My mastectomy.  I understand why there are not a lot of mastectomy photos on the internet.  These are not the most flattering pictures, but they are the photos that inspired this whole project.  You see, when I was initially diagnosed and decided to go ahead with a double mastectomy my first instinct was to look up mastectomy photos on the internet to determine what I would be going through.  To my dismay there was a very poor selection of related photographs, and although there wasn't a lot to help me out when I wanted to know more, I figured I could at least do my best to make sure there would be better photos available for other women in the future.

This is a modified radical mastectomy, which means that it includes the removal of the entire breast and the lymphatic-bearing tissue in the armpit but not the pectoral muscles.  It was also bilateral, meaning they removed both breasts.  Something that was interesting to me was that during the surgery, they removed the lymph node closest to the breast tumor and sent it to the lab for testing while the surgery was still taking place.  Luckily for me the lymph node came back clean, but if it hadn't they would have then taken the next lymph node out and sent it for testing and so on until they ran out of infected lymph nodes (I suppose).

Incision guidelines pre-mastectomy...

In addition to my normal surgeon a plastic surgeon was called upon to draw these incision guidelines, which were not only better situated for future reconstruction efforts but also placed in such a way as to preserve as much of my tattoo as they could.  I was really impressed that they made any effort at all to save the tattoo... in the back of my mind I guess I just imagined it would be completely ruined.

Being cleaned for surgery...

This photograph makes me a little sad... this is probably the best that my breasts have looked in quite some time.  Note to those of you that still have them: apparently a good photographic theme for breasts is soaped up while lying on your back under surgical lighting.

Right breast (non-cancerous) removal...

And then they just dive right in with the barbeque forks... okay, I know they're not really barbeque forks, but doesn't it look like it?

Right breast (non-cancerous) removal...

Right breast (non-cancerous) removal...

This is all very well and good and scientific until I look at pictures like this one and think "that's my breast that they're pulling out of that chest".  I can look at this photo and still feel the weight of my breast; I imagine it's the way some people can still feel a limb after they've lost it.  It gives me the shivers... eek.

Right breast (non-cancerous) removal...

This photograph doesn't even look real to me, until I look at the same bit of tissue in the photograph below, and the empty pocket there in my chest that it was obviously removed from.

Right breast (non-cancerous) removal...

Right breast (non-cancerous) removal...

Right breast tissue (non-cancerous)...

This was the healthy breast... I'm not sure whether or not it's significant or not but you can see that this tissue is a brilliant red tone while the cancerous breast (removed further down the page) is thoroughly infiltrated with more of a sickly yellow tone... that breast was significantly larger, though, so perhaps the yellow is just fatty tissue.  I have no idea.

I'm almost afraid to share this for fear of revealing my truly evil nature, but one of my favorite things to do with the above photo is to wait until some jackass on the internet is pestering me about whether or not I'm a "real live girl" and what I look like or what I'm wearing and whether or not I'm single... and then ask him if he "wants to see a picture of my boob"...

Closing up the right-side incision...

Right-side drain tube and incision...

This photograph shows the direction of the drain tube, somewhat, and also that the drain tube has a different coating internally than the one on the external portion.  I think this is one of the reasons they're able to pull the tube out with little resistance.  It was still an unpleasant procedure, though, considering how far above the incision area the tubes extended.

Closing up the right-side incision...

Right-side incision and drain tube...

Once again it amazes me how much of this tattoo they were able to preserve... the one dragon toe missing in this picture is the only bit that's really noticeably gone.

Closing up the right-side incision...

Beginning the removal of the left breast...

Beginning the removal of the left breast...

Removal of the left (cancerous) breast tissue...

Simultaneous closing of the right incision and removal of left breast tissue...

Sealed right-side incision...

This photograph really amazes me... it's incredible to me that my chest could go through that much trauma and still come together so evenly in the end.  Another thing to note is the bottom left corner... you can see that the drain tube is stitched in place where it exits my chest about three inches below the closed incision.

Removal of the left (cancerous) breast tissue...

This photograph and the one below really show off the color difference between the two breasts.  Like I said before I don't know if the color difference is related to the cancer or not, but it is very distinct and interesting to me.  I'm positive that I've asked my surgeon about this many times and just forgotten the answer...

Removal of the left (cancerous) breast tissue...

Removal of the left (cancerous) breast tissue...

Removal of the left (cancerous) breast tissue...

Removal of the left (cancerous) breast tissue...

Removal of the left (cancerous) breast tissue...

Removal of the left (cancerous) breast tissue...

Left-side incision and drain tube...

This looks so... raw... to me.  And painful.  It didn't hurt when I woke up as much as this photogrpah looks like it would.  It's a good photograph of the left-side drain tube, though, and how the left incision was beginning to come together.

Closing the left-side incision...

Closing the left-side incision...

Closing the left-side incision...

Closing the left-side incision...

Finished modified radical mastectomy...

The final product... both incisions closed up and nearly all of my dragon tattoo preserved.  The positioning of these incisions left sort of an extended corner where the nipples would be, but this was designed for optimum reconstruction later on... had I decided not to go with any reconstruction they would have used differently shaped incisions that would have left the chest more smooth, I suspect.