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Even though I can change my mind and decide to have reconstruction,
three years later, I know that to not have reconstruction was the right
decision for me.

Living with no breasts has taken a lot of hard work to feel whole and
feminine again. I never thought it would have a serious affect on me -
having not been a “body-beautiful” type person, so no worries! WRONG -
in time I realised with horror that my breasts were an intrinsic part of
my femininity and I felt totally vulnerable and ugly without them. I
had taken them totally for granted.

Now, some years later, I am still on the journey to total recovery and
acceptance, but have come a long way. I feel whole and feminine again
even though my body is “different”. I no longer hide my flat chest – I
use it to encourage other women to go for regular checks to ensure they
don’t end up in the same position! It is also a huge advantage when
cycling on a corrugated dust road!!

Anne

Originally I did not think that losing a breast will impact 
emotionally on me. However, as time went by, I realised it is 
affecting me more than I thought. My journey with reconstruction was 
another challenge. My body rejected the prosthesis implants twice. In 
February 2010 a Tram Flap operation (where one’s own tissue is used to
form a breast) was successfully done. Five reconstructive operations 
later, I finally completed my journey to wholeness! I do not have to 
hide my breast behind a scarf or jacket any more. What a blessing! I 
love my new breast, it feels and looks like my own!

Frieda

http://www.cancercare.org/tagged/bone_health

1. Macassar Clinic (every Monday) – Cnr Musica & Hospital Avunue; Macassar – 021 857 2330  
2. Kleinvlei CHC (every Tuesday) – Cnr Albert Philander & Melkbos Streets; Kleinvlei – 021 904 4416 or 0797332106
3. Gustrouw CHC (every Wednesday) – Hassan Khan Avenue; Gustrouw – 021 845 8384

Mammographer’s details: 0832843124 or 0722106990. Ask for Lynne or Debbie.

This article highlights how breast cancer survivors’ quality of life was affected since they developed lymphedema of the arm. These women attended the practice over a period of time for the management of their symptoms. They were all exposed to breast cancer surgery AND radiation-therapy post breast cancer diagnosis. Some of these women were employed and were forced to resign and others were retired when the symptoms of lymphedema developed.

The women who were employed could not do the work they were employed to do because the affected arm became too heavy to use. Some of the women were domestic workers and others were employed in administrative positions.  All the women indicated that they experienced the following:

- Their  affected  arm became very heavy

- They had to alter their sleeves  of certain clothing and or got rid of the clothing that could not fit and or had to purchased bigger sizes

- They became concerned that the cancer was recurring, this was when the arm started to swell

- Some experienced major discomfort with the affected arm

- Others felt very depressed however no one resorted to anti-depressants or  psycho-therapy

- All became disillusioned with life when they were told that there was no cure for lymphedema and that management thereof resulted in temporary relieve.

The experiences expressed by these women certainly impacted negatively on their economic and psycho-social well being.  One of the women who resigned from her job ended up unemployable and without benefits. The other woman who had an administrative position at a reputable company had to wait for more than a year for the management to provide her with the necessary application forms to apply for disability benefits. This is in contrast to the former lady who had no support from her employers.

In most countries in the developed world combined decongestive therapy (CDT) is used to manage the symptoms of lymphedema.   The components of CDT include manual lymph drainage, application of compression bandage to an affected limb, skin care to avoid infection and decongestive exercises.  In order to ensure that health practitioners are skilled in the management of lymphedema, specialized training programs are offered in most parts of Europe, the United States of America and Australia.

In South Africa and the rest of the African continent there are very few facilities both in the private and public sectors that provides CDT for individuals with lymphedema.  It is therefore imperative that health practitioners on the African continent are trained in CDT in order to identify and reduce the potential risk of and to manage the symptoms of lymphedema.

Author: Colleen Marco RN (SANC) MMCH (UCT)

Associate at theWomanSpace, Cape Town, South Africa (www.thewomanspace.health.officelive.com)

Member of Reach for Recovery, Cape Town, South Africa (reachforrecovery.org.za)

Lymphedema Program Coordinator, School of Nursing, University of Western Cape, South Africa

Email: cmarco@telkomsa.net

Introduction to the Community

We are happy to announce the opening of Mastique Lingerie, a specialist mastectomy wear boutique. We stock bras for every stage of recovery, bras that can be taken into hospital (post op), those you can wear during the waiting period before having reconstructive surgery and also many beautiful bras if you decide not to opt for reconstruction.

