Women’s health journalist Catherine Guthrie‘s Cosmopolitan article last month dragged the despicable practice of flat denial out of the shadows and into the light of day. Guthrie recently posted on her blog that she was contacted by one of the surgeons she had interviewed during the course of her (extensive) research, and what she heard from this surgeon blew me away.
This is an excerpt from Guthrie’s post. Dr. Patricia Clark, a breast surgeon who travels the country teaching other surgeons how to perform an effective flat closure, sent Guthrie the following email:
“I thought you’d like to know…I was speaking at an international advanced oncoplastic surgery course over the weekend and your article was put up on the screen by the surgeon doing the opening introductory speech emphasizing respect for patient choice. It was presented and referenced several times during the conference with the photo of the patient [Kim] holding the sign demanding surgeon accountability…” Dr. Patricia Clark, speaking to Catherine Guthrie, Sept 18, 2018
This means that we are beginning to make an impact in the medical community! Those of you who have shared your flat denial stories publicly, those of you who posted in solidarity with Not Putting on a Shirt during the Virtual Walk on September 8th, those of you who have shared my own story, and those of you who helped NPoaS fundraise to support the cause… those of you who came out to Cleveland, and Pittsburgh, and marched through the rain on the sidewalks… we are being heard. This is proof.
As Dory says… “keep on swimming!”