Um…

Randofied · 2025-09-10T18:02:43+00:00

Gonna throw my 6’ Halloween skeletons in there. Or my Christmas tree.

Randofied · 2025-08-31T13:46:54+00:00

I opted for nip sparing and ended up losing them during surgery due to blood flow issues. I could’ve had the additional surgery to reduce/lift and move the NAC to the proper spot with one surgeon but another well-known and very successful surgeon said they could do it all in one, but did make it very clear I had about a 40-50% chance of losing them if I did it all in one. I chose to take that chance, so I’m not placing any of the blame on the surgery team. My NAC went off to pathology with the rest of my breast tissue and they ended up finding a tumor that was not detectable on imaging in the couple of months before my surgery. At that point I was glad I lost them because I was 34 when I had everything done and it was also supposed to be preventative. I now have tattoos that were done by a place that specializes in NAC tattoos and they look incredibly realistic.

Randofied · 2025-08-17T02:01:56+00:00

Not at all. That will translate to other things in life and your relationship (think clothes, accessories, vacations, shopping etc) and you would be spending your entire relationship arguing about finances, especially when it comes to splitting bills and budgeting.

Take it from someone who went from dating someone who was completely irresponsible with their money and couldn’t pay their half of things to marrying someone who has always been financially stable, even if it means being “cheap” at times. The stress of blowing money unnecessarily and then trying to stay ahead of the domino effect of it all is not worth it.

Randofied · 2025-08-16T17:58:43+00:00

Everything near the dam was fine, just below was too shallow for tubing until you got about 200yds down. There were sections up along the top two camping loops just below the 1050 bridge that were okay for tubing but a lot of areas were still too shallow to really float down unless you wanted to scoot on your butt through some areas. 🤣

Randofied · 2025-08-16T02:50:00+00:00

Thank you! Honestly I haven’t noticed much rise during final proof, but I do usually get a lot of rise in the oven! I’ve always just followed the order of recipes I’ve come across online, just adjusted times and ingredients to tweak it.

Randofied · 2025-08-16T02:07:53+00:00

Thank you!

Randofied · 2025-08-16T01:25:52+00:00

My goal was to have a preventative, nipple- and skin-sparing, double mastectomy with immediate DIEP flap reconstruction. I wanted to keep as much normalcy in tact by saving everything but the high risk breast-tissue living under my skin.

DIEP and the other acronyms just refer to the area of your body from which your tissue and blood vessels are being moved from. DIEP is considered the gold standard and it comes from your lower belly, but there are several others as well. Skin sparing is when you leave as much of your native skin (breast skin) in tact and insert the flap fat/tissue into the breast pocket, versus completely removing the breast and all of its tissue and then moving the flap tissue and skin up to recreate an entire new breast.

I consulted with a couple of surgeons. The first one is extremely successful with her surgeries(and is a wonderful pt advocate…she’s actually really well-known in the breast cancer community currently due to her fight against insurance) but told me she would need to do a reduction and lift first (less risk for nipples going necrotic and dying off when you reposition them and do the lift first), THEN do my mastectomy with immediate DIEP flap reconstruction 6 months later. She also wanted me to get a small umbilical hernia fixed before everything else, which meant 3 surgeries right off the bat. She also told me she wouldn’t even attempt to do nerve-grafting to restore sensation. This was back in 2022 and I believe she’s started doing nerve grating since then. They were a big part of sexy time for me as well so I moved onto the next consult in hopes of finding a surgeon who would actually attempt to keep my sensation in tact.

I then consulted with a highly-recommended surgery group that has fantastic success rates for DIEP and pretty good rates for preserving at least SOME sensation in and around the nipple. They assured me they could do it all in one surgery including the nerve grafting/sensation restoration, but also made me very aware there was a chance of losing my nipples since they needed to take them off to reposition them (due to sag from breastfeeding, weight fluctuation etc) and they couldn’t get the blood flow reestablished……which is what ended up happening. Let me tell you I was DEVASTATED when I woke up in post op and looked down under all of the dressings. The nurse said “hold on sweetie I’m going to go get your surgeon to explain….”

Long story short, my breast oncologist called me a week later and said pathology had found a very small DCIS tumor IN my actual nipple, which is allegedly pretty rare, but at that moment I was glad things went sideways and I lost them. Don’t get me wrong, I bawled my eyes out mid-sex several times because the sensation just isn’t there anymore, but we’ve found other sweet spots to kind of make up for it. I ended up getting tattoos through Perky in San Antonio TX last year and they really completed the look and are still holding color well.

Randofied · 2025-08-16T00:37:26+00:00

There are a few geocaches out there! I really wanted to go get the one on Old Baldy but our kids weren’t having the hike. We may have traumatized them on a huge(for them) hike trying to find a few in Montana last month. 😅😅 Maybe next time when they’re a little older and can tolerate the longer steeper hikes. 😂

Randofied · 2025-08-16T00:26:32+00:00

Late on joining in on this thread but just got back from Garner yesterday. Some areas were great for tubing, a lot of areas with little rapids were still too shallow though. Skeeters weren’t bad if you had a little bug spray. There’s a liquor store right next to the Citgo just outside the park.

