Today, October 13th, is Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day. MBC is the only breast cancer that kills. Ten percent of new BC diagnoses are “de novo” metastatic, and about 1 in 3 early stage diagnoses will progress to MBC.
Not only am I living with metastatic breast cancer, but I am also a Flattie. What doesn’t seem to get the attention it deserves in October, besides aesthetic flat closure, is metastatic breast cancer. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and one in three of those women will become metastatic. Twenty-two percent of those with metastatic breast cancer will live five years past their diagnosis. I am part of that twenty-two percent.
You can support MBC research by donating to organizations like METAvivor Research and Support Inc. which fund critically important research into treatments and work towards a cure, including #theMBCProject.
Now available! Our Media Kit page has fact sheets, a press FAQ, photos and promotional graphics, backgrounder, press releases, and more! Everything you need to know about #aestheticflatclosure.
We are thrilled to welcome Ngozi Ejedimu, founder of What Cancer Naija and The Judah Foundation for Breast Cancer, to our Council of International Advocates! Ngozi is a lawyer turned entrepreneur and breast cancer advocate educating women in Nigeria (and beyond) about the need to be breast aware and taking charge of their own health. She was diagnosed with BC and went flat in 2016. Welcome, Ngozi!
The Council of International Advocates consists of leaders in the flat advocacy community worldwide who have come together cooperatively to advance the interests of women going flat after mastectomy. The Council presents a unified message to stakeholders across the globe that aesthetic flat closure deserves parity.
Thanks to Survivingbreastcancer.org for helping us spread the word! If you are facing mastectomy and have decided to go flat, be sure to ask your surgeon for an “aesthetic flat closure” as defined by the National Cancer Institute… and make sure it’s in your medical record.
Read the latest Feature Friday on “Going Flat,” including Kim’s guest blog, here.
“The trauma of making peace with your surgical decision only to wake up to something completely different, is hard to describe. And it happens to women who are already at their most vulnerable, enduring cancer treatment. I struggled for weeks to fully accept what had happened to me. I felt violated, dehumanized, and alone. People would say things to me like ‘it can be fixed,’ or ‘at least they got the cancer,’ invalidating the trauma.”
NPOAS Secretary Devorah has a message for the world on this #InternationalFLATDay! Take a listen (don’t mind the wind):
Transcript:
“Hi everyone! I’m Devorah, from Boston. Happy second International FLAT Day! Right now, as you can see, I’m standing on a bridge. It’s the BU bridge that connects Boston and Cambridge, and in the background, our lovely city of Boston. I’m about to bike across; I biked here today. I’m here, like many flat women, to show solidarity, pride and connection with all of our flat sisters throughout the world. In 2019, my flat colleagues, Christy Avila and Robyn Towt, who testified before the FDA on the dangers of breast implants, launched this day to create awareness of “aesthetic flat closure,” a term that the National Cancer Institute just this year has officially recognized and endorsed.
“Aesthetic flat closure is a healthy and viable reconstructive option post-mastectomy which allows a woman to reclaim her beautiful, natural chest wall contour with minimal invasiveness and only one surgery. I am a flat woman, due to breast cancer, and I have reclaimed my body. Several weeks ago, our beloved RBG, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Justice of the US Supreme Court, left us. Before I complete my walk across this bridge, I want to share a few thoughts that RBG has inspired.
“RBG said, ‘Fight for what you believe in.‘ This is what I do every day. I fight for truth, justice and equality for people who live with mental illness. I also fight for full and fair disclosure of all post-mastectomy options, including flat aesthetic closure, so that women like me can make an informed decision and give informed consent that works for them. RBG also said, ‘I dissent.’ And I say that too.
“I dissent, because I had breast cancer. I dissent, because I decided to get rid of the cancer AND my breasts. I dissent, because I decided to reconstruct my natural chest wall contour and not my breast mounds. I dissent, because a woman has the right to full and fair disclosure of all post-mastectomy options. I dissent, because a woman has the right to know about all the risks and benefits associated with each of these options.
“I dissent, because a woman has the right to be treated as a competent adult with agency to make her own healthcare decisions. I dissent, because a woman has the right to ask questions, and to be heard and understood in the medical consult. I dissent, because a woman has the right to have her informed consent respected. I dissent, because when I say ‘woman,’ I mean all women – black, brown, yellow, white, you name it. I dissent, because this is my body and my decision, just as this is YOUR body and YOUR decision.
“I dissent, because a woman doesn’t need breasts to be a woman. I dissent, because breasts do not define femininity or sexuality. I dissent, because beauty and life go far beyond breasts and nipples. I dissent because I’m fearless. And I dissent because I am whole. I dissent because I listen to the voice inside of me, and not inside of anyone else. I dissent… because aesthetic flat closure IS on the menu. I dissent because I am part of a supportive, energetic global community of strong women who are beautiful shining stars because they dissent.
“Happy International FLAT Day, ladies. And, be safe!”
