Look At Me, I'm Sandra Lee

**The Noble Breast Is Moving! Shortly after this post, I will commence posting on NavaBrahe.com, which is now not only my name, but my domain! I'll post again when I am ready to re-direct from this blog, over to the new site.**

Now, on to the business at hand: 

I have a beef with Sandra Lee. For about a week now, I've been reading snippets about how she's been battling a post-operative infection following her mastectomy. I can empathize with her plight, even though I managed to remain infection-free before, during and after my surgery. What I'm not happy about is that details about her situation are sparse, other than the typical celeb stuff, like being walked into surgery by Governor Andrew Cuomo, her boyfriend, and wanting fresh flowers and glasses of wine during recuperation. I want to know the who, what, where, when, and why - because when you declare yourself an advocate for women with breast cancer, you give up the luxury of privacy. 

What I've learned over the past year (tomorrow is the one year anniversary of my first chemotherapy treatment), is that cancer is chock-full of details. Breast cancer especially. There are many variables, so if you're going to share your experience, you'd better do your best to not leave anything out. 

I'm guessing that in Ms. Lee's case, her infection was likely caused by preparations for reconstruction; or not. There's no way to be certain because she's not telling us. Women who choose to undergo reconstruction after mastectomy need to know that the process does not always go smoothly. Many times, infections crop up, things go awry, and most importantly, there are circumstances patients must be made aware of, because in some cases, reconstruction could prove difficult, or, as in my case, inadvisable. As I've said repeatedly, every woman's case is different. And if you're going to share, you owe it to your followers to over-share. Less is not more in this case - more is necessarily more. 

I could be overstepping here, because I am not a celebrity. I'm not suggesting Ms. Lee provide every gory detail, but the reason behind her infection would certainly provide an education to women who are going through similar experiences. This isn't a naked-while-pregnant selfie, a la Kim Kardashian; this is valuable information we don't often get from our doctors, nor do we go looking for it ourselves. 

Lest I sound like a broken record, it's better to know, than not. And that should be a part of the role of advocate Ms. Lee and other celebrities have chosen to undertake. 

Nava