Tara Huber
Survivor
Survivor
You Will Get Through This!
I am writing this for that person who just got their diagnosis and is in a horrible space. Let me start with YOU WILL GET THROUGH THIS!
I will NEVER forget Friday July 8, 2022 at 9:51pm when I got a text message from NYU stating that my pathology results were available. I figured this has to be a good sign because they wouldn’t just send over a cancer report without calling first. I was wrong. I’m 36 years old, no family history and from what I found out later BRCA negative.
I know that everyone’s journey/diagnosis is different but I just want the person reading this to realize the best thing to do is stay positive. I was fortunate enough to know people in the medical field that were able to help me understand my situation a little better but do your research and find your right team.
I decided to have a double mastectomy and expanders at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. I had a nerve block before my surgery and it helped my recovery immensely. I would recommend a nerve block a million times. My recovery from the mastectomy wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I would alternate between Tylenol and Motrin consistently so the pain was never really present. I was prescribed oxycontin but I never had to take them. The worst part is the drains but within 2 weeks time, all 4 drains were out and I was able to start filling up my expanders.
I don’t think I’ll ever feel the same again because the whole area doesn’t have much feeling. I’m really bad when it comes to touching myself to get desensitized to the new feeling even though my surgeon really suggest it. I’m okay with it though and it’s just my new normal. The expanders are an odd feeling, especially when they aren’t filled up much but I got used to it so far. I’m now gearing up for my permanent implant surgery the end of this month! I am on currently on Tamoxifen.
Last piece of advice- don’t look at the big picture. I took each appointment/ milestone as a small victory. I would say things like “I just have to get to Tuesday for my appointment” or something along those lines. If you think of everything you have to do, you will go crazy.
YOU GOT THIS!