Preventive Mastectomy: Three Years Later

Posted April 30, 2019 by Prairie Wife - 13 comments

Every year, when I prepare to write these posts, I find myself taking some time to look back.

This week (yesterday, if you want me to be specific) marks the three-year anniversary of my preventive mastectomy. Those of you who have followed my journey or been through it on your own know that there were still 9 months more of surgeries and recovery.

past present future

Yet, I still think this day is a day to celebrate…and yes I do mean celebrate.

Reading how raw my emotions were on that one-year anniversary was fascinating.

For year two, I went all out to prove to myself and everyone else that I was #strongenough.

I trained non-stop for my first half marathon and pushed myself over and over not to let this decision hold me back physically.

Somewhere along the way, I realized that I had been focusing so hard on my physical recovery that I had completely ignored the emotional struggles of this surgery.

I often refer to this as survival mode.

You push, push, push, doing what you need to survive and focus on JUST. GETTING. THROUGH.

Then, when things settle down, you suddenly find yourself an emotional wreck, and you can’t figure out why.

Thankfully I recognized what was going on and put in the work (prayer, exercise, meditation, counseling) to learn how to be #strongenough to soften towards myself. I’ve learned what self-care looks like for me, and I’ve learned to ask for what I need.

Overall, this last year has been about looking at my own mortality and learning to try and embrace the beautiful life I have now.

I’m about to share some things that only a few people know. My reasons for keeping it private have been many and varied, but I’m ready to share this with you all now.

Having my doctors tell me it wasn’t a question of “if” I got breast cancer but “when” was painful. Both physically as well as emotionally, and holy cow, was it a lot for a young mother of 5 to process.

doctors appointments

My solution was to throw the first punch, to cut off my breasts before they could kill me. To me, this was not a brave thing. It was the chicken way out. I had seen what my mother and sister had gone through with their cancer diagnosis, and I wanted to avoid it.

If I underwent a preventive mastectomy, I wouldn’t have to worry about dying, right?

Problem solved.

Except somewhere along the way, I received a call. During the MRI I underwent before surgery to make sure there was no sign of cancer already in my breasts or lymph nodes, they found something on my liver. It looked like a mass, a mass that could be cancer. I needed to go back and have them take a closer look at things.

Holy stress. I took deep breaths, took a long drive, and did a shit ton of praying and trying not to feel bad for myself. I don’t recall tears, just a feeling of…well, maybe this is why I did all this, to find THIS cancer before it killed me.

woman in hospital

In the end, the test showed that it was not cancer.

Fast forward a few months, and I found a lump in my newly reconstructed breasts. I texted my beloved doctor, thinking she would say, “It’s just scar tissue. Don’t worry about it.” Instead, she told me to get there ASAP and get it biopsied.

I was so damn scared. Because isn’t this how it works? You chop off your boobs so you don’t get cancer, and then boom, you are one of the 2% that gets it anyway.

If you read this post, you know that everything turned out well and that it was scar tissue.

Fast forward three more months, and I get a letter in the mail from our insurance company. I had recently gone and had my annual blood draw, and they had noticed that my white blood cell count was low, dangerously low. Like how are you not deathly ill low.

Which, in case you decided to google it, is a sign of what?

Yup, you guessed it…cancer.

I legit laughed.

I mean, really?

Bring it. That was my thought. Bring IT!

I was so so so over being afraid of death.

So damn sick of bad news after bad news and pushing fear after fear down and smiling away.

I went to my local oncologist, and we did a huge blood panel work.

Guess what?

My white blood cell count WAS dangerously low, and oh, by the way, some of the levels that deal with my lymph nodes were super low, too. And those night sweats and the weight loss, yeah, they all meant one thing.

Cancer.

Except I felt fine. I was climbing mountains, keeping up with my five kids, and doing great.

My doctor said to keep coming back to check every three months but that he wouldn’t worry about it now because my quality of life was fine.

