Voices
Yeah, well, it’s not quite like
that. Not at all, in fact.
It seems that those not in
the know tend to equate postmastectomy reconstructed
breasts with augmented breasts
or “boob jobs.” Nothing could be
further from the truth. You see,
augmented breasts are actually
real live breasts with nipples
and healthy breast tissue
behind which silicone or saline
implants have been placed,
either under or above the muscle, thereby pushing them up
and out. We all know what
augmented breasts look like;
some of them look very real, and
many of them look stunningly
beautiful. If augmented breasts
didn’t look damn good, breast
augmentation surgeries would
not be so, ahem, popular.
So even though augmented
boobs are often called “fake
boobs,” they’re really not. I, on
the other hand, do have fake
boobs (or “foobs,” as I have become prone to calling them).
What is attached to my chest
right now are a pair of silicone
implants with no breast tissue
in front of them. I am essentially
sporting implants covered with
skin. There are no real breasts
JOANNA
MONTGOMERY
there to hide the fact that
my “breasts” are just implants
— man-made, silicone-filled
implants which feel like gelfilled bags and ripple when I
move certain ways.
And right now, I have no
nipples either. Because leaving enough breast tissue behind
the nipple to spare it can cre-
When speaking
about my upcoming
surgery, I had many
well-meaning people
say things like, ‘Well
at least you get new
boobs!’ and, ‘Your
husband must be so
excited... has he picked
‘em out yet?’”
ate more risk, in that cancer can
still occur in the tissue left behind. Also, if the surgeon failed
to leave enough tissue attached
to the nipple, the nipple could
become necrotic and die. As in,
turn black and fall off.
No thank you. I wasn’t that attached to my nipples.
So I opted against nipplesparing surgery, and currently
HUFFINGTON
10.06.13