Young Survival Coalition

When I first got my diagnosis I, of course, scoured the internet for anything I could find on breast cancer, especially resources for young women with breast cancer. I came across the website for the Young Survival Coalition, which has its headquarters in Manhattan and affiliates throughout the United States.


The YSC is a support and resource group for women who were first diagnosed with breast cancer before the age of 40. YSC has monthly support group meetings where women can discuss whatever is on their mind at the moment. I went to two support group meetings - - one before each of my two surgeries. I met such wonderful women there who helped me prepare for and get through my surgeries, emotionally and practically.


This week, in New York, March 30 at 630PM, YSC is hosting an informative event called Exploring Complementary and Integrative Medicine.


To learn more about the Young Survival Coalition, click here.

Big Plans for the Weekend

So maybe this doesn't really sound like a big plan, but it is, I assure you. Today marks four weeks since my second surgery (Friday, February 18 - Friday, March 18 to be exact). This means that starting tomorrow I can work out again! And THAT means that tomorrow morning, D and I are getting up bright and early to head to our regular yoga class. I'm very excited to get back out there. I'll probably be signing up for some dance and Zumba events soon and can't wait to get back to my kickboxing class at the gym!

Back to Life, Back to Reality

Monday was my first day back at work in over two weeks. Readjusting to a work schedule was rough but overall, it went well. Tuesday, D and I went to a second follow-up with my breast surgeon. She said everything looked good and I don't have to see her for another six months. I will have annual mammograms and MRIs but they will not be at the same time. They will be spaced apart. My next mammogram will be in June and my MRI will be in October/November. Or maybe it's the other way around. I can't remember right now. Yesterday I met with one of my teachers from one of the two classes that I had to take incompletes in. She is teaching the same course at the same day and time and they are almost at the same point in the semester where I left off. She suggested I start sitting in on these classes so that I can make up my coursework on the same schedule as the current students and get to hear the actual lectures. I think it's a great idea, so in April I plan to start sitting in on these courses. Tomorrow I meet with my other teacher and my hope is that I can do the same thing with her class. Besides making up my coursework the two other things I'm really looking forward to are being able to workout again and taking a well-deserved vacation. Mom & I took a four-week set of dance classes awhile back. It was a lot of fun and I think I will check out their upcoming schedule to see what I can fit in with my new school schedule. Then, D and I are hoping to be able to get away in the coming months. Our last really big trip was Iceland. After that we did Portland, Oregon. I initially wanted to go someplace warm where we could do lots of outdoor activities like hiking, horseback riding, kayaking, etc., so we were looking at going somewhere in Central America like Belize, Costa Rica, Nicaragua or Guatemala. Turns out Guatemala is in their rainy season at the time we want to go, while Nicaragua is way too dusty & hot. Costa Rica seems too touristy and too much ON the beaten path. Belize seemed like it was the destination of choice but we just can't seem to figure out a trip plan that we are happy with. So now we're just being really open-minded, searching for deals on flights and packages to almost anywhere. At this point I'm starting to think I'd prefer a relaxing vacation in a European city, getting breakfast in a cafe every morning, taking the metro everywhere and just roaming around a cloudy, cool European city checking out museums and whatnot. As of tomorrow I have one more week before I can start working out again. I can't wait.

Before I go, here's an article I found yesterday, from the Today show website, about pregnant women with cancer, seeing their pregnancies through (click the hyperlink):

Pregnant with cancer, women struggle to heal for two

Outlook Good

Reading over my last few posts I realized that I was really upset two posts ago ("Spoke too soon?") and improving in the previous post ("32C") but that I hadn't yet written to tell you how I'm feeling now, five days after that last doctor's appointment. Gradually over the last five days I've started to feel really happy with the results of my implant surgery. The steri-strips (a white tape the doc puts over the incision) are completely gone now and I can clearly see what I'm dealing with. It's not bad. It's actually pretty good. Firstly, the mastectomy scar still looks surprisingly really good even after being re-opened. Secondly, the differences in the two breasts really aren't as dramatic as I made them out to be. Basically, I think what happened is that when I came home from surgery and took my first look at the results, I jumped the gun in getting so excited about how perfect they looked. In the back of my mind I knew there was a good deal of swelling contributing to the two breasts looking so similar, but I wanted to be positive and happy and excited. As the swelling went down though, reality set in. They are never going to look like a proper pair. (But hey, my original boobs were actually pretty dissimilar to begin with!) Now I'm feeling really happy with them and am back to my old feelings of "I don't think I want a lift" and "I definitely don't want to mess around with nipple reconstruction." However, I know that they may continue to change a bit as they settle and so, again, I am keeping an open mind and just seeing how I feel, and how they look, over the course of the next few months.


Everything else is great. I'm missing the gym, of course. I still have 2-1/2 weeks of no gym and it's driving me insane! I've started reviewing the work I had left off with when I left school towards the end of the semester. I have until sometime in May to complete those two courses. And I'm getting ready to return to work next week. Next week I also have a dietetic internship interview, so wish me luck!