The Uniboober

Sex and cancer. Not usually two words that go together easily during conversations with people living with cancer, but perhaps we should talk about it more. Why? Because sex is a natural human activity and having cancer, or having lived through cancer and come out the other side, doesn’t change the fact that sex can still be part of our lives during and after cancer treatment. Two weeks after my post-surgery check up, I asked my surgeon about appropriate timing around recommencing sexual activities and she said I was probably among a handful of women in her 20 years as a surgeon to approach the subject so soon after having a mastectomy. My response was that I was married to the sexiest man alive (in my opinion) and I wasn’t going to allow breast cancer to have a long-lasting negative effect on my sex life or my sexuality. I’m very lucky that Mr Uniboober and I have a close and honest connection where we communicate about everything in our lives and within our relationship – goo...

WARNING: This blog post and the video below contain photos of mastectomy surgery scars and nudity. Twelve weeks ago today, my right breast was surgically removed by my Rock Star of Titties surgeon, Dr Lisa Creighton . My highly anxious self, medicinally supported by prescription valium, underwent a right breast mastectomy where my saggy, cancer-riddled right breast was removed as well as five axilla lymph node clusters, two of which contained cancerous cells. On Tuesday 24 April 2019, my surgeon removed  1.2 kilograms of my right breast To commemorate the journey of the past three months, I have compiled a short picture video featuring my breast scan, biopsy bruises, post-mastectomy surgery site, post-portacath surgery and three-month post-surgery body.  Before watching, have you taken note of note the warning about post-surgery photos and nudity appearing in this video? Don't watch it if you're squeamish, dislike seeing other people's breasts or if you're...

Today was super exciting for The Uniboober as I cast away the main sails and took my specialised swimming breast form (prosthesis) on its maiden voyage at the local pool. This here is the Trulife 630 Active Flow , a prosthetic breast made from fast-dry mesh fabric and filled with monoprene beads that do not absorb water.  The prosthesis fits snugly into the pocket of the shelf within the swimwear so that it doesn’t move or pop out while swimming.  Since the swimming breast is filled with beads, it moves quite naturally within the water. Out of the water, it matches the drop/sag of my other breast which was important to me. Never did I think that I'd be selecting a prosthetic breast based on its ability to match the sag of my other E cup.  It felt wonderful to be moving my body today even though I took it slow and mostly doggy paddled in the 25m heated pool.  The wonderfully professional and supportive (no pun intended) tea...

Greetings from the SCUPH oncology unit Now that I’ve completed my first eight weeks of “heavy arsenal” chemo (doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide), this week I started the next phase of chemo (paclitaxel) which involves weekly cycles for the next 12 weeks.  As always, I received an outstanding level of care and personal attention from Hannah, Shelley and the team at SCUPH’s oncology day unit . Prior to this next phase I was a little anxious about having a potential allergic reaction to the new chemo but thankfully this didn’t eventuate. If you’re interested, I recorded a short video during my chemo treatment (apologies for dodgy videography). At the same time that I started the new paclitaxel chemo, I also commenced a year-long journey of immune targeted therapy called Herceptin which will be administered through my portacath every three weeks until July 2020. Herceptin works by attaching itself to the receptors on the surface of my breast cancer cells and blocking them from re...

The Uniboober's message is having a positive effect on women living in the Sunshine Coast. It started with my work colleagues, friends and school mums, and it's now spreading further afield! Specifically, the effect has happened with Lou, t his smiling breath of fresh air who is one of the gorgeous oncology nurses who look after me during my chemotherapy treatments at SCUPH  (alongside the equally gorgeous Shelley and Hannah) . Lou doesn’t know it but seeing her today has absolutely made my week and put a pep in my chemo fatigue-affected steps. Lou told me today she has booked a mammogram because of me and my Uniboober story . I feel truly chuffed that she has added Advocate of Mammograms to her list of other important roles, including Advocate of Cervical Screenings (aka pap smears) as well as being an admirable Frontline Soldier of Cancer Fuck-off-ery (that’s my official term for an oncology nurse, purely from the patient’s perspective). Lovely Lou has entere...