When this all began, cancer I mean, my surgeon took one look at me and asked if I wanted a double mastectomy or a lumpectomy. I've always hated my breasts; it's hard to love something that you spend a lifetime fending hands from groping and grabbing, so I always thought a double mastectomy would be fine. Until I was faced with one.
I couldn't breathe. The thought of losing both my breasts, eight weeks of work, and then having to have breast reconstruction (if I wanted) was overwhelming. I took the genetics test; I knew I wasn't a breast cancer gene carrier.
Finally, I decided on a lumpectomy, but based on the size of the lump, my surgeon said my breasts would be lopsided. Then she suggested a breast reduction. I felt like I had finally been handed a gift after all. A breast reduction! Smaller boobs!
By the time my surgery rolled around, I was nervous. I wasn't sure I wanted to do this after all. It was too late, though. When I woke up, my boobs looked Frankenstein-esque. Cuts, bruises, holes, stitches. Looking at my breasts, I wasn't sure the entire process was worth it.
Four months later, the scars have healed, the bruises are gone. My neck and back feel better. I feel better about me. Although radiation will do damage to my 'new' boob, it will recover and so will I.
Insurance companies deny women breast reductions after lumpectomies, which is a travesty. Women deserve the chance to feel good about themselves, even when enduring cancer treatments. My plastic surgeon's office fought my insurance company to get this surgery for me. There are far more offices that won't. And far too many insurance companies who feel breast surgery after a lumpectomy or a double mastectomy is 'elective' and unnecessary.
A shame.
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