{NOTE: This was originally published on Vanessa’s CarePage. We are copying all those posts here to have her story in one place that all can access. We are back-dating the posts to match when she originally published the post there, and are marking the blog post here with Vanessa as the author, as these words that follow are her own.}

Posted Jan 15, 2008 9:26pm

Happy New Year! (15 days late!)

So I FINALLY have a date! For my surgery, that is…not a secret night out. ;)

The magic day is February 15th. I’m excited to to finally find out, so I can get it over with. I still have to get scans at the end of the month, so hopefully everything looks good. Not sure if I ever mentioned what I will be having done for my reconstruction surgery, so here’s the short version: I’m getting a prohylactic mastectomy on my non-cancer side (i already did it on my cancer side!) since i am at high risk of it eventually striking that side, and then having tram flap reconstruction on both sides, which is a fancy way of saying that the surgeons will use my fat and some muscles from my belly to rebuild my chest. Its a long and complicated surgery because of all the micro surgery involved (the blood vessels all need to be reattached so there is a blood supply). Afterward i will be in intensive care for a few days, and then a regular room for a few more. So…not actually looking forward to the surgery and recovery, but it will be great to finish what is hopefully my last step for awhile. :)