BRA DAY (AND IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK): REMIX
(originally posted 12/3/12)
There's a Breast Reconstruction Awareness Day and I MISSED IT?! HOW DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS?
This past December, an article in the Kansas City Star about breast reconstruction stated the American Society of Plastic Surgeons launched the first BRA Day (cute, I know) on October 17, 2012. The purpose of the campaign was to promote awareness and patient access to breast reconstruction. May I say, American Society of Plastic Surgeons, LOUSY JOB WITH THE PUBLICITY! If our local newspaper hadn't picked up a truncated version of this article (probably as filler), I wouldn't have known about it still.
The article went on to talk about a woman who visits cancer patients at KU Med Center who are facing mastectomy and breast reconstruction and talks to them about her reconstruction procedure, allowing them to take a look at her own reconstructed breasts. And the article also talked about a "show and tell" in New Orleans, with reconstruction patients revealing their new breasts to other cancer patients.
Apparently, it is NOT usual for women who have had breast reconstruction to show their new breasts to others.
WHAAAAA???
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| You have NO IDEA how much I would like to own this shirt. |
My breast reconstruction is a miracle of modern medicine (thank you, Dr. Geter!), and I will gladly, GLADLY, show anyone who wants to see them. Hell, I'll even let you feel them if you want. (Hey, they're mostly numb. I can close my eyes and usually never even know that you've touched them.)
While it's an individual choice for each breast cancer patient, all it takes is one look at a photo depicting mastectomy without benefit of reconstruction to make you understand just how important of a step this can be for a woman's recovery. Thanks to my awesome reconstruction, I can almost forget that I was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Almost.
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| I won't let it get past me NEXT year... |
Thank you for a very interesting post about "Bra". I am glad you're doing well.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Emily! Doing great, plus have awesome new boobies!
DeleteI'm so glad that you wrote this. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading it, Jennie. It wrote itself - I've been celebrating BRA Day all along and didn't even know it!
Deletebravo--i appreciate your courage. kelley—the road goes ever ever on
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kelley. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
DeleteWow!! Go you, Survivor!!! I'd like to see them! ;) And you should totally buy that shirt!
ReplyDeleteI have a similar shirt, but it's lacking the word "spectacular." And they are! Meet me in the ladies room and I'll give you a looky loo ;)
DeleteI am sure that you celebrate BRA in some manner each and every day!
ReplyDeleteI DO. I'm very aware of them! BECAUSE THEY'RE AWESOME!
DeleteDyanne, I think everyday should be a show off your reconstruction day. BTW, you definitely need the tee shirt.
ReplyDeleteI think that shirt was made for me.
DeleteYou don't need just one day a year to celebrate; every day that you are alive and enjoying your wonderful new boobies is a celebration.
ReplyDeleteI love that shirt!! You must find a way to get one :)
They certainly are miracles of modern medicine.
DeleteRock. Star.
ReplyDeleteThat is all. xo
Aw, shucks.
DeleteI have a good friend who is going in for a double mastectomy next month. She did have a cancerous lump that was removed and thank God it all looks good for her. You are so right this is so important. I want to share this with her -- at an appropriate time.
ReplyDeleteMy early blog posts are about my surgery, reconstruction and recovery, if you think your friend might be interested in reading about it before she has the surgery. There are a lot of things I didn't know to expect that would have been nice to have known before hand. She can also email me any time if she would like to ask me anything; I'd be happy to help her in any way I can with the knowledge I now have from my own procedure.
DeleteI had never heard of BRA Day either. I can see how it would be a huge benefit to women though.
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, I love that shirt!
Very poor publicity job on BRA Day. But, hey, I celebrate it any chance I get, regardless of the day!
DeleteThat T-shirt is FANTASTIC. I love it! I have an acquaintance who had a double mastectomy, after nursed her mother through her battle and buried her (on purpose, like Angelina Jolie and I am totally bunging this up because I can't remember what it's called and I should know this). I knew her from an online Mom's board and she spent many months deliberating what she would do with her reconstruction... nipples, tattoos etc. She was very public about it and asked for our opinions. I just applaud her for the way she handled it!
ReplyDeleteI was planning to have prophylactic mastectomies (that's the word you're looking for) because I had horrible fibrocystic disease, then one of my lumps turned out to be stage 1 cancer, so off with the boobies and no argument from insurance! My reconstruction is so awesome, and a bi-product of it is that I got a tummy tuck. And I have surgically created nipples AND tattoos. I'm glad your friend is happy with her results, too.
DeleteGreat post. So glad you wrote it. Will definitely have to mark October 17th on my calendar to start tweeting awareness in September. Thanks for posting again.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, that is one hell of an awesome shirt! :)
Maybe they should have called it SHOW EVERYONE YOUR RECONSTRUCTED BOOBIES DAY. That would have gotten it more attention.
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