Update: Morris Plains woman adjusts to ‘New Normal’ after breast cancer surgery

'I CHOOSE LIFE': Penny Lopez after breast cancer surgery. Photo by Antonio Lopez
'I CHOOSE LIFE': Penny Lopez after breast cancer surgery. Photo by Antonio Lopez
4

EDITOR’S NOTE: This video contains graphic depictions of breast cancer surgery, and may be disturbing for young viewers.

By Kevin Coughlin

Breast cancer is not pretty. But Penny Lopez knows it cannot be ignored.

“It’s more prevalent than you think, and people need to talk about it,” said the Morris Plains resident, who is recovering from a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery last month.

'I CHOOSE LIFE': Penny Lopez after breast cancer surgery. Photo by Antonio Lopez
‘I CHOOSE LIFE’: Penny Lopez after breast cancer surgery. Photo by Antonio Lopez

She has been chronicling her medical and emotional journey on YouTube and Facebook since her cancer diagnosis last July.

We are pleased to report that Penny, a contributing photographer at MorristownGreen.com, is making good progress.

The proof is in the video above. It’s not for the squeamish. Yet Penny is determined to remove the fear of the unknown for women in a similar situation.

“This surgery is a process. You’re not going to wake up with Girls-Gone-Wild boobs,” Penny said with a laugh.

At first, they look more like the work of Dr. Frankenstein, she said.

The word “reconstruction” denotes a process replete with challenges–drainage tubes that need emptying, multiple surgeries, nipple replacements, ugly scars, and omnipresent threats of infection and immunological rejection of implants, to name a few concerns, she said.

THE ‘NEW NORMAL’

“Women need to know what the ‘new normal’ is going to look like,” said Penny, who has started using her down time to write a book, borrowing the name of her Facebook page, The Breast Of Me. “Those breasts I had for 46 years are gone. This is the new normal. I’m being ‘normalized.'”

'RECONSTRUCTION IS A PROCESS' : Penny Lopez, soon after breast cancer surgery. Photo by Antonio Lopez
‘RECONSTRUCTION IS A PROCESS’ : Penny Lopez, soon after breast cancer surgery. Photo by Antonio Lopez

For this mother of four grown children, the good news is that her doctors are confident they removed all the cancer.  Penny had an aggressive, fist-sized tumor in her right breast. She underwent intensive chemotherapy prior to surgery.

Many women grieve for their lost breasts, Penny said. After a prior battle with thyroid cancer, she said she feels lucky to be alive.

“I choose life,” she said.

It’s imperative for women to examine their breasts regularly, and to seek medical advice if questions arise, Penny said. She is happy that one woman has acknowledged addressing a potential health condition thanks to her online postings.

Deep faith and loving care from her husband, Antonio Lopez, have helped Penny immensely. Still, things are difficult. Penny is not well enough to attend her youngest daughter’s college graduation in Miami. And some friends have fallen away.

“People are afraid to be around you. They’re afraid you’re going to die. I want to help people, not only with the medical part, but with the emotional part,” Penny said.

These drainage tubes have just been removed, three weeks after surgery for breast cancer. Photo by Antonio Lopez.
These drainage tubes have just been removed, three weeks after surgery for breast cancer. Photo by Antonio Lopez.

There are financial worries, too. Antonio was fired, after 13 years at an auto dealership, on his first day taking a Family Medical Leave to care for her, Penny said. The couple is contemplating legal action.

They have applied for NJ Family Care, and Penny hopes she can resume her pharma consulting job next month.

“It’s kind of hard. You want to take your time recovering. But I have to hurry up and get back to work to pay my bills,” Penny said.

She is not complaining, however.

“I’m turning the corner, on a long road.”

Everyone at MorristownGreen.com wishes Penny a speedy recovery! You can follow her daily progress on her Facebook site, The Breast Of Me, and trace her journey at  Survivor Gal Penny, her YouTube channel.

 

4 COMMENTS

  1. I am so proud of Penelope, thankful for her courage and her helpfulness in teaching all of us that we can beat CANCER. So has been such an inspiration to me. I will continue to pray for her and the family.

    #survivormode

  2. She’s courageous, admirable, faithful, confident, forceful, gracious, passionate, daring, committed, boundless, and trail blazing. I don’t know how many others will thank you… So let me start.. Thank you for sharing your story, your journey, your truth!

  3. Penny you are a true inspiration. I’ve followed your story since the beginning. At times it was hard and I cried and admittedly couldn’t watch the full video. But prayed for you daily and will continue too. I love you and pray for your continued strength.

    Angela

  4. Thank you Kevin for telling my story. My mission is to keep telling it and telling it over and over, until as many lives as possible can be saved from this disease. Although I had an aggressive form of Stage 3 Breast Cancer, I was one of the few to experience a “total response” to chemotherapy where my first-sized, 6cm mass, was gone from my right breast and lymph nodes BEFORE my chemo was completed. Not all women will survive this disease, even with the treatments available, and some discover it too late after it has metastasized to other body parts (Stage 4). Now the grueling reconstruction process begins. Thank you again for telling my story. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers — I need them! Up-to-date videos can be seen in my FB page: http://www.facebook.com/thebreastofme

LEAVE A REPLY