2 Years Post Bilateral Mastectomy and Reconstruction

I'm calm.

That's all I can really say.  The past two years have given me a calmness I haven't known since my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was a child.  I always had that fear of the unknown in my head.  I was always thinking of myself as a ticking time bomb, just waiting for the diagnosis.  Because, lets be real, once you have a grandmother and mother go through the breast cancer diagnosis, and you get his with the confirmation that you carry the BRCA1 gene, how could you not?

So fast forward two years from my surgery, and I no longer fear anything with my health.  I made it through my 40th birthday with the biggest sigh of relief, as it was just after my mom's 40th that she was diagnosed.  I don't have to go to appointments every six months for MRIs and mammograms.  I'm "normal".

As for my implants, I haven't had any issues since the "lump" I had in my last update.  It was just surgical scaring.  But lets be real, when you're in a position like mine, you react quickly and get EVERYTHING checked out.  I was relieved to know that my lump was nothing to worry about and I could continue moving on.

The implants themselves look great.  You can't see my scar as its so well hidden underneath the breast, and they feel great.  They look like they did when I was younger, before having kids, not like having implants.  I have no more pain, no more nerve twinges and I even got some feeling back in areas that I thought would be numb forever.  Now don't get me wrong, there are still numb areas, but I'm just happy its not all of it.

Feeling great and traveling the world with a new view of life.

I know there are so many options these days for reconstruction...you just have to pick the option that works best for you.  If you'd like more information about DIEP surgery, using your own tissue instead of implants, please visit my friend's page, DIEP C Foundation.  She has a wealth of information.  Also, reach out to any of the doctors at PRMA, mine being Dr. C, as they truly are miracle workers and family for life.

As for reconstruction updates, I think this is it!  Two years out, doing great!  If anything changes, I'll be back, and if you have questions at any point, please feel free to reach out.  I'm always here, even if I'm not updating on my mastectomy.  Make sure you check out my oophorectomy posts if you feel that you're going down that road as well.

Lots of love.

Heather