S.U.R.G.E.R.Y.

Surgery

Well I had my fourth surgery for fibrocystic disease. I had three fibroadenomas removed from my right breast and one from my left breast. The one from my left was about 5 centimeters long and the ones from my right were about 4 cm long. I feel like I lost a cup size. Which would be nice since I have DD's…

Since the summer I had been trying natural ways to combat this disease. Seeing that of my original 11 in the right and 9 in the left, only 4 grew, I would call that an accomplishment. I am going to go back to monitoring closely my foods-I still don't eat meat which is good, but I have been sneaking in yogurt with hormones (oh come on! That Greek yogurt with honey is just too damn good!). So I am hoping that yesterday will be my last surgery ever. I am never going to take birth control, and I'm always going to be conscientious of what I eat. 

Recovery:

Recovery is going all right. Because of the large incissions I have a special sports bra thing that I have to wear for 48 hours. I'm probably going to keep it on for longer. The most difficult part about recovery is dealing with the pain. The pain meds make me really sick so I have to counteract the nausea which so far I've been going into a ball and crying. Also sleeping is pretty difficult. I am a tosser and turner, so I have to try to only sleep on my back. I woke up last night with a shit ton of pain because I accidentally rolled over.

Reflection:

Again, I am hoping that this will be the last surgery. And I do feel that I have a lot of control over whether it will be or not through diet and exercise. I am unsure how large the other fibroadenomas are, but I know they were smaller than the largest four. The doctor noticed my previous scars and was surprised at how many times I have gone under the knife for this. I still am advocating for more research and support for people who have fibrocystic disease. It is a life changing disease and can be overwhelming for some women as we have noted on this blog. I will keep you updated on my recovery.

xoxo

Lo 

Fibro diet update-Something's working!

Alright so it has been about two weeks since I have been specifically on this diet. And guess what?! I have been feeling great! I have more energy, I am happier, I have been exercising more, it overall feels really good. I decided to get up and weigh myself this morning for kicks and giggles and guess what?..I lost FIVE pounds. I could not believe it. I noticed my clothes fit differently but I didn't think much of it.

So what exactly have I been doing? Well I eat more of a vegetarian based diet. I have eaten meat about three times in the last two and half weeks. And if I do eat meat it is organic and hormone free, because we don't need an EXTRA HORMONES! We are trying to control our normal level of estrogen and not add anymore to our bodies. Me and mushrooms are bestfriends. I eat them everyday..do you know the nutritional value of mushrooms? peep this: http://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/vegetable/health-benefits-of-mushroom.html

Also I make my own food, so no more eating out. I just made some vegetarian tacos today which consisted of organic pilaf rice,feta cheese, sauteed black beans, onions, and orange pepper topped off with avocado:) Yea it was good. I just bought some organic wheat grass juice with aloe vera--I can feel the freshness and anti-carcinogens when I drink that, absolutely brilliant. Some other foods and drinks I added: organic vegetable juice, grapes, almonds, beans, organic soy milk, tofu, broccoli (a lot of broccoli!), green beans, yogurt, oatmeal, organic flax seeds ( I throw these suckers in smoothies), and organic rice.

Yes it's cute I'm losing weight, but what's most important is that I FEEL GOOD. And I feel like I'm taking control over my disease. I do have control over my body and so do you. I highly recommend making dietary changes, even minor ones, start where you can, because your body will thank you. The next time I go to the doctor (which I'm not sure when but I will post when I know), I will measure my fibroadenomas and I will let yal know if they decreased at all. But for right now, they aren't getting any bigger:) We are strong, beautiful and courageous women!

xoxo

Lo

Anti-Carcinogenic Foods

What?! Are there really foods that can decrease your risk of cancer? Well according to leading research there are. Here is an awesome website that lays out very well a list of certain anti carcinogenic foods and their descriptions:

http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/family-nutrition/anticancer/12-dietary-changes-will-lower-your-cancer-risk

There are some debates about the concept of anti-carcinogenic foods, and I understand why. I believe these foods decrease the radicals that can lead to cancer rather than directly decreasing cancer, but I think it is important to be aware of these foods. And just to clarify when I say cancer, I mean malignant and benign, because fibrocystic disease is a benign form of cancer. My next post will be an update about my fibroadenoma diet:)

xoxo
Lolo

Fibroadenoma Diet Round Two

Ok maybe we should give this diet a chance for real. I've been doing some internet searching and I realized that an estrogen low diet is very beneficial for people that suffer from breast cancer, fibroids, and uterus issues including ovary and irregular menstrual flow. I found a website that lists food low in estrogen and explains why:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/16099-foods-reduce-estrogen-dominance/

Remember that everything should be done in moderation as the website suggest. So broccoli every other day, and moderation of each food listed.

