A Diet to Die For! Breast Cancer in Canada.

Oh, I’ve got such a mad crush on my surgeon, Dr. Ewan … but that’s another story.

[The photo is of the real Ewan McGregor -- lucky me that my surgeon has the same twinkle in his eye. The photo was taken at a charity event called "Not Another Burns Night" in London, UK, which has some meaning that I dare not divulge]. Check out a pretty good photo gallery of the actor at WireImage.

I had my final follow-up with him on Friday the 24th and he discharged me from daily nursing. Hallelujah It’s been 2.5 months and it was such a great feeling and rush to know I don’t have to deal with the daily drama also known as nursing homecare.

All is not lost though. Dr. Ewan told me that he’ll be my doctor for the next few years … I think I said woohoo out loud

The next day I woke up feeling fabulous and wanted to head out to get a new bra and find out how all this prosthetic stuff works. I ended up waiting until Monday.

It was quite easy, and fast! Within 2 hours, I was out of the store wearing my custom-fitted new tit.

I was under the impression that lots of measurements would be taken and it would be a few weeks before I got a prosthetic, so I was pleasantly surprised it was so fast.

I was also pleasantly surprised to find out that the Ministry of Health (Ontario) has a Breast Prosthesis Grant: they pay $195 for each new breast. Although I had to pay the entire amount up-front to the retail store, the store owner gave me all this information I never knew before, in an organized presentation folder, along with multiple copies of my receipt so I can apply for the Grant and eventually submit the remainder balance to my insurance company. The new bra was $105 (it has pockets to fit the new tit – it is NOT part of the Grant and is paid 100% by the cancer patient) and the new tit was almost $400.

I found the PDF file for the Breast Prosthesis Grant online [link opens Ministry of Health site directly].

If you’re in the Mississauga, Ontario area, I recommend Susan’s Fine Lingerie: she’s fantastic and incredibly caring and helpful! [link opens her web site]

It’s only been a few days with the new tit and I’m not quite accustomed to it yet: it weighs about 10 pounds and I feel the need to adjust it in public … which would be socially awkward and inappropriate

It’s nice to start feeling like a girl again …

… and Melissa Etheridge … and Olivia Newton-John … and Sheryl Crow.

When I was first diagnosed with breast cancer, I tried to find as much information as I could about the above celebrities’ various breast cancers, and what treatment options and reconstruction surgery they undertook, if any.

I, of all people know what a private matter this is and certainly don’t begrduge any of them for holding back details … I’m also not a celebrity hound and usually don’t know or don’t care about their private lives … but was hoping that if they spoke publicly about their treatment options and choices, it might help someone like me. Medical terminology can be quite droll and difficult to read at times — this is one of the major reasons that drove me to start this blog, i.e. provide as much information about breast cancer and the Canadian health care system in one place, in easy to read and hopefully understandable language.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find very much information about the above celebrities’ choices for breast cancer treatment … and most of the celebrities seemed to have had a lumpectomy: which is, if the tumour is small enough, similar to digging out a cyst, and means there is no removal of the breast, except for a tiny bit of tissue. I realize that on petite women and those with small breasts, even a small tiny bit of breast removal can be deforming.

I’m not thrilled to hear Christina Applegate say she is “cancer free”. That’s impossible from my understanding of the disease — I can only guess that because she carried the gene BRCA1 (which stands for BReast + CAncer) [link opens to National Cancer Institute], she decided to have a bilateral mastectomy (removal of both breasts) BEFORE any cancer had the opportunity to invade her body.

Here’s a link to another blog regarding Christina Applegate’s decision to have a bilateral mastectomy and her interview on Oprah Winfrey on CNN.

Since Christina Applegate likely didn’t actually have any tumours, she likely opted for implants. The implants were likely completed at the same time as the bilateral mastectomy … and likely why she was able to bounce back fairly quickly.

Ok, an over-use of the word “likely” … but I’m guessing what she did based on my personal knowledge about breast cancer.

—- Pardon the Detour —-

Another option for breast reconstruction is a Tram Flap [link opens to Wikipedia]. If you have abdominal fat, although more invasive than implants, a Tram Flap seems to be a great option — you not only get a real looking breast, you get a tummy tuck, too! If you are in Ontario, these procedures are covered by OHIP.

Information missing from Wikipedia
Will your Tram Flap (they really should find a sexier name for this!) have a nipple and areola? Yes, if you opt to get a tattoo for the areola. The nipple is recreated from tissue from your labia.

Recovery time from a Tram Flap will be much longer because you are getting multiple surgeries. There’s also a Diep Flap [link opens Wikipedia] -a  Tram Flap is apparently muscle-sparing.

—- End Detour —-

… and this is probably extremely personal but I think should be known: as far as I’m aware, if you carry the BRCA gene, not only does the likelihood of getting breast cancer increase ten-fold, the chance of also getting ovarian cancer increases as well.

My guess is that Ms. Applegate likely also had an Oophorectomy (removal of the ovaries) [link opens to Wikipedia]. If she didn’t get an Oophorectomy, this decision must have been quite difficult.

She didn’t undergo the miserable staples across her chest, radiation or chemotherapy that us regular folk have to contend with. If she did, she wouldn’t be in the public eye for at least a year.

In a way, Christina Applegate really isn’t doing us many favours by speaking out — if she really wants to help, she needs to say more.

I asked my surgeon, Dr. Ewan, about BRCA testing here in Canada and he informed me that the tests cost “hundreds of thousands of dollars”.  Yikes! No wonder the wealthy are disease free.

Please, my friends [bad political joke], stop sending me pictures of Christina’s cleavage unless you know what she had done — I have to admit that I was fairly convinced it was body makeup that gave her cleavage a lovely glow because I know what physical scars are left behind.