Hooray for breast cancer being out of my body!
On Tuesday, June 24, 2025, I underwent a successful skin sparing, bilateral (double) mastectomy (removal of breast tissue, nipples) to extract two cancerous tumors (stage 1 invasive ductal carcinoma) and related lymph nodes on my left side, with expander insertion to prepare my breasts for later reconstruction. Here's a little recap of how it went.

I had an appointment the day before, on June 23, with Nuclear Medicine so they could inject "radioactive tracers" into my left breast. The tracers let the surgeons know which lymph nodes are the first ones cancer cells are likely to spread to from the breast tumors. Mine ended up being in my armpit.

The appointment was very quick, so we snuck in a move at Coral Ridge Mall. Highly recommend Elio!

We then headed to the hotel to settle in for the night. Our room number was "511" - the same street number as our home address. I took that as a positive sign! After a visit with my parents, we hit the pool for my last swim in a while, and then my sister came to our room to braid my hair for surgery. I slept well surrounded by my stuffies, a mix of mine and ones given to me by family and friends. My nerves were rooted in excitement to get this part of the journey rolling.

Check-in time for surgery was 6:30 a.m. for an 8:30 a.m. start. We arrived on time and almost immediately taken back to the pre-op room. I was one of the first cases of the day since my procedure would run from 8-10 hours. The pre-op team was excellent and made me feel at ease about what was going to happen. Part of the process was drawing five vials of blood for the research I agreed to through the university. I was given high compliments on my good veins and ability to pump blood out quickly! (LOL, something to be proud of I suppose.)

From there I hit the operating room and that's a big blank space for the next 10 hours! I was talking to my Anesthesiologist about keeping rabbits out of my garden and then all of a sudden I was being rolled into my room from post-op recovery.

The doctors told my support crew that everything was "textbook" and went as well as it could have. I responded well to everything that was done and they were able to successfully complete everything that was planned. Also, my lymph nodes were clear (the best news) so no further surgical procedures were required in that area.

​Joel made sure there was a Mountain Dew waiting for me when I got out, my special request before going in. I hung out with Joel, my parents, sister, and best friend for a bit, and my sister helped get my dinner ordered. We were all relieved and happy to be together celebrating that all went well.

To top the day off, there was a Harry Potter marathon on for me to fall asleep (and wake up in the middle of the night) to!

I spent just one night in the hospital. All looked good regarding the state of my health and response to the surgery, so I was able to go home in the morning. The only medical residuals I had to take home with me were plastic wraps and a compression bra around my breasts, and an external drain for each breast dangling from a drain belt.

After a final visit from my family, breakfast, and a little bout of nausea, we were loading up the car and heading home. I slept from the moment I was strapped into the car through to the next day!

Since returning home, all has gone quite well. Joel has taken on the role of nurse, chef, dog sitter, family/friend updater, head gardener, and so much more. Luckily, he was able to take a couple of weeks off to be by my side. He manages the meds I have to take throughout the day and empties my drains morning and night, along with feeding, bathing, and dressing me. I couldn't do this without him! Get yourself a Joel if you can. But you can't have mine.

We've been able to manage my pain, which didn't start getting "bad" until about day 4 or 5 when my nerves began to recalibrate and come alive again. It's wonderful to experience feeling coming back to my breasts, so the "pain" is worth it. I can't complain too much though, what I'm feeling is tolerable and certainly better than I thought it would be.

The thing that I haven't been able to manage is staying still! I felt good to go almost immediately after the anesthesia fuzziness and tiredness wore off. I paid the price for not following my "move like a t-rex" instructions from the Plastic Surgeon, so I learned my first lesson quickly. I am now as still as possible (which isn't good enough, but the best I can do).

I'm spending my days in a recliner reading, doing puzzles, coloring, and napping. We've had visitors every day which has helped break up the long hours of sitting. Many have brought us food to enjoy so Joel doesn't need to cook and items to keep me occupied in the vast downtime. We feel surrounded by love and support. That is so vital to moving forward with bravery and strength. I know if I were to stumble or fall, we have a network of loved ones to catch us. Thanks to all of you reading this who are one of those people.

Seeing the Full Picture
Square websites don't offer "graphic content" warnings that allow a person to choose if they view an image or not. I was going to share a real time picture of what my breasts look like in order to better educate people about what this process entails and what to expect post-surgery. But I don't want to shock anyone without their consent!

​I have no reservations sharing these types of images because, although graphic, they may help others facing this same type of surgery get a fuller picture of what to expect from a real person they can interact with. I'm happy to share more "down and dirty" details with anyone who wants or needs them. Leave a comment or reach out to me via my site's contact page!

