We are Journey Strong! #IWD2018. We are Journey Strong and today we celebrate each other on #IWD2018! On the red carpet, we aren’t the ones wearing black dresses in protest. In the streets, we aren’t the ones carrying signs to demand attention. Make no mistake because we are a band of women with strength, grit, compassion, and a sense of solidarity for each other few know about. We are a group of over 17,000 people who have been affected by and faced breast cancer and losing our breasts after mastectomy.

We Have Moved Beyond the Diagnosis

The only garments and accessories we wear in solidarity are compression garments and surgical drains. Some of us have become entrepreneurs on each other’s behalf to develop products to hold those drains with greater ease after mastectomy or breast reconstruction surgery. We have opened nonprofit organizations to support one another in a variety of ways. Others have returned to their respective professions continuing to impact our world outside of their breast cancer diagnosis. We have risen from the devastation of a disease that claimed parts of our bodies, our breasts, once tied to our femininity, our shape, and the nourishment we gave our children. THIS is Journey Strong!

A Global Membership of Strength

We are teachers, mothers, wives, sisters, physicians, musicians, artists, writers, photographers, financial planners, technology experts, fierce patient advocates, and so much more. Journey Strong is from Canada, South Africa, New South Wales, Ireland, Texas, London, Ukraine; yes, we are global. We are single women, married, lesbian, Asian, Hispanic, African American, Caucasian. We are Journey Strong!

The group of women who are Journey Strong fuel my passion every day to continue the work I do and why I opened the nonprofit, DiepCFoundation. Our Mission is to provide education and resources to empower those affected by breast cancer with information to make an informed decision about options for breast reconstruction after mastectomy.

We Meet Each Other Where We are in Our Own Journey

DiepCJourney ~ Breast Reconstruction After Mastectomy, is one part of Journey Strong. We started small, and then, by word of mouth, we grew! Stories matter and we invite others to join our group to shore each other up as we make the difficult decision to have breast reconstruction after a breast cancer diagnosis or discovering we have a gene mutation. We ask advice for planning, recovery, the latest research articles, the best plastic surgeon to perform our surgeries.

We meet each other on-line and in cities and towns and we hug, cry, laugh, dance, and embrace our tenacity and affection for each other; speaking about what we have suffered, what we have lost. THIS is Journey Strong!

We may have survived breast cancer and endured multiple surgeries, but don’t count us out because we are game changers. Speaking up, listening, pushing boundaries, negotiating, asking questions, and researching is what we do! We are Journey Strong, a community of trusting, compassionate, funny, and vulnerable members.

Today, on International Women’s Day 2018, I stand in solidarity with the women who are Journey Strong. We will tell you our story about breast reconstruction after cancer and how we embrace life, love, compassion, and friendship. Journey Strong is unstoppable!

We are Journey Strong!

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.