FransWeb

Breast Cancer Recovery

A BRIEF and IRREVERENT HISTORY:

First, that Wascally Bweast Cancer was found by MAMMOGRAM. Yay!! (Well, BOO! that it was there, YAY! that it was found early!) Without that uncomfortably thorough Mammogram, the tumor might not have BEEN found until... well, I might not be here now. Then a SONOGRAM let me view the ominously dark body in a sea of paler tissue, and even before the (painful!) needle-core BIOPSY's results were in, I had a bad feeling about it - and took time to sit alone and come to terms with "what if?" (August 8, 1997)

A LUMPECTOMY took the tumor out just a couple weeks later, hoping that would be all that was necessary... but there were "dirty margins" and Cancer Cells had escaped to the underarm lymph nodes (Oh, no!). Cancer cells were found in one node of eight removed, meaning the tumor had spread - that far at least. AND it was found to be a fast-growing type of tumor. (Sept. 12, 1997)

Next... CHEMOTHERAPY: Poisonous chemicals injected into your bloodstream that kill all fast-growing cells - like hair follicles, stomach lining... and cancer. The chemo was started just a week after the lumpectomy because of the fast-growing nature of the tumor, to stop any spreading and kill any cells that might have spread. I also had a BONE SCAN, CHEST XRAY, and LIVER SCAN, checking for more tumors. None found (Whew!). By the third week my hair was falling out and I got my head shaved. Baldy Fran with daughter, in wig. (November 1997)

Then... Double MASTECTOMY: Yup - took 'em both! (One for cancer, the other just for being there.) This was an easy decision. I had been large-breasted and didn't want to be lopsided or have to worry about cancer in the other one. Meanwhile I heard horror stories of women who did not have mastectomies because their men didn't want them to, cancer notwithstanding, even to their deaths. If that were the choice put to me? Sorry guy, you're outta here. But my husband was super-supportive. (January 1998)

AND LOOK! My daughters and I got new pink ribbon tattoos! (That's my arm in the middle.) After healing and five years of TAMOXIFEN, and no recurrence of any sort, the tattoos were a glorious celebration of survival. I was one of the lucky ones, thank to early diagnosis and quick effective treatment. (2004)

So I want to share some of the gruesome details of this adventure so that maybe what I experienced along my way can help you, or someone you love. Meanwhile: GET YOUR MAMMOGRAMS!

One by-product of letting people know you have cancer is that MANY people want to share their stories and those of their loved ones - even when the outcome is unhappy. I didn't want to hear those stories - but I wanted to know EVERYTHING about my own process and prognosis!

This is me after Mastectomy - Before augmentation. I remained flat for years, triumphant at survival and rebellious against a cleavage-oriented material world.

Six years after surgery, I decided my clothes would fit better with a bustline. SO I documented my reconstruction which was accomplished by plastic surgery (implants!)*. I went from this... to something "greater"! The photos below show the step-by-step process of going from flat to fabulous. AND - I don't miss the real ones (hardly) at all!

Surgery date: 01-28-04
Saline Injections: Feb 11, Mar 8, Mar 26, Apr 5, Apr 23.

THE EXPANSION IMPLANTS*

1. After Mastectomy - Before augmentation.
2. 02-01-04: Just after surgery. It's a start! Plastic expanders have been inserted at old mastectomy scars.
3. 2-11-04: After "fill #1" at two weeks. Sterile saline is slowly injected into the expanders. 3/4 view shows just a little shape - and a new tattoo!
4. 3-4-04: After 03-08 saline fill. Small bandaid shows where needle was inserted.
5. After 03-26 saline fill has stretched the tissues. High placement is temporary. This was an overfill that left it hard for me to breathe for several days. I was so impatient to be done - but regretted it.
6. 04-23-04: Before final fill
7. Then a 3-month waiting period that became 6... but I am pleased to have a bustline again.

*DETAILS OF THE IMPLANT PROCEDURE: There are several methods for doing breast augmentation after mastectomy, which is done through plastic surgery. With implants done several years after full mastectomy, as in my case, step one is surgery to create pockets (spaces) under the chest muscle for the implants. Expandable implants are inserted first, which are filled gradually by injections of sterile saline to stretch the muscle and skin (I had 120cc injected 12 days after surgery; the 90cc 3 weeks later, up to 550 cc at two months). When the pocket is stretched to the desired size, at least three extra months are allowed for tissues to heal and soften. Then another surgery is performed to insert a permanent implant of that size. Sometimes additional surgeries must be done to correct unequal size or alignment problems. Finally, nipples can be added, or not. This can be done by implanting a tissue graft from another part of the body. In my case, nipples were built by cutting and sewing together into a new shape some of the tissue already there, then tattooing on color.

1. OCTOBER 27: My surgery date at last! The stiff, rocklike expandable implants will be replaced with permanent ones. I am very curious if they will be softer and more "lifelike." This photo just before 10-27 surgery. Still "rocks."
2. 11-3-04: Bandages are off, results are in! They are indeed lifelike, even though "blind"! I am very pleased wth the result. Thanks, doc!!
3. 3-15-05: NOT QUITE NIPPLES. Still discolored from the experience and with plastic nipple guards taped tightly over the doctor's handiwork, the "nipples" will be unveiled on March 28.
4. 3-29-05: Two weeks after nipples are stitched together out of thin air (almost), a little bruising and some stitches are still visible. Color will be tattooed on sometime in May.
5. 5-21-05: Amazing what a little needle-implanted paint can do, but it hurt like any tattoo, maybe more! This is the final result!
6. Much later (11-20-07), because the implants had flattened and the scars across them were indented, I got a "Revision" with removal of the old scars and new larger silicon implants. Doctor preserved "nipples" (though they have faded) and restored the rounded contours.

A nice side-effect: NO BRA NEEDED! as the implants are beneath the chest muscle and have plenty of support. They are not as soft as real breasts and do not lie flat if you lie down, nor are they "pointy," but no matter. LIFE IS GOOD!

Five years later I designed and was given a tattoo to hide the scars. Much later a friend pointed out that it appeared to represent the uterus I had also had removed...and I had to agree, though it was completely unconscious. Strange how the mind works.