Feeling the love from my work family

-
18 September 2019


Wow, talk about making a uniboober feel special! 

My beautiful work colleagues at Sunshine Coast Council put on a swish morning tea to show their support and encouragement for yours truly. Pink was the order of the day while we stuffed our faces during a communal #FuckCancer salute. 

I was once again reminded why I love working with this bunch of amazing people. I've been on leave since my mastectomy surgery in April and I'm definitely missing the camaraderie and mental challenge of the work environment. Who knew I would miss work so much?

I'm lucky to have so many #BreastFriends at work, especially my girls Lisa and Bernie who have kept my cup filled with regular lunch outings during my absence. My colleague Lisa (standing on my left in photo above) has been a rock for me, having been through her own breast cancer journey. As a survivor of 7 years she has been able to empathise with me about all the shitty parts of this emotional rollercoaster ridden by the women affected by breast cancer. Apart from Mr Uniboober, she was the first person I told about getting recalled for a second breast screening and subsequent biopsy. Her reassurance and advice has been invaluable to me and I'll always be grateful for her support. 

It's because of this incredible woman that our team proudly wears the pink PPE shirts to from Bisley Workwear to show support for the National Breast Cancer Foundation. 

My colleagues put together a gorgeous care package hamper, a raft of gift vouchers for much-needed massages, delectable home-baked goodies and even a blueberry shrub. I feel very special and appreciate the effort from my work family - it's lovely to know that I'm missed. Importantly, many women in these photos and several other female colleagues (not pictured) have since undergone a mammogram because of my situation and my message about early detection of unseen and silent breast cancer.

It's partly because of work that I even had a mammogram in the first place so it's wonderful to see action being taken (read this blog post to find out more about what prompted me to have the mammogram). It warms my heart to know that others are taking action to get their breasts checked and hop on board the mammogram train. 

Thank you again to my beautiful colleagues for making me feel so special!


Popular posts from this blog

Super powers and surgery while awake

-
Image
Wednesday, 15 May 2019 Another day, another medical procedure. Today's adventure involved surgery to have a portacath device installed. It's a small device branded as "PowerPort" which means I now officially have super powers. It's been inserted near my collar bone and is connected via catheter to one of my large central veins. This is where the chemotherapy and Herceptin treatment will be administered.  The portacath surgery was another awfully anxious experience. I was awake for the surgery but mildly sedated so I could still hear and feel the movements but felt no pain. I felt quite anxious and my heart rate spiked at 140 when the Doctor inserted the catheter. He said sometimes this "tickles" part of the heart valves which triggers an increased heart rate. My heightened level of anxiety didn't help at the time either. In recovery, my heart rate came down and I ended up eventually being discharged. The nursing staff were very understanding of...
Read more

Five months as The Uniboober

-
Image
23 September 2019 Five months ago today, my right breast was removed and I commenced the next chapter of my life as a uniboober. Physically these changes can be seen by the eye but I've changed in so many other ways emotionally, spiritually and mentally.  Thinking back to the mastectomy surgery, I mistakenly believed at the time that the breast removal was the largest component of being diagnosed with breast cancer. Little did I know it was merely one piece of the puzzle, one of the many new parts of my life that meant I'd never be the same again.  I'm getting more comfortable with accepting I'm not the same person and I'm never going to "get back to normal". I'm also not a big fan of the term "new normal", a reference many use for the next part of my life after active treatment has finished. When I do eventually return to work, when people I know ask how I'm doing, when a year or more has passed and I start to look "nor...
Read more

The Uniboober's three-month anniversary

-
Image
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...
Read more