Round 1: My fight against breast cancer

 

After six emotionally draining weeks, the day that I will step into the ring and start my fight against breast cancer is around the corner.

On Friday, 30 August I will be undergoing a bilateral skin-saving mastectomy and direct to implant breast reconstruction. What does this mean? An oncological surgical team will remove both my breast organs after which a reconstructive team will immediately begin to reconstruct my breasts. The surgical procedure will last between two and three hours. After the procedure, I will be in a high-care unit and should be discharged after three nights.

The surgical sites will be drained for about 10 days and I will be shown how to monitor and care for the drains, after which I will be admitted again to have the drains removed. 14 days of rest is recommended for recovery, but when you work for yourself time is money. Lucky for me I work from home and my computer has voice recognition which means I don't have to sit and type, I can talk to my computer and it will do the typing for me.

It will be two to three weeks before I will be allowed to move my shoulders, and four months before I will be allowed to pick up my dogs to give them hugs. 

This is a diagrammatic representation of where I will be cut to remove my breast organs.

And this is a diagrammatic representation of the scars after my mastectomy and reconstruction.

It is my understanding that Dr Charles Serrurier is one of the best reconstructive surgeons in the country and I have all the trust that he will take very good care of me. 

I may be off-line for a few days, so do not worry about me if you do not see any updates from me on social media. As soon as I am back home I will let you know. 

Please keep me in your prayers or light a candle for me. 

Blessing in love and light,

eM x