Update Time!!
So. A lot has happened since my last entry. Somehow two years went by in a flash. Woops! I guess that’s mom life! My last entry mentioned the final steps of my breast reconstruction journey…my areola tattoos.
But guess what? That’s not the end of this journey! I have decided to do fat grafting to improve the look of my foobs. I will write about that after it happens (I promise!) Surgery is scheduled for next month. In the meantime, I wanted to share my experience of removing a few more body parts that came out last year…
On May 27, 2022, I went in for a full hysterectomy/bilateral salpingo-oophoretcomy. In layman’s terms-they removed both my fallopian tubes, both my ovaries and my uterus and cervix. Luckily the surgery was able to be performed laparoscopically. That means they didn’t have to open up my abdomen to get all the parts out. They made five tiny incisions below my belly button (5 separate spots) and a robotic device and camera (and some other stuff perhaps) all went in through the holes on my abdomen to cut out the goods. They then pulled everything out my vagina. Weirdest concept ever. And then they had to create a vaginal cuff, which was essentially creating a cut off space to the rest of my body now that my cervix and uterus were gone. Obviously, I am not a medical professional so I apologize if any of the details are incorrect. But this is the basic gist of what happened. Coming home that day, I felt VERY sore. Like I had done 1,000 crunches. But it really wasn’t that bad. The worst pain I had was actually felt in my neck and shoulder. They pump your body full of gas so they can see all the instruments and body parts when they do surgery with a laparoscope and that can cause referred pain. Mine was pretty rough and I took pain meds for four days for that but not for the pain in my abdomen. Day four it just went away and I only used Tylenol a few days after that for the soreness.
Having your ovaries removed immediately puts you into menopause. What joy! I was 39 at the time….I was VERY happy to not have a period anymore but not thrilled with all the side effects of menopause that were coming my way. I let my body feel everything for a few weeks to see what kind of symptoms I would get. The hot flashes and insomnia set in pretty much right away. I didn’t really feel much else, though. I went on a low dose estrogen replacement to control the systems and have been on that for the past year. Recently the hot flashes seem to be increasing so I might ask my doctor to increase the dose a bit but overall, the HRT (hormone replacement therapy) I have chosen seems to help.
Obviously if you choose this surgery for yourself you need to be ok to say goodbye to your child bearing years. I had two lovely sons but was still a bit sad at the thought I will never have a daughter. I knew we were done having kids but I was still sad from time to time after the surgery knowing the option was totally gone.
The photo I have attached is the night of the surgery after I got home. You can see that it doesn’t even look that bad on the day of! If anyone wants to see pictures of what my scars look like now, I am happy to share. Just reach out to me.
brca2mama@gmail.com
Overall, this surgery was way less intense than my double mastectomy., I only stayed home from work for three weeks and probably could have gone back after two! Reach out with any specific questions. I am here to help you through your journey!
Love and foobies,
Allison
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