinkaholic, Pink outs, Think Pink. I think breast cancer patients who have had it with the whole pink thing might even come up with a new slogan: Pink Stinks! Don’t Forget the Guys and Be True to Blue! We all read stories about what having breast cancer does to the men and women who are diagnosed. Yes, men! Don’t forget to wear blue for the guys! You can read this blog summary of a podcast I Continue Reading →

#WorkoutWednesday

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#WorkoutWednesday Exercises Let’s call today’s blog #WorkoutWednesday. I’m back at my desk today after an amazing trip to one of my favorite places on the earth, Seattle, Washington. I was able to enjoy family and friends as well as schedule meetings and dinners to connect with more amazing women in the breast cancer and breast reconstruction community. I unpacked my week and a half’s worth of luggage as well as my “portable office” after my flight yesterday. I was amazed at how happy I was to set my laptop back up in the office space in my home or as I have fondly named it, “The She Shed”. I missed writing, blogging, researching, sharing and reaching out to the on-line community. But the face to face meetings I had last week were invaluable. There will be blogs written as follow-ups to those experiences. It was important for me to get Continue Reading →

Flying Home After DIEP Flap Breast Reconstruction

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Flying home after DIEP flap  breast reconstruction surgery has the potential of both emotional and physical impact for patients. It was for me and I’d like to share my experience with you. I recommend securing a wheelchair to get you to the gate. It was invaluable for me for two reasons. I didn’t have to worry about walking fast to my next connection and it eliminated excess swelling and pain from walking long distances at the airport. It gets you through TSA much faster, too! Physical Impact of Flying Home I highly recommend you have a travel partner for phase one of DIEP flap breast reconstruction surgery. They can do the heavier lifting for you. You will be instructed not to lift anything over ten pounds for six weeks after surgery. Lighten up the purse this one time, ladies. I suggest the following items: Detailed Instructions and Discussions with Flight Continue Reading →

Breast Cancer Patient Education Act of 2015

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The Breast Cancer Patient Education Act of 2015:  Re-introduced May 5, 2015. As stated on the Congress.Gov website: Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Department of Health and Human Services to provide for the planning and implementation of an education campaign to inform breast cancer patients anticipating surgery about the availability and coverage of breast reconstruction, prostheses, and other options, with a focus on informing patients who are members of racial and ethnic minority groups. To the Members of the 114th Congress of the United States: Close to 12% of women will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime. 2015 alone will bring an estimated 231,840 new cases of invasive breast cancer. According to statistics from Breast cancer.org 60,290 new cases of non-invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed. Surprisingly, and a little known fact, there will be approximately 2,350 new cases of invasive breast Continue Reading →