Breakaway 14 Day Southern Caribbean Review with lots of pictures (and the Haven)

Hi everyone. I just got back from our cruise yesterday and will get started on the review a little later this afternoon. I just wanted to say that it was the cruise of a lifetime, but aren't they all? I usually plan, plan, plan but this was kind of a surprise so I didn't really have the chance. There's SO much to write about but before I do, I need to finish organizing my photos. I have over 1000 to review and share, and get the dailies scanned so I can share them as well.

On that note, I'll go get started and be back later.

Just a heads up, this is going to be a long one. :D

I'm pretty excited about your review (I kept checking your posts while you were on board). We sail on the BA at the end of the month. :)

I can't wait for the review. I am on the BA in April.

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Ncklhaus, always look forward to your reviews! I was on the Breakaway for Thanksgiving. My neighbor left yesterday for the 14 day southern cruise.

Can't wait for your review. :)

I am following. Thanks for all of the hard work you're putting into this!

I'm looking forward to your review! Thanks. I'm glad you had a great time!

Diane

Cant wait!

Awesome! Looking forward to your review! :)

Looking forward to hearing about your trip :)

We'll be sailing Breakaway in May. Really looking forward to your review and especially your photos!

Thank you for taking the time to share your vacation with us!!! I'm on the 31st cruise so I am really looking forward to your review and the dailies :)

ready and waiting for your review!

Looking forward to your review.

Keith

Thank you everyone for all of your kind words. I have to say you put tears in my eyes. I'm such a sap. LOL.

I will try and respond to everyone's comments in the future.

And now, without further ado, I shall begin our cruise saga. :D

We had originally booked a 7 night cruise on the Breakaway from NYC to the Bahamas and Florida with a stop at Great Stirrup Cay. GSC would be the only port we would get off at as we have done this itinerary a few times before and it has become a been there, done that kind of thing. But we love GSC and had a small cabana last time we were there. You can read all about it in the review below my signature. How's that for a shameless plug?

We were originally booked for April 10, 2016 and I just wasn't sure I REALLY wanted that date. I was trying to line up our cruise date with the New York State Common Core tests as we were not going to make our daughter take them if she didn't want to. If we were away for one week of the tests, good for us.

It turns out I booked the wrong week. The tests were to be held starting the week earlier, so we changed the cruise to the week of April 3, 2016. It just so happens that we would be in GSC on April 6th. That's our daughters 9th birthday. We were able to get the cabana for $349 and life was good.

Then we decided we didn't want to wait until April to go on the cruise so after a lot of research, we decided on November 8th. We booked it and scored the cabana for $419. To us, it was still worth every penny. We were set.

And that's when real life got in the way. Cue the foreboding music. "Dun dun dun".

My birthday is August and I kept putting of my "lady parts" exam. I hadn't gone when I turned 43 in 2014, and I finally gave in and made my appointment for March of 2015. Everything was good and I got my prescription to get my mammogram and sonogram. I had previously had a false positive mammogram and had a breast biopsy to find that I had a benign fibroadenoma I the left breast. Whew. That was scary.

So you would think I would follow up with my screening ASAP. Nope. I finally made my mammogram and sonogram appointment for June 26, 2015. No big deal, right? All will be good, right? Well....no. The sonographer said that the fibroadenoma had shrunk, but now she sees something else. Oh crap.

Around 4 or 5 days later, I am at the pool with my daughter when I see a missed call on my cell phone from my OB/GYN. Double crap. I call back and they say that the sonogram was "suspicious" and I needed a biopsy once again in my left breast. I set up an appointment for 3 days later on Thursday July 2nd. So I go for the biopsy and then I hear nothing for a few days. I keep calling the doctor and they have no results yet. I call the place that did the biopsy on July 8th to find out if they have results and the girl says "We don't have the final pathology yet, but I'll send what we have to your doctor". My reaction to that (in my head) was Oh F--k! I knew that wasn't good.

I have already been a childhood cancer survivor. When I was 15, I was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. I went through almost 3 years of chemotherapy. I lost all of my hair as a junior in high school. I was one of the first 100 children in NY to participate in the Make A Wish program. Yes, I went to Walt Disney World. It was awesome. The chemo not only saved my life but it also destroyed most of my joints. So far, I have had 5 hip replacements and a shoulder replacement. I will still need the other shoulder and both knees replaced but I'm just not ready yet.

Anyway, back to the summer.

