The Pivot | The Weight of Preparation

By August 2025, I was finally catching my breath. After 20 years of debilitating pain and a successful hysterectomy in April, I was focused on the next phase of the plan my doctor had set in motion back in February. I was high-risk, I knew it, and I was finally being taken seriously.

The next step was a crucial breast MRI, the one that would dictate my preventative surgical path. But as I’ve learned over the last two decades, the road to restoration is rarely a straight line.

The Ticking Clock

Then, the system failed. A clerical error led to my MRI being canceled.

When you have spent half your life fighting for medical validation and years battling insurance companies that try to dictate your care based on "uneducated opinions," a month of lost time feels like a ticking clock. In the world of high-risk patients, a month isn’t just a delay; it’s a danger. I was exhausted. I was tired of being the "compliant patient" waiting for a system that didn't seem to share my sense of urgency.

The NOLA Pivot

Instead of waiting for a local system to fix its mistake while I sat in a body that didn't feel like mine, I did what I do best for my real estate clients: I negotiated a new path. Through research and a lot of prayer, I found the Center for Restorative Breast Surgery in New Orleans.

I scheduled a virtual appointment, and for the first time, I saw a way forward that didn't just involve "removing risk," but "restoring a life."

Building the Provision: Weight & Skin

During this time, I was doing something incredibly hard and uncomfortable: I was intentionally gaining weight. Because I had chosen the DIEP Flap reconstruction, my body needed to provide the "raw materials." My surgeons needed enough tissue to rebuild me, which meant I had to force my body to hold on to every extra pound it could. This wasn't about vanity, it was about how I felt physically. I didn’t feel like myself. I felt heavy and sluggish, forcing my body to expand for a surgery that was supposed to make me healthy.

But I wasn't starting from scratch. I already had a foundation. I had the extra skin that was the physical evidence of my six pregnancies. I have four children in my arms and three babies in my heart, and they had already "prepared the site" for my restoration. Between the intentional weight I was gaining and the skin that had been stretched and blessed by motherhood, I was literally building the provision I would need for the "restoration."

The Choice of Restoration

I’ll be honest: I initially planned to "go flat." With our family history I have seen the good, the bad, the hard, and the struggle of breast cancer surgeries. I was already  tired of surgery after the first one.  I was tired of being a patient. But as I listened to God’s direction and looked at my options, I felt a pull toward the DIEP Flap. Unlike traditional implants, this microsurgery uses your own living tissue.

It was a way to take that "extra" the weight I had strategically gained and the skin provided by my pregnancies and turn it into something beautiful. My babies didn't just give me life; they left behind the very materials needed to save mine. I was carrying the cure with me all along.