www. Char l es tonPhys i c i ans . com | www.Hea l thL i nksChar l es ton . com | 39 hill. But guess what? It’s my molehill, my mountain. The last thing I needed was anyone’s judgment on how I could get over this and get on with my life. I wasn’t upset that I looked “old,” I was upset that the treatment that was adding years to my life also took so much away from me. After all, no one disapproved when I had surgeries to remove and replace my breasts or remove my uterus. Wanting to fix my face, which is seen much more often than my breasts, shouldn’t be a big deal. Thankfully, one of my treatment specialists, Dr. Jennifer Beatty of The Breast Place, realized that many of her patients were struggling with their confidence after the changes brought about by living through and with cancer treatment; she created an in-house clinic, EmPower, dedicated to making her patients look, and thereby feel, our best. EmPower’s clinicians have gently guided me back to a place where I’m beginning to feel like myself. I’m not 100% there yet, but I’m getting there. “So, how’s the anxiety been?” asked EmPower’s Whitney Huff, WHNP, as I settle into my chair for a slathering of numbing cream. We chatted a little about my fears concerning keeping the cancer beast at bay, how I’m working to feel safe again in my own body. As the numbing cream works its magic, the machine, Cutera’s “Secret RF,” whirs to life. A series of beeps, boops and clicks and we’re ready to go. I’m about to undergo a process in which, bit by bit, sections of my face, neck and décolleté will be stamped by a hand piece consisting of 64 tiny pins as fractional radio frequency sends heat and energy into the deeper layers of my skin. The
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