breast cancer Archives

October 3, 2019

Empowering mastectomy tattoo by Lianne Moule

Back in August, we spotted this absolutely stunning mastectomy tattoo by Lianne Moule, who works at Immortal Ink in Chelmsford, after she shared it on Instagram. So we got in touch with Lianne to find out more about the process, we’re sharing the story here to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

“Around four years ago, Liz was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer: sarcoma. The type and size of the cancer dictated that Liz’s only real option was a mastectomy with delayed reconstruction. The process must have taken a huge amount of strength and courage but I’m so grateful she allowed me to be a small part of her inspiring journey.

“Having never had a tattoo in her life, I am awe-inspired that she found me to request a mastectomy cover-up. Liz emailed the studio and told us about her situation and what she wanted to do. When I met Liz for her first consultation, she was very nervous. But she bravely told me her story. When she was diagnosed and told she would lose her breast, she was overrun by emotions. She even said to the consultant that she would rather die than lose her breast. She was aware that even though it seemed a dramatic reaction, her emotions were all over the place and she genuinely felt that. All of a sudden, she was aware of the fact that she felt her breasts gave her femininity, she questioned whether or not she would be able to love her body afterwards.

“Liz told me that throughout every stage of her diagnosis, surgery and aftercare, she was given so much support by the different departments – every team would explain what would be happening to her body and what the options were for her in the future. She decided to go ahead with a nipple graft onto the reconstructed breast, but at this point in the surgeries, she still didn’t know what she wanted to do with her body.

“When Liz was looking at the option of getting tattooed nipples, she came across some pictures of some flowers over mastectomy scars. Liz told me many times that she would never have had a tattoo if it hadn’t been for this journey she has been through. When Liz’s breast was taken away, it was replaced with what she calls ‘a lump of flesh’ – she said it never felt like her breast. With these feelings, Liz said she wanted to make it ‘her own’. Having a beautiful picture on it would make it finally hers, after having many operations without choice, she could finally make a decision to do what she wanted with it.

“Every time I tattoo a breast cancer survivor, it is always about reclaiming their body. It’s the decision that they get to finally make about their own body, to get closure of their experience. Having their bodies cut and poked and prodded and tested without really having a choice, it’s empowering to finally make a decision.

“Liz’s tattoo is one of my favourite pieces of artwork, she looks beautiful and I really hope she feels it. It’s detailed and colourful and I forever hope it gives her confidence.”

Research shows that one in seven women in the UK will develop breast cancer at some stage in their lifetime. October marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It is so so important to check your breasts (if you need help with this head to coppafeel.org).

February 19, 2018February 19, 2018

Lucy Thompson: Breast Cancer Survivors & Tattoos

27-year-old tattooist Lucy Thompson based in at Skinflicted in Keighley, Yorkshire, has travelled to the US to learn how to create realistic three-dimensional tattooed nipples for women who have had a mastectomy…

Last year Lucy travelled to Texas to be the first UK artist to receive specialist training in the art of tattooing realistic areolas on breast cancer patients. It was her aim to shake up the industry and illustrate to breast cancer survivors that “they deserve better” when it comes to post op cosmetic reconstruction.

My Auntie had a mastectomy and got a tattoo done in hospital which has now faded to almost nothing so it needs re-doing – why is a surgeon even attempting to tattoo?- the experts should stick to what they know. This just isn’t good enough for a cancer surviver.

Lucy trained with The House of A.R.T (Areola Restorative Tattooing) in Texas, who have pioneered a unique way to give the illusion of a permanent and three-dimensional nipple opposed to other methods. Having learnt this skill Lucy is now offering this restorative service to mastectomy clients locally, the first being her auntie.

Lucy Thompson
Lucy, who’s been a tattoo artist for the last four years explains what influenced her to help cancer survivors:

After the trauma of going through cancer, I want to make the restorative period as stress free as possible and help women feel whole again. Why should they have to return for future treatment when it can be done in one process? Women are accepting second best as there has never been another option, but not many cosmetic tattooers have experience or have dealt with scarred tissue, especially tissue that has been through chemotherapy or has radiation burns or stretch marks from skin grafts – this is a huge concern. A tattoo artist understands the skin in a different way. We want to achieve painterly results and have the techniques to work with the skin and its delicacies to get the best possible results – the quality is of utmost importance.

