Day 1 order for the iX3 50 M Sport in Black Sapphire with Castanea interior. Was scheduled for week 36 but it went into production this week (33) and we now have a VIN. Sharing since I know there have been some concerns about plant production times with the heat wave in Europe.
About a year ago, many in this forum provided some helpful guidance as I was seeking feedback on gaming tables. I’m happy to report that after months of searching, we located an Amish woodworker in central Wisconsin who specializes in tables specifically. He has made pool and card tables so that was helpful conceptually, but he’d never made anything quite like this. It took a couple visits and several phone chats between my husband and the woodworker to hammer out the specifics, but we are in love with the end result. We’ve been using it for a couple of months now and everything has been just as we dreamed of. Some highlights:
-there is a hidden rail around the entire perimeter with magnets. We had him make custom cup holders, wine holders, and gaming trays (double-sided). We also have different depths of the silver cup inserts to accommodate different height glasses (rocks glass vs pint glass).
-there are 6 outlets around the gaming table, each with two plugs and 2 USB-C inputs. We intentionally made these the size of a standard outlet (he even made custom outlet covers for them) so they are future-proofed to whatever comes after USB-C—we can just swap them out. This part was done by a local electrician the woodworker knows.
-it has inset lighting that is built up into a groove he made for the light strip so that it doesn’t shine in your eyes while playing. Controlled with a remote—can be a solid color or slowly rotate. Also done by the electrician.
-the two ends of the table can be game master stations. There are 6 removable leaves. The table leg base comes off so that we can move it in the future.
-it’s made with hard maple with a warm reddish-brown cherry stain. Table size is 50” x 84”.
-we ended up getting chairs made as well in the same stain—because the back is curved, they are some of the most comfortable chairs I’ve ever sat in.
They do NOT have a website but do have a brick and mortar shop and a telephone—happy to provide it if anyone wants to explore their own custom table. Please DM me if you want the contact info. He really enjoyed making it and I think is interested to do more. Fair warning that it’s in the $10k range just for a table like this, plus delivery.
I’m 46yo, PALB2 positive, and one week post-op from having everything removed (uterus, cervix, tubes, and ovaries). So maybe it’s just the lack of hormones finally catching up to me but I’m having a day and feeling super alone and not quite sure where to post on Reddit for support. It doesn’t feel like my story fits anywhere. I know this subreddit is for breast cancer but I’m seriously feeling like a pariah today and have been crying on and off all morning.
My mom was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer 8 years ago due to PALB2. I got my PALB2 genetic confirmation 7 years ago. She made it through all of her treatments and remains cancer free today. Because she got it later in life (70+), doctors have said I have time but lately it has felt more dire, like I can’t just keep doing mammograms and MRIs every six months for the rest of my life. I’ve been planning towards a simultaneous dmx and reconstruction, with the hope of doing it sometime next year and then following it with the hysterectomy+++ sometime after that but before 50. Obviously, life doesn’t adhere to plans though and the order has now been reversed. I had about 5 weeks to plan and mentally prepare before my surgery last week. I’m grateful that the pathology on everything they took out showed as negative for any cancerous cells but I’m still feeling this sense of loss and loneliness. My husband has been truly awesome and I know I’m not really alone. I’m just really struggling today and not knowing where I can fit in with my story is really weighing on me.
I’m 46yo and 7dpo from having my uterus, cervix, tubes, and ovaries out. I have known since 2019 that I’m PALB2 positive due to genetic testing due to my mom’s breast cancer. But it wasn’t until late 2023 that I was told that it was also emerging in the literature that PALB2 is also associated with ovarian cancer. Because breast cancer is the bigger risk, I’ve solely focused on mentally preparing for a double mastectomy (dmx) with reconstruction but I need to lose my weight. In the meantime, I’ve made the best of it. I got married two years ago (husband has known since we met what he was signing up for) and definitely had a boobalicious wedding dress. 😆 I have been slowly preparing mentally for the dmx, such that getting my ovaries removed was far out in the future in my head. I had a plan that would prolong it as long as I could, so that I could minimize early menopause.
So much for plans.
About two months ago I had my checkup with my PCP and offhandedly mentioned how bad my bleeding had become. I was soaking through super ultra tampons in about an hour or two and getting my period every 24 days. But I’ve suffered from heavy periods on and off since my late teens, so I figured it was perimenopause or something expected due to my age. My PCP wasn’t okay with dismissing the changes though and recommended an ultrasound. The last day of April, an ultrasound showed a fibroid that was pretty much covering my entire uterus. They couldn’t see my left ovary. A small fibroid had been seen 2.5 years ago but this had grown massively. Next thing I knew, everything was high alert because of my risk potential and the massive bleeding.
