Here I am, this is me! It’s crazy to think that this journey actually started way back in July, and so quickly it has become November. Wow.
Alright, so to introduce myself, my name is Sharon. I am 30 years old this year, a gardener, a dog mom, a fit-ish enthusiast, and an all around lover of life! I’m pretty average for a person my age and have bounced around with many career opportunities including teaching, being a caregiver for the physically and mentally disabled, and working with at risk youths. Plus some really cool side jobs
like; making smoothies, assembling furniture, and working at an amazing plant nursery in town.
I have a wonderful husband Ben who is a former Marine, and works for a paving company in town, is a lover of video games, and is my best friend.
We have two big lovable dogs, that are pretty much our kids, and basically the best group of friends, and family either one of us could ask for. Thank you!
We found out about the middle of July this year that I have “busy breasts”, they like making tumors, and I mean a lot of them, most I couldn’t even feel no matter how much I poked around at my boobs after seeing them on my ultrasound.
High risk cancer, possible cancer, multiple biopsies, additional testing, BRCA gene “You’re gonna keep making more, because it’s what your body likes doing, what do you want to do?”
What to do…
After a few appointments and some more poking around, the decision was made that we would do a bilateral mastectomy with tissue expanders for reconstruction.
My emotions have really been all over the place with this one. Feeling confident that this was the best possible solution to just completely eliminate the problem, with a very low risk of reoccurrence. And hey, free boob job, right?
I tried for to keep that upbeat tune in my head like this wasn’t a big deal, and it wasn’t going to really change anything, people get fake boobs all the time and I just wasn’t going to have any breast tissue underneath them. It’s not that big of a deal, right?
The truth is, it was a big deal. One of the scariest things I’ve ever done in my life. Surgery has now happened almost two weeks ago, and the gravity of all of this has really hit home. How unprepared we were for this process, financially, physically, mentally.
My husband had to take time off work to take care of me, because with drains, meds, and stitches, I could barely move. Much less take care of myself, or do anything that I normally do, but sleep.
Luckily that phase has passed! I’m moving around again and have even been able to take a bath being only mildly supervised! Also a big victory, going for a walk with my husband and our dogs to play some Pokémon.
Now the real recovery has begun, I’m starting to get my drains out and the swelling has gone down in my chest. I may even get to start my reconstruction process next week. It’s so exciting to be making progress towards the finish line.
Just keep moving forward!
As happy as all of this is, unfortunately comes the reality that all of this is really expensive, and despite the fact that my husband works his butt off for an amazing company, and even our bill collectors have worked with us on payment plans and rate reductions. Everything still just adds up more than we ever thought it would.
We are now reaching out to our friends, family, and anyone who would care to read our story to ask for help to pay for my surgery and reconstruction.