Telling the Girls About My Upcoming Mastectomy
You might be wondering – how did I tell the girls about my upcoming preventative bilateral mastectomy?
I knew I wanted to tell Yasmeen and Leena as soon as possible. With their personalities, I knew having the time to process and prepare would help ease their anxiety.
Both girls could tell something was going on before I had a chance to share the news. Yasmeen noticed I was hugging her more often. On days when I had surgery consults/doctor appointments, Leena would look at me and say, what’s going on with you? (To think I thought I was being nonchalant...)
So, before I even had my surgery date scheduled, I sat them down and shared that I tested positive for the PALB2 gene, the risks associated with it, and my options moving forward. They sat stunned, silenced, with tears streaming down their faces.
Both stated separately from the other that they wanted me to have the surgery, but it was really hard for them.
Soraya typically responds differently to potentially anxiety-provoking news. While Yasmeen and Leena feel less anxious when given more time to process, Soraya has MORE anxiety if she has too much time to mull things over.
I planned to tell Soraya a week before my surgery, as this is what we do for her own procedures. That way she has time to digest – but not too much time.
However, that plan didn’t go as I had thought. Stay tuned for how that went later this week!