May was a blur of doctors’ visits, a gynecologist who refused to treat me due to my high risk, being told I’d have to wait months to see an oncology gynecologist (and possibly until 2027 for surgery), having an existential meltdown and then remembering I pay for good insurance so I can go to another state, finding an ONC-GYN who could see me within a week in Chicago, having lots of tests run to confirm I could proceed with surgery, to having everything out on 6/19.
I’ve appreciated everyone sharing their stories here and know that everyone is on their own journey. I decided to share mine because I feel like I don’t quite fit into many of the dominant narratives and thought maybe me sharing would help other women like me feel less alone. I haven’t been suffering for years with pain (although maybe I have —they determined in the hospital I have a very high pain tolerance). I haven’t been eager to yeet the uterus. I haven’t had trouble getting diagnosed. I wanted to be a mom to human kids, my storyline just didn’t end up that way—instead I’m an uber pet mom. I know I’m not any less of a woman for having all of the reproductive parts removed—even once the boobs have to go. But I still took what little time I did have to process it all to mourn my multiple losses and what could have been but wasn’t.
The silver lining is that they determined I had zero signs of cancer. Due to my PALB2 risk, everything removed from me was thoroughly spliced and analyzed, down to washing the pelvic region with saline and testing that to ensure I didn’t have any precancerous cells (also negative). Unfortunately, the surgery was far more complicated than expected. My uterus weighed nearly a pound due to the fibroid, it was bigger than what had shown on ultrasound, and so what was planned as a 5 incision laparoscopic surgery became that plus a vertical abdominal incision from my belly button up \~4-5 inches. I’ve seen a post-op photo of the fibroid and that sucker was massive. The surgeon also found undiagnosed endometriosis—some of it on my colon—and had to check my bladder with a cystoscope to ensure the EM hadn’t spread there (thankfully, it hadn’t). He removed all of the EM, too.
I immediately started the estrogen patch. I can’t take anything else due to my cancer risk until I get a dmx. So far I seem to be doing okay but it’s only been 7 days. Admittedly it was what I was most scared of and crying on my husband’s shoulder about before surgery. Maybe because I remember my mom going through it and it was hellish on the receiving end—I’ve been terrified of being like my mom towards my loved ones if I have a nasty menopause (that’s a whole other story I spent many years in therapy unpacking).
Things that have helped, besides having a rock solid husband? Lots of stuff from
Amazon—a hysterectomy pillow, a seatbelt pillow (I had a 2.5 hour drive back home the day after surgery), a grabber stick for the things I inevitably drop, super soft, high-waisted, and flowy yoga pants, soft, high waisted underwear (god these were a lifesaver because of the unexpected abdominal incision), and zip-front sports bras. Also a Tempur-pedic bed where the head and feet can raise/lower (recliners are a good substitute), MiraLAX 1x/day, and a combo of Tylenol, Ibuprofen, and Tramadol.
I have mixed feelings about the squatty potty. I’m glad I got it but I’m not sure it’s actually helped with bowel movements. But I’d rather have it than not.
I think I’d feel better than I do if it wasn’t for the abdominal incision. I barely feel the others. I did the stairs to our bedroom when I first got home and then stayed up there for 2.5 days before coming down again. If you can swing that, I think avoiding stairs for as long as possible helps.
And more than anything, I’ve been honest with myself and the feelings I had leading up to the surgery. I think the tramadol is probably flattening my emotions about anything but I have just settled into a state of being. It just is. I’m not celebrating. I’m not crying. I’ve decided to just focus on healing my body and my brain.
I’m 46yo and 7dpo from having my uterus, cervix, tubes, and ovaries out. I have known since 2019 that I’m PALB2 positive due to genetic testing due to my mom’s breast cancer. But it wasn’t until late 2023 that I was told that it was also emerging in the literature that PALB2 is also associated with ovarian cancer. Because breast cancer is the bigger risk, I’ve solely focused on mentally preparing for a double mastectomy (dmx) with reconstruction but I need to lose my weight. In the meantime, I’ve made the best of it. I got married two years ago (husband has known since we met what he was signing up for) and definitely had a boobalicious wedding dress. 😆 I have been slowly preparing mentally for the dmx, such that getting my ovaries removed was far out in the future in my head. I had a plan that would prolong it as long as I could, so that I could minimize early menopause.
