Personal Ink: A healing art

BTW - P.ink is pronounced "pea ink"

The idea to adorn my own mastectomy scar with a tattoo came to me before I'd had any of my surgeries, while reading Geralyn Lucas' Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy. At the end of the breast cancer memoir, Geralyn shares how she opted to not get nipple reconstruction but instead got a small winged heart tattooed near her mastectomy scar. I too had decided not to go with any of the available nipple reconstruction options and the moment I read about Geralyn's tattoo I knew this was something I needed to do.

I heard about Personal Ink last fall. This organization would be providing breast cancer survivors with mastectomy tattoos on "P.ink Day", which would be held in my own hometown of Brooklyn, NY, 3 years to the day since my doctor called to say cancerous cells had been found in the tissue taken during the core biopsy done on my left breast. I told my husband I was getting a free tattoo and he said "um...things you pay for" but tattoos are really expensive (one reason I hadn't yet gotten one), I didn't know the first thing about finding an experienced artist on my own (P.ink would provide artists who have mastectomy tattooing skills) and these people seemed legit (P.ink was founded by the VP, Director of Experience Design at ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky).

Don't Stop Getting Mammos

This past week, my mom and I attended a discussion on breast cancer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC). The talk was part of an ongoing series at MSKCC called CancerSmart:

"Memorial Sloan Kettering experts discuss the latest information on cancer-related topics, as well as advances in diagnosis, treatment, and research at our CancerSmart talks. We believe the more you know, the better equipped you will be to make informed choices about your health. 

Programs are presented in the fall and spring on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. They are free and open to everyone. They are also available via live webcast. Join the conversation on Twitter at #CancerSmart."

Here are 5 takeaways I got from the interesting and engaging panel discussion.

New Support Group on Long Island

One of the awesome resources offered by Young Survival Coalition (YSC), the breast cancer organization I volunteer with as a State Leader, is the F2F Networking program.

YSC "offers resources, connections and outreach so women feel supported, empowered and hopeful" and F2F (Face 2 Face) Networks offer all those things at once. 

According to the YSC website, "Local YSC Face 2 Face networks are support and networking for Young Women Affected by Breast Cancer (YWABC). YSC F2F networks are local grassroots groups that allow you and other YWABC in your community to connect!"

Before each of my breast cancer surgeries I attended these F2F meetings at the New York City headquarters of YSC. They were, and still are, called "WOW" meetings (Women on Wednesdays. Yes, we love our acronyms at YSC!). These meetings were so much more than support group gatherings. I met many strong women who, while going through a difficult time themselves, just wanted to reach out to other women like them to share information and resources they'd come across.

FREE Breast Cancer Talks in NYC; Food Delivery in TX; Paxil & Breast Cancer Risk

RESOURCES: This new resource has been added to the right frame

The Hippo Kitchen - Food Delivery to Cancer Patients in Texas
I learned about this food delivery service from the article "Catering to Cancer Patients" by Leesha Lentz, in the December 2013 issue of Today's Dietitian. According to the service's website: "The Hippo Kitchen, located in Houston, TX sells, produces and delivers nutritionally supportive meals to people preparing for cancer treatment, undergoing cancer treatment and to those who have completed their treatment. We specialize in meals comprised of ingredients that have been proven to combat cancer and the many effects of treatment."


FREE: Two Upcoming Talks in NYC from Memorial Sloan Kettering