Permanently Beautiful

When radiation and chemotherapy aren’t enough, many women with breast cancer have to undergo unilateral mastectomies in order to have their cancerous breast tissue aggressively removed.  If you’ve been faced with taking this difficult and often frightening step towards recovery, it might be of some comfort to become mentally prepared ahead of time, arming yourself with knowledge about what to expect after the procedure.

During your procedure, an incision will be made in your breast.  Most mastectomy incisions are in the shape of an oval around the nipple, running across the width of the breast.  Your incision might be smaller or larger depending on the exact type of mastectomy you’re having.  Some incisions are only around the nipple areola, while others run across the entire breast.  Check with your doctor to be sure.

Most women opt to have a breast reconstruction procedure immediately after their mastectomy.  If you have opted for this, you can expect to see a reconstructed breast after your bandages are removed, but you should be prepared to see a fair amount of scarring, particularly around the nipple.  The
nipple on your reconstructed breast will not likely match the nipple on your natural breast.  Your next step should be to consult with the expert paramedical tattooing professionals at the Melany Whitney Center of Permanent Cosmetics regarding areola restoration.  Melany and the friendly and understanding staff at her New York and New Jersey area facility will work to help you regain the look of beautiful and matching breasts, along with your self confidence.

Christina Applegate

With advances in breast reconstruction surgery, more women are choosing to fight cancer by having their entire breast removed instead of just the immediately affected tissue. They feel that when cancer is diagnosed, removal of the entire breast gives them the best chance of long-term health. By removing the entire breast, women feel they are removing the opportunity for cancer to recur or spread. In fact, the emotional, physical and financial cost of fighting breast cancer and the constant worry of recurrence or spread has a growing number of women pressuring surgeons to remove healthy breasts as a preventive measure.

Many women were shocked by Christina Applegate’s decision to have both healthy breasts removed two years ago when she discovered she carried a known genetic risk marker for breast cancer. But since then more than 9,000 women have followed her lead and had a healthy breast removed, according to a new study in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Expert permanent makeup artist Melany Whitney works closely with many breast cancer patients and their surgeons to help create real-looking breasts after mastectomy. Through her work with breast cancer patients, Melany has developed a unique paramedical tattooing technique that can create a real-looking three-dimensional nipple and areola on a reconstructed breast. Melany’s technique and artistry allow breast cancer survivors to feel confident and proud about their breasts after mastectomy.