Sharon’s Journey

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Sharon (00:03):
So it was actually in October. I was at the office and a coworker wanted me to lift a chair that needed to go back. And the next day I had pain on my left side and I just thought I’d pulled a muscle and it just wasn’t going away. And I had an appointment scheduled for October 31st in Halloween. They immediately scheduled me for a diagnostic because I reported the pain. They showed me they could see that it looks like there’s these calcifications and needed to get a bigger picture. So I spent Halloween sitting on the sofa just in a daze. It was just a thing, right? I couldn’t really process much at all. It was just super scary. And when the MRI results came back, we discovered that it was just really larger than we initially thought. And so a lumpectomy probably was not going to be the best way to go.

(01:01):
I started looking and was looking at pictures online. I probably saw 300 breasts. That’s kind of creepy, but I was checking everybody out. And there was just this one particular surgeon’s office that I just thought stood out over all the others, but I was telling my husband about it, found out they’re actually in Louisiana. And so that just didn’t seem like it was going to really be a viable option, just the logistics of it all. And so I was really surprised when the breast surgeons called and immediately when they said that Dr. England and they said the name of the center. And I was like, no, they’re in Louisiana. How are we going to do that? And so when she said that they were actually here, she’s actually here and I was just over the moon because those by far were the most outstanding pictures and the best just results that I could see immediately.

(01:58):
Our daughter is getting married in March and I was super nervous about what all that meant. And would I be sick at the wedding and what would that be like? And could I have surgery? And so I had to wait a week or so before I could get in to see Dr. Wright. When I saw her, she said that she could perform this surgery the following week. And I literally had a surgery a week before Christmas and it meant that I could heal and be ready for my daughter’s wedding.

(02:30):
So that brought more relief, I think for all of us. But kids came down. She was there. In fact, she kicked my husband out the night. I had surgery and she stayed in the room with me and he stayed the second night. And I’m at eight weeks this week post-surgery and I went back to work three weeks ago. And so I have a very active job as well, so I’m easing back into it, but I did go back. The biggest thing for me was I didn’t want to have chemo. I was afraid I was going to have chemo and have to take the pill and go through radiation. And it was just a blessing when I found out that I wasn’t going to have to do that. The staff and Dr. Wright and their nurse practitioners have all been outstanding and addressed all my concerns.

(03:17):
The hospital, even just bar none, the care that I received was outstanding. When you’re in that frame of mind, every day seems like a year because you’re waiting for results continually and just time just freezes. It doesn’t move. Once you know you have the right people, I think that’s when you leap forward and you keep going. If I had not been comfortable with them the way that I was, it wouldn’t have happened.

(03:50):
I do have my dress. I just need a little alteration in the front, but yes, I have my dress, so super exciting.

Sharon Lee did extensive research, reviewing hundreds of before-and-after photos. The Center for Restorative Breast Surgery in New Orleans stood out above all others, but she thought travel would be challenging. She was overjoyed to learn that Dr. Wright was working with the surgeons from the Breast Center, allowing her to have surgery closer to home. Hear Sharon’s story about how her surgery enabled her to avoid chemotherapy and how quickly she recovered in time for her daughter’s wedding.

So it was actually, um, in October I was at the office and a coworker wanted me to lift a chair that needed to go back. And the next day I had pain on my left side. And I just thought I’d pulled a muscle and it just wasn’t going away. And I had an appointment scheduled for October 31st in Halloween. They immediately scheduled me for a diagnostic because I reported the pain.

They showed me, they could see that it looks like there’s these calcifications and needed to get a bigger picture. So I spent Halloween or sitting on the sofa just in a daze. It was just a thing, right? I couldn’t, um, really process much at all. It was just super scary. And when the MRI results came back and we discovered that it was just really larger than we initially thought.

And so a lumpectomy probably was not gonna be the best way to go. I started looking and was looking at pictures online. I probably saw 300 breast, like I was, that’s kind of creepy, but I was checking everybody out and there was this, this one particular surgeon’s office that I just thought stood out over all the others, but I was telling my husband about it, found out they’re actually in Louisiana.

And so that just didn’t seem like it was gonna really be a viable option, just the logistics of it all. And so I was really surprised when, um, the breast surgeons called and when, immediately when they said that, Dr. Englin, and they said the, the name of the Center. And I was like, no, they’re in Louisiana. How are we gonna do that? And so when she said that they were actually here, she’s actually here, and it was, I was just over the moon because those by far were the most outstanding pictures and the best just results that I could see immediately.

Our daughter is getting married in March, and I was super nervous about what all that meant. And, um, would I be sick at the wedding and what would that be like? And could I have surgery? And so I had to wait a, a week or so before I could get in to see Dr. Wright.

When I saw her, she said that she could perform this surgery the following week, and I literally had this surgery a week before Christmas, and it meant that I could heal and be ready for my daughter’s wedding.

So that was brought more relief, I think, for all of us. But kids came down, she was there. She, in fact, she kicked my husband out the night I had surgery and she stayed in the room with me and he stayed the second night.

And I met eight weeks this week post surgery. And I went back to work, uh, three weeks ago. And so I have a very active job as well. So I’m easing back into it. But I did go back. The biggest thing for me was I didn’t wanna have chemo. I was afraid I was gonna have chemo and have to take the pill and go through radiation. And it was just a blessing when I found out that I wasn’t gonna have to do that.

The staff and Dr. Wright and their nurse practitioners have all been outstanding and are just all my concerns. The hospital, even just bar none. The the care that I received was, was outstanding. So when you’re in that frame of mind, every day seems like a year because you’re waiting for results continually. And just time just freezes. It doesn’t move.

Once you know you have the right people, I think that’s when you, you leap forward and you, you know, you keep going. If I had not been comfortable with them the way that I was, it wouldn’t have happened. I do have my dress. I just need a little alteration in the front.

But yes, I have my chest. So super exciting.