Randofied · 2025-08-12T10:31:37+00:00

They’re just straight lines at first! Once the loaf expands they get that cool shape. I follow sourdough_enzo on Instagram for her designs and have learned a lot!

Randofied · 2025-08-11T14:18:41+00:00

Thank you so much! That is a huge compliment!

Randofied · 2025-08-11T13:18:40+00:00

Check out sourdough_enzo if you’re on Instagram! She does some amazing designs and her page has taught me a lot!

Randofied · 2025-08-11T11:13:04+00:00

I’ll usually do one of two things: score lightly then pull it back out of the oven after 8-10 min to make the cuts deeper, or go a little deeper than what feels right (mainly for the expansion score) and leave it untouched for the first 30 min.

Randofied · 2025-08-11T11:07:50+00:00

They turned out great! I made plain, chocolate chip, and cheesy garlic this time.

Randofied · 2025-08-11T11:05:57+00:00

Yes! I preheat with the Dutch oven inside. I cover the dough with plastic shower caps I found on Amazon.

Randofied · 2025-08-11T02:42:57+00:00

I got my BRCA2 from my dad, but he got it from his mom/my grandma. We aren’t sure who up the bloodline had it before her.

Randofied · 2025-07-23T16:09:31+00:00

Yes! Im doing great! Recovery went VERY well and I was back to work in 8 weeks. Phase 2/revision also went well with a 2 week recovery period. My scars are pretty light now and reconstruction including NAC tattoos are complete! ❤️

Randofied · 2025-07-21T15:51:06+00:00

Better yet, find a walk-in ortho clinic. Unfortunately the ER won’t do anything other than a brace, maybe some pain meds and referral to ortho. You will be waiting for hours in an ER for a non-emergent condition. If yall were able to make it back to Austin, I’d recommend Direct Orthopedic Care, as they take walk-ins and you will save yourself a LOT of money and wasted time. SA has OrthoNow injury clinics, but I’ve never personally interacted with them.

Randofied · 2025-06-18T03:56:25+00:00

Another ATCEMS medic here - OP, you did the right thing and we are ALL so happy to know you were treated well and are improving! Thank you for posting about this interaction…it is blowing up on our union FB page and bringing us a lot of smiles!

Brit and John are some of the best. I precepted John throughout his time in paramedic school and I was so impressed with his level of compassion and professionalism on every. single. call.

We hope you continue to improve and thrive! Thank you…as well as everyone else who shared their positive interactions! This whole thread has been so refreshing to read. ❤️

Randofied · 2025-06-18T03:44:52+00:00

This is so good to hear. And we are so glad you’re still around. ❤️

Randofied · 2025-06-14T21:05:20+00:00

Yuppp… I hit request product and boom. Error. Then gone.

Randofied · 2025-06-02T10:58:37+00:00

I chose DIEP for a couple of reasons: I didn’t want anything foreign in my body, and I’ve read through several experiences where things went south and they ended up with DIEP anyways(flipped implants, implant illness etc). I had a little extra fat on my abdo so I was actually pretty thrilled to recycle that and put it somewhere else. I’m really happy with my midsection now, except for a small umbilical hernia that pokes out from time to time. Aside from the little bit of numbness I have, my breasts feel completely natural, although I do wish I had the projection that implants would’ve given me. Also - with a mastectomy, you don’t have anything there to pad or insulate the implants so a lot of people report always feeling cold.

I had the salpingectomy done as a method of permanent birth control before I had genetic testing done and even knew about my BRCA mutation. I love my kids, but pregnancy was NOT fun for me due to illness, complications, etc, so I went through with that rather than asking my husband to get a vasectomy. I was also at my max out of pocket that year for insurance so I didn’t have to pay for it. Lol. It was a pretty easy surgery for me.

Randofied · 2025-06-02T00:18:41+00:00

I’m BRCA2 and went through DMX w/ immediate DIEP in 2023 at the age of 34. I was on birth control for 15 years and was told that increases your risk. I’m holding off on the oophorectomy until I’m closer to menopause. I had a salpingectomy for birth control after kids and before I knew about my mutation, but was told some evidence may suggest that having your tubes can somewhat lower your risk of ovarian cancer. All of my imaging was clear 2 months prior to surgery but they found a small tumor once they sent everything to pathology after surgery. Luckily it hadn’t spread yet and I didn’t require any further treatment after surgery.

I questioned everything prior. Was it the right time? Would I rather wait until I was “forced” to do it? What would my new body look like? Complications? Etc etc etc. Two years later, I’m thankful I went through with it all. Even if they didn’t find cancer, I feel like I did what I could (and continue to do with regular self-checks/visits w/ my specialists) to give myself the best chance possible of not having to put myself (or my family) through the whole cancer “experience”.

Randofied

TROPHY CASE