Lucy is also offering tattoos to any trans/non-binary clients who have had surgery and unsuccessful nipple grafts. Her long-term plan is to open a clinic specifically for post medical treatment. She also plans to run drop in clinics throughout the country by travelling the UK visiting other studios, to enable others further afield than Yorkshire to benefit from the skills she has learnt.

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August 18, 2016August 1, 2017

“My own mark” – mastectomy tattoos

Diane de Jesús, 35, London, is owner of Piece O Cake Nutrition, a nutrition communications consulting and advisor for Personal Ink (P.ink) – an organisation to connect breast cancer survivors with tattoo artists. In this interview, Diane shares her own experience of breast cancer and how getting a tattoo made her feel about her mastectomy.

Photo of Diane by Lydia Perez DeJesus @momdetresshoots

Can you tell us about your cancer diagnosis and treatment. At 29 years old, I was diagnosed with DCIS, ductal carcinoma in situ, which is the earliest stage of breast cancer. I was told that while my life was not in immediate danger, the cancerous cells would have to be removed. Thus far, the medical community is unable to determine which DCIS cells will become invasive cancer and when. This combined with my very young age meant that we couldn’t just take a “watch and wait” approach. Also, my disease was so extensive, filling nearly my entire left breast. This meant I would have to have a mastectomy to remove the entire breast.

How did you feel about your body after the mastectomy? I was thrilled to have such a good prognosis and to have such great doctors who provided me with excellent mastectomy and (silicone implant) reconstruction results. After recovery, I was grateful to very quickly dive back into my normal life: working by day, going to school at night (working toward my registered dietitian certification) and exercising regularly. I thought I was adjusting just fine. It wasn’t actually until after I got my tattoo that I realised how much I had been through emotionally and how I had been avoiding looking at my chest in the mirror. I had always done everything in my power to care for my health and my body had always reflected that. Suddenly, my body had betrayed me.

roxx tattoo

By Roxx, owner of 2 Spirit Tattoo, Los Angeles

Did you consider other options before deciding to get tattooed? No. I knew that I wanted to get a tattoo very early on, possibly even before having my mastectomy. While I researched what to expect from my surgeries and recovery, I came across stories and photos of women who were post-mastectomy and had chosen to cover their scars with tattoos. I wasn’t so much drawn to the idea of covering my own scar but of finding some way to encapsulate and honour all that my husband and I had been through and also to put my own mark, of my own choosing, on my body.

What made you decide to get that tattoo design? In some mastectomy cases, the nipple can be preserved but in most, the nipple and areola are removed with the rest of the breast tissue. This was the case for me. While I was discussing reconstruction options with my plastic surgeon, I was offered the option of nipple reconstruction many times. The idea of having a fake nipple constructed from the skin on my chest—a nipple that would never feel anything, respond to touch or temperature, or release breastmilk—just never resonated with me. Neither did the idea of having the image of a nipple and areola (even a fancy 3D one) tattooed onto my chest. What did resonate with me was something that Geralyn Lucas did, and wrote about, in her memoir of her experience with breast cancer. Geralyn also had a mastectomy with implant reconstruction but no nipple reconstruction. Instead, Geralyn had a tattoo placed on her chest, near her scar. As soon as I read about this, I knew it was what I needed to do and as I came across images of other women who’d done the same, I was motivated to find a way to make it happen. Of course, since I’d never been tattooed before, I didn’t know the first thing about selecting an artist, studio or design. I also didn’t realise the cost of tattoos.

Photo by Gigi Stoll, Gigi Stoll Photography, New York

Did it transform what you thought about your body? Getting my mastectomy tattoo helped me to close the door on that chapter and finally move on. I was tattooed in October of 2013, three years to the day since I was told that cancerous cells had been found in my breast. After getting the tattoo, I could look in the mirror without averting my eyes from the sight of my chest. I found myself feeling more confident. I was myself again.

How do you feel about it now? I continue to be so grateful for my tattoo and for the woman who tattooed me: Roxx, owner of 2Spirit Tattoo in L.A. I also love that this tattoo continues to provide me with the opportunity to discuss breast cancer and reconstruction options with other breast cancer survivors and their support networks.

