....

Oct. 13th, 2005 08:24 am
anotheranon: (eggman)
[personal profile] anotheranon
If you can stomach medical TMI, take a look at this photo - the author of that blog had a mastectomy a couple of days ago, and that's what it looks like.

I'm not including the picture to ram the reality of breast cancer down anyone's throat - doG knows, enough people reading this have been exposed to breast cancer in one way or another. Nor is this an injunction to slap a pink ribbon on your car or do your monthly breast check, because I think we all know better by now (except maybe me - I always forget my self-exam. Someone slap me upside the head, please?)

No, I link to the picture to remind myself that those of us with loved ones who have survived (or sadly sometimes not) a mastectomy don't often know how extensive the damage is, or how radical and invasive the surgery can be. My mother had breast cancer when I was in high school, and my own stupid teenage dramas combined with the fact that to all outward appearances she was fine (she didn't even lose her hair during chemotherapy) kept me from realizing for many years just how very bad it was. I never saw her scars and even when she was sick from the chemo she usually recuped while I was at school, and everything seemed so normal.

She still sees her onocologist (sp?) at least once a year and though she's never had a remission, I know it could happen, or at least I know it intellectually.

Not much else to add except to note what a selfish brat I was when I was 15. I really didn't get it, and I'm not sure I do now - maybe it's just a comfortable self-delusion NOT to.

I survived.

Date: 2005-10-13 01:38 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] timcharmorbien.livejournal.com
If I had known you were curious about what a masectomy scar looked like I would have shown you mine. ;) I see this every morning in the mirror, I'm still not used to the sight after 15 years. October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, the pink ribbons are everywhere. I'm glad your mother survived and I do hope ya'll take part in any nearby Relay for Life programs. There's nothing to compare the feeling I get when hearing all the cheers for the survivors as we complete our walk. I celebrate each birthday because I survived another year. I strongly urge women (and men, it's rare but they do get breast cancer, too) to do the monthy breast exams because that is how I found mine and then had to convince a doctor to take me seriously. That was before October became Breast Cancer Awareness Month, hopefully no woman will ever have to go thru what I did to convince a doctor to do a mamogram and a biopsy now.
Here's your slap, as a daughter of a survivor you must take the breast exams more seriously.

Re: I survived.

Date: 2005-10-13 10:14 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] anotheranon.livejournal.com
I've seen mastectomy scars since, in breast cancer awareness lit and on a show about tattoos (one woman had a beautiful floral pattern done over her scars), but I hadn't at the time of my mother's illness, and until that link I'd never seen the results right out of the operating room. One would think that in this day and age removal of cancerous tissue could be done more precisely :(

I'm sorry - and somewhat surprised - that you had to go through so much just to get a diagnosis, because it seems that all health professionals and most of the public are aware of breast cancer now. When did things start finally change?

I take the slap gratefully and will (I swear, I promise) do a breast check when I get back from fencing tonight! If you have any tips to help me to remember, I'd appreciate 'em :)

Re: I survived.

Date: 2005-10-14 02:43 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] timcharmorbien.livejournal.com
"until that link I'd never seen the results right out of the operating room. One would think that in this day and age removal of cancerous tissue could be done more precisely :("

Tim's mother had shown me her scar before I went in for the surgery. She tried to prepare me for what to expect. Tim was the person who changed my bandages and emptied that little plastic bulb looking drainage bag each day and measured full it was each day. He faced that horrid image each day and still loved me. I don't think many men could have stomached it.
I've yet to see a scar that was didn't look like the area had been butchered.

"When did things start finally change?"

When October became "Breast Cancer Awareness Month" about 15 years ago. For my surgeon, a 27 year old Army Major, it was when she got my biopsy results from Walter Reed and then saw my mamogram. I was 29 years old, no breast cancer in the family. I started the Legacy in my family. I was told that since my case, she had diagnosed another woman in her late twenties. Because of me, she took that woman more seriously.

I did see that program with the woman who got the tattoo over her scar, that is about the only way I could see a way to make them pretty.

Some day I'm going to do a rant about how much I hate breast forms.



Re: I survived.

Date: 2005-10-15 03:12 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] anotheranon.livejournal.com
29! I knew you were young, but not that young! I can't begin to understand what that must be like, with no family history even :(

Tim was the person who changed my bandages and emptied that little plastic bulb looking drainage bag each day and measured full it was each day. He faced that horrid image each day and still loved me. I don't think many men could have stomached it.

He's a good one, no question :)

Reality check

Date: 2005-10-13 03:25 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jezzabel.livejournal.com
All I can say is wow - I had no idea it was so awful. My stepsister (age 42) just had a double mastectomy - her second bout with breast cancer. I feel like a real asshole for not taking it more serious. She is an incredibly upbeat person, and in the 28 years we've been stepsisters, I've rarely seen her be bitchy or complain about something, when many times she's had every right to. I think I understand a little more about why my stepmom was so devastated - she was the one person Colleen would confide in. And to think that this is the "cure", at least for now. Thanks for posting the link.

Date: 2005-10-14 12:59 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] madbodger.livejournal.com
Happy to "remind" or "help" you by squeezing a breast from time to time.

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