This will
bring a smile to your face!
This did not
happen to me, but I found it so funny that I wanted to share it with you
all. The following experience is from a
stage 4 fellow cancer survivor, who has a blog that I just love to jump on and
read. She is a true inspiration to anyone going through cancer. She never fails
to bring a smile to my face, and after reading this story, I just had to share
it with others who are considering nipple reconstruction. Enjoy!
There are alternatives:
instead of surgically building a nipple, some women have 3D tattoos that appear
to be of a nipple and an areola, but which are smooth. That doesn't really work
for us Unis though.
So, do I or don't I? Do I get a nipple recreation with an areola tattoo, or not?
The deciding factor might be this: I am dying to ask my future grandchildren if they want to see granny's tattoo.
Yes, I'm evil.
Once it's done, it's permanent. So, I was very excited to come across a product that will help me decide. They are called rub-on nipples and they are designed specifically for mastectomy patients.
Remember as a kid you'd get a tweety bird tattoo in your box of crackerjacks, wet it and rub it on your arm to shock your friends with your bad-ass new tat? But, you could never get the water right and it would sort of be tweety's beak and feet and if you were lucky, maybe a wing, and the rest would just peel and crumble off?
Well, this product is similar to that, only not similar at all. First, to my recall, they never put nipple/areola complex tattoos in cracker jacks.
Second, these work much, much better.
I got two assorted variety packs in colors I thought might be right for me, and went to town.
I can honestly say, this product works beautifully. They solved the problem of crumbling rub-ons - you wet it and it's on perfectly. And, it doesn't come off at all, which is magic. It really looks like a tattoo, or like your skin coloring - like it's permanent.
It's also annoying because my first attempt was so wrong. I didn't follow the instructions, which suggested you cut the tattoo into a circle for better placement. I took the square, imagined where I thought the nipple would be, and wet it with a washcloth.
I now have a nipple very close to my cleavage. This would not be disturbing, except it looks exactly like a nipple and it's very strange when in the wrong place. You can remove it with rubbing alcohol, which I don't have, so I'm walking around with a cockeyed nipple. When I look in the mirror, I'm getting cross-eyed stares rather than winks.
Not sure that's an improvement.
My mother always told me to go out with clean underwear in case I got in an accident, and not only did I take her advice to heart, I never leave my house without imagining that I'll be hit by a bus. If I die with this nipple in the wrong place, I'll be so embarrassed.
I'm going to hit the store today and get some alcohol and try again. Maybe I'll send my husband. "Honey, I need some rubbing alcohol to get my nipple off before I get hit by a bus."
Even though I haven't gotten it perfect (yet), I can only blame my ADD impatience in not following the directions. I highly recommend this product, for many reasons. It helps us Uni's decide if we want to have the surgery - a harder decision for us because we never will match perfectly. At least, with this, we can get an idea if adding a nipple/areola complex will highlight the mismatch or mask it. It will help you Doubles decide on color and placement for your permanent nips/tats. And, because it is such an easy and yet effective product, it might just put a tattoo artist out of business. With this product, you can change it up and have a pale pink cherry one day and a nice brown one the next. I know, if I was a double, I'd probably stay bare and just use these for fun. Implants may not be permanent, but tattoos are, and being me, I always think to the future. That perfectly placed nip/tat in 2011 might be way off in 2021.
The place to get them is: http://tattooednipples.com/ They are $20.00 for the variety pack. I recommend starting with that because the colors look a bit different on your skin than in the package. (A little darker from my one test; maybe that's because I tan.) Each variety pack comes with two colors and you get 8 tattoos total. The website says they last two weeks, and while I haven't tried one for that long yet, I tend to believe them as everything else they said was right on the money.
I like them.
In fact, I'm thinking of putting one on my shoulder - just for fun.
So, do I or don't I? Do I get a nipple recreation with an areola tattoo, or not?
The deciding factor might be this: I am dying to ask my future grandchildren if they want to see granny's tattoo.
Yes, I'm evil.
Once it's done, it's permanent. So, I was very excited to come across a product that will help me decide. They are called rub-on nipples and they are designed specifically for mastectomy patients.
Remember as a kid you'd get a tweety bird tattoo in your box of crackerjacks, wet it and rub it on your arm to shock your friends with your bad-ass new tat? But, you could never get the water right and it would sort of be tweety's beak and feet and if you were lucky, maybe a wing, and the rest would just peel and crumble off?
Well, this product is similar to that, only not similar at all. First, to my recall, they never put nipple/areola complex tattoos in cracker jacks.
Second, these work much, much better.
I got two assorted variety packs in colors I thought might be right for me, and went to town.
I can honestly say, this product works beautifully. They solved the problem of crumbling rub-ons - you wet it and it's on perfectly. And, it doesn't come off at all, which is magic. It really looks like a tattoo, or like your skin coloring - like it's permanent.
It's also annoying because my first attempt was so wrong. I didn't follow the instructions, which suggested you cut the tattoo into a circle for better placement. I took the square, imagined where I thought the nipple would be, and wet it with a washcloth.
I now have a nipple very close to my cleavage. This would not be disturbing, except it looks exactly like a nipple and it's very strange when in the wrong place. You can remove it with rubbing alcohol, which I don't have, so I'm walking around with a cockeyed nipple. When I look in the mirror, I'm getting cross-eyed stares rather than winks.
Not sure that's an improvement.
My mother always told me to go out with clean underwear in case I got in an accident, and not only did I take her advice to heart, I never leave my house without imagining that I'll be hit by a bus. If I die with this nipple in the wrong place, I'll be so embarrassed.
I'm going to hit the store today and get some alcohol and try again. Maybe I'll send my husband. "Honey, I need some rubbing alcohol to get my nipple off before I get hit by a bus."
Even though I haven't gotten it perfect (yet), I can only blame my ADD impatience in not following the directions. I highly recommend this product, for many reasons. It helps us Uni's decide if we want to have the surgery - a harder decision for us because we never will match perfectly. At least, with this, we can get an idea if adding a nipple/areola complex will highlight the mismatch or mask it. It will help you Doubles decide on color and placement for your permanent nips/tats. And, because it is such an easy and yet effective product, it might just put a tattoo artist out of business. With this product, you can change it up and have a pale pink cherry one day and a nice brown one the next. I know, if I was a double, I'd probably stay bare and just use these for fun. Implants may not be permanent, but tattoos are, and being me, I always think to the future. That perfectly placed nip/tat in 2011 might be way off in 2021.
The place to get them is: http://tattooednipples.com/ They are $20.00 for the variety pack. I recommend starting with that because the colors look a bit different on your skin than in the package. (A little darker from my one test; maybe that's because I tan.) Each variety pack comes with two colors and you get 8 tattoos total. The website says they last two weeks, and while I haven't tried one for that long yet, I tend to believe them as everything else they said was right on the money.
I like them.
In fact, I'm thinking of putting one on my shoulder - just for fun.
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