What advice would you give to other women who have breast cancer? Every single breast cancer experience is unique. It is overwhelming to receive a cancer diagnosis of any kind but I think that every person diagnosed can benefit from finding a way to listen to her (or his) body and making the decisions that are best for her/him. Also, it is unfortunate, but at some point you may find you really must be your own advocate. You will work with so many different individuals and sectors of the healthcare community who may have the best intentions of providing you with the best advice but this advice may not always be the advice that is best for you. This is easier done with a good support system. Having a spouse, family member or friend to come along to appointments or help with research, paperwork, phone calls, etc. is invaluable.

Can you give us some background about P.ink day… what it is and how others can get involved. P.ink (Personal Ink) is an organisation dedicated to educating breast cancer survivors about mastectomy tattoos as an alternative healing option, and connecting survivors with experienced tattoo artists who can help. One way we do this is through P.ink Day, an annual all-volunteer effort to connect tattoo artists and survivors for a day of healing with tattoos. What started with just 10 artists and 10 survivors at Saved Tattoo in Brooklyn, New York, for our first P.ink Day in 2013 has grown into a true grassroots movement, with 46 artists, 48 survivors and hundreds of volunteers across 13 locations in North America, as of October 2015. In total, we’ve facilitated nearly 100 incredible mastectomy tattoos via P.ink Day. P.ink Day occurs every 10 October and 2016 will be P.ink Day’s fourth year.

To learn more, visit the Personal Ink website at p-ink.org

August 8, 2015August 30, 2015

Tattoos that Change Lives: Realistic Nipple Tattoos on Breast Cancer Survivors

45-year-old tattoo artist Ron Antonick creates nipple tattoos for women who have had breast cancer. Often his clients have had re-constructive surgery or are unhappy with the options offered to them by medical practitioners. We talked to Ron to find out more about his experiences helping women to regain their confidence after breast cancer.

Can you tell us a bit about your studio? I own Sacred Tattoo in Wickliffe Ohio, just east of Cleveland. It is a private custom studio, not open to the public. I am the only artist there.

How long have you been tattooing? I started tattooing professionally in 1988, working at a local street shop before doing a bit of travelling and guest spots around the country and then opening my own shop in 1997.

How did you start tattooing nipples? For the past decade or so, most of the tattoos I did were portraits or photo realism of sorts… so when a friend’s wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, they went to see the doctor together. The doctor explained about nipple reconstruction, where they attempt to create the nipple again or at least a bump of skin for lack of a better term and then have the nipple and areola tattooed to look more natural. He proceeded to show them a portfolio of nipple tattoos done by medical professionals that looked like peach or salmon colour circles but not anything close to what a real nipple would look like. So my friend called me and asked if I would do them for her when the time came and of course I said I would be honoured.

How did you perfect the technique? I started to research it and found some other artists doing them, with very few artists doing them well. I began drawing different types of nipples, sizes, shapes, textures and colour ranges to see what looked most realistic and what fell short. I worked with slight shadows and light sources to give them the most 3 dimensional appearance I could. When I had done enough of these drawings that I considered successful I then started to advertise for breast cancer survivors, that I could tattoo for free in order to gain some experience.

I had no shortage, almost right away, of women who contacted me looking for help and most of them already had been tattooed by medical professionals unsuccessfully and really wanted them to look natural. The only stipulation I put on it was that I expected to take anonymous before and after photos which most had no problem with. I was shocked to find out just how many people this was affecting and that many of the women were so young. I would always make sure to take time to sit and talk with each client before hand to make sure they were completely comfortable with both myself and the process before starting anything.

Do hospitals ever refer patients to you? Yes, it all started with my friend talking to his wife’s surgeon, saying that I would be better suited to do her tattoos, at first the doctor seemed uninterested. He persisted each visit telling him more and then showing him before and after photos of tattoos I had done and before too long he was opening up to the idea. His wife later set up a meeting between myself, her surgeon and his assistant that went very well. I met with Doctor Steven Bernard of the Cleveland Clinic and his assistant Jaquie Frazee. Dr. Bernard was also a part of the team who did the first successful face transplant so needless to say I was very nervous meeting him. I explained what I do, that I have 27 years of experience as both a professional tattoo artist and business owner, I showed them my portfolio and studio. I explained that I use only Fusion Tattoo Pigments because they are all natural organic pigments which are also vegan friendly. In closing he told me he felt that him and his partners clients would be well served by me and he would be referring them to me in the future.

