I know how it feels to have breast cancer. I do not know how it feels to live without a breast for almost two years. My friend Larissa, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in her early thirties, shared her journey with me and talked about what it was like not to have immediate reconstruction after her diagnoses and what led her to that decision.

Larissa started out thinking she had ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). A mastectomy was decided since the DCIS was widespread throughout the breast. She then met with a plastic surgeon and planned to have immediate reconstruction with an expander. At this point Larissa choose to get a second opinion. The second opinion didn't agree with the first one like she wished.

The appointment at the second opinion was very frightening to Larissa for a few reasons. First, the hospital had just purchased a new high-tech ultrasound machine. Larissa was the lucky one who got to try it out first! Second, what they discovered was that the cancer looked like it had become invasive, breaking out of the milk ducts and also spreading to the lymph nodes. Larissa said she "freaked out".

She knew this would mean chemotherapy and radiation and possibly a lot worse. So she made up her mind to delay reconstruction. Larissa didn't want anything else to go wrong. She said "I want to start fighting".