Mel's Redefined Life

When I went in for mastectomy surgery, it was supposed to be the cure for my cancer. My diagnosis - based on imaging - was noninvasive Ductal Carcinoma In SITU (DCIS). DCIS is considered a Stage 0 cancer. DCIS is contained within the milk ducts and has not moved outside of the milk ducts. The cure for DCIS is removal of the cancer. Mastectomy was my cure. When the breast surgeons opened me up, they found a 6 cm tumor in my left breast, broken out of the ducts in 14 places. The presence of cancer in my lymph nodes too made the cancer even more dangerous. I thought I would wake up from surgery and be cured. No chemo, no radiation, nothing else needed. Instead, I woke up from surgery to find out the cancer was invasive and had spread a lot more than they saw in the pre-operative imaging. I was no longer cured. My cancer was upgraded to a Stage II and suddenly I needed chemo. I was mentally prepared for the possibility of chemo, but not prepared for not being able to go back...

February 22, 2017: Mastectomy Day On February 22, 2017, one day shy of the anniversary of my mother's death, I underwent a bilateral mastectomy (i.e. "double" mastectomy). The photo above is the last photo of my breasts. Below is post-mastectomy. I got out of the rigid hospital gown as quickly as I could and I changed into some more comfortable open-front pajamas. First, I'll tell you about the surgery. The surgery I had was a radical bilateral mastectomy without nipple sparing, with expander placement. Expanders are shown in the diagram below, on the left side. The surgeons removed my breasts and placed expanders below the muscles in my chest. The surgeon added 500 CC of saline to each expander during the surgery, and has since added another 100 CC of saline to each expander. When saline is added, it is called a "fill" of the expanders. Saline will be routinely added until the expanders have created enough space for me to feel "natura...