My name is Jill Smethurst, and I am from San Antonio. I had a DIEP flap procedure done in September. I was diagnosed at age 40 through a regular mammogram and had my double mastectomy three months later.

My pain level after surgery was probably at a two. I know that sounds crazy for a 10 hour double mastectomy, but I followed all the directions of my team because they’re experts. I did all of the things my nurse, Kathleen, told me to do. I think the most important thing that helped me was I followed my medicine schedule obsessively. This helped me get ahead of any pain so my recovery was manageable and tolerable.

I feel like my life has been pretty easy up to this point so having a situation put on me that I couldn’t control was a good way to strengthen my faith, and let my team of experts do what they are trained to do. When I found out I had breast cancer I felt like a lot of songs and bible verses were presenting themselves to me to help me with my cancer battle. One specifically that stood out to me was Exodus 14:14. This says the Lord will fight for you all you need to do is be still, and so for me that resonated because during a 10-hour double mastectomy all you can do is literally be still. You can’t do anything else but let the Lord fight this battle for you.  It was really cool to just be able to be still and let everyone else fight for me so that’s what I did.

I felt amazing about my care from PRMA. They had every step covered from the pre-op, to the surgery, to the recovery. They handled everything with care. I would email my nurse and she would immediately reply and was never bothered by my questions. 

I remember watching this video when I first came here to the office on the TV and thinking it’s crazy you go from someone saying you have cancer to you feeling amazing and you’re done. That’s where I’m at now and I can look back and it almost seems like a dream.

It was a cool experience to be cared for so well and to be that trusting of your experts. I feel really great about my results. With the DIEP flap I don’t have implants so I feel like there’s nothing like in here that’s not of my own body and that was important to me. I feel like my chest which has always been big is perkier and more lifted than before. I appreciate that because I am 43, and I have been pregnant five times so I’m very happy with my results.

I would absolutely recommend PRMA to everyone I know. I can’t say enough words to express how crucial this team of doctors was for me in my process of having breast cancer.

They are experts in the field of breast cancer reconstruction, and it is incredible to go through this process with a team that you can trust.