Tattoo Artist Helps Cancer Patients Reclaim Their Identity

I just found this article in the Syracuse Post Standard about a nurse-turned-tattoo artist who puts finishing touches on the reconstructed breasts of central New York cancer survivors. A local plastic surgeon came to her to tattoo areolas and nipples on their patients' breasts after reconstruction. Some women come to her to cover their scars and others as a way to celebrate the years after surgery. Whatever their reasons for wanting their tattoos, this strikes me as a wonderful way for a former nurse to continue caring: it helps to heal the women's psyche as it covers the scars.

The first cancer patient Kim Leach ever tattooed presented the biggest challenge: a woman who had serious complications that left her with no breasts and a heavily scarred chest. "She said, 'My chest is destroyed and I feel like I lost my womanhood to cancer,'" Leach recalled. "I said, 'I can give you something you are so proud of on your chest that it won't matter whether you have breasts or not.'" It took almost a year to complete the uniquely personal montage.

"I get these girls on a good day," Leach said. "Their cancer is gone and this is their last step to getting their body back. It's an act with deep meaning, about reclaiming their identity as a woman. I give them that last kick of empowerment over breast cancer."

Quite an amazing story and person!