June 10th marked two weeks until my bilateral (double) mastectomy. When I had that realization things started to feel real. I’ve been talking about it for months, it felt so far away. But it’s not far away anymore. I don’t know what emotions are presenting themselves at any given moment. I think it’s a bit of a tornado of all of them all at once:

• I feel confident about my health (outside of the cancer) and ability to recover. 
• I feel scared of the unknowns and how much pain I’ll be in afterwards. 
• I feel confident in my medical team and facilities.  
• I feel scared something unexpected will happen that is out of anyone’s control. 
• I feel supported by my health insurance company for what they can cover. 
• I feel scared my health insurance won’t cover everything. 
• I feel supported by my incredible husband, family and friends. 
• I feel scared about being away from work for up to a month. 

I’m able to push through the waves of emotion by leaning on my natural default in turbulent situations: “business-mode.” Another part of my being takes over and I love her very much. She absorbs information, rationalizes and accepts the reality of it, educates herself, asks the right questions, and processes the answers to make sound decisions. She’s served me well so far. But no matter how much research, or leg work, or preparation she can muster, at the end of the day, after all the decisions have been made, every remaining detail is out of her control. Out of my control.  

I’ve done my best to remind myself to “give in” to the fact that I won’t have control over much in the coming weeks. Working what’s to come isn’t going to be of benefit to me. Letting thoughts and feelings flow in and out has been the best approach. When I’m mad, I allow it. When I feel like crying, I allow it. When I’m afraid, I allow it. The same applies to the positive parts of all this, which has been more present than bad – the sweetest surprise. When I’m loved on, I allow it. When help is offered, I allow it. When support is expressed, I allow it. No holding on to any one thought or feelings, just clouds floating by. 

As I mentioned, I feel confident about who is caring for me, which is the most important part at this point in the journey. University of Iowa Health Care has been a fitting medical home for me. I’m constantly impressed by their efficiency and follow up. They also really care. I have left every appointment feeling better than they found me. 

The past few weeks have included pre-surgical visits with my surgical oncologist, plastic surgeon, and oncology psychiatrist. I have a CT scan next week along with another visit with behavioral oncology and first visit with the oncology dietician. There is a wide range of support services available, and I’ve been asking to be referred to as many as I have time for.  

At this moment, my care plan is to have a bilateral (double) mastectomy with “expanders” inserted. Expanders help preserve the shape of the breast as I heal, give my immune system a break from fighting cancer, and prepare for reconstruction. Later in the year (if my blood vessels qualify – fingers and toes crossed) I’ll have DIEP (Deep Inferior Epigastric Perforator) flap breast reconstruction. It uses tummy tissue to rebuild the breasts. I chose this route because it is a “forever” procedure. Implants require monitoring and replacement in 10-15 years. The whole reason for choosing to have a bilateral mastectomy vs. a unilateral mastectomy was to have no ongoing maintenance – monitoring, biopsies, hopefully no cancer treatment, etc. So, although there will be a bit more to the DIEP surgery, in the long run, it’s the best choice for me. A big investment up front for, best case scenario, a long-term solution to remain breast cancer-free for the rest of my days! 

I look forward to sharing more leading up to and after my surgery. Thanks to those of you who are following along, your care, concern, and support means so much! 

Things I’ve Learned and Recommend… 
I believe being your own advocate is the best thing you can do for yourself when faced with a medical challenge. For me, being an advocate for myself took the shape of research, building out a narrowed list of what type of care or treatment I thought was best for me, and visualizing myself receiving the care or treatment to ensure it felt right and would fit my lifestyle. I took the medical knowledge, a list of pros and cons of treatment options, and open questions to each doctor. I ran through everything with them to ensure I was basing my decisions on sound facts and outcomes, asking if they had any specific recommendations based on what they knew about me, and then took both what I gathered and their professional feedback home with me for consideration.  

There is no rush (unless, of course, the surgery or treatment is urgent) to make a call on the spot, especially if you are a “processer” like me. You must live with the decisions you make, not your health care team. Walking into appointments with a baseline understanding of what would be happening, questions, and preliminary ideas of what treatment plan I wanted to follow was extremely empowering. It allowed me to be fully present and listen to my doctors without being overwhelmed with a bunch of new information and being unprepared when asked what I’d like to do. Appointments were efficient and effective because we were able to get right into creating a plan unique to me. 

I make this sound like it was easy, but many times I had to coerce myself into looking what was coming straight in the eye. Opening the comprehensive breast cancer guide was hard, but every time I got into it, I closed the book feeling better off for being brave enough to face the facts and reassured that whatever choice I made was OK as long as it sat right with me.