Dana Westerman Dr. Dana Westerman

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I was going to write this in the third person, but that sounded stupid so here it is from my very own mouth...or fingers as it were...

I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012. With the diagnosis came many decisions that were made rapid fire. I was shocked as there was no history in my family. With the help of my dear friend Mary Blackburn, I made the choice to reconstruct after the double mastectomy so I would look “normal” and feel like a girl. The process took three additional surgeries and LOTS of time off work. From May to the end of December was a nightmare of doctors appointments, surgeries, pain and general grossness. The part that was the worst was when I was diagnosed in the ER with pulmonary embolisms and distal vein thrombosis due to overdosing on the opioid pain meds. This, in turn was caused by the doctor sending me home from the second surgery with a lidocaine pain pump that they FORGOT TO TURN ON! Awesome sauce...

So after a long recovery and lots of days of pain and feeling sorry for myself, I adjusted to life with new and improved tatas! Well, improved in that they would not get cancer and were therefore invincible! We don’t talk about the shooting pains, the ice cold feeling, the having to buy all new clothes because nothing fit right anymore, and having to learn to sleep on my back because any other position caused me arms to fall asleep. On the bright side...no bra necessary!

Fast forward to 2020! Right before COVID, I found out on FACEBOOK that my implants had been recalled because they cause CANCER! Shut the front door! Not invincible after all.

So here we are, facing surgery AGAIN and the rest of the details are in the journal entries.

Thanks for coming along for the ride. I will try to keep a positive spin on things. My biggest request is that you learn from my journey and reach out to anyone around you that is facing the decision that I was in 2012. Maybe my story will help them choose differently.