BROOKE KELLY/COURTESTY OF JOANNA MONTGOMERY
Voices
ed, man-made nipples attached
in the next few months, and later
have color tattooed on them for
good measure. The new nipples
(“fips”) will hide some of the
existing scars, and hopefully will
be nice and round and perky. But
they’ll have no feeling. They’ll
just be there as accessories.
Like earrings.
And while I still look cute
in a sexy bra, I no longer walk
around topless, and now tend to
sleep in camisoles rather than in
the buff. I’m also somewhat shy
around my husband, and am still
shocked at times when I look in
the mirror. It’s an adjustment,
for all of us, even my toddler
who gently pats the boo-boos
she now sees on my chest.
For me, the psychological impact of losing my breasts was
much greater than the physical
impact. I am healing rapidly and
know that the physical scars will
fade. I also know that I made the
right decision for me and my family. But those of us who either
opted to have mastectomies as
a preventative measure, or had
mastectomies as a life-saving
measure, aren’t excited about our
“new boobs.” In truth, we’ll never
be the same. We see ourselves dif-
JOANNA
MONTGOMERY
HUFFINGTON
10.06.13
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.”
ferently now when we look in the
mirror, because we are different,
inside as well as outside.
But at least we’re here,
stronger and wiser for
the experience.
Joanna Montgomery is a mother and
breast cancer survivor.
Montgomery
in 2012,
after she
had started
treatment
for Stage
IIIC Fallopian
tube cancer.