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

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 and I were a short 30-minute drive from each other, I reached out to meet her. What unfolded in our first coffee meet up left us both a bit astonished. We had common threads that were uncanny. She and I knew mutual friends and family in our area. Both of us had similar medical scares in our Journey during the planning phase leading up to our DIEP flap breast reconstruction. Perhaps the best commonality, I traveled for breast reconstruction to PRMA in San Antonio and now Whitney was about to. We bonded immediately.

I was compelled to help this young woman the more I listened to the details of her story as we sat in the cozy, artisan coffee shop in our neighborhood. After she had her daughter, six years after her mother passed, she began having abnormal pap results. She had a few abnormal moles removed and her OB suggested she take the expanded BRCA test which looks for over twenty different gene mutations. This is when they found Whitney tested positive for the ATM and CHEK2 mutations. Her doctors fully supported her decision to begin meeting with surgeons to explore her options for prophylactic mastectomy.  Whitney explained,

I knew almost immediately that I would have the surgery because I saw what happened to my mother and I always felt had she done it she would probably still be here.  I would be afraid every day of my life if I chose surveillance only.

Whitney Begins Preparing for her DIEP flap Breast Reconstruction

Whitney immediately started focusing on getting her body in shape to have another baby. She got pregnant a few months later, had a son in February of 2018, and quit breast feeding in August. She visited PRMA and Dr. Ramon Garza III in November of 2018. She and her husband sensed travel would be a challenge but the confidence she felt with her plastic surgeon superseded those concerns. She was committed to moving forward. Her surgery date was scheduled for late February 2019, one short year after giving birth to her son.

When Only Face Time Will Do for Planning Breast Reconstruction?

I planned to meet Whitney at her home to help her prepare for her own Journey. The best laid plans were halted! A snow-storm stopped us in our tracks but not in our spirit. Traveling was treacherous so we decided we could handle this via Face Time. I was able to meet her husband, see her two adorable children, and get a tour of her home to help her start planning.

She heard many women talk about renting a recliner on the Journey and asked if I had one. “What about my really high bed?” Whitney asked as she showed it to me during our Face Time chat. I asked her to think about those soft, low couches I saw on the virtual house tour. Then she went into her husband’s “man cave” where there was a soft, low, comfy couch. “Perfect!” I told her. “It’s very similar to what I used during my own recovery from DIEP flap. It allowed me to roll out easily I never had a recliner and did just fine on my comfy, low sofa.”

I reminded her to put a “me basket” near the sofa full of items within her reach: an eye pillow for naps, bottled water, lotion, face cleansers, health snacks, tons of pillows and warm blankets.

What About those Active Toddlers During DIEP Flap Recovery?

Pillows, pillows, and more pillows was my sage advice. In fact, I told her when she was downstairs on their favorite soft sofa, build a pillow fortress around you. When your active little toddler jumps up to give you snuggles, your incisions will be protected and you can still touch him, read a story, and love him with the pillow in between you both. She smiled but with a hesitant look on her face. She was going to have some wonderful family there to help her so I reassured her it would be their job to keep him at bay for a few weeks.

A Few Last Thoughts for Whitney’s DIEP Flap

Whitney and I hope to share a hug in person before taking off for her DIEP flap breast reconstruction and her Journey to San Antonio and PRMA. I reminded her to call the airlines to secure a wheelchair for her trip through the San Antonio airport coming home. She’s a young, strong, women but I told her it can be exhausting fly home. Having the wheelchair would give her the extra element of comfort for the long walk through the airport.

I feel confident Whitney is going to come through her prophylactic mastectomy and DIEP flap surgery as another strong warrior woman. She has planned well. Her husband has been an amazing, strong, supportive spouse. Whitney has already endured a lot in her life leading up to and preparing for this life event. I look forward to staying in touch and seeing her on the “flap side” as we say on the Journey. I have another follow up blog with some amazing, generous Journey members who will become part of her healing and recovery. Stay tuned for more!

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.