surgery date

Hi Jodi

I think you have hit the nail right on the head with "dam you cancer for putting me and the rest of us in this position of making decisions that we shouldn't have to make!!"

You or any of us should not have to feel that we are putting ourselves or our loved ones through unnecessary trauma just to put our bodies back together after cancer took bits of them away! I think that it is so important to do whatever will help us to feel better about ourselves after treatment for cancer. 

It is a really difficult decision to make about reconstruction or not but guilt should not enter into it in my opinion. You should not feel bad about wanting to look and feel 'normal' again. 

You should also not feel pressured to do this because it seems like everyone expects you to want this. Only you can really decide whether this is something that you really want and that will help you to lead a better quality of life. 

Think about that end result and if you know that this is something that will help you to feel great then do it! You are a strong person (you survived cancer after all!). We are so lucky to live in a country that has such a great medical system that we have these choices available. 

Best of luck with your decision making. Isn't it great that you have such a wonderful, supportive family? You know they will be happy if you are and that is really all that matters! Just like you probably focussed on the end result of being healthy again when you went through treatment, just focus on that end result for want you want to achieve in this situation too! Take care. Deanne xxx