A LESSON
OF LOSS
AND GAIN
A First-Person Account by
Southern Indiana resident
Sally Hughes
BY SALLY HUGHES
PHOTO BY CHRISTIAN WATSON
IN APRIL 2013, I did something that millions
of women have done, seemingly without
consequence, but for me it would turn out to
be a life-altering decision.
Back then, life was great. I was newly engaged,
madly in love and healthy. I was 31-years-old
and making a home for my new blended family,
while maintaining a fun and active social life that
included lots of running and yoga. My fiancé
and I moved our three daughters in together
and began planning our fall wedding. I couldn’t
have been more excited about life. And I loved
being a mom to all of our girls.
Earlier in the year, I met with a plastic surgeon
and decided to get breast implants. It felt like
such a good decision with where I was in my life.
The surgeon told me I should be able to exercise
again in four weeks, which was very important
to me. Exercising was my stress relief and self-
confidence. It made me feel like I could conquer
anything I put my mind to. Still does. It is a core
piece of who I am as a human being. Still is.
I had surgery in April, but by the time I got
married that September, I still hadn’t gotten
back into my running and yoga routine. Not only
was my chest still swollen from the implants, but
my whole body was mildly swollen. I also had a
sharp burning sensation in my right breast that
hadn’t gone away, making it impossible to lay
on my stomach during yoga class. The nurses
at the surgeon’s office didn’t seem alarmed at
all, so I tried to ignore the burning and hoped
it would eventually go away.
Over the next few months as the excitement
of the wedding wore off and we settled into our
new life, I realized that I just didn’t feel like
myself. I was extremely moody, anxious, tearful
EXTOL : DECEMBER 2019/JANUARY 2020
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