TAMPA – A local breast cancer survivor will be one step closer to completing her reconstruction surgery this month, which is also Breast Cancer Awareness month.
Bonnie Medina is an emergency room nurse.
In 2017, she learned she had breast cancer. She had a double mastectomy, then underwent chemotherapy. After she was in remission for a year, she considered reconstruction surgery but couldn’t afford it.
What You Need To Know
- Bonnie Medina of Tampa is a breat cancer survivor
- Medina completing breast reconstruction surgery this month
- Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Medina says she thought it was out of reach, so she planned to move ahead with her life without the surgery. It wasn’t until she was shopping for a dress for a Christmas party that she realized she needed it.
“I’m at the mall and just broke down and started crying, and everybody’s like 'ma’am are you okay?' And I’m like, 'I’m okay.’ They’re not going to understand what it was, a struggle for me to find just a simple dress for me to wear for a Christmas party,” said Medina.
Medina says she saw a story in October of 2019 on Spectrum Bay News 9 about My Hope Chest, a nonprofit that funds reconstruction surgery for breast cancer survivors.
She says she applied and the organization moved forward to get everything scheduled. Her first surgery was supposed to be April 2.
“I was ready. We did the pre-op. Everything was done and then next thing you know..yeah..it got stopped,” said Medina.
Her surgery was postponed, along with every other elective surgeries across Florida due to COVID-19. On May 15, she was able to get the first surgery and next week Medina will get the second surgery. She would have been done by now if he initial surgery hadn’t been postponed.
“I want to start 2021 off feeling great about everything, my job, saving the lives of others, feeling great about myself and just moving forward,” said Medina.
Dr. Dallas Buchanan of VIVIFY Plastic Surgery is her plastic surgeon. He works with My Hope Chest to make these surgeries happen for breast cancer survivors. He’s doing Medina’s surgery for free.
“It’s obviously traumatic for those patients to have to look at that in the mirror everyday and so, for us this could be just another surgery, just another patient, but for them this is a life changing day for them,” said Dr. Buchanan.