We are Journey Strong! #IWD2018. We are Journey Strong and today we celebrate each other on #IWD2018! We do not wear black dresses on the red carpet in solidarity at televised award shows. We do not march the streets holding signs to promote our cause. But make no mistake, 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 1,600 women who have all faced breast cancer and losing our breasts after mastectomy.

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. Some of us have opened nonprofit organizations to support one another financially, spiritually, through education, or counsel. Others have returned to their respective professions continuing to impact our world outside of their breast cancer diagnosis. We have moved beyond the devastation of a disease that took body parts, our breasts, that defined our femininity, our form, the nourishment for our children. We are Journey Strong!

We are teachers, mothers, wives, sisters, physicians, musicians, artists, writers, photographers, financial planners, technology experts, fierce patient advocates, and so much more. We are Journey Strong from Canada, South Africa, New South Wales, Ireland, Texas, London, 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 women and men with information to make an informed decision about options for breast reconstruction after mastectomy.

DiepCJourney ~ Breast Reconstruction After Cancer, is one part of Journey Strong. We started out small, and then, by word of mouth, we grew! We share our stories and invite each other 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 we visit so we can hug, cry, laugh, dance, and embrace our tenacity and our affection for each other. We speak about what we have suffered, what we have lost. We are Journey Strong!

We may have survived breast cancer and endured multiple surgeries, but don’t count us out because we are game changers. We speak up, listen, push boundaries, negotiate, ask questions, research; We are Journey Strong. We are trusting, compassionate, funny, and vulnerable.

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. We will tell you about life, love, compassion, and friendship. We are 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.