Alexandra's Story
My 40th year of life was not a kind one to me. I had a miscarriage, my Dad died, and he was my last remaining parent, and worst of all I had to deal with my own mortality with the diagnosis of breast cancer. Being a wife and mother of two school-age children I felt the year was in constant turmoil between juggling visits to the hospital to see my Dad, being admitted to the hospital as a patient, and going to constant appointments for tests and Doctor visits. Hearing the horrible words, you have Invasive Ductual Breast Cancer, Grade 3 (grade three being the highest score, meaning the cells were dividing wildly), I was sure death was around the corner for me. Daily, as a Hospice RN, cancer equaled death and now I had that awful disease in my own personal battle.
Once the dust settled after my miscarriage and death of my father, I felt the need to celebrate life by attempting to get pregnant again. Before I tried to get pregnant I wanted to be in the best physical health and at the milestone of age 40 I knew that a routine mammogram was in order. At the time I was very large breasted, a size DD, and I was faithfully doing self-breast-exams and visiting the Gyn. I had minimal fear that there would be a problem with the test. To my surprise the mammogram showed a large tumor of 2 cm. After ultrasound of the breast and needle biopsy, it was confirmed that I had Breast Cancer.
Initially a lumpectomy and radiation was recommended, so I went to Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital Breast Center for a second opinion. The Doctor I saw was a Breast Surgeon. She felt due to the location of the tumor she could not get "clean margins" with breast-conserving surgery and suggested a mastectomy. She was very clear about the fact that long term survival rates are the same between mastectomy and lumpectomy but there is a much higher rate of local reoccurrence with lumpectomies. I knew I didn't want to deal with this disease again if possible and immediately agreed to a modified radical mastectomy. At this time she told me I was an excellent candidate for reconstructive surgery and sent me to a reconstructive plastic surgeon.
Riding down on the elevator to meet with the plastic surgeon, I came up with a brainstorm: if I was to have one breast reconstructed, perhaps I could have the other reduced. I arrived at the plastic surgeon's office, was examined and was overwhelmed with information. Since I was in good health (other then the breast cancer), I didn't smoke, and had extra tissue (i.e.: Flab), I was good candidate for a TRAM Flap (where they take the rectus muscle from the abdomen) at the time of mastectomy. The surgeon agreed that having the other breast reduced would improve my cosmetic appearance, and since the cost to reconstruct the diseased breast would be more to a DD size, insurance coverage would not be an issue. I left the hospital with a plan, now I had to wait for my surgical date. I was feeling very overwhelmed and scared.
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