Briana’s Story
“It has now been about seven months since my revision surgery, and I can tell you I did not expect to look this good! My breasts and stomach look AMAZING… if I do say so myself! The change in my body has been so dramatic but also natural, very me… that I have been even more inspired to continue the health journey I was on before surgery. Dr. Cabiling, his Physician Assistant Kati, and the entire staff at the Center for Restorative Breast Surgery have been nothing short of amazing.”
“Unfortunately, I’m not calling with the news I wanted to give you.”
Well, that is not what I had expected to hear when I answered the phone call from my surgeon. This was how I found out I had breast cancer… in the frozen food section of a grocery store—kind of funny, kind of hard to process right there. As the surgeon is telling me that the high-risk lesion I had gone in to have surgically removed had been upstaged to Ductal Carcinoma In Situ, everything is feeling so surreal. Later on, I would find out more details about the pathology staging. Right now, he is telling me I will need to have another lumpectomy because they didn’t get wide enough margins. He’s talking about MRIs, radiation therapy, referrals, genetic testing, and on and on. He asks me if I have any questions. I do. But right now, the frozen foods section of Albertson’s, with a variety of people pushing their carts past me, doing their after work dinner shopping, really isn’t the place to be talking about my breasts, now is it? Instead, I just make a lot of assenting noises, and when he asks if I would like to have a follow-up appointment where we can go over everything, where I can ask my questions and decide on a plan of action going forward… I say yes.
I had no family history of breast cancer… I had only started getting mammograms because that’s what you do when you turn 40. On my second mammogram, they found new calcifications. So, I had a diagnostic mammogram, then a biopsy, then a surgical excision… which became a lumpectomy once the pathology came back. Seeing as how I worked in the medical field as an Xray technologist I thought I would be properly prepared for all of the information and appointments that were coming my way… but I definitely wasn’t. It is a lot to process on your own… I could have brought someone with me… and I should have… but my diagnosis was in the Fall of 2020, and there was still a lot of uncertainty around Covid, and I didn’t want to expose anyone to anything by unnecessarily dragging them to appointments with me. I am so grateful that when I ended up at CRBS, they required me to have a caregiver with me.
So, after my second appointment with the breast surgeon, I was set up for MRI, genetic testing, etc. He had recommended a second lumpectomy. In my mind, though, I was already planning that if the MRI came back with other areas of concern, or if the genetic testing was positive, I was set on a double mastectomy. So, I started researching… The Center for Restorative Breast Surgery came up over and over again on different forums with such positive reviews that after doing my own research, I knew that was where I wanted to go if it ended up that way. Well, my MRI results and genetic testing came back negative. So, I decided to go with the recommendation of a second lumpectomy, 33 rounds of radiation, and tamoxifen. All in all, everything went very well. However, I was left with a quite large, puckered scar/divot area on the breast. It’s interesting because when I first got the diagnosis, my mindset was just “it’s only tissue, skin, etc., who cares if there’s scars… I just want to be free from cancer.” However, seeing that area every time I showered, changed clothes, etc., it got to be very disheartening… it was a daily reminder of how my body had developed cancer cells…and that it could again.
Fast forward approximately 4 years, and I was tired of it all… almost every mammogram led to a diagnostic mammogram… and sometimes they led to new biopsies as well. I had a lot of anxiety around each new mammogram… I felt like I was just stuck in wondering WHEN I would develop a new breast cancer or recurrence instead of IF. I have a big family. I’m the oldest of six… 5 younger sisters… all girls in my family. I have 11 amazing humans for nieces and nephews… I want to keep taking them on their birthday dates with Aunt Briana as long as I can. I want to see what they do throughout their lives. I want to BE there for them, and my sisters, and parents. Not only was I wondering if another breast cancer diagnosis would take me away from them physically… I knew that I also had it in the back of my mind, and I wasn’t as mentally present as I wanted to be all the time.
So, I had my last breast biopsy in July of 2024. I had already determined I was going to have a double mastectomy and immediate DIEP flap transfer reconstruction… all the biopsy results would change was timing… everything would be on fast forward if the pathology came back positive. Thankfully, I was blessed to have the pathology come back benign. So, I started moving forward with my plans for surgery at CRBS.
I can never say enough positive things about my experiences at CRBS! From the first phone call, they made everything so easy for me. Since I live in Montana, I decided to send photos for my consultation rather than go in person. After receiving them, I was assigned Dr. Cabiling and his team for my surgeries. I chose a date in early January 2025 as I wanted time to save up PTO since I would be off work for a while, and I wanted to hit my deductible/out-of-pocket costs early in the year. Leading up to the surgery, I felt comfortable because there was communication from the center letting me know what the plan was, the timeline, things I needed to do to be ready before and after the surgery, etc.
