Category: DIEP Flap Breast Reconstruction

I’ve Got Nipples!

It’s been three weeks since getting my new nipples and these last three weeks have just been…….odd. I’m trying to imagine the expression on ones face if this is the first blog post of mine that they have ever read.  Hi. I’m Julie and I write weird stuff and post weird pictures, while trying to inform, yet not embarrass myself or my readers. For years I’ve blogged about WW and my personal successes and challenges. Now I also talk about Breast Cancer. I will be posting pictures in this post of my nipple reconstruction because I am sharing my experience in case you or someone you know is considering nipple reconstruction. It’s actually quite fascinating. I encourage any questions and nothing is off limits here. I had to come back and edit this post today based on what a member asked me at a WW Workshop I was coaching this morning.  First of all, she is […]

Where Have I Been?

I kind of fell apart. Since finding out that I had an Iliac Aneurysm a few weeks ago (an aneurysm located in the abdomen) I let my mind go to the worst place that it could have gone. All that I could think about were the drastic measures that I had taken after my breast cancer diagnosis. Have a Double Mastectomy. No Implants! Go through a 10 hour surgery, have my entire torso cut open and have my belly fat transferred to my breast area and make new breast. Schedule a hysterectomy to remove Ovaries since my Breast Cancer is estrogen positive and eliminate the ovaries to eliminate any extra estrogen and to eliminate the chance of Ovarian Cancer since it runs in my family. Take my Uterus too. One of the drugs that I will now be taking to reduce the risk of a Breast Cancer reoccurrence can cause […]

Road Block

Just over a week ago, I went in for my 9 week post op appointment. The purpose of this appointment was so the doc could see how I was healing and discuss our next step, Phase 2 of the DIEP surgery and talk scheduling so the OB can do the hysterectomy at the same time. Yay. Progress. I was happy to learn that during the next phase of this surgery, the doc will be able to give my new breast a much needed lift and a reduction and clean up a few things around my ab incision. He will also do some “fat grafting” where he will take fat from my hip area and fill in the top of my breast where there are still some empty spaces from where the breast tissue was removed with the mastectomy. This appointment is really a discussion of how he will make things look pretty and more […]

Post-Op & Commit30

Hi All. It’s Julie. Remember me? Oh my gosh, so much to talk about! Post op updates, 2018 Goals, 2017 in Review, Tracking my food and WW Freestyle I’ll save “2017 in Review” and “Tracking my food and WW Freestyle” for my next post, otherwise I could be here ALL day……..and you would be really bored. Heck, that might happen anyhow!   Post Op My daughter Tess came in town December 6th and ended up staying through surgery and didn’t go back to Dallas until December 28th. I loved having her here and so did Mike. Recovery would have been so difficult without her here. She actually came back this past weekend and organized an un decorating afternoon for me with our son and daughter-in-law. Everything is put away and organized just like mom likes it. They all did a great job! I’m now 4 Weeks Post-op! I can not believe […]

Dr. David Chandler, You are Amazing

I am including before and after pictures of my breast cancer in this post, along with a few recent post op pictures.  If you think that this post might bother you, you may want to skip this one. Tomorrow I’ll post about soup. You can come back then! The biggest Thank You ever to Dr. David Chandler with Kansas University Plastic Surgeons. Do you think that he has any idea at all of what he is doing for women with breast cancer? Maybe. I’m gonna tell him at my appointment on Friday. I plan to hug him so tight, he explodes. You know what? I’m still tender. I’ll have Mike hug him. Mike did say that he wants to hug him too. My goal in this post is to be as informative as I can be in a tasteful manner. I want people to know what their options are if diagnosed with breast cancer.  […]

The Jokes on YOU, Cancer!

Happy Friday! I’m excited to share that the last week has gone surprisingly well! I came out of a 10 1/2 hour surgery to the news that the surgery was a success and I now had a tummy tuck and new boobs! Of course I don’t remember that at all, but Tess and Mike tell me that when I woke up, I knew the good news. I spent four adventurous nights in the hospital and came home on Monday. Friends and family came to visit at the hospital, and while I feel like I was completely alert at all times, I vaguely remember those first few days. I’m working on a post for a later date with pictures, but for now I just wanted to let you know that I am home, I am happy. The Jokes on YOU, Cancer! Because of you…. I feel more loved than ever from family […]

It’s a DIEP Subject

Surgery is in three days and I so wish that I was sitting here writing my 2 week post-op update. I am nervous, ready and admittedly a bit scared. I had a pre-op appointment with the plastic surgeon on Friday for my surgery this week. Before reading the rest of this post, please know that I am truly grateful that I am alive and that I found my cancer early. I know there are many women that have traveled this road and their road has been longer and much more challenging than mine. That being said, the last 5 months have been filled with appointments, phone calls, test, results and more decisions than I ever thought possible.    In case you didn’t know…… On August 31st, six weeks after being diagnosed with breast cancer, I had a double mastectomy. I am scheduled for DIEP Flap breast reconstruction on December 14th. You can […]

In Limbo

I feel In Limbo right now and I’m trying really hard not to feel that way.  This time in between surgery one and surgery two is uncomfortable, full of overwhelming information and at times mentally draining. That being said, I am doing my best to stay positive and take one day at a time. The last few days have included walks, a little Yoga, I’ve enjoyed being back at work and I’ve tracked my food. The weather has been great for walks outside!   It’s been nice to count steps too!      Routine has felt good, and I even got a short visit from my daughter Tess. On Thursdays I have an early morning WW meeting and a lunchtime WW meeting. In between the two, I picked up Tess at the airport and she came to my lunchtime meeting with me! It was nice to have her there with me and also […]

My Temporary Boobs

On Wednesday, I went in for my post mastectomy appointments.  13 days after surgery, and I drove myself. Yay, freedom. One appointment with the breast surgeon, one with the plastic surgeon. First I met with the breast surgeon where we talked about how good of a decision it was for me to go wth the double mastectomy considering the test results after surgery. I agreed that I was glad that I’d gone with my gut and that I was surprised at how little pain I felt post surgery. (Really, they take all of the nerves with the breast tissue, so the breast skin is numb. It’s super weird and I don’t like the numb feeling. I’m told that over years, some of the skin nerves may grow and there could be some feeing at some point. This is one piece of information that I didn’t know until a few days before […]