Scary Research

The internet can be your best friend or your worst enemy. I have been spending the last 4 days research what I can about this type of cancer, mastectomies, reconstruction surgery types and what the insurance pays for. It is exhausting. I have joined 2 awesome Facebook groups with wonderful women going through the same thing. 

I hope not to offend anyone who might be reading this, but my original thought about a mastectomy was that it was not a big deal to not have these puppies... I am 50 years old and am not having any more kids... I don't need them, but as I start to do the research and look at pictures, it made me extremely sad. First, when I heard about drains, I was thinking something small like a small tube, but when I saw the pictures, it is almost like IV bags hanging from long tubing. I have even read about people who wear sweatshirts inside out so that the pockets can hold the drains. Then I see the scars and the excess skin under the arms and my head immediately starts thinking why would anyone want to reach over and want to touch me. That made me start researching the reconstruction surgeries.

Apparently you can have implants or something called a flap. That is when they use tissue and fat from another place on your body and make breast out of it. Sounds great but can that tissue get cancer and then I am back to starting this all over again? Switching over to researching implants.... well it looks like those would have to be changed out about every 10 years. 

Too many decisions and currently, I won't be back to Las Vegas until July 1st so I won't be meeting with doctors until then.... That may change depending on how this month goes and when the oncologist in Vegas gets the medical records, but for now.... back to the research.