I also found another blog that is about the personal story of one women who used a low estrogen diet to combat fibrocystic disease naturally:

http://fightfibroadenomanaturally.blogspot.com/

I'm really into healthier eating as I stated before and I'm very excited to try these techniques. I'm suppose to have surgery in December so I will let you guys know what happens. Just to remind you I have 3 fibroadenomas in my right breast and 11 in my right. I will let you know if they decrease at all in the next coming months!

xoxo
Lolo

The Fibroadenoma Diet

No, I don't know of a special diet that will cure fibroadenomas naturally. But something I recently realized through a recent interaction with a natural doctor is that there are foods that naturally have estrogen and can contribute to estrogen production in our bodies and other foods that can inhibit estrogen production. Here is a website link that breaks down the foods:

http://dogtorj.tripod.com/id45.html

I have never heard of this so I'm still exploring this phenomena myself, but I do want to promote overall healthy dieting and regular exercise. I think when battling any disease it's important to treat your body well by eating the proper foods and regular exercise. I recently enlisted a good friend to help me find my target weight and develop a healthier eating plan and I feel great! Not that I'm particularly unhealthy, but my eating patterns are inconsistent, and portion control isn't my forte...With that being said it's never too late to start a healthy diet plan! Or should I say a healthy being plan? We want to always be healthy for our ourselves and to naturally combat fibroadenomas. I'm going to start incorporating some of the estrogen inhibiting foods and I'll let you guys know if anything changes!

xoxo
Lolo

Summer Time and Boobies

Alright so the weather is lovely now a days and of course us females want to wear the cute spaghetti straps and bandeau tops and what not. But for women who have scars, large lumps that protrude, or uneven size breasts from surgeries, it's more difficult to gallivant around with no care in the world. We are human and being insecure about our breasts is normal...but also being who we are is normal and beautiful. Because what is normal? Normal to me is having large breasts with 16 tumors between both and wearing custom made bras and swimsuits. I will admit, I occasionally curse the small breasted, skinnier version of me I see running around without a care in the world (yes I am prematurely judging..but hush we all do it!), but I am learning to accept my body. It's always difficult especially when this disease, let only your body type, is not part of the popular dominant rhetoric and images ya know? How many celebrities do you see advocating for fibrocystic awareness? There's plenty of people I have to describe this disease to which is great because awareness is beautiful, but frustrating because I have to explain my history with this disease and emotional separation is never an option (so some tears awkwardly escape). Another example is during hook ups when a special someone feels lumps and makes a weird face before asking is that normal?...

When it comes down to it we all have our own struggles, whether it be a mental or physical disease. And these hot summer months are reminding me that my normal is beautiful. And so is yours.

xoxo

Lolo

Growing and growing

So it's at that point now where my fibroadenomas are growing pretty large. For one my cup size has slightly increased even though I have lost weight. And the lumps in my left breast are starting to protrude from the skin..usually this is the point where I get surgery but the 9 in my right breast aren't big enough for surgery. It's crazy how the doctors want them to grow more before you take them out. It would have been nice to be approved for the reduction, but since I wasn't it looks like I will be waiting until next winter to have surgery. It's so frustrating waking up and feeling the lumps on in my breast. When I'm in the shower and getting dressed, they are a constant reminder of the disease I have. Now, it could always be much worse, right? And I definitely agree. At the same time we are all entitled to our own reality and experiences, and I've been feeling very helpless. When do folks decide to get surgery? I hope that the lumps slow their growth since I have been off birth control, I'm eating healthy and getting my exercise on. Even so, positivity is always on my radar! Hope everyone is doing well. xoxo Lo

