Here's to my Journey!

Hi Helen, I had a lumpectomy last Decmeber, and then had to have more surgery to ensure clear margins. By this stage I had had time to think about all my options, and had decided I really didn't want to have radiotherapy. I decided that I wanted reconstruction at some stage and radiotherapy reduced my options. My first surgery was 6 days after diagnosis, so I was pushed along very quickly. I then had 3 weeks before my next surgery, so had time to think. My husband is very supportive, but he struggled with the idea of mastectomy at first, and he showed this by being angry with the doctor for changing his mind about whether my margins were clear. Once he got over this everything has been fine. I have never been embarrassed to be naked with him, and he has never made me feel uncomfortable at all. I had months to think about what I would do after chemo, and finally decided to have a propylactic mastectomy on the other side and start reconstruction. My husband's response to that decision was " well, thank goodness for that. He felt it was a no brainer to remove the other one, and he has been absolutely ok with the new me. I'm in the middle of having my tissue expanders inflated, and I've had one lot of emergency surgery 3 weeks after the mastectomy to remove a very large blood clot (800mls ). The expander on the old mastectomy site is going well, but the other one is still giving me a bit of grief. Both now have 400mls each, but the one that had the hematoma is still tender, and the muscle seems to spasm. Still, I have absolutely no regrets about having either mastectomy. I feel I have now given myself the best possible chance of not getting BC again. That's my story, and I hope that helps you a bit. Love Chris xx