SNTV Presents: 'SN & You - Body Image: Embracing Your Body'
- SurvivorNetTV presents ‘Body Image: Embracing your Body,’ an episode from our original series SN & You that depicts breast cancer survivors’ journeys to feel beautiful in their own skin.
- The episode follows four women in their attempts not only to take back their bodies but also to rediscover their identities.
- Breast cancer is the most common cancer in American women, except for skin cancers.
- An often overlooked side effect of treatment is how it can change how women see themselves, but these incredible women take steps to embrace those changes.
These woman have been through everything including single mastectomies, double mastectomies, chemotherapy and radiation, but this episode shows how the power of the human spirit can triumph over self doubt and adversity.
Read More“So how do they feel sexy? How do they feel sexual? What other parts of their body might they tap into, look into to feel good about themselves or to use when they’re intimate with their partner to not necessarily replace what they don’t have anymore, perhaps make them feel still sexy and in the moment.”
Self-acceptance after breast cancer
Self-acceptance is an essential part of living with cancer, regardless of severity — and the women featured in this documentary-style episode each embarked on their own journey to find that.
“Femininity is a state of mind,” says Ann Caruso, a celebrity stylist and one of the women featured in the doc. “Society has us thinking that our breasts are what makes us sexy. You know, there are so many other things. There’s touch, there’s our eyes — a glance, the way we speak. It’s the curve of our body, it’s the way that we think. There are so many special things about being a woman.”
After a year of intense treatment, Dana Donofree, another one of the women interviewed here, and the founder of AnaOno, could not find a bra that fit her altered body and decided to design her own. Her company, AnaOno, creates bras for breast cancer survivors.
“If you want reconstructed breasts because it makes you feel whole, do it. If you want to remove them because it makes you feel empowered, do it,” says Donofree.
“You live in this skin, you express yourself the way you want to,” she emphasizes.
Recovery after breast cancer surgery
A lot of women choose to undergo reconstructive surgery after breast cancer treatment, as several women interviewed here did, though many others choose to “go flat.” The choice is entirely up to you.
“Breast reconstruction is a restoration of a woman’s form and her sense of self — and I think that’s a very rewarding part of it,” Dr. Andrea Pusic, chief of plastic surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, told SurvivorNet in a previous conversation.
Dr. Andrea Pusic explains how reconstruction can help some women feel whole again.
“…A lot of breast reconstruction is trying to erase the trauma of the mastectomy surgery, putting the cancer behind a patient, saying this is in the rear view mirror, and putting her back on track,” she added.
“I think that over time with our different techniques or reconstruction — immediate reconstruction, all the new things that we’re doing — we’re just getting closer and closer to that goal of allowing a woman to have had this surgery, have all her cancer surgery, but be herself again.”
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