Things I Wish I Knew Throughout My Journey…
Hindsight is 20/20, but there are definitely things I wish I had known at the beginning of my breast cancer journey. These are just the handful I could think of off the top of my head, but this list will be ever growing as I continue fighting this battle. I will continue learning as I go and will continue sharing my learnings with the hopes that it helps someone else out in some way.
Advocate for Yourself
This is at the top of my list because I find it to be the most important thing I have learned. If you ever feel like your questions are not being answered or just something isn’t right, don’t feel bad questioning or second guessing things. Or, in my case, if the facility tries to cancel your appointment due to insurance reasons, show up anyway because YOU decide your treatment… not insurance.
The Rise in the Number of Younger Women With Breast Cancer
I wish I knew the number of breast cancer cases was rising in younger women (under 40). Honestly, I can’t find a ton of literature on this topic, but I have had a large number of doctors and nurses mention to me numerous times that they are seeing an increase in the number of younger women coming in being diagnosed with breast cancer. I am 26 and I know that I am not the only one in their 20’s that my team is treating right now. If I had known this prior, maybe I would have taken monthly breast exams more seriously.
Don’t Forget About Your Mental Health
It can be easy to slack on good mental health habits when you are only focused on your physical health, but keeping a strong mindset only helps to fuel you and give you strength in your battle against cancer. Cancer doesn’t only take a toll on you physically, but mentally as well. I wish I had started going to therapy sooner to help be better cope with the many different emotional and mental obstacles I was going to face as a result of my diagnosis. I eventually started going to therapy to talk through some of the worries and anxieties I was having, but I really wish I would have started going right when I was diagnosed.
Join a Support Group
I wish I had joined a support group sooner. There really is nothing like talking with people going through the same things as you. I have linked some support groups in the resources section of the site!
Save Your Money
Save your money until you know what you will need. I went balls to the wall when I was first diagnosed and I bought EVERYTHING I thought I would need throughout this journey. Turns out I didn’t even use half of what I bought and I ended up donating some of it. Just do yourself a favor and save your money until you know exactly what you need.
Surgery Isn’t THAT Bad
I had a bilateral mastectomy with a lymph node dissection. They took both breasts and a total of 20 lymph nodes from my left underarm. We started my breast reconstruction at the same time, so they put in tissue expanders after they removed my breasts. At the time I am writing this, I am 10 days post-op and I feel AMAZING. I wish I had not been full of so much anxiety leading up to the surgery. In my opinion the worst part of surgery is dealing with these silly drains. The picture I included here is me 1 day post-op!
*I do understand that everyone has different experiences and outcomes, so please keep in mine that this is my unique scenario and your experience may be similar or different! We all walk our own unique path <3
There are NO Stupid Questions
It seems kind of silly to say this, but there are literally no stupid questions to ask your doctors or anyone on your treatment team. This is your body that you are putting into their hands, so you have every right to ask as many questions as you’d like. And if you have a great treatment team like I do, then they will actually love the fact that you are so engaged in your treatment plan.