As a former nurse in MD Anderson’s Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU), I felt pretty familiar with breast cancer surgery. So, I thought I knew what to expect when I scheduled my own mastectomy last August.
But, as it turns out, going through the process as a patient myself held some surprises. Here are five things I didn’t anticipate and how I handled them.
1. Embrace your range of motion exercises
When I was a PACU...
Frances Arnoult had a double mastectomy, but she never had to see what she would have looked like without breasts. That’s because her MD Anderson...
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Maybe I’m a late bloomer. After being diagnosed with triple-negative inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) in August 2007, I had a double mastectomy at MD Anderson. But I didn’t have breast reconstruction surgery until this March, almost 10 years later.
Why did I wait so long? For many reasons.
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Linda Phetphongsy is still trying to adjust to life with breast implants, though she welcomes the peace of mind they bring her.
“I...
When you receive a cancer diagnosis, you quickly learn just how precious life is.
Almost seven years ago, I learned I had stage IIIC...
When my very first mammogram revealed stage IIIC breast cancer, I was dealt the shock of my life.
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