Breast Reconstruction

Breast Cancer Your Hurting Friend Might Need You to Clean Her Toilets But She Probably Won’t Ask

February 6, 2018 KimHarms 2Comment

I remember the day Carter started kindergarten. The eldest and most timid of my children, I can say with certainty his first day of school would still rank somewhere in the top 5 if he kept a Terrible-Horrible-No Good-Very Bad-Day list. That was a long day followed by a long difficult year of adjustment. But he got through it. I remember the day Owen realized he didn’t have super powers. It was a blow to his self-confidence when his dad broke the news that it was a remote control turning on the ceiling fan; not the super-spin motion created by Owen’s alter…

Breast Cancer 5 Breast Reconstruction Gifts

January 23, 2018 KimHarms 67Comment

Every woman is different and there are a lot of varieties of reconstruction surgery, but the following are 5 things I greatly appreciated while walking down the road to reconstruction. If you have a friend who’s going through this bizarre and challenging life circumstance, she might appreciate something from this 5 Breast Reconstruction Gifts list. A Sherpa Blanket Sherpa blankets are super-soft, ultra warm blankets that you can just sorta hibernate in. My friend Marti gave me one, and I called it my magic blanket. I slept with it for months. Even when I finally went back to my bed…

Breast Cancer Body Image After Breast Reconstruction (Walk With Me Podcast)

January 4, 2018 KimHarms 5Comment

Sometimes it’s hard to look in the mirror. I had the opportunity to talk with Tori Haverkamp several weeks ago about body image and learning to live with my altered form after a bilateral mastectomy and breast reconstruction. There are so many pieces that come into play when walking through breast reconstruction process, but body image is not something that I thought I would struggle with at all. As it turns out though, losing a piece of me changed the way I looked at myself. And it kind of broke my heart. But God is good,…

Breast Cancer Reassurance of Normal

December 12, 2017 KimHarms 2Comment

Corey is my best friend, but I had the opportunity to spend a morning with my girl BFF last week. She’s the one who shares my disinterest in girly things like shopping and jewelry. The one who has navigated boy mom world with me from day one. The one I call when my kiddos do something amazing like backflip off a picnic table. And the one I call when this job of “momming” is knocking the wind out of me. She’s a gift. I’ve even shown her my bare chest. I know that sounds so weird and wrong, but…

Breast Cancer Heather Lau – Reconstruction after Triple Negative Breast Cancer

November 14, 2017 KimHarms 1Comment

Dan and Heather Lau This is the last in my Breast Reconstruction Thoughts series (at least for now). I continue to be thankful for the willingness of these women to share their stories. Heather Lau and I both graduated from West Hancock High School in Britt, Iowa. She was diagnosed with breast cancer at just 35 years old and made it through treatment and reconstruction while raising young kids. Here are some of her thoughts. Name: Heather Lau Family: Husband – Dan, Son – Camden (15), Daughter – Kenadie (14), Daughter – Macie (9) Occupation: Office…