After her unilateral mastectomy, she decided against getting a breast reconstruction.
Everyone around you assumesreconstructionis the way forward, says Morales.
Others choose to mark their journey with an amazingmastectomy tattooinstead of breast implants.
Courtesy of Anna Bonny
These women congregate in Facebook groups likeFlat & Fabulous, sharing their stories.
Daniel Maman, M.D.
And, as with any surgery, there are risks.
Courtesy of Anna Bonny
For these and other reasons, Morales knew that reconstruction was not for her.
I couldnt find a good reason to reconstruct, Morales says.
I asked, Why would I run more risk and go through more surgeries?
Courtesy of Anna Bonny
Im still a woman.
She also wasnt up for the possibly longer recovery process.
I was in a hurry to be OK, she says.
I missed my boob.
And at first, Morales did hide.
She avoided mirrors and stopped being naked, which affected her sex life.
I started wondering how other women do it.
If you Tinder someone, are you going to explain?
Are you going to appear with your prosthesis and take your bra off, and theres no boob?
Then she saw a photo of a woman wearing an eye patch.
That was the first Anna Bonny mastectomy patch.
The patch made her feel sexy and flirty.
It restored her self esteem.
Her partner was the one who encouraged her to make this patch available for other women.
If you want to create your own patch, Morales has made her mastectomy patch pattern downloadable for all.
Patches, pirates, and adventures made total sense to me.
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