Hi there! I hadn't been checking the page for a while now, but I see I missed your message. Connect Director Colleen Young tagged me! Thanks, Colleen.

Yes, I did call my insurance company and made sure I understood their parameters. Luckily, they did approve the double mastectomy, with full reconstruction on both immediately following. It was all covered, minus my deductible. I do highly recommend doing both at the same time i.e., both breasts and both reconstructed on the same day. The recovery was as you would expect, but I got through it. I do think buying an inexpensive foam wedge pillow (It was $20 at Walmart) with two king-size pillows positioned vertically on the sides allowed me to sleep on my back and prevented me from rolling or side-sleeping. I stayed on that wedge pillow/flat on my back position for at least 6 months.

For the record, I am so glad I did both and got the implants. I met women in the mastectomy recovery class (where we learned arm stretching exercises post-mastectomy) who only had one breast removed and reconstructed and you could tell in their clothes that their breasts were mismatched. Others had single or double mastectomies but opted to do no implants. Seeing those choices and how they looked, made me glad I chose what I did. But you must make this decision based on your own personal preferences.

You will have to buy new bras to fit your new figure, but that is kind of fun.

I am a massive researcher and am dialed into a number of medical research sites, so I went in with my eyes wide open and understood what I was in for and what I needed to worry about afterwards.

Now, I don't know if you know your 'Stage' of Cancer yet, but I was given a 'Stage III-A'. Not as bad as terminal Stage 4, but certainly bad enough to make me pay attention! (On certain cancer sites, Stage III-A has a 'not so good' long term prognosis, but I am out to prove them wrong!)

Important: See if you have the option of a genomics test to be done on your removed tissues. The genomics test tries various treatment modalities on your removed tissue and determines what treatment might work. I opted to have that done. It is an extra expense, but my insurance was willing to pay for that, too.

My genomics results showed that my type of cancer was unaffected by either chemo or radiation! But I was not surprised because I had found a national study with my type of breast cancer (a particular kind) and in that study, the radiation and chemo seemed to have no effect on the cancer then, either. So, I was not surprised when the test result came back like it did. Thus, I felt no guilt for turning down the options of both, as they weren't going to benefit me and may very well injury me.

As a personal choice, I also opted not to take the Estrogen blocker drug (the yellow pill) as I was already so Estrogen deficient that I knew I would be a mess if I shorted myself any further.

Instead, I opted to recover gently at home and investigate nutritional therapy, alternative off-label uses of approved medications and other therapies that are being tested in studies right now for cancer, but not yet 'approved' for breast cancer.

I don't believe I am allowed to mention what those therapies are on this board, but there are many woman like me using them with excellent results. Luckily, I too, am doing well and have had no further reoccurrence of any cancer (knock on wood). In May of 2024 it will be 6 years since my diagnosis. I hope to have many more years ahead of me! I hope that answers your questions. Let me know if you have any others. Good Luck!