So I'm at home with my daughter waiting and waiting for the results. I call the doctors office again and the nurse says she'll call me back with the results. Around 2pm the phone rings. Caller ID says it's the doctors office. I am really nervous. I answer. It's the doctor, not the nurse. My blood runs cold. I know. He says the words I've been dreading. "I am so sorry, but you have breast cancer." He says that it doesn't mean I will die. Many women will survive. Mind you, I'm home alone with my 7 year old daughter. He's giving me referrals to surgical oncologists. My mind is in a blur.

I hear "Mommy, why are you crying?" Oh no. She's been watching and listening to me talking to the doctor. What do I tell her? I tell her the truth. Mommy has breast cancer. She's so strong and smart. "Don't worry mommy. You beat cancer before, you'll do it again. Plus you have me and daddy now. We will take care of you." From the mouths of babes.

Sorry to stop here, but I need a moment to regroup. I didn't think this would be so hard to tell.

So I go to the surgical oncologist and the first thing he says is "You'll be fine." I cry with relief. The tumor is very small, less than one centimeter. But I still need lots of tests to be sure. CT Scan of Chest, Abdomen, and Pelvis, Bilateral Breast MRI, and Bone Scan to make sure it hasn't spread. Great news. It hasn't. At least not on the scans, but the only way to be fully sure is to do a lymph node biopsy.

The doctor says that he recommends a left mastectomy because of the amount of tissue involved. A lumpectomy would leave me deformed. I decide to take off both breasts, and get new ones. Hey, when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. :D I am going to get new boobies! Yay me!

So fast forward to August 27th. I had a bilateral mastectomy with placement of tissue expanders.

This is me right before going into surgery. Like I said, lemons into lemonade.:D

I will continue tomorrow. Writing all of this is a lot harder than I thought it would be. When I talk to people, it's a lot easier.

Until then. :o

You have that break. You've been through a lot. I know...

Very brave of you to tell your story x

I read all your posts. I thought you were a very kind person to answer everyone's questions while you were on vacation. After reading your latest posts I think it is wonderful that you are sharing your experiences with everyone. You are inspirational, and could be helping others. Thank you.

Once again, I want to say thank you for all of your comments. It means so much. I promise not to disappoint you with this review.

So I had my surgery and when I woke up, the doctor told me the best news I could have wanted. The cancerous tumor was small, around 1.5 cm. It was totally contained and had not spread to my lymph nodes!! Yeah baby!!! Let's celebrate with a morphine drip cocktail!

This is me around 3 hours after the surgery.

Oh, and these are my nails that I had done right before the surgery.

Oh my goodness. Why are the pictures so big???

OK, so the surgery is done. I had the bilateral mastectomy by the surgical oncologist and at the same time the plastic surgeon placed tissue expanders. Once I heal, the plastic surgeon will inject saline into the tissue expanders every week until I am happy with the size. Then he will do 2 more expansions to make room for the permanent implants.

So I go to the plastic surgeon a week after the surgery and he is concerned that I may not be healing properly. Seriously? I may have to have another surgery to fix it. Otherwise, I could get an infection and then have the expanders removed. Crap.

So a few days pass and I notice that things don't look right. Yep, I need another surgery to correct it. I have a second surgery on September 9th. Good news is, this time I heal properly. Yay! So after a few more weeks, we start the expansions.

But then the surgical oncologist tells me that although there was no spread of cancer, I was what is called Triple Negative. Meaning there are no hormones to target, so I am going to need chemotherapy. Sigh. No, not sigh, cry.

I was going to have to have 4 treatments, 3 weeks apart. 2 drugs.

Wait! What about my cruise in November? Time to change it again. Back to April again. :(

Before I start chemo, I was able to have around 6 expansions. Then during the chemo, I had 3 more.

Now, my biggest fear about the chemo was losing my hair. I know, that's very vain but it was the truth. I didn't feel sick, so if I lost my hair I would be reminded every time I looked in the mirror that I was. What should I do? My oncologist said having chemo was completely up to me. Without chemo I had a 70-80% chance of long term survival. With it, we go to 95-100% chance. So it's a no brainer to have the chemo.

This is me in August on my 44th birthday before my mastectomy and chemo.

This is me with my mom after my last chemo treatment on December 17th.

I still have my hair!! How did that happen?

I used a new technology that freezes your scalp one hour before, all during, and for 4 hours after each chemo treatment. It hurts so badly, but it worked!! And when I say freeze, I mean it. The caps are 33 degrees BELOW zero Celsius. This is a picture of me with the cap on.

And yet another manicure.

And I promise, coming up soon is the cruise! I have the best husband. You'll find out why soon.

Wow! You told me a little on the cruise but you really went through the wringer! And you are sooo upbeat and fun. I just love the three of you!!! Can't wait to follow along!