Progress: Marie-Claude Belzile’s Petition Gets Traction in Québec’s National Assembly

Thanks to the pioneering work of Québec advocate Marie-Claude Belzile of Tout aussi femme (who is also a member of our Council of International Advocates), the main online French-English translation database for Québec, Grand dictionnaire terminologique, has included “mastectomie à fini plat” (the French analogue of aesthetic flat closure) since mid-2020. And now, her petition (sponsored by Assembly member Christine Labrie of Québec solidaire) to ensure women in the province receive full information about all of their reconstructive options is getting major traction in the Québec National Assembly!

In Marie-Claude’s words, she created the petition last Spring to ensure women facing breast cancer surgery in Québec province:

“… who choose flat reconstruction after a mastectomy and the transparency of the information given to women to make a free choice and enlightened about post mastectomy surgery”

Marie-Claude Belzile (Québec), Tout aussi femme

The Ministry of Social & Health Services wrote a letter of support for Marie-Claude’s petition, agreeing that full disclosure of all reconstructive options including aesthetic flat closure is a critical component of informed consent for breast cancer patients facing surgery. The letter will be forwarded to the Québec College of Medicine a (the main professional society of physicians in the province) and to the Breast Cancer Committee of the Québec Oncology Program (the government agency which guides, coordinates and evaluates government action aimed at reducing the burden of cancer in Québec).

#aestheticflatclosure

#mastectomieafiniplat

#putflatonthemenu

#toutaussifemme

New Resource! Aesthetic Flat Closure Photo Gallery

Looking for flat closure photos? Visit our Photo Gallery page to view all kinds of aesthetic flat closure images – initial mastectomy, revision and explant, flat denial, and mastectomy tattoos. Includes a lifestyle section with links to the many flat and body positive personal and professional projects available on social media!

This resource will assist patients and providers in the shared decision making process by providing a variety of images to facilitate a mutual understanding of the patient’s expectations. We add images to the Gallery on a regular basis. You can submit your flat closure photos here.

Survivornet: “To Reconstruct or Not”

Read SurvivorNet’s Sonya Collins’ new article “To Reconstruct or Not: After Mastectomy, Two Women Take Very Different Paths“

“Kathy Reed always knew that if she ever had to have a mastectomy, she would not have breast reconstruction. She would live flat. She knew this long before she was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 44 in 2003.”

Sonya Collins for SurvivorNet

Kathy’s surgeon, despite her confidence in her decision, left “a little extra in case you change your mind.” Sounds familiar: this is intentional flat denial. Kathy decided against additional surgery and has lived with the results of her initial surgery for over fifteen years.

“When she asked the surgeon why he hadn’t taken that tissue, ‘He said, “I left those because it’ll make it easier if you change your mind later and decide you want reconstruction. It’ll look smoother,”‘ she recalls him saying.

“… Reed never went back to have the tissue removed. ‘That would have been an extra surgery, which is exactly what I was trying to avoid.’ And now, 16 years later, she occasionally wakes from dreams where she has breasts, but she never wishes she had them in real life.”

Kathy’s surgery, where she was intentionally denied a flat closure, happened long before we had the term “aesthetic flat closure” on the books. Now, thanks to the National Cancer Institute, women can ask for the term by name to ensure their expectations are made clear and to provide a mechanism for accountability. From the article (our links):

“In fact, up to one in ten women who clearly ask to go flat are left with unnecessary and unsightly tissue.  The patient-advocacy organization ‘Not Putting on a Shirt’ advises women to ask specifically for “an aesthetic flat closure as defined by the National Cancer Institute.” Women may also show their surgeon pictures of flat-living women whose shape and scars they find acceptable. These pictures can be found at BreastFree.org and NotPuttingOnAShirt.org.”

Thank you SurvivorNet for highlighting Kathy’s story, and for mentioning Not Putting on a Shirt so women can access the information, tools and resources they need to advocate for their choice: aesthetic flat closure.

Read the whole article here.

#flatdenial #mybodymychoice #putflatonthemenu #aesthetic flat closure #notputtingonashirt

Mind Bloom Podcast: NPOAS’ Devorah Vester on Going Flat (Aesthetic Flat Closure)

Executive NPOAS team member Devorah Vester spoke Mind Bloom host Marina Gee about her cancer experience and going flat, informed consent, and what sourdough baking can teach us about how to weather life’s challenges. Episode 24: “Not Putting on a Shirt, with Devorah Vester” is available on Google Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts!

Tune in to the Mind Bloom podcast every Tuesday for more great interviews and discussions about the intersection of mental health and breast cancer awareness.

#aestheticflatclosure
#putflatonthemenu
#notputtingonashirt

New Resource! “Living Flat”

For women who have recently gone flat and are adjusting to their new bodies, we now have a resource page up that covers how to find community support, flat fashion, body image & sexuality (including 20 or so body-positive flat visibility projects), prosthetics, mastectomy tattoos, a collection of articles and videos about going flat, words of wisdom from women who have been there, and more!

Check it out at NotPuttingonaShirt.org/LivingFlat.

If you would like to suggest a resource or topic for the Living Flat page, please send us an email at info@aestheticflatclosure.wpcomstaging.com!

#aestheticflatclosure
#putflatonthemenu
#notputtingonashirt