This surgery is not for the faint at heart. It is an extremely big surgery. I would encourage you to walk, walk, walk before your big day as it will help in your recovery, but I would not expect that you would be able to walk for miles or jog around the block coming right out of the gate.

Every person in our group, while sisters who share, all travel a different journey. So many have undergone chemo and radiation treatments. I was lucky enough not to need chemo or radiation, but I thought that I would share a little bit of my recovery.

In November of 2008, I underwent a total hysterectomy followed by a mastectomy and immediate Diep Reconstruction two weeks later. I underwent a huge amount of surgery in just two short weeks. I also came out of surgery very anemic and had to take iron for quite a while to get my iron level back up to normal levels. Thankfully, while I also had some minor issues which didn’t require any other surgery or major fixes, they were enough to slow me down for the count. Week one: I walked with a walker for support. I couldn’t stand up straight. I couldn’t cook or do any house chores. Week two: I still couldn’t stand up straight but I started to try to stand up and I was exercising my arms by walking up the wall with them. I lost the walker, but continued to use a shower bench. I always had someone with my while I was showering. I had a lot of help. I slept in a recliner for about three or maybe four months. My husband and daughter kept up on the house work but meals were being brought in daily for both surgeries by the ladies in our town. I was grateful for what everyone did for me.

One day while we had company I really felt unwell and a purple hip appeared and spiked a fever. My primary doctor met me at her office. It was about 10 p.m. on a Sunday night. She gave me a shot and told me to return in two days where I received a second shot. It was that day that she wanted to send me to a local surgeon to address my hip. I actually declined stating that I had to return to the surgeon who did my diep because he knew exactly what he did and I felt that he would want to be told what was going on. My husband took me to see him and he told me that I had a hematoma and told me to keep a warm compress on it and if it didn’t resolve by the following week, he would need to take me in the operating room to take care of it. I religiously listened to him and kept a warm compress in my pants day and night and over that upcoming weekend it resolved on its own. I was so happy because that meant that there would not be a surgery to fix it.

I must say that I was never in pain. What I felt was discomfort. Things were so well managed but I needed to put in the proper time to recover. I was out of work for about three months because of the amount of surgery that I had. I kept saying that I couldn’t wait to go back to work and my co-workers encouraged me not to rush back.

The point of this post is to treat yourselves well. Do what you have to for a good recovery. Go into surgery feeling well and come out of surgery feeling well, but don’t get discouraged. It takes time to recover from this extremely big surgery. Don’t be too hard on yourself and don’t compare yourself to anyone else because it is on our own terms. Best to all

When I was faced with my breast cancer, the first question I asked was am I going to die? I was told no I’m not and my medical oncologist and my breast surgeon kept reassuring me it would be ok. Then came time to discuss reconstruction and I was again scared out of my mind and my husband and young daughter were equally afraid. By the time the kids are in the 8th grade they are so smart. My daughter explained the genetics to me because they just had that in their science class at the time. So what was really bothering me, it was the fear of the unknown. I didn’t know what was going to happen and I was petrified~~i didn’t know how my life was going to change. After the surgery I really experienced no pain at all as it was well managed. My plastic surgeon did a phenomenal job. My reconstruction is beautiful and by the time he was done I had not one visible scar. So what did I learn from all of this? I learned a couple of things. I learned that I needed to stay focused and as positive as I could during this trying time in my life. I had everything going for me because I didn’t require any chemo or radiation. I have a husband and daughter who love me very much. Someone told me that I had to have faith in the doctor that I chose to reconstruct and I did. I placed my trust in him and never looked back. Of course he came highly recommended by one of his other patients who wrote a newspaper article about him talking about how great he was so when the time came there was no einnie meinie mighty mo, I knew who I wanted to be my doctor. In the end, I am still the same person who I was before all of this started. My husband and daughter still love me very much; I try keeping a positive spin on life and I try to enjoy something everyday!