Officially 1/8th Doctor! I finally finished my first semester of medical school. There were a lot of adjustments. Moving to a new place, meeting all new people, figuring out how to manage my time were all things that got easier with time. Something really stuck with me through it all though. I had my double mastectomy and reconstruction only 6 months ago, right before I started school.

A lot of people would ask me what I did before starting medical school, and I didn’t quite know how to answer that. Should I really tell people I barely know that I spent the summer in a bed recovering from two major surgeries? Not exactly the right way to start off conversations, and I often felt rather awkward leaving them sometimes. Not only that, I found the people I did share my journey with often left confused, thinking I had a “boob job.” While there is nothing wrong with that, I just felt very awkward about the entire situation and felt very misunderstood.

I learned quickly that not everyone would understand, and I became more selective about who I shared this part of my story with. I just want anyone else out there that is going through this as well to know, it’s okay if your friends and even your family don’t completely understand what is going on, or why you did this. It is a difficult concept to grasp that one would remove something before it is even “broken” or “cancerous.” I remember someone said to me “Well, I could get a heart attack any minute, doesn’t mean I’m gonna go get a heart transplant!”

Most people will not understand, and honestly it’s kind of a blessing for them. They will never have to understand the pain, the doctors appointments, or the anxiety about the future. Just know there is community out there that completely understands, and you are doing the right thing.