My Story: February 21

So now I wanted to give everyone an update on how I'm doing with my fibroadenomas. I have very large breasts 38 D, and I was hoping to be approved for a breast reduction in conjunction with a surgery to take out my fibroadenomas so that I could get a lot of that breast tissue out. I was just denied yesterday by my insurance company (F&@!% you insurance!!), which is annoying because I have a huge issue with insurance companies in America, but it also means that I will have to rethink my strategy. My doctor is going to do a peer to peer follow up, basically to ask them again if they will do the surgery. I will let you guys know.
Otherwise I'm going to let them grow, which is what I normally do, and when they start sticking out a lot I get them taken out. The only frustrating thing is that the ones in my left breast are already pretty big-they stick out-and the 9 in my right are smaller. So I'm not sure how long I should wait because they don't like to operate on many that are smaller in size. Ugh. I'm trying to stay positive though! I'm also working on dieting and exercising well because I do believe that affects our disease as well.
I meant to add to my birth control post that I do believe that my fibroadenomas have stopped growing since I stopped birth control. They have been relatively at the same size for 5 months now. Ok going to work on homework now, while staying positive:)
Thanks guys for your comments and questions, please keep it coming!

xoxo
Lolo

Birthcontrol: My Story

C brought up a great point about birth control and its possible interactions with our disease. She must have read my mind because that was what I wanted to talk about.
Long story short, I believe birth control DOES increase the growth of your fibroadenomas because it did for me. Now, please keep in mind that this is my personal narrative, all bodies are different and all the tests they have done to prove this aren't consistent enough. But let me share my story.
If you read my first post, you know that I had a mild case of fibroadenomas, and then a five year hiatus. All of a sudden I currently have 3 in my left and 9 in my right. Well what happened during those five years? I went on birth control. Just a side note-I went on birth control for dysmenorrhea, so we can talk about that to if anyone deals with that condition-but at any rate I saw a large increase with my fibroadenomas and I'm currently off birth control. I took a women studies course and from what I learned birth control isn't the most well tested pill to begin with...so I hope everyone is aware. But yea my fibroadenomas grew like no ones business since starting birth control and it took about 2 years for me to notice them.
C, because of how severe your condition is, I would think twice about taking the pill as a form a birth control. I would focus more on non-hormonal forms of birth control including condoms, contraceptive sponge and the diaphragm.
If anyone else has had an interaction with birth control and fibroadenomas, please share your story!

xoxo
Lolo

Positivity and Scarring

Hey yal!

So sorry for being gone so long. Again, back in school and had a couple of midterms. But I will try to be more consistent with blogging.
It was such a pleasure re-reading everyone's post. I felt so positive and comforted that I wasn't the only female going through this. I'm amazed at how much you two, Sarah and C, have gone through and your spirits are still high! That gives me incredible energy and I believe we can help eachother through these times.
Sarah, it must be extremely difficult being faced with a mastectomy. I still shocked that fibroadenomas can be this frequent with some individuals. And I know C can relate, because she to has had many surgeries. I felt sad that you have lost count C, and I'm sorry about the scar tissue. I'm sure you already know this, but everyone has scars on their body whether you can see them or not, and I'm sure you will find someone who loves those scars:) You are a trooper and you are beautiful.
Personally, I have been lucky with scarring. My doctors (so far) have cut around the areola, so the scarring blends right into my skin (I don't know if my complexion has anything to do with it either, but I am darker complected...). Sarah how is your scarring?
To answer your question C, I have never heard of cyroablation. I just did a quick internet search and it appears like a less invasive procedure, or has the potential to leave less scarring. Thank you for sharing this option with us. Why do the doctors not want to use this procedure on you? Is it a new procedure? I will do some more of my own research and post what I find. I have a lot to say but I think I'm going to post them separately.
Although I may not blog every week, I still do receive emails when people post on this blog. So if anyone needs support in anyway, please feel free to blog and I will see it in my email and respond asap. Support is highly important:)

xoxo
Lolo

Will return shortly!

Hello Everyone!
I just realized a lovely email from C and I still have not responded to Sarah's beautiful story. I wanted to inform you that I will blog very soon! I just started back up at the university, therefore during the week time just evaporates-I swear. At any rate, I will post this weekend especially a response to C's last question about birth control, which I'm so glad she asked because that was actually my next blog post I was going to write. Have an amazing rest of the week and you will hear from me soon!

xoxo