The private setting in which we are situated ensures a comfortable and relaxed environment where ladies receive a personal service, have a wide variety of bras to choose from and can select their perfect bra, swimsuit and top.

If you are interested, have a look at our website www.mastiquelingerie.co.za for more information.

I hope you will assist us in letting other ladies know that this is available for them.
Best wishes,
Helen
071 299 8563

A soulful, surprising coming of age journey by a dynamo who used her own adversity as a platform for examining issues all young women face.

Having finished journalism school and landed her dream job at age 27, the last thing Geralyn Lucas expects to hear is a breast cancer diagnosis. She decides to go public with her disease despite fears about the backlash at work, and her bold choices in treatment are irreverent and uplifting. When her breast is under construction and her hair is falling out, her skirts get shorter. She goes to work every day and gets promoted. She has sex with her bandages on. She reinvents her beauty and in a bold move of conscious objection, forgoes the final phase of her breast reconstruction: the nipple. She is reborn in a tattoo parlor when she gets a heart tattoo where her nipple once was.

Geralyn recovers from her mastectomy and chemo and has a baby in the same hospital where she was treated for cancer. What could have been a huge negative for this young cancer survivor became the impetus to examine her own sexuality and burgeoning womanhood. Virtually nothing has been written for women of a young age who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. This book also deals with the broader issue of self-acceptance that anyone grappling with questions of illness, self-image and sexuality can identify with.

“WHY I WORE LIPSTICK”
By Geralyn Lucas

Hearing the Stream

A Survivor’s Journey into the Sisterhood of Breast Cancer                        

By Diane Lane Chambers,  

Breast Cancer Survivor

Crafts Inspiring Chronicle

            CONIFER, COLORADO—Each year, according to the American Cancer Society, approximately 275,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with breast cancer.  The lifetime risk for a woman of developing breast cancer is 1 in 7, and annually more than 40,000 women die of the disease.  Receiving a diagnosis of cancer can be shocking, frightening, and overwhelming.

            Diane Lane Chambers’ Hearing the Stream: A Survivor’s Journey into the Sisterhood of Breast Cancer weaves together the author’s own story of her struggle with breast cancer with those of five others also diagnosed, including one man. (Yes men can get breast cancer too.)  through each of their eyes Chambers brings to life the complexities of this disease, from its emotional and physical impact to its sometimes hidden historical, economic, political, and environmental dimensions.  Chambers shows how bonds of sisterhood develop among the survivors, making them all stronger and ironically, bringing a great deal that is positive into their lives.  The narrative dwells particularly on one, Harriette Grober, whose indomitable spirit in the face of twelve years of coping with metastatic cancer will serve as an inspiration to readers everywhere.

            Because of her grandmother’s and her own experiences with breast cancer, Chambers speaks with authority on this subject.  Her research and extensive involvement with survivors and cancer organizations allow her to provide a rich, mature perspective on the many complex facets of breast cancer.

            Here’s what some experts are saying about Diane Lane Chambers’ Hearing the Stream: A Survivor’s Journey into the Sisterhood of Breast Cancer:

“Written from the heart and well documented.”

—Kelly McAleese, MD, Diagnostic Radiology, Denver, Colorado

“[It] touches beneath the surface of this disease, sparking smiles and much emotion.”

—L.Michelle Bennett, PhD, research scientist, survivor, and teacher, Potomac, Maryland

“Harriette and the other women in Ms. Chambers’ book provide great inspiration to fight for what we need to eradicate: this terrible disease.”

—Karin Decker Noss, late President, Virginia Breast Cancer Foundation

“Accounts such as this of the human tool of breast cancer motivate me as a researcher—and should motivate us all—to redouble our many efforts to reduce further and

                                    someday eradicate this disease.”

—Tim Byers, MD, MPH, Professor, Colorado School of Public Health, Deputy Director of the University of Colorado Comprehensive Cancer Center

Hearing the Stream: A Survivor’s Journey into the Sisterhood of Breast Cancer Purchase in bookstores or order on line at: www.ellexapress.citymax.com.

$19.95 original trade paperback,  328 pages, illustrations, ISBN 978-0-9760967-1-9, LCCN 2006910198

By postal: send check, purchase order, or U.S. money order for $19.95

(plus $5.25 shipping and handling plus $.92 tax for Colorado residents) to:

Ellexa Press LLC, 32262 Steven Way, Conifer, CO 80433.

