Good-bye boob photos - your ideas?
I've spent a month wrestling with the information about DCIS, and my decisions about what to do next. Starting with a flyer for the BCNA, given to me by BreastScreen NSW, that seemed to indicate t...
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Hi @NadiaC - I'm glad that you found the DCIS, although I'm sorry you're now part of this bloody club that nobody wanted to join in the first place.
It turns out that the lump that took me to the Breastscreen NSW van in the first place wasn't even an issue.
But that lump, combined with knowledge of my family's susceptibility (even though genetics testing revealed nothing), meant that I had surgery which removed what was in the end 6.5 cm of DCIS plus a bonus, previously unnoticed 0.5 cm of metastatic cancer. So it's good you're doing something about it.
Sorry about the delay in replying! I was waiting for photos to be published in the Choosing Reconstruction group so that you could see some examples of my shoot, plus recovery. You can see them on my thread "Going flat: single, nipple-sparing mastectomy without reconstruction".
I had my photo shoot in June, just before my surgery.
I got recommendations for photographers from a painter-friend. I wasn't comfortable approaching an unknown commercial photographer with my deeply personal request. I was lucky my mate was able to suggest 3 different people. Her top recommendation was for a sensitive male photographer, but I was immediately drawn to her description of "an earthy female friend who trained in photography but now works in childcare".
Ange arrived with her cousin in tow. They took some candid shots of me and my family, then we chased my kids and partner (now -ex!) out of the house. They took a couple of me draped with some light chiffon fabric on my bed. She took of couple of me sitting in a frangipani tree with the chiffon shawl, but they didn't quite work out... I'm posted some of the better ones on the forum for your inspiration. The experience of being photographed semi-nude was awkward, exhilarating, sad and grounding. I'm glad I did it.
And there's a final photo from last week to show you (and anyone else who's in the same boat) how I look 6 months down the track after a nipple-saving single mastectomy without reconstruction.
Another thing I did was splurge on a makeup lesson at MECCA - where the cost of the lesson is redeemable for products of the same value! I've never been the most feminine girl, what I know about cosmetics can fit on a post-it note (like, a miniature flag-sized one). So I decided that since I was losing a dimension of my womanhood, I would super-charge my knowledge of girly-girl aesthetics. I'm glad I did that too.
All the best guys. I'm here for any questions you have... Hugs.
It turns out that the lump that took me to the Breastscreen NSW van in the first place wasn't even an issue.
But that lump, combined with knowledge of my family's susceptibility (even though genetics testing revealed nothing), meant that I had surgery which removed what was in the end 6.5 cm of DCIS plus a bonus, previously unnoticed 0.5 cm of metastatic cancer. So it's good you're doing something about it.
Sorry about the delay in replying! I was waiting for photos to be published in the Choosing Reconstruction group so that you could see some examples of my shoot, plus recovery. You can see them on my thread "Going flat: single, nipple-sparing mastectomy without reconstruction".
I had my photo shoot in June, just before my surgery.
I got recommendations for photographers from a painter-friend. I wasn't comfortable approaching an unknown commercial photographer with my deeply personal request. I was lucky my mate was able to suggest 3 different people. Her top recommendation was for a sensitive male photographer, but I was immediately drawn to her description of "an earthy female friend who trained in photography but now works in childcare".
Ange arrived with her cousin in tow. They took some candid shots of me and my family, then we chased my kids and partner (now -ex!) out of the house. They took a couple of me draped with some light chiffon fabric on my bed. She took of couple of me sitting in a frangipani tree with the chiffon shawl, but they didn't quite work out... I'm posted some of the better ones on the forum for your inspiration. The experience of being photographed semi-nude was awkward, exhilarating, sad and grounding. I'm glad I did it.
And there's a final photo from last week to show you (and anyone else who's in the same boat) how I look 6 months down the track after a nipple-saving single mastectomy without reconstruction.
Another thing I did was splurge on a makeup lesson at MECCA - where the cost of the lesson is redeemable for products of the same value! I've never been the most feminine girl, what I know about cosmetics can fit on a post-it note (like, a miniature flag-sized one). So I decided that since I was losing a dimension of my womanhood, I would super-charge my knowledge of girly-girl aesthetics. I'm glad I did that too.
All the best guys. I'm here for any questions you have... Hugs.