Flappers and Friends, Shared Experience

Today’s survivor (in the blue stripes with members of the staff) was the leader of “The Flappers.” These were self described women who had tram-flaps as a reconstructive procedure after mastectomy and met for years for dinners or lunch. I was happy as their breast surgeon to be included at some of these events along with the plastic surgeon, Dr. Jay Birnbaum, an excellent plastic surgeon who did all the “flaps.” Even women who didn’t have tram-flaps wanted to be…

Prayer, Survival, and Gratitude

The intersection of prayer, survival, and gratitude is nicely and simply expressed in this survivor’s story (on the right of my staff member ). Frequently, we hear these sentiments in this office. IN HER OWN WORDS: Five years ago I was attending Sunday mass at St. Patrick’s Church in Bay Ridge. The mass was over when a young woman stepped up to the pulpit and addressed the congregation. She told us that she had been diagnosed with cancer, had undergone…

Who Do I Tell? Where Do I Go?

Today’s survivor is pictured on the right. Imagine you are 36 years old and you haven’t given much thought at all to breast cancer and don’t know any of your friends or colleagues with it and a doctor brings you into his office and…. IN HER OWN WORDS: When I heard those four little words “you have breast cancer” from Dr. Kehoe, I was in shock and disbelief. I was 36 – much too young for breast cancer (or so…

Breast Cancer and Low Cut Dresses

This survivor’s breast cancer came at a particularly inconvenient time–a few weeks before her son’s wedding. It didn’t hold her back at all…. IN HER OWN WORDS: 16 years ago, I felt a lump in my breast. I did my mammograms religiously every year. I went to my GYN doctor who thought it could be cancerous based on the test he did but he was not sure. He sent me to a great surgeon who further did the necessary test…

Typing Your Survival Story….and Mine

  The first survivor (on the left) I am presenting is the longest survivor in my practice that I have treated. She is a thirty year survivor. She has also worked for me as my transcriptionist for over 25 years. And that is where this story becomes interesting…. IN HER OWN WORDS: I met Dr. Kehoe at the age of 36 when I returned for a six month follow-up suggested by a previous breast doctor. When the examination was over,…

Selfies With Survivors: An Introduction

For Breast Cancer Awareness Month (October 2017) we are honoring breast cancer survivors in our practice. To start this we asked various survivors to come into the office for a selfie with myself and/or with members of our staff or to submit a personal one with anyone of their choice. We then asked them to share with us any aspect of their experience that would be interesting or helpful to others. We are starting tomorrow to publish the photos and the…