I’m back! 11 years later and boy so much has changed!

So this is the continuation story of my previvor journey.  I decided to continue my story because so much has happened since my last Entry and I feel like I need to update to let everybody know what’s been going on for the past 10 years. The last time I spoke to you I was on surgery number three where I had gotten my expanders taken out and my allergan 410 gummy bear cohesive gel implants put in. That was in March 2012. After my honeymoon in September 2012 (more about that later) I had to go to the doctors due to severe pain in my which they did not know why, I was given antibiotics and it went away. For a few years after that I grew to love my new foobs. No real complaints, I did have one more reoccurrence of insane pain but again, it disappeared on its own, this time with out antibiotics. They were just really hard and always really cold. In the summer of June 2016 I was at a wedding and thought that I come down with some type of G.I. bug. When I went home (we were down the shore at the time) I went to bed early. In the middle of the night I woke up freezing And in so much pain I felt like I had had a mastectomy all over again. Finally in the morning when everyone was awake, I took my temperature and it was 104° I had no idea what was going on I was so scared and I didn’t want to end up in a New Jersey hospital. I called my plastic surgeon who told me to drive back to Pennsylvania thankfully that would be Brian who did that and go straight to the emergency room. After being in the emergency room I was admitted to a hospital bed and stayed there for a few days. Dr. B my surgeon, Said maybe it would be a better idea if we took these implants out and switched them with another set of implants because they couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me and they thought maybe it was the implants. I agreed to do so and in August 2016 I had my Allergan 410 implants replaced with mentor silicone gel implants.  The allergens that he removed, we found out later on to have bacteria on the lab slides! Everything was good for a little bit but then I just started not feeling like myself anymore I started getting phantom pains all the time memory fog I started developing new allergies to medication‘s I’ve never had an allergy to a medication in my life besides one and now I had 3 more introduced to me. Constant ringing in my ears, inflammation, swelling, I gained 15 pds in a year! Chronic fatigue, headaches, sinusitis, cognitive dysfunctions, started seeing a chiropractor for back and neck pain, started seeing a GI doctor for digestive issues, had my first colonoscopy at 36, Multiple UTIs, the list goes on and on.went as far to get a medical marijuana card in hopes of some relief. Yeah, that didn’t work… just made me feel anxious, paranoid, I definitely couldn’t keep this up and was unable to live and function in a normal life. It was then when an article was written that they were recalling certain types of breast implants!

 In July 2019, Allergan recalled its Biocell textured breast implants after the FDA had linked them to a rare cancer called breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma, or BIA-ALCL. Most of Allergan’s recalled textured breast implants were sold under the Natrelle brand. The FDA advises women with BIA-ALCL to have their implants removed. This made me start to do more research. These were the implants that I had removed in 2016! I couldn’t believe it! Then I read that since most of my capsules were removed but not all I started thinking more and more. I did more research, I read not only were my old implants recalled but also my expanders that I had prior to the implants! I then started leaning towards having my implants taken out for good! I went to see my original surgeon, he thought it would be a good idea to remove the mentor implants and replace them yet again with another implant type (smooth not textured) there were articles now stating that textured implants could be causing problems now too! I had textured implants. I mean, when you really think about it your body doesn’t think that foreign objects should be in there so what do they do? They start to attack it. I felt like my body was just attacking me from the inside I had to get these out. Maybe I wasn’t explaining myself right to my original surgeon ( Don’t get me wrong, I loved Dr. B!) but I felt like my needs were just not being met I decided to look for a second opinion. I found a doctor about 15 mins away from me at fox chase cancer center. 

Dr. Sameer Patel, this man performs a type of surgery that many other doctors do not. Well the others, do like 40 a year, where this surgeon does like 4 a week! It was Pretty Covid at the time so I was listening to a lot of podcasts. I found Tthe Breast Podcast Ever  hosted by

Dr. Tiwari and Dr. Kocak Around the same time I stumbled upon a Facebook group called Breast Implant Illness and Healing by Nicole I started typing in my symptoms and more and more things came up with people who were just like me. One person in particular was an admin of the group and at the same time listing to this podcast she was actually a guest speaker! I thought for sure this was definitely a sign that I was going in the right direction.  And guess who her surgeon was!?! Patel! Oh it gets better as I am listening to the 2 Doctors podcast he also was a guest speaker on a different episode! I ended up canceling my august procedure with Dr. B, and began my search for a surgeon that would be willing to do the DIEP FLAP procedure. I made an appointment with Patel, but it wasn’t for a few months. I did go for another opinion in the meantime but all they recommended again, was to swap out old implants for new implants. I was so sick of hearing this over and over. I wanted my old life back.  I wanted to not start falling asleep before my childrens bedtimes, I wanted to not be in pain. I just wanted to be happy again. I met with Patel finally and we scheduled my Explant with DIEP FLAP procedure for September 2020! 

Below is a list I printed out of common symptoms of breast implant illness and all the things at that time that I also related too. 

2 posts for the PRice of ONE!

So I thought I would double post tonight since I am still up. I thought it would be interesting to post the  after transition photos  of the entire process. So here you go. 

