Michelle had breast cancer and came to my practice for tattooing her nipple, a nipple tattoo. She lost her nipple after surgery. It became a blind spot on her breast. After 3 years of grief and illness, she no longer wanted this feeling. She chose a nipple reconstruction after breast cancer.The helm was changed! We did it together, I drew her nipple with music she loves in the background. We chose ‘Why does my heart feel so bad’ by Moby, listen if you like as you read this.
[music]https://open.spotify.com/embed/track/3llxqT4IdBS7i2CCIPImww[/music]
Music reverberated through my practice, drowning out the hum of my equipment. And as I was working, Michelle’s tears streamed down her cheeks. With her eyes closed, she felt only the vibration of the device on her skin. The music made her emotional. How strong she had been all these years. Now it was time to let go and let pent-up emotions flow freely.
Her breast was reconstructed with her body’s own tissue. During this arduous, eight-hour surgery, a deep flap of the abdomen was used to reconstruct a breast. Only much later after her recovery, a ‘tuut’ was inserted as a nipple. Michelle said she felt “puzzled”. “I was disappointed with the result, there is so much energy in that and it was SO painful. It looked like a big patchwork,” she told me during the treatment.
She was clearly struggling with her “new” look. Her attending physician Dr Peeters did not reassure her either, telling her that she would only be ready after the nipple tattoo. Michelle did not like her breasts and she read in her husband’s eyes that he felt the same way. He did his best not to make her even more insecure. No matter how well he tried, she still felt his struggle, even through his touch
Meanwhile, I drew her nipple and the end result turned out beautifully. The nipple was faithfully coloured in with pigments to match her skin. I apply a special 3D technique for this. Together, we looked at the breasts in the mirror. How nice and how special to see Michelle radiant again!
Missing a nipple does something to your womanhood, your sense of womanhood and especially after a breast cancer trajectory. For her, that was now a thing of the past.
She can smile and enjoy going to the sauna with her husband again, wearing a bikini where the scar on her belly is as invisible as possible. She has TWO breasts with TWO nipples. No longer sick, no longer a cancer patient, but proud of what she overcame.
I made Michelle happy and helped her soften and heal the frayed and raw edges that breast cancer leaves behind. Dr Peeters’ work is fantastic, but the scars remain white and you can see them through the different pieces of skin. The result after my work as a pigmentologist was beautiful. My work is rewarding and I am proud to help women like Michelle recover on the outside, but definitely on the inside. I bring back what has been, restore, repair and camouflage.
Of course, you know you are still who you are with or without a nipple, but still, it does something to you. A nipple or nipple-hole tattoo makes you feel good and enhances being a woman. You can find more about nipple and nipple-hole tattooing here.
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October is Pink Ribbon month – Attention to breast cancer
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