Body Image and Cancer
- Julie Devaney Hogan was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer at age 37. In a beautifully written essay for TODAY, she honors her breasts and all their years of service ahead of her double mastectomy.
- Breast reconstruction after a mastectomy is up to you. There’s no right or wrong answer, but it’s important to know you’re not alone no matter what you choose to do.
- Body positivity might not come easy for all cancer survivors. But getting to a point where you’re embracing your body can help you live life to the fullest.
Hogan is a tech executive from the Boston area currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer at Dana Farber Cancer Institute. In a beautiful essay for TODAY written as if she’s talking to her breasts, the mother of three gave readers an intimate look at her emotional state as she continues to battle the disease.
Read MoreAhead of her upcoming double mastectomy, Hogan wanted to give her breasts a proper farewell.
“To a special part of me: It’s with a bittersweet blend of gratitude and grief that I announce your early retirement, byway of double mastectomy,” she wrote. “Your untimely exit comes after years of service — service I never paused to really think about or celebrate until learning you’d be gone forever.”
What Happens During a Double Mastectomy?
She then proceeds to talk about all those “years of service.” From shielding the scar from her open-heart surgery that fixed a congenital heart defect at age 16, to struggling to produce milk for her first two babies, to producing milk “in overdrive” for her third, Hogan’s breasts have been a crucial part of the winding journey that has been her life thus far.
“As I embark on this next phase of my life without you, my new scars will have nothing to hide behind, and there will be a numb void in the place where my babies would so cozily nuzzle,” she wrote. “I mourn the loss of that coverage and connection.”
Though she’s grieving the inevitable loss ahead, Hogan is still determined to carry the lessons her breasts taught her as she treads on.
“But, during our years together, you gave me an unflappable confidence I will carry on without you, thanks to all we’ve been through,” she wrote. “So as I prepare for your departure, instead of thinking about the seriousness and starkness of major surgery, my final moments with you in my mind are wrapped in sunshine, as I imagine you setting sail off into the sunset, taking the cancer with you, with me safely ashore, waving goodbye.
“As my daughter comes of age, she’ll someday have a pair of you too, and questions I’m sure, about what happened to mine. ‘They retired early,’ I’ll tell her. After one hell of a beautiful ride together.”
Implants After Breast Cancer Surgery? You Have a Choice.
Many breast cancer survivors choose to get reconstructive surgery after a mastectomy – the removal of their breast(s). But it’s also important to note that more and more women are choosing to go “flat” and not get implants.
Every woman’s breast cancer battle is unique to them. And the good news is that it’s your decision what to do whatever you think is best for your body with the guidance of your medical team, of course.
RELATED: For Breast Reconstruction After Mastectomy, Women May Choose ‘Now,’ ‘Later,’ or ‘Never’
There are many reasons some women choose to “go flat” after surgery by forgoing breast reconstruction. One of which is simply to be done with surgeries. Some, on the other hand, may want to simply stick it to conventional beauty standards. No matter what the reason, there’s many people on both sides of the equation.
The Flat Movement: Embracing Your Body After Treatment
“A lot of us women are sticking together and helping each other through this journey of being this new look,” artist and survivor Marianne Cuozzo previously told SurvivorNet. “We’re trying to make it so that it’s not this stigma.”
Cuozzo wanted to share her story to help others. But she had no idea how many women she would touch.
“I’ve helped a lot of women that I had no idea that I was helping,” she said. “I do a lot of photo shoots showing my scars, and I didn’t realize the reaction. And then all of a sudden, I’m sharing this with other people and they’re seeing this and encouraging them to take another step of maybe don’t get reconstruction.”
“Just remove your breasts,” she says, “go flat, feel good about yourself.”
Body Image and Cancer
Body positivity is a beautiful thing. And cancer survivors like Ann Caruso know that confidence comes from within.
Celebrity Stylist Ann Caruso on Beauty and Femininity After Cancer
Caruso had 12 surgeries to treat her breast cancer and told SurvivorNet all of the change really affected the way she saw her body.
“You’re not the same carefree person that you once were, and it was very hard for me to look at myself every day,” Caruso said in a previous interview with SurvivorNet. “It was like I was a totally different person and didn’t fit into any of my clothes for so long.”
But the celebrity stylist has learned a whole lot about femininity and body image since beating breast cancer. She hopes to impart her knowledge upon others dealing with similar struggles.
“Femininity is a state of mind,” Caruso said. “And I think that’s something that we have to remind ourselves.”
Contributing: Marisa Sullivan
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