It took 3 years for my body to be strong enough to handle a tattoo session. And when it came the time to cover my mastectomy scar I just couldn’t do it. I realized I had fought too hard to earn that scar; I had fought too hard to still be here after my breast cancer diagnosis.
I voiced my wish for a flat closure surgery without reconstruction and faced much resistance for choosing a scar over an implant. Not hiding my scar was the kindest way to honor my body and not make it endure any more pain.
Now I carry Mistletoe not only in my veins as I undergo an alternative cancer treatment*, but on my skin. Hypericum flowers were tattooed together with Viscum Album. Each plant symbolizes a solstice - summer & winter - for the sunrises I get to see before my own sunset comes.
- It was an honor to have been a canvas for Brazilian illustrator Elissa Rocabado.
newly released & limited edition PrinTS now Available
* Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine is finally conducting the 1st Cancer Clinical Trial using Mistletoe in the U.S.. But since 1919, Mistletoe treatment has been available in Switzerland thanks to the research efforts of Rudolph Steiner & Doctor Ita Wegman. In 1921, she founded the 1st Anthroposophical Medical center, Klinik Arlesheim. Mistletoe therapy is widely used in Switzerland and Germany, alongside traditional chemotherapy and radiation treatments. I underwent both. You can fInd out if you are eligible as a cancer patient to participate of this clinical trial. Due to the high level of interest in the study the foundation @believebig is helping to assess eligibility for the study in advance of a visit to Johns Hopkins. https://believebig.org/clinicaltrial/
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