Tattoos Help Survivors of Breast Cancer Heal Wounds Mariel Huerta - Agencia EFE
go to original October 20, 2015

47-year-old breast cancer survivor Molly Ortwein gets a seven hour chest tattoo from artist Colby Butler of Unfamous Miami. Visit P-ink.org for more of the story. (PersonalInkProject)

When Miriam Valderrama lost both breasts to breast cancer at the age of 40, she had to get used to seeing the scars of her mastectomy in the mirror on a chest she did not recognize.

"I didn't look at myself in the mirror and I didn't look at my scars," Miriam, who last week, eight weeks after her surgery, decided to get a tattoo on her chest and now feels 'delighted' with her body, told EFE.

...The tattoo helped Miriam improve her self-esteem, while her scars "were only a memory." A butterfly in a cherry tree now decorates her breast. "The tattoo relieved many pent-up feelings," the surgeon said.

Myranda Trejo Elizalde, the artist at the Garage Ink studio who tattooed Miriam, told EFE that she would like women "to understand there's a chance to see something beautiful in their scars" and that tattoos are "a kind of beauty" capable of covering their "war wounds."

Besides artistic and commemorative tattoos, a tattoo can emulate the nipple and its areola that "are unfortunately lost in most mastectomies," the surgeon said.

Read the rest at Fox News Latino

Related: For Women with Breast Cancer, 'Pinktober' Isn't Always Empowering (HuffPost)

Cancer Survivors 'Get A Vinnie' from the Nipple Artist (The New York Times)

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