In January, my sister Allie and I flew to New Orleans (our dad was actually born there) to start the big surgery adventure! I met with Dr. Ordoyne first; he was the surgeon who would be performing the mastectomy. Dr. Ordoyne was so compassionate and took the time to answer all my questions, drew diagrams, and addressed my concerns about having a nipple sparing mastectomy. I had decided I didn’t want to save my nipples if I was going through such a big surgery. I just wanted everything gone. Next, I met with Dr. Cabiling. Again, he was great and took time to answer all the questions I had, and I was again impressed by his compassion. He had even developed a plan for my radiated breast because, due to the damage from radiation, there was a higher likelihood that the skin may fail on that side. He had a plan in place to save some of the skin from my transferred flap in case that happened. Thankfully, it did great, and we didn’t need it! Due to my conversations with Dr. Cabiling and Dr. Ordoyne, I actually decided that I was going to do a nipple sparing mastectomy… I felt so confident in their skill and plans. I never felt like they were pushing me to change my mind; they were just giving me the information I asked for. They actually encouraged me to think about it and talk it over with my sister (my caregiver) overnight before making my final decision.
Then it was surgery day! From the very first moment checking in, everything went so smoothly…I’m even a problem patient and have a pacemaker to complicate things. But they made sure the pacemaker tech was there on the day of surgery. I was under anesthesia for much less time than is usually expected with this type of surgery. At CRBS, they use two surgeons for the flap transfer. They are working on harvesting the flap at the same time the surgical oncologist is performing the mastectomy. This all helps to reduce your time under anesthesia. While I was in surgery, they kept communication with my sister, who had the job of keeping about 4 different group texts updated! After surgery, I was taken care of by extremely talented and compassionate nurses in their hospital. My sister was also taken care of; she was able to eat with me and stay in the room with me… they had a Murphy bed for her. Fast forward… I was in communication (well, my sister was actually) with Kati, Dr. Cabiling’s PA, after I was discharged from the hospital, had my post-op appointment the day before I was going to fly home, and then in communication with Kati after I flew back home. She is so kind and patient. I had a couple of little areas open up after I got home that needed a bit of extra care, and she was there every step of the way. It was scary coming home after such a big, complicated surgery, but I felt completely safe in their hands.
About 5 months later, I went back for my revision surgery… the fun part where they make everything pretty. I had heard so many women talk about how happy they were afterwards and how good they felt about how they looked. I heard those testimonials but still didn’t know how to translate them to how I would look. I again met with Dr. Cabiling the day before surgery for my pre-op appointment. He asked if he could tell me what his thoughts were, and then we could see if there was anything he didn’t address that I was looking for, or if I wanted to make changes, etc. Everything he suggested was already what I had in mind to ask him about! There was just one thing I had changed my mind about… I had wanted a bilateral breast reduction initially. However, after my first surgery, I noticed I felt different about my breasts… I didn’t feel like they were just this monstrosity that was trying to kill me, I actually felt like they were a part of me that I appreciated again… I just asked that Dr. Cabiling reduce the left breast so that it matched the right radiated breast. He marked me up for surgery, and off I went to have an amazing New Orleans dinner before surgery the next morning! I stayed overnight and then went to the hotel with my sister the next day…a couple of days after that, I had my post-op, and everything went fantastically. My sister and I had even built in an extra day after my post-op before flying home because we wanted to see as much of New Orleans as we could. I felt good enough to take a tour to see alligators! Not on an airboat… lol!
It has now been about seven months since my revision surgery, and I can tell you I did not expect to look this good! My breasts and stomach look AMAZING… If I do say so myself! The change in my body has been so dramatic but also natural, very me… that I have been even more inspired to continue the health journey I was on before surgery. Now, I can actually notice my results more.
Dr. Cabiling, his PA Kati, and the entire staff at CRBS have been nothing short of amazing. Even knowing what healing entails and everything now…I would do it again in a heartbeat! The clarity of mind I have now is incredible… I feel like my brain had a cloud around it after my breast cancer diagnosis, and now I have myself back. Not only that but even better physically, and mentally… Yes, I have those breast cancer memories and experiences, but I can look at them with a mind that is present and not worried about the future.
I decided to specialize in mammography after my diagnosis. The mammographers and whole radiology team I work with and the clinic I work for is incredibly compassionate and we all care for our patients and do everything we can to make them feel comfortable and heard. So, for me to feel as impressed with Dr. Cabiling, Dr.Ordoyne, and the whole CRBS team is saying a lot. They have truly changed my life in so many great ways. I couldn’t imagine having done this anywhere else.
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