Jessica Bowman

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.I just had my annual breast exam on February 12, 2021. I knew something was wrong when it took more than a week and a half to get back my results. I needed to be patient due to the awful winter storm we as Texans had to endure this year. As I opened up the envelope dated February 23, 2021, it read: Dear Mrs. Bowman, your recent mammogram showed an abnormality that requires additional imaging. You should do this ASAP! Well, I was freaking out!!  So, I called and got into a second consultation where we took more images and talked with my doctor. She then recommended a biopsy. After all of your family history of cancer, mom(breast), dad(prostate), brother(Hodgkin’s Lymphoma) we need to make sure. You have some microcalcifications and we need to get a better image right away. We went back in for the biopsy and we had a talk with the doctor who said that they weren’t too sure that I had cancer but, based on my family history it was highly probable. The results were that I have ALH-Atypical Lobular Hyperplasia with associated Microcalcifications. So, the doctor suggested a lumpectomy.  We decided to have a consultation with a breast surgeon, and she was extremely informative and based on her evaluation said we can do a lumpectomy or the other extreme option. We decided to do a double mastectomy as this would practically eliminate the possibility of future cancer and all that entails. Further watching my mom go through this several years ago was not a path I wanted to go down. Before allowing me to go down this path she took an additional assessment to determine my risk factors and the results were so high that my decision ultimately was the right one.   Well, we decided to get the bi-lateral mastectomy ASAP. We then had to get a consultation from the plastic surgeon that said we get scheduled ASAP, which was also amazing. They said the first surgery will be a big one and they will be putting spacers in and will take 3 weeks to recover. Then I wait three months to endure a reconstructive surgery that will take me 6 weeks to recover. I have tried to stay very optimistic and work out with a trainer every day to make my body and mind get through this faster!! I have lots of family and friends to help me get through this tough time in my life. Thank you for all your love and support