Interesting timing Tucker. My wife was at her breast cancer support group and they were talking about this guy having been in the news. She tells me about it Friday night, and I saw this late last night.
I'm sure a lot of guys here know someone that has gone through it. But I think there is a difference when it is your wife. My wife had her second mamogram at age 40. The docs wanted a second one, on a digital machine, because of some things they thought they saw. After the digital mamogram, they did a biopsy on each side. Sure enough - positive for cancer. Next up was MRI. Saw more spots. So they did a new (at the time) MRI biopsy procedure. And more bad news - more cancer. No lumps, but cancer in the ducts spread everywhere. A lumpectomy wouldn't get it. After a second opinion at Fox Chase, she was scheduled for a double mastectomy.
I went along to all of those appointments. There was the whole range of emotion. But the plastic surgeon visits were the most surreal. We all like looking at tits. But it is different when you are looking at your wife's in front of a doctor and comparing them to pictures in books to talk about what options he has for shape and size after the surgery. Really, we looked at dozens, if not more than 100 pictures. The plastic surgeon was cool. We were stunned by all that was happening, and he says "hey, you are getting an insurance paid boob job. Do you have any idea how many of these I do each year because women want to change how they look? Take a good look, and get what you want. You deserve to look great after this." I know a lot of women would have been insulted or pissed off by this, but it was the ice breaker my wife needed to get out of that stunned silence mode.
Her plastic surgeon did the tattoo work also. Had we known about this 7 years ago and she wanted to go there instead, we would have. It's only a car ride away.
There is no doubt that there were some hard decisions along the way. But she is now 7 years cancer free. It is a shitty thing to go through, but I don't see how anyone can get through it and say it doesn't change their perspective on life. It did for us. Priorities changed for sure.
I hope none of you ever have to go through this with the women in your life. Just make sure they go for their mamograms when they are supposed to. Don't let any doctor say that 40 is too early. My wife has met women in the support group that listened to their doctors recommendation to wait till 50 and found lumps in their mid-40's and almost died from the cancer. Early detection is very key to survival.
