I believe in keeping things real and open. I think that helps people better understand what you are going through or what the various procedures and treatment stages are like related to breast cancer. I also believe humor helps lighten things up with difficult topics.
So today I will share about my foobs as I’ve been calling my fake or reconstructed boobs, which is really just one foob now and one deflated foob since I had the expander taken out following an infection.
I had a nipple-sparing mastectomy which was possible based on the location and size of the tumor. Because of this my foobs really did look normal and real after the mastectomy.
After the surgery to remove the infected expander, the plastic surgeon’s office did not have any available prosthetics, so the nurse, (who clearly has done this a lot) made one using gauze and a stretch bandage. As she did this I couldn’t help but think of back in middle school when girls start to sprout and you would stuff tissues or pads into your bras to look bigger. As I mentioned in my post about the misheard “When I Grow Up” lyrics from the Pussycat Dolls, our fascination with big boobs starts early.
Fortunately I never had big boobs so the loss of my small real ones wasn’t that big a deal. It also means fewer fillings to reach my small size and less stuffing in my fake foob.
But having a fake foob that is not attached is odd. Picking up young children has caused my fake foob to shift so I suddenly have a middle boob and I have to do some discrete shifting to adjust myself. I had to remember to pack my fake foobs when we headed to the shore for the long weekend. As I checked my final list of things to pack, it was funny to see foob on there. (I have two fake foobs so I can keep changing or switch out if one gets sweaty or wet.)
And speaking of funny. This is not a joke, but the site where the plastic surgeon gets their fake foobs from is called knitted knockers. Yup that’s right, it’s a legit site and company. I don’t need anything fancy because this fake foob is just temporary but if the office gets the order in, that’s the site my fake foob will be from.
Another weird issue of having just one foob now is having just one headlight. Yes I’m calling it that because you have to find the humor in all this. Since I only have one inflated foob I only have one visible headlight or nipple. Fortunately my chest is not well endowed so I don’t think anyone is noticing this other than me but I can’t wait to get my other foob back to even this issue out!
In the grand scheme of things these are all minor issues following a mastectomy. I chose to have breast reconstruction to try to keep things as normal as possible. And following my mastectomy looking down at seemingly normal looking boobs was a lot easier than looking down at scars so I am glad I had it done even with the infection and complication. I can deal with a fake foob until I’m able to have the expander put back in.
Throughout this whole cancer process I’ve learned to find the humor in things to help keep things in perspective. The setback with my foobs was deflating but I’ll be up and shining both headlights again soon!
#bilateralmastecomy #breastreconstruction #foobs #findthehumor #breastcancerbattle #postsurgerycomplication #onetoughmother