Not Putting on a Shirt is a 501(c)(3) organization advocating for optimal surgical outcomes for women who choose to go flat after mastectomy.
It’s About Full Disclosure and Informed Consent.
Women facing mastectomy deserve full disclosure of ALL of their reconstructive options, and to have their informed consent respected.
Our Core Values
Clear Language
Flat closure is reconstruction of the chest wall contour.
Flat denial is when a surgeon disregards the patient’s consent and fails to perform the agreed upon flat closure.
Full Disclosure
Women must be given full and accurate information about ALL of their reconstructive options, including flat closure.
Shared Decision Making
The decision making process must center the patient’s values and priorities from start to finish for optimal surgical outcomes.
Evidence-Based Medicine
An optimal, evidence-based standard of care must be developed for flat closure in order to ensure women consistently receive acceptable surgical outcomes.
Accountability
Respect for women’s informed consent is non-negotiable. Surgeons who intentionally disregard a woman’s reconstructive choice must be held accountable.
Fair Reimbursement
Surgeons deserve to be fairly reimbursed for flat closure and revision services, as flat closure is a truly reconstructive, NOT cosmetic, procedure.
Systemic Parity
Achieving parity for flat closure requires legislative and regulatory change. Both the NCI and WHCRA’s definitions of “breast reconstruction” as well as the NAPBC’s reconstructive consult protocol must all be amended to explicitly include flat closure.
Patients speak out
“My surgeon gave me a handout on going flat, along with the info about reconstruction, at my first meeting with her… She did a perfect job on my chest.”
― Anonymous
“I knew I wanted to be flat from the very beginning [but] I was given a skin-sparing mastectomy. I did not consent to that outcome, nor did ever imply that it was anything I wanted. I am devastated.”
― Anon. Victim of Flat Denial
“Flat closure” is reconstruction of the chest wall contour.
FLAT Stats
75%
Three of every four patients going flat are satisfied with their cosmetic outcome.
1 in 20
About 1 in 20 patients going flat – that’s a 5% risk for each woman who chooses flat closure – are subjected to INTENTIONAL flat denial at the hands of an unethical provider.
Why Does Flat Denial Happen?
How did we get to a place where women are being routinely denied their reconstructive choice, in 2019, the year of #metoo … and no one is held accountable?
The problem is multifaceted, with many contributing factors that must be addressed in order to ensure that a woman’s choice to go flat is respected, every time. Paternalism, protectionism, lack of a defined standard of care, sub-optimal prevalence of oncoplastic training for general surgeons, and an off-kilter reimbursement system are all pieces of the puzzle.
Work We Support
Nonprofit Organizations
Cancer Policy & Advocacy Team (CPAT)
CPAT provides cancer survivors and caregivers with tools and training that build upon their personal experiences to become effective advocates to improve cancer care.
Other Advocacy Efforts We Support
A blog about breast cancer and loss.
Insight and cutting honesty about this terrible disease from author and survivor Nancy Stordahl .
PODCAST
Stephanie Astalos Jones
Charise Isis’ beauty through mastectomy photography project
Juliet Fitzpatrick’s visibility and advocacy project in the UK (also on Facebook)
Marie-Claude Belzile’s new book (in French) – deconstructing the cultural narrative about going flat. Purchase your copy here!
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About Us
Not Putting on a Shirt is a 501(c)(3) organization advocating for optimal surgical outcomes for women who choose to go flat after mastectomy.
Blog
REGISTERED CHARITY ID# 84-3021062
FAIR USE STATEMENT
This site contains copyrighted material. Not Putting on a Shirt’s educational materials and resources on this site are freely available for “fair use” (Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107) in accordance with our mission to advocate for optimal outcomes for those who choose to go flat after mastectomy. The copyrighted material on this site is distributed for educational purposes without profit – all donations to Not Putting on a Shirt directly fund our advocacy work. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes that go beyond “fair use”, you must first obtain explicit permission from the copyright owner. Please direct requests or questions to info@notputtingonashirt.org.