Early Stage Favorite Blog Posts



Getting a Mammogram...Probably Saved My life

My Journey Beyond Shock

The Cancer Card...If You've Got It, Play It

Blessings in Disguise

How Do We Tell Our Children I Have Cancer?

Keep Calm and Hurdle On

The Thought of Losing My Hair

Breast Expanders...What-are-They-and-How Do They Work?

Preparing for a Mastectomy...Care Package Ideas








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All Sickness Ain't Death

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"All Sickness Ain't Death." (2017) Four words that came to me for the first time in nearly 28 years as I laid in the hospital bed wondering what was going on with my body. And while I felt so miserable, I began to get nervous as I laid there.  Was I going to get better?  But then all of of a sudden George and this phrase jumped in my head, and I reminded myself this was just a bump in the road. I was just ill for the moment. 

     "All Sickness Ain't Death." (1989) The four words my Intro to Social Work professor quietly wrote on the chalkboard while we took our first exam.  After he wrote them, he never really explained them. He left them there on the board for our own brains to ponder.
     What those four words meant to him had to be profoundly different than what they meant to us...a bunch of freshmen just happy to be at college and free from home. He knew this, of course. We were clueless of the oppression, segregation, and racism that this man had …
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Preparing for a Mastectomy...Care Package Ideas

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The Double Mastectomy Decision
     The decision to have a double mastectomy is not an easy one.  In your head, it quickly makes the most sense...get rid of the boobs, get rid of the cancer.  But of course, it is not that easy.  Your breasts are a part of your body, a part of your self, a part of your sexuality.  Unfortunately, women often have to make this decision quickly.  Suddenly they are not only faced with a cancer diagnosis, but the difficult questions of removal and reconstruction.  It is important to remember that removing both breasts does not completely take away the risk of having breast cancer again. Though it is minimal, there is still some breast tissue left.  Many women choose to remove both for symmetrical reasons, with the hope that they will look the same. 
     In August 2012, I was diagnosed with breast cancer on one side, and only needed a single mastectomy. I was suddenly face with this difficult decision.  A few days later, I was offered a chance to participate …
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Breast Expanders...What are They and How Do They Work?

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What in world are breast tissue expanders and how exactly does that work? I answer these questions often. As many of you know, I am going through this process right now. Like so many others, I wasn't even aware that this was a possible step in breast reconstruction. I had my bilateral mastectomy on February 14, 2013. After my breast tissue was removed, my plastic surgeon put in tissue expanders. Expanders are implant like devices that are used to expand the breast tissue and muscle to eventually comfortably fit breast implants, creating a more refined breast shape and better symmetry.


When the tissue expanders are first positioned on the chest wall, they are partially filled with saline. A few weeks after surgery, the expansion or "fill'er ups" (as I called them) are started.  As you can see in the picture above, the expanders have a fill port that is built into the front. They are filled every week or two until you get to the desired size you would like.
I had five fi…
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