So I said, sounds great!

I felt fine. Nothing was off or wrong, and I tend to have pretty good instincts about stuff like that.

And frankly, I was done.

I was no longer willing to keep fighting death and letting fear rule my life.

After all, I had no control over it.

God would pick the right time, and I refused to give one more minute of my life to this shit.

fear does not stop death

Family and friends were not so relaxed. Even my doctor in Denver wanted me to get a second opinion. So, I went to blood cancer specialists in Denver who echoed precisely what my doctor here said.

Keep tabs on it, if anything drastic happens give them a call, otherwise go live your life.

And that’s what I’ve been doing.

My white blood cell count is occasionally normal, but my levels are often concerningly low.

But I refuse to live in fear. I’m too busy.

I’m living my life.

Saying yes to adventures, taking chances, and living a life of grit and grace.

I have no idea what tomorrow will bring.

But I face each day WITH faith and WITHOUT fear.

I know that I am #strongenough.

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13 thoughts on "Preventive Mastectomy: Three Years Later"

  1. Janene says:

    God Bless you! You are an inspiration! Your courage and determination are awe inspiring! Praying for you!!! ❤️

    1. Prairie Wife says:

      Thank you Janene #gritandgrace

  2. Beth Grumley says:

    WOW!!! Cheers to 3 years!! And 53 more! Thank you for sharing. I was a hair stylist for 30 years before moving to Wyoming. As you can imagine, cutting 75% women’s hair, I experienced the good , bad and ugly. Yes, I lost several clients to cancer, including Breast Cancer. But I celebrated many who lived life and survived! You are such a trooper! Again, thank you for sharing. I’m sure my friends will love you too, so when the Michigan followed start rolling in, they will be your cheerleaders too!!!

    1. Prairie Wife says:

      I love that you knew/know how important what you do and your attitude is for your clients. Thank YOU for spreading the word about what we are doing here at PrairieWifeInHeels.com! Welcome Beth xoxo

  3. Debbie says:

    Gave me goose bumps! Going with my husband down the chemo road for the second time, much of what you say is so true…and not easy! You are an inspiration! Thanks for living life to the fullest and letting God deal with the details!!!!

    1. Prairie Wife says:

      Debbie I love that saying “let God deal with the details” Prayers and strength to you and your family!

  4. Pat McCarthy says:

    Oh sweet friend, I had no idea about the blood stuff! I pray for you so often! I will continue. Like so many things it’s one day at a time!

    1. Prairie Wife says:

      Thank you Pat, I’ll take all the prayers you have! xoxox

  5. Lauralee Hensley says:

    Wow, good for you. I had my left kidney removed in September of last year for cancer. A cancer that was found by accident when we did an abdominal CAT SCAN to figure out what a pain was on the opposite side of my body and not the back side of my body where typically if you have any kidney pain it would be. So went back a few weeks ago to have a post surgery CAT SCAN and yes they saw something. However, my Doctor basically like you said ‘Don’t worry about it. We’ll do a repeat one in three months and see if anything has grown or if it is just an atypical (aka word for unusual) scarring pattern post surgery. So, I’m not going to claim it, or worry about it. They are also going to do another scope down my throat to make sure my pre-cancer in my intestines has not shown back up since they removed it last summer. I’m like you God will decide when he wants me to leave. No since worrying about it. I’ll do those tests they’ve scheduled, but if the news is not what I’d like to hear I know God will be there to help me see it all through.

    1. Lauralee Hensley says:

      Meant to type no sense, not no since. Must be a brain fog night.

    2. Prairie Wife says:

      Sending prayers your way Lauralee!

  6. Lauren says:

    Could the blood results be related to the textured implants?

    1. Prairie Wife says:

      Good question Lauren, and the first thing I asked my doc was if the implants had anything to do with it. Good or bad (depending on how you look at it) my levels that were off were not the levels that indicate an issue with implants.

Categories: Preventive Mastectomy, Support

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