Point of View #13: Rachel

On my father's birthday in April 2009, I got one of many emails from Canada. Rachel was consulting with a breast surgeon in May of that year and wanted to see my One Step photos beforehand. She told me that due to her small size, she wasn't sure if she'd be a candidate for the One Step. Rachel and I have exchanged many emails since May 2009, but even in the first one or two we exchanged, she'd already offered to give me her as yet untaken photos for the purpose of sharing her BPM journey with my readers. And all before even knowing which reconstruction route she'd take. Seventeen months later she's sent me 80 photos of herself throughout her two-stage expander reconstruction process, and now they're ready for viewing. They've been on her own blog since spring 2010, and they are incredible photos. To peruse her excellent and thoroughly illustrated blog chronicling her entire experience with expanders and exchange surgery in Hamilton, Ontario, point your browser to: losingtheboobs.blogspot.com. There's also a link to it in my blog's Sites You Should See sidebar.

Rachel considered the One Step because it's available in Toronto and London, Ontario, but she found out she was not a candidate, and also she was very excited to work with her expander team once she found them in Hamilton. Although the University of Toronto was conducting a study trial of Alloderm usage in One Step procedures (Alloderm is not approved for use in breast reconstruction in Canada yet), Rachel didn't want to delay her preventative surgery any longer by waiting to see if she was a candidate for the trial. She was happy to proceed with the expander route knowing that despite her history of apocrine metaplasia and sclerosing adenosis and extensive family history of breast cancer, she'd be allowed to keep her nipples. So her surgery pics are an example of a two-stage expansion process with nipple-sparing, just like the woman from the U.S. in my "Isabelle" photo gallery.

Rachel had her expander surgery on April 14, 2010. You can find out way more details about it on her great blog, or you can view her 80 photos all in one place along with the other 13 galleries of reconstruction photos I have online. Just email me for the URL and password at: rebecca (at) onestepscoop (dot) com.

Also, Rachel has told me that she is willing to offer additional support to any other Canadian women who contact me with concerns. She is quite connected with lots of Canadians all over the country and is familiar with procedures that some of these ladies have already had. I have Rachel's permission to share her email address with Canadians desiring support and information, so if you're researching your options please don't hesitate to contact me or Rachel via her blog: losingtheboobs.blogspot.com.

If you are Canadian, American, or of any nationality and are still on the fence when it comes to the One Step technique versus two-stage expanders and exchange, you shouldn't miss Rachel's wonderful and personal photo diary. Email me for access and enjoy.