Get Out! GAY Magazine – Issue 386 – September 26, 2018

You feel like they’re going to hollow out the
inside of your chest, because they are. When
you lay down, what you are thinking is, am I
going to wake up? So I get on the table, and
Andrew had his face right in my face. They
put me to sleep while he was talking to me,
and that is what it is. You see all of it. Andrew
wanted to be in the operating room the entire
time, but they actually had to tell him to
physically please leave, which he does. It was
only Andrew and my sister, and that was like
my team taking care of me.
Sounds graphic.
The reason that you see it all is this: I couldn’t
find it for myself. There was nothing online.
There was nothing I could find that would
show me what it meant to get a mastectomy.
Every single doctor, even though they have a
different thing that they contribute, nobody
gives you all the information in one sitting.
There is an epidemic for women in their 30s
and 40s. There is an epidemic, and every
doctor will tell you that. There is an epidemic
of diagnoses—through the roof. But nobody
tells you what it looks like or shows you.
It’s too intense. There is no way to harness
FEATURED IN IMAGE: KIMBER LEE (LEFT) AND
SANDRA LEE (RIGHT) IN HOSPITAL BED.
PHOTO CREDIT: COURTESY OF HBO
that amount of information without doing
what I did. That’s why I’ve chosen to do it.
What’s interesting is I was on tour at the
time, launching a product line. So I had to go
on to “Wendy Williams” and “Good Morning
America” and “Steve Harvey” knowing that
when I got off that set I was secretly walking
into a doctor’s appointment, dealing with
breast cancer. So you see these transitions,
and I think it will be helpful for people going
through the process to understand how they
get through their daily lives. If I can do it in
front of cameras, you can do it when you go
to work.
That is going to be epic.
You also see what it is like to walk out of the
hospital in front of a wall of media. Not just
for me, but for Andrew, and how intense that
can be. And again, if I can do this, you can do
anything. I wanted you to see exactly what it
means. Then I got an infection. So I had to sit
home for three months.
For me to sit home for three months and do
nothing is awful. So I sat home and tried to
let my body heal as much as it could. I was
patient, and that was another big lesson for
me, because I have the patience of a gnat.
I read 27 books ... and dozens and dozens
of television shows. So you just see the full
journey.
That’s some journey.
Then you see Andrew change the laws. This is
the kicker. The laws need to change in all the
other states. We have a law in New York that’s
called The No Excuses Law. What it does for
you is this: There were a couple of reasons
why people don’t going to get early screening.
If you don’t have insurance, there were
free clinics, so you’re good. If you do have
insurance, there is a deductible. So if you think
about your co-pay or your deductible, let’s say
you have $900. That could help pay my rent.
It could put heat in the house for my kids. It
could feed my children. I’m going to go get a
screening annually that may or may not turn
into something, or I can feed my kids. Which
do you choose?
I always think of my kids.
Every woman would. So what we do is we
require the insurance companies to pay
the entire copay or deductible. There is
absolutely no expense at all from screening
one to anything after that. Nothing. It costs
you nothing. Get your butt in there! The
second thing is time. People don’t have time
to get screened with a one-hour lunch. I
go to work from 9 to 5, and then I have to
get my kids. I have to feed them. I have to
do homework. I don’t have time to sit in a
doctor’s office and get screened for 2 1/2
hours. I don’t have time. So what we do in this
state, we leave certain hospitals and clinics
open in the evenings and on the weekends to
accommodate your schedule. So now there’s
no expense, and we accommodate your time.
There is no excuse not to get screened. Early
detection gives you the best chance at a long
life. So Andrew created the bill, passed the
law, and my job now is to go out from state to
state and try to get it put on. ... That is what I’m
doing. That way no more beautiful gay boys
lose the women they love.