Breasts of burden…

I read the following article on MSN this morning Miss D.C to have double mastectomy and found the topic rather interesting, not because she wants to have the procedure, but from those who feel she shouldn’t.

As one who’s been diagnosed and treated for Breast Cancer, I can say the decision to remove ones breast(s) is not easy; especially at an early age.  I was 39 when diagnosed and had my right breast removed two weeks before my 40th birthday.  The day before my procedure, I informed my surgeons that should my margins have changed since my last full scan and exam, they had my consent to remove my unaffected breast as a precautionary measure.  Trust me, I didn’t make that decision lightly, but I’d rather have it done then than to have had to go through the entire process at a later date. 

Miss D.C is 20; just seven years shy of when her mother was first diagnosed and treated for breast cancer by having one of her breasts removed.  According to the article, Miss D.C lost her Mother, Grandmother and Great Aunt to breast cancer and while she doesn’t carry the BRCA 1 or 2 gene mutation, she does in fact carry a variant mutation of which could very likely cause breast cancer.  Her predisposition to inheriting breast cancer is tantamount to walking around with a time bomb in her body.

Again, my issue is not with Miss D.C’s choice to have her breasts removed, it’s with those who think she shouldn’t.  Why?  For vanity’s sake!  Just because she’s young, pretty, and has succeeded as a model and pageant winner, doesn’t mean she’s couldn’t again with reconstructed breasts.  There’s a plethora of hypocrisy that comes with the very concept of reconstructed breasts; especially in the pageant world. 

Women in this country get their breasts augmented for the sake of vanity and treat enlarged breasts as a trophy to their femininity or a means to stand out from other women; once again, vanity at its finest.  Trust me when I tell you, breast augmentation is not easy, nor is it painless.  While my reasons for breast augmentation and reconstruction were for medical reasons, the extent of pain, scarring and such is the same as for those who do it for vanitys sake and I argue that Miss D.C could in fact continue to model in spite of a double mastectomy.  With the advances in cosmetic and reconstructive surgery, Miss D. C’s procedure could produce minimal scarring and render her as aesthetically pleasing as she currently looks.  And going one step further, it’s not like anyone is going to see her actual breasts anyway.  Even in a bathing suit, her scars would not be visible and the contours of her reconstructed breasts would like that of others with natural breasts.  She would have no unfair advantage because any self-respecting surgeon would not increase the size of her reconstructed (implants) breasts; they’d be left the same size as the natural ones were.

I’ve often considered posting photos of my reconstructed breast to show the advances of cosmetic surgery and how it looks very much like an unaffected breast so people might stop being so judgemental or even curious.  Trust me when I say, those pointing fingers and passing judgment would have a very different viewpoint if it were they that were in that position or that of someone they love. 

Miss D.C’s father and brother are very supportive and encouraging of her decision to undergo a double mastectomy especially after what their respective wife and mother went through. 

I wish people would think outside the both and stop thinking all that glitters is gold.  I applaud Miss D.C and the life-altering decision she has taken and hope she becomes an inspiration to all women to see past external beauty and put their health and lives first.  There are many women who’ve died or had complications  from having elective cosmetic surgery while there are those of us who’ve had it as a preventative or life-preserving one.

Live the life you love; love the life you live!