Ready to be Restored

Since Breastoration launched in 2010, eighteen women have benefited from grants to help cover costs associated with breast reconstruction after cancer. The total dollar amount is not yet final from our most recent fundraiser in New Orleans on October 29th - An Evening with Jewel - but we are fairly certain it will be at least $100,000! This month I'm writing about a real woman who is being helped by dollars donated. Her name has been changed to protect her privacy.

Wendy remembers the date she was diagnosed with breast cancer, even though it was almost two years ago. It's a shock for any woman, but especially when you're only 34 years old, with a 7-year-old child. The cancer was so extensive in her left breast that doctors recommended six months of chemotherapy prior to any attempt to remove it surgically. After completing chemotherapy, she underwent a modified radical mastectomy, which also included removal of lymph nodes. Wendy - along with her husband and child - then traveled from their home about 20 minutes outside New Orleans to Houston's MD Anderson, one of the three original comprehensive cancer centers in the United States, where she underwent 44 radiation treatments, two times per day. After she returned to Louisiana, and with only a one month respite, Wendy began an additional round of chemotherapy that lasted four-and-a-half more months.

Between the day of Wendy's initial diagnosis until her last chemo treatment, 15 months passed. Her life and her family's lives were physically and emotionally uprooted, and their finances took a beating. Her husband, so loyal and supportive throughout Wendy's ordeal, had taken 4 weeks unpaid leave from his job, under the Family and Medical Leave Act. They'd incurred a whole host of expenses in Houston, including travel back and forth, rent, food, and child care, not to mention insurance deductibles, prescriptions, and all the other bills piling up on a desk at home.

Now Wendy is ready to face the next phase of her battle by taking back one thing that cancer took away from her - her breast. In Wendy's words: "When I found out about Breastoration from a friend and from the Jewel concert, I decided to look into it and see if this program was an option for me to apply for. My skin is stuck to my chest wall and the scar tissue from the surgery and the radiation feels like concrete. There are so many issues that I have about only having one breast right now. The body image disturbance that I carry with me every day is a challenge. The fact that these procedures need to be performed by excellent doctors who specialize in microsurgery is key. Implants were not on the table for me as an option due to the extensive radiation I received. This kind of reconstruction is basically my only option. So, when you don't have many options, you try to figure out what is going to work best.

"Many times my husband and I sat down and looked at the financial part of reconstruction and we did not think we would be able to afford it. The surgeons that I wanted to perform my surgery were local to me, but were out-of-network on my insurance policy. This procedure is definitely yet another financial burden on my family. Decisions become even more difficult to make when you find out about out-of-network fees, the time you have to recover from the procedure, the help you need with housework, my 8-year-old child at home, help with meals, grocery shopping, and many more things that are needed. We are also still recovering from the financial hardships of 2011.

"The funding from Breastoration has definitely helped make things easier for us to manage our finances for this surgery and to keep up with our other bills. I am thankful that Breastoration made a difference and is opening a new chapter in my life to move forward. I am ready for it. I have been ready for 16 months, but I am just getting the opportunity to have it."

In early 2013, Wendy is scheduled for delayed DIEP flap reconstruction of her left breast and immediate skin-sparing mastectomy and DIEP flap reconstruction of her right, in New Orleans. Best of luck, Wendy! Thank you so much for generously sharing your story. May the new year see you restored and healed, in body, mind, and your beautiful spirit!