Who was your first client? The first client I had was a woman in her early 30s who drove up from southern Ohio to have her existing nipple tattoos reworked by me. I reworked her tattoos, correcting colour, adding depth, texture and shadows to give it a more realistic and natural appearance and she was extremely happy with the results! I spoke with her during the healing once and after the healing to make sure everything healed well, colours held up and the results remained, which happily they did. I say this because working on scar tissue is completely different than working on healthy skin tissue. It can be damaged much easier than normal skin and sometimes if not careful in the application of the tattoo , the pigment is more likely to lighten or even fall out of the skin completely during healing.

Do you tattoo other things other than nipples? I still do regular tattooing and as rewarding as it is to see a beautiful tattoo on a happy client, it just doesn’t compare to the look of joy on a woman’s face when she sees herself in the mirror for the first time after tattooing nipples on her. It absolutely helps to restore their sense of beauty, self image, confidence and makes them feel somewhat whole again, also in most cases giving them a sense of closure. Now they can move on from the cancer experience and feel comfortable with themselves again. The tattoos help to camouflage scars and in some cases make the breasts look a bit more shapely where they may be slightly misshapen due to surgeries. It feels so good being told afterwards and getting phone calls weeks later telling me that they don’t avoid seeing themselves in the mirror anymore.

Do you do any cosmetic tattooing? I have started getting inquiries about other issues that the doctors and nurses have referred clients to me in hopes of helping them. Some women after being treated for breast cancer never have their eyebrows grow back so I also have started doing these as well as correcting pigment colour on scars. I had a recent client who had hair plugs done in the 90s and since decided he wanted to go with the shaved head look but was self-conscious because he had multiple rows of small round scars that were much lighter in color than his normal skin colour. I matched the pigment and we did a small test area and let that heal to make sure he would be happy with the results before having him shave completely.

How do you match the tattoo to skin colour? As far as matching skin pigments for different women, I just ask them to describe what they had, what they prefer as far as tone, texture size etc and do my best to make it look as natural as possible. I end up doing a lot of mixing pigments to get the right tones for each individual and always keep in mind, as well as tell each client that because of red or pinkness of the skin after being tattooed that there will be a 15-25% lightening in tone once the tattoo is healed and the skin irritation subsides. I also encourage if possible that they make a follow up appointment about two months after to make sure the healing went well, that the tone is correct and if needed do any layering or touch ups that may be needed ,which is all included in the cost. I do both bilateral (meaning both) or unilateral (meaning one) and the unilateral is always more difficult because you are trying to match the existing nipple colour, size and texture but is by no means impossible.

You have mentioned that you do a lot of free tattoos, how does this work? I did quite a few sets for free the first 8-10 months just trying to get as much experience as I could and feedback. Unfortunately I do need to make a living and feed my family as well but I feel good knowing that I am doing an amazing job for less than a third the cost of what most hospitals are charging – and a few hundred less than what most of the other professionals are doing. There are so many breast cancer survivors in need without the means to pay so I put aside 10% of every nipple/areola tattoo that I do and then reapply it to someone who cannot pay. So in short, every 11th nipple tattoo is done on someone in need who can’t pay, which helps keep me feeling balanced. In a perfect world, I would do them all for free.

How long is your waiting list? My waiting list is normally anywhere between a month to two months depending on the season, but I see that filling up more and more as word spreads, as I network with more and more medical professionals and breast cancer resources. People can always reach me via email at ronantonick@gmail.com or my cell # which is 440 226 0069 although it can take a while for me to reply as I am extremely busy.

To find out more visit Ron’s website BreastRenew

June 23, 2014

Great pair of tattooed tits

For Catherine Hadden breast reconstruction surgery after winning her fight with breast cancer was not an option she would consider, instead she chose to have a tongue in cheek tattoo of two Great Tits right where her own breasts used to be.

For me it was something beautiful coming from something so ugly

Rather than being reminded of her cancer and of feeling horribly ill Catherine chose to see something positive and decided to celebrate her cancer free body. She made the decision to have a double mastectomy in order to save her life. At first she wanted a very small bird tattooed onto her body, but when her tattooist presented her with the idea of having two Great Tits on a branch she changed her mind.

When I get out of the shower each morning and go to the bathroom mirror I think, ‘What a pair of great tits’.

Her daughter posted Catherine’s photo on Facebook and from then on there was no hiding Catherine’s new tits, so to speak. Even though Catherine describes herself as a bashful person she had no qualms showing her new tattoo to people and in turn raising awareness of breast cancer.

Image and quotes from www.newsandstar.co.uk