So much for plans.
About two months ago I had my checkup with my PCP and offhandedly mentioned how bad my bleeding had become. I was soaking through super ultra tampons in about an hour or two and getting my period every 24 days. But I’ve suffered from heavy periods on and off since my late teens, so I figured it was perimenopause or something expected due to my age. My PCP wasn’t okay with dismissing the changes though and recommended an ultrasound. The last day of April, an ultrasound showed a fibroid that was pretty much covering my entire uterus. They couldn’t see my left ovary. A small fibroid had been seen 2.5 years ago but this had grown massively. Next thing I knew, everything was high alert because of my risk potential and the massive bleeding.
May was a blur of doctors’ visits, a gynecologist who refused to treat me due to my high risk, being told I’d have to wait months to see an oncology gynecologist (and possibly until 2027 for surgery), having an existential meltdown and then remembering I pay for good insurance so I can go to another state, finding an ONC-GYN who could see me within a week in Chicago, having lots of tests run to confirm I could proceed with surgery, to having everything out on 6/19.
I’ve appreciated everyone sharing their stories here and know that everyone is on their own journey. I decided to share mine because I feel like I don’t quite fit into many of the dominant narratives and thought maybe me sharing would help other women like me feel less alone. I haven’t been suffering for years with pain (although maybe I have —they determined in the hospital I have a very high pain tolerance). I haven’t been eager to yeet the uterus. I haven’t had trouble getting diagnosed. I wanted to be a mom to human kids, my storyline just didn’t end up that way—instead I’m an uber pet mom. I know I’m not any less of a woman for having all of the reproductive parts removed—even once the boobs have to go. But I still took what little time I did have to process it all to mourn my multiple losses and what could have been but wasn’t.
The silver lining is that they determined I had zero signs of cancer. Due to my PALB2 risk, everything removed from me was thoroughly spliced and analyzed, down to washing the pelvic region with saline and testing that to ensure I didn’t have any precancerous cells (also negative). Unfortunately, the surgery was far more complicated than expected. My uterus weighed nearly a pound due to the fibroid, it was bigger than what had shown on ultrasound, and so what was planned as a 5 incision laparoscopic surgery became that plus a vertical abdominal incision from my belly button up ~4-5 inches. I’ve seen a post-op photo of the fibroid and that sucker was massive. The surgeon also found undiagnosed endometriosis—some of it on my colon—and had to check my bladder with a cystoscope to ensure the EM hadn’t spread there (thankfully, it hadn’t). He removed all of the EM, too.
I immediately started the estrogen patch. I can’t take anything else due to my cancer risk until I get a dmx. So far I seem to be doing okay but it’s only been 7 days. Admittedly it was what I was most scared of and crying on my husband’s shoulder about before surgery. Maybe because I remember my mom going through it and it was hellish on the receiving end—I’ve been terrified of being like my mom towards my loved ones if I have a nasty menopause (that’s a whole other story I spent many years in therapy unpacking).
Things that have helped, besides having a rock solid husband? Lots of stuff from
Amazon—a hysterectomy pillow, a seatbelt pillow (I had a 2.5 hour drive back home the day after surgery), a grabber stick for the things I inevitably drop, super soft, high-waisted, and flowy yoga pants, soft, high waisted underwear (god these were a lifesaver because of the unexpected abdominal incision), and zip-front sports bras. Also a Tempur-pedic bed where the head and feet can raise/lower (recliners are a good substitute), MiraLAX 1x/day, and a combo of Tylenol, Ibuprofen, and Tramadol.
I have mixed feelings about the squatty potty. I’m glad I got it but I’m not sure it’s actually helped with bowel movements. But I’d rather have it than not.
I think I’d feel better than I do if it wasn’t for the abdominal incision. I barely feel the others. I did the stairs to our bedroom when I first got home and then stayed up there for 2.5 days before coming down again. If you can swing that, I think avoiding stairs for as long as possible helps.
And more than anything, I’ve been honest with myself and the feelings I had leading up to the surgery. I think the tramadol is probably flattening my emotions about anything but I have just settled into a state of being. It just is. I’m not celebrating. I’m not crying. I’ve decided to just focus on healing my body and my brain.