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 …

I had a great roommate at the hospital — we had the same surgeon, same surgery and same breast removed. We got along great together — and her children are wonderful, too.

It was during this time I found about “post-surgery camisoles”.

Of all the reading I did, both online and offline, it never even occurred to me that I may need some type of undergardments for a month or 2 until the wounds have healed.

No one tells you anything!

It’s only been 2 weeks today since my surgery and I’m still unable to drive, so can’t go to any of these places yet — too bad because now that I’m going to appointments again, it would be nice to have some proper undergarments — especially ones where I can tuck the drains in.

I found a few local mastectomy stores online, but I don’t quite know what I need since I’ve never had cancer before.

I leave a message for one store that’s not very far from me, who also has an online store, asking if they can guide me through the purchase process (and sizing, etc.) and haven’t heard back from them. That was 4 days ago.

Ahhh, I hear back from the store owner tonight and she’ll be here on Monday to fit me — so all is right with me and retailers now.

If you find yourself in a similiar situation, I highly recommend that you seek out retailers BEFORE SURGERY who can help with post-surgery mastectomy garments.

There’s nothing I can do now, but I hope this will help someone else.