5 Days Post Op 

3.5 Weeks Post op

4 Weeks Post op  

5 1/2 weeks post op and 1 week after 2nd surgery

Right Breast 8 Weeks Post Op
Left Breast 3 Weeks Post Op

Right Breast 9 Weeks Post Op
Left Breast 5 Weeks Post Op

Right Breast 11 Weeks Post Op
Left Breast 7 Weeks Post Op

Right Breast 15 Weeks Post Op
Left Breast 11 Weeks Post Op

Night Before Exchange Surgery

1 Day Post op After Exchange Surgery 3/18/11

3 Weeks Post Exchange

10 Weeks Post Exchange

CLose to 8 months post exchange and 1 year anniversary since  mastectomy

1 year ago today....

Yup that's right! One year ago today I underwent my mastectomy, and this time last year i was in pretty much the worst pain in my life. I still would not change a thing I did. I know I made the right decision and that is all that matters. So much has happened since my last blog post which was the end of May. July 9th Brian the love of my life proposed to me It was everything I wanted!!! A surprise horse drawn buggy in Central Park New York, rose petals, down on one knee the whole 9 yards! Of course I said YES! We will be getting married August 25th 2012!! I am so happy to grow old with him. He is an amazing man who has been my rock and sanity for the last 3 years. I love ya babe!

So not only wedding planing like crazy but also we just finished walking 60 miles last month for the Susan G Komen 3 Day for the cure in Philadelphia. A few things I have to bring up from the 3 day that really touched me. I met a few Previvors and got to hear their stories. One lady I met her name was Lori, we even did a show and tell in her tent lol but what was even cooler was she actually works for Myriad Genetics, and also Bright Pink! We talked for  good half hour about nipples and reconstruction which was pretty awesome to know another previvor on the walk.

I wore my Previvor shirt proud! One the 2nd night of the walk i was out side my tent making my shirt for closing ceremony and a lady named Sheryl across from me was curious what my shirt was about. I explained to her how I preventivly had a mastectomy but didn't have breast cancer, that my mother had passed away from breast cancer that she and I both carried the same BRCA1 gene. She must of went to bed that night and really thought about what I said because the next morning she told me that she feels there was a reason we had tented across from one another. After listening to everything I had to share, she had decided it was her time to get tested as well, due to a strong family history. Here is a portion of an email from her a few days after the walk,

 I am so grateful to you for sharing your story with us. I had thought about the testing a few years ago, but I think I was too afraid to hear the results so I just put it out of my mind. Talking with you gave me a different perspective. Thank you....  I have always believed that we meet people for different reasons.  I truly believe that my mom had something to do with us tenting across from one another. I definitely got her stubborn streak and I think she knew that hearing your story would make me listen.

I think this is so beautiful that I could have an impact on someone like that, On November 21st Sheryl will undergo genetic testing! (*Thinking of you*) And that is how I feel too with the BLogs and videos that I do. I love the fact that people are learning things from my experience and I love the fact that I am helping others. I started this whole journey over a year ago searching for help on the Internet, pictures, videos anything. I barely found anything, so I decided to do my own to help me cope and help others at the same time who where in the same boat. I hope I continue to help others and if you need any advise please ask away.

Another update so after my 4th surgery of the the year my cystectomy in May I felt terrible I was constantly in pain on my left side. They couldn't figure out why i kept feeling all these pains and finally as a last resort they decided to remove my IUD (intrauterine device) ie: my birth control that I have had for the last 8 years. Turns out my IUD was what was causing my 3 months of abdominal pain.  If you can imagine my IUD looking at it is normally placed in the uterus and its a T shape. well my GYN Oncologist that did my cystectomy must of moved it around because once it was surgically removed my GYN said my T was positioned like this |--- no wander I was in so much pain!

So I guess I should tell you about how I feel about my boobs a year later, well.... like I had said before I wish I would of went with a saline or silicone implant...The cohesive gel implants that I have are so hard.   I have to get all new winter tops this year because my boobs don't fit into my sweaters anymore :( They are not swishy like they used to be , they still feel like 2 foreign objects n my chest. I think they look amazing don't get me wrong but it just feels weird, it's hard to explain I guess. Regardless if I like my chest or not I still have reduced my risk from breast cancer to 10% rather than the 87%  life time risk I did have due to the BRCA1 gene and prior to surgery. My boobs are always frozen since there is no blood flow going on. I can't feel the cold unless I touch them though so it's not a bothersome thing. last but not least I still have pains on both sides every once in a while. I did talk to my PS about it and he said it is normal. Kinda like when your "tennis elbow" or your "bad knee" acts up with the weather yeah you could say the same thing about my boobs.

So Last thing to get done is nipples. Hmmmm I am still up in the air about nipples. I am 99% percent sure that I don't really want the surgery. I am leaning towards 3D tattoos. So far the only place I am interested in going to is Little Vinnies in Maryland. He is pretty famous in the BRCA and Mastectomy worlds and is known for his work in 3D tattooing and also 3D nipple piercing. Here is his site http://vinniemyers.com/section/105672_Nipple_Areola_Tattooing.html  He charges $350 for both nipples to be done which I think is a pretty decent price. ( I am a tattoo virgin) lol  ok enough with the updating now. Let me wake up Brian so he  can take my new pictures to update everyone. BRB.....ok so here they are 1 year Anniversary of Mastectomy!!!

Front Obviously...you can tell I never lost the 10 pds I gained from surgery

Right Side (the one that didn't have any problems)

Left Side (the Trouble Maker)

Left Scar

Right Scar

ONE YEAR MASTECIVERSARY!