My Unwelcome Journey (Where I've been for the last 18 months)
 

In May 2013, I made a discovery that scared the daylights out of me. I had unusually sore boobs but when my man and I had sex the pain went away for a while. Even though my right breast was pretty sore, I enjoyed him sucking it till I orgasmed as I had many times before. As the timing was right for me, I put the discomfort down to worse than usual PMS, until after my shower.

As I was applying my moisturiser, a hunch told me that something was wrong. I was more conscious of the pores of my breast and so I Googled "orange peel skin". Well, my breast didn't look like the pics of that, but there were many references to redness, so I grabbed a mirror and to my horror, there was a red circle under my right nipple. It was a symptom of Inflammatory Breast Cancer, a highly aggressive form of breast cancer with a lower than average survival rate and a high recurrance rate. My gut said this is what I had but my common sense said "no, Flames, you don't Google your symptoms, you twit. You just had sex, Mr Flames probably bruised you". So I decided to watch and wait for a week or two.

During the next couple of weeks I just about sent myself crazy with worry. The redness didn't disappear and the classic peau d'orange started to appear. My pain remained on that side even after my period so I knew it was time to see the doctor. It wasn't a pleasant feeling when, after examining me, his voice was shaking. An urgent mammogram and an ultrasound were booked, followed by an appointment with a surgeon. My fears were then confirmed: I did indeed have Inflammatory Breast Cancer. Mr Flames and I were devastated, as well as chemotherapy, I would lose my breast.

As Inflammatory Breast Cancer involves the skin, treatment involves chemotherapy first to control the spread before surgery, so I endured 5 months of chemotherapy, including all the sickness and problems that went with it. By the end, all the redness had disappeared and even though I still had a lump, it had shown signs of shrinkage, so I was scheduled for surgery in early February 2014. After I'd healed sufficiently from the mastectomy, I had 30 rounds of radiation to my chest.

At this stage I have no evidence of cancer and am on a waiting list for reconstructive surgery. Due to the aggressive radiation, I am not a candidate for implants and have only been given a choice of a "Lat flap" from my back or a "Tram flap" from my tummy. Both types involve lengthy operations and up to 3 months recovery as well as follow up surgery to balance the boobs, create a nipple etc. Even though I expect to be called up soon, I am very likely to postpone any further surgery as treatment and recovery have already stolen over a year of my life and I'm not ready to be sick again so soon. So, who wants pics of a Uniboob? :tongue:

Firstly, welcome back hon - you've been missed, even by such infrequent visitors as myself!

Second, very well done you! The "C" word is not an easy one to hear, as I know from my own experience, and I can't imagine how much more intense it is when such destructive and personal (for want of a better word) surgery is involved too.

I had missed seeing you here, on my less frequent visits of late, but obviously never knew the reasons. So glad you're back, and well done you for beating this fucking horrible disease.

Oh, and if you really want to post up pics of yourself - feel free! You're still as sexy woman; a wee bit surgery will never change that! :D

DM

Ow. ow. ow. ow. ow. ow. ow. ow. ow. ow.

Clearly, there's an answer, in two parts: Part 1: http://www.giantmicrobes.com/us/products/cancer.html

Part 2: http://iheartguts.com/products/mammary-plush

Uniboob
 

Put up any picture you would like, pinkFlames! I am sure there are lots of people (myself included) who would cheer you on! Huzzah for showing your beauty inside and out. And is Uniboob your new super hero name? Because it should be! With pink flames on the cape.

Look! Its a bird...it's a plane...NO! It's Uniboob!!!

(just being silly--seriously, a cyberhug for having the personal hutzpah to share your story with all of us. Well done.)

Glad to hear you are well now! Congratulations on kicking cancer's ass. Thanks for letting us know of your journey!

pinkFlames,

Congratulations, and welcome back! :thumbs:

Welcome back and congratulations on winning your battle....you are very fortunate.

I wonder if we should start our own wee Pixies Cancer Beaters Club?

Me, you and Dicksbro could be founder members, then charge admission for anyone else who happens along ……. gotta make an extra buck somewhere, right? :rolleyes: :rofl:
dM

pF, you know this is a group of folks that genuinely does care and does miss our members, especially when it's abrupt absence. I'm liking the outcome of your report but would have been equally pleased to share some of the honest support our Pixie hometown has for you. Just really glad to hear the up-side of your time away. :kisser:

Positive stuff is so good these days.

Glad to hear you're on the plus.

Thank you all for your kind comments.

A Superhero, Gigi? Well I'm sure I glow in the dark after all the poison and radiation they gave me. :D

I like your money making proposal, dm, gotta get something good out of all this.

So sorry to hear what you've been through, pF. I'm glad you've got it beat, though, and wish you all the best with future surgeries when the time comes for reconstruction.

pF, we're just so thankful that you're with us and that you're doing so well. You're a very special and wonderful lady and our hopes and prayers are with you now and when the time comes and you do go ahead with the additional surgeries and reconstruction. God bless!

PF, Thanks for sharing the story of your personal fight with us. Our best wishes are always with all Pixies and am glad to hear you've got the upper hand.

Cheers ...

Hugs!!