“Great! Now I can have the boobies I've always wanted.” Said no woman having a mastectomy ever, preventative or otherwise.
Now you may think I may be stating the obvious here, especially if you've undergone a mastectomy or know someone that has, but sadly this actually seems to be a common misconception.
Quite a lot of people have said to me ‘at least you’ll get new boobs’ which I guess is basically true, if all goes well with my reconstruction. I think the main issue though is that people seem to be missing the obvious; I’m having a mastectomy, an operation to remove my breasts, not a ‘boob job’. The two are very different things.
However there are those people out there that seem quite ignorant on the subject and I guess that this is fair enough if you’ve been lucky enough to never had to deal with breast cancer or a mastectomy before. All that I ask is that if you are addressing someone going through a mastectomy (preventative or because of cancer - it’s awful for everyone) then you do even a little research.
I've been trying to increase the profile of blog as much as possible to raise awareness of genetic breast cancer. I’ve been in touch with many local press titles and a few national women’s titles, 99% of them have been nothing but kind and supportive, with two even agreeing to publish my blog on monthly basis and with a local TV news channel also being interested.
It is the attitude of one editor however that has prompted me to write this post. He who shall remain nameless to save him some embarrassment emailed me the following question:
(This is a direct quote)
“So medically speaking, you’ve been ADVISED that this procedure needs to happen. Now it’s not the BEST news in the world, granted.
But….is there a tiny part of you in the back of your mind that’s thought, ‘Great! Now I can have the boobies I’ve always wanted.”
It actually amazes me that an editor of a magazine with a reported readership of 10,000 a week could be so small-minded. Perhaps he was trying to be a little tongue-in-cheek or maybe he genuinely was that naïve but the result was quite hurtful to a 27 year old girl who is having her boobs removed. I’m publishing my reply with the hope that it may clear up a few misconceptions:
Hi ##
Don't worry, no offence taken. I've read your magazine so I feel I know somewhat how your mind works. This is actually a common misconception amongst those not in the know.
The short answer is no. The long answer is that my boobs will be left scarred, numb and unable to ever breast feed. My existing breast tissue will be shaved away from my skin and nipple. There's a moderate chance my nipples won't survive the operation and slightly lower chance that the reconstruction will fail and I'll be left with nothing there at all.
If the reconstruction does goes well then I will be left with implants but my boobs will be the same size or smaller than they are now as there won't be any tissue to support them. Most nerve tissue will also be removed so they won't have any sensation and they'll also be cold all of the time as they'll ultimately be completely silicone with a skin covering. I hope this has answered some of the questions your wandering mind has and please don't be scared to ask if you have any more.
Best wishes, Katie
P.s 'the boobies I've always wanted' are ones that aren't trying to kill me! x
I should add that I’ve since received a full apology and I really hope that he’s one person that has learnt a little about what me and a lot of other women are going through.
Anyone that knows me or has been reading my blog will realise that I am trying to be as positive as possible about this whole experience and it pains me to write a slightly more negative post, however I feel in this case it was necessary. I’m undergoing my mastectomy to prevent an illness, which I know is much worse that anything I'll be going through as I listed in my reply, and for that I do still feel extremely lucky. I won’t be one of the 1000 women that die a month in the UK from breast cancer. So I will continue to fight like a girl.
Next stop, MRI…
With love, Katie x
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