Phone: 303 591-1040

Fax :  303 838-7010

Email:  dlc@ellexapress.citymax.com

Book Review by Allan Burns,

Colorado Springs, Colorado

The Sisterhood of Survivors

Hearing the Stream: a Survivor’s Journey into the Sisterhood of Breast Cancer by Diane Lane Chambers. $19.95 original trade paperback, ISBN 978-0-9760967-1-9, published by Ellexa Press LLC, 32262 Steven Way, Conifer, CO 80433, 303 591-1040.

             Like everyone else who receives a cancer diagnosis, Diane Chambers was initially shocked and scared. She knew only two people who had battled breast cancer: her grandmother and a judge in whose court she had worked as a sign language interpreter. Both had died.  Despite daily flashbacks to her grandmother’s tragic experience with disfiguring surgery, horrendous lymphedema in both arms, and burns from radiation, Diane accepted her diagnosis and began making decisions about what route to take with a competent team of doctors.  She chose the only treatment that made sense for her: a mastectomy and reconstruction.

            Six months later, as treatment and recovery began to fade like a bad dream, Diane began recovering her life.  She had worked as a sign language interpreter since 1977 and published an acclaimed account of her experiences, Words in My Hands (Ellexa Press, 2005).  But she soon learned that after cancer there was no going back to “life before cancer.”  There was only “life after cancer,”  and she quickly discovered it is not such a bad thing. She forged powerful bonds with a sisterhood of survivors—all people who had been through emotions and physical changes similar to her own.  From Kim she learned the issues facing young single women with breast cancer. From Pat she learned how older women cope with diagnosis and treatment and from Sue how the mother of a baby struggled to save her own life.  From Charlie she came to appreciate what men have to go through when diagnosed with a “female disease.”

Above all, from the extraordinary Harriette Grober, who had been on chemotherapy for an unprecedented nine years, she learned about a determination she had never imagined and how to be thankful and happy in each moment.  She also learned to take Harriette’s advocacy as a model and became involved herself in raising levels of political and social awareness about the disease.  Currently, Diane is an active member of the National Breast Cancer Coalition and the Association of Breast Cancer survivors and regularly participates in workshops, symposiums, and webcasts on cancer. 

Hearing the Stream, the fruit of all she has experienced and learned as a cancer survivor, is an inspiring book that weaves together her own story and those of five others, thereby providing multiple perspectives on a complex disease that can be as different as the individual people who acquire it.  As Dr. Tim Byers of the University of Colorado Comprehensive Cancer Center says, “Accounts such as this of the human toll of breast cancer motivate me as a researcher—and should motivate us all—to redouble our many efforts to reduce further and someday eradicate this disease.”

 All or part of this review may be used without further permission. 

Testimonials  from  Readers

 “Harriette and the other women in Ms. Chambers’ book provide great inspiration to fight for what we need to eradicate this terrible disease.”

            —Karin Decker Noss, President, Virginia Breast Cancer Foundation

“I was shocked to read how hard cancer is , and to realize how little those of us who have not had to deal with it closely know about the reality—which is the reason for this book, I expect.” 

            —Jean Silk, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.

“I found this book demystifying and a real celebration”

            —Lisa Rigsby Petersen, daughter of Justice Linda T. Palmieri, Denver, CO           

“Written from the heart and well documented. Mostly,excellent.”

            —Kelly McAleese, M.D., Diagnostic Radiology, Denver, CO

“Hearing the Stream, A Survivor’s Journey into the Sisterhood of Breast Cancer, touches beneath the surface of this disease, sparking smiles, and much emotion.”

          —L. Michelle Bennett Ph.D., research scientist, survivor, and teacher, Potomac, MD.

“I could not put this book down.  Hearing the Stream made me appreciate so much more all that you (my sister) went through with cancer, and how powerful the bonds become between women who share this awful experience.  It is ironic how this terrible disease also has brought so much that is positive into your life.”

        —Jeanie Silk, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut

“The book that breast cancer patients and their families have been waiting for.  Here’s a practical guide for the too many husbancs who will need it”

Cokie Roberts, news analyst
and breast cancer survivor

When Marc Silver’s wife was diagnosed with breast cancer
three years ago, he was far from a perfect caregiver. He wished he
had a book to help him face the challenges ahead. Drawing upon
his skills as a consumer journalist at U.S. News & World Report, he has written BREAST CANCER HUSBAND: How to help Your Wife (and Yourself) Through Diagnosis, Treatment, and Beyond.

http://www.breastcancerhusband.com/