Another tattoo post
Posted: December 7, 2013 Filed under: Breast Cancer | Tags: breast cancer, tattoo, Tina Bafaro Leave a comment
Robert Hood/Fred Hutch
Here is an article from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center’s Newsletter that focuses on Tina, me and the current trend in mastectomy tattoos. Yep, it is a trend. We met at her shop and photographer Robert Hood took a few shots of us together. Here is the picture of me. Click the link below to see a picture of Tina with me as the background. One of the other tattooists mentioned, Vyvyn Lazonga, runs the shop where Tina worked when we began our project.
Click here to read the full article: Fred Hutch
On the News Front, no pun intended
Posted: October 28, 2013 Filed under: Breast Cancer | Tags: Facebook, Hoax Slayer, Inga, mastectomy, prophylactic mastectomy, seattle, tattoo, Tina Bafaro 2 CommentsI was on the front page of Today.com. Well, the tattoo was anyway… I’ve been interviewed for various magazines that are running the mastectomy tattoo angle this year but this is the first article that has a picture besides Tina’s old file copy. Tina and I got together and did a real photo shoot. So this one actually has my face! I am not ashamed to say it took me awhile to get with this… The last time I did any modeling was for the MSNBC documentary in ’94, ya, back before I was 50.
Anyway, writer Diane Mapes did a great job with the article, most of the comments on the story have been positive and I have gotten some beautiful emails from women. I’ve been recognized several times out and around Seattle and people have been really complimentary.
Click here for the article and pix
Click here for Diane Mapes Blog
I also had a blog reader send me this entry from Hoax-Slayer. I guess the whole FaceBook photo ban thing has achieved urban myth status.
Click Here for Hoax Slayer
Women choose body art over reconstruction after cancer battle
Posted: August 29, 2013 Filed under: Breast Cancer | Tags: Arts, Body art, Bodyart, Cancer, Health, Niche, tattoo 4 CommentsDid you see this article in the Guardian?
photograph: Guardian
Of course you didn’t.
You can click the link at the bottom of this post to read it now because I am mentioned in it, and… they spelled all my names correctly!
That is the Guardian, as in Guardian, UK. Yes, the paper everyone is reading in those British murder mysteries I watch on Netflix.
Interesting, eh?
I never would have heard about it except that I received an interview request from a Seattle publication because of it and she mentioned reading it.
Back in 1993-94, I never thought that this would become a trend but apparently it has. Here is a quote from the article, ‘Women who have chosen tattoos over reconstruction cite the reclaiming of their bodies as the main reason for the choice. Some women refuse reconstruction because they feel it is a denial of the impact of cancer, both positive and negative, and that a tattoo (often very carefully designed to express the personal nature of the cancer journey) is the exact opposite.’
Click to read the article: Women choose body art over reconstruction after cancer battle
Prophylactic Mastectomy: Angelina, Sharon and Me
Posted: May 14, 2013 Filed under: Breast Cancer, Health & Fitness | Tags: amoena, angelina jolie, brca, Breast, breast cancer, breast implant, mamogram, propylactic mastectomy, sharon osbourne, tattoo 5 Comments
Angelina as Lara Croft
I was engrossed in making a presentation on the Part of Fortune for class this morning and completely missed Angelina Jolie’s announcement that she had had a prophylactic mastectomy until it was brought to my attention by a friend who asked if she could use a quote from me in light of it!
Once I looked the article up, I was thrilled that she had gone ahead with the surgery since I had thought about it back when she’d lost her mother to Ovarian Cancer, a related cancer. What shocked me was reading so many negative comments from people who don’t understand the context of a decision like hers. Sharon Osbourne received the same negative feedback when she made the same decision last year and it just amazes me how cruel and shallow people can be. I guess they are just proof that some people never really make it out of middle-school.
Their situations point up some differences between 1993, when I had my surgery, and 2013. In 1993, the BRCA gene test was new and no one was quite sure what percentage of cases it would account for, so I didn’t even have the test. We mostly discussed family medical histories. I had a traditional mastectomy which removed all breast tissue, leaving large scars. Reconstruction at a later time was offered but I preferred to stick with external prostheses and to cover the scars with tattoos. Angelina chose a skin sparing, immediate reconstruction option which she says left her with only small scars. Her cancer risk is slightly higher than mine but I am sure her results are more aesthetic than mine were pre-ink. Sharon had implants removed and I don’t know if she’s replaced them or not.
I’ll discuss why prophylaxis IS a reasonable way of dealing with cancer in another post, K?
Here is a link to Jolie’s New York Times piece.
And a link to Sharon Osbourne.
Amoena makes external breast prostheses.
FYI: You’re trending on Huffington!
Posted: March 9, 2013 Filed under: Breast Cancer | Tags: Huffington Post, tattoo 2 CommentsYup, That is the message I got from my friend Simon. He said he was monitoring news stories on the US budget situation and saw my picture on the Huffington Post. It must have been a slow news day! Now that the shock of running into my pictures in odd places is over I am marveling at how positive 99% of the reaction has been to them. Good thing, too. I also have to marvel that all these news companies have had to confront their own policies in order to post or print the pictures. Can’t you just hear the same conversation going on in each conference room, “Is it nudity?” ” No, it is a public service.” or “No, it is art.” and on and on.🙂
page captured from the Huffington post
