A New Pair
Today I am grateful to be able to get new prosthetics locally and I am also grateful that recovery has taught me to take life one day at a time, one hour at a time.
On Friday I got a new pair of breast prosthetics. I was overdue for an update. This is just my third pair since my bilateral mastectomies nearly 6 years ago. I don't wear them all the time, so I am able to extend their life.I kept the appointment short. Same size. Pick out a couple new mastectomy bras. Thanks and I'll be on my way.
Thanks and I'll be on my way. It gave me pause to consider a few things. How grateful I am to be here, healthy and living life, when tens of thousands of other women and men have died of cancer in the years since my diagnosis, treatment, and surgeries. Life is precious. Life is fragile. Each day is a gift, make the most of it.
How affirmed I am in my choice to not have reconstruction. It was the best choice for me and I don't regret it. I like to have the options I do. Prosthetics when I need them and flat and free when I want. My hope for every woman facing this difficult decision is that they have the information they need, and the time to do their own decision-making, so that the decision is the one they feel most comfortable with. And believe me, "most comfortable with" is a very relative terms in these circumstances.
How breast reconstruction is not a "boob job." How insensitive it can be when someone tells a breast cancer patient "well, at least you can get a free boob job." Really? "Today's special: along with your very frightening cancer diagnosis, we can offer you breasts that will never sag." These are personal journeys with very personal decisions and plenty of steps, pain (physical and emotional), appointments, time, healing. Please don't make light of it all.
I am thankful for where I am at today, thinking back to six years ago when I was just weeks away from my mastectomies. I try to keep it all in perspective.
On Friday I got a new pair of breast prosthetics. I was overdue for an update. This is just my third pair since my bilateral mastectomies nearly 6 years ago. I don't wear them all the time, so I am able to extend their life.I kept the appointment short. Same size. Pick out a couple new mastectomy bras. Thanks and I'll be on my way.
Thanks and I'll be on my way. It gave me pause to consider a few things. How grateful I am to be here, healthy and living life, when tens of thousands of other women and men have died of cancer in the years since my diagnosis, treatment, and surgeries. Life is precious. Life is fragile. Each day is a gift, make the most of it.
How affirmed I am in my choice to not have reconstruction. It was the best choice for me and I don't regret it. I like to have the options I do. Prosthetics when I need them and flat and free when I want. My hope for every woman facing this difficult decision is that they have the information they need, and the time to do their own decision-making, so that the decision is the one they feel most comfortable with. And believe me, "most comfortable with" is a very relative terms in these circumstances.
How breast reconstruction is not a "boob job." How insensitive it can be when someone tells a breast cancer patient "well, at least you can get a free boob job." Really? "Today's special: along with your very frightening cancer diagnosis, we can offer you breasts that will never sag." These are personal journeys with very personal decisions and plenty of steps, pain (physical and emotional), appointments, time, healing. Please don't make light of it all.
I am thankful for where I am at today, thinking back to six years ago when I was just weeks away from my mastectomies. I try to keep it all in perspective.
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