Thanks to the tireless work of flat advocates and our supporters, and despite a global pandemic, we saw major progress on the flat advocacy front these past two years. And we expect to see even more progress in 2022! While much of our two year strategic plan at NPOAS has been achieved, we aren’t at the finish line yet… but we are WELL on our way!
Milestones 2020-2021
- Stakeholders Are Supporting AFC. The OPBC add “optimal flat closure” to its mission statement, and the NCI add “aesthetic flat closure” to its Dictionary of Cancer Terms. Multiple surgical practices and hospitals now include AFC on their websites as well.
- Research Marches Forward. Researchers at UCLA published their groundbreaking research on the patient experience going flat, which confirmed NPOAS’ pilot study results and put FLAT in the media spotlight!
- AFC in the Media. Multiple breast cancer & women’s health platforms online published articles about AFC, and flat visibility organization Less Than Two Breasts carried out the first Stand Tall AFC awareness campaign in October. It was a huge success, featuring the premier of the first single breasted TV character, Dr. Wendy Sage!
- Expanded Tools & Resources for Patients. NPOAS published comprehensive information pages about Living Flat, Preparing for Surgery, and The Goldilocks Mastectomy, and AFC Scar Patterns & More on our website. Also, our Flat Friendly Surgeons’ Directory is now at 300 listings and climbing fast, and is even more user-friendly with search by metropolitan area and an interactive map.
What’s in store for 2022?
We are proud to say that NPOAS was directly involved in each and every one of the milestones listed above, and we look forward to continuing our work in 2022. Here are some highlights of some of our current plans for the coming year:
We look forward to attending the Spring 2022 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Breast Surgeons to engage directly with surgeons, researchers, and other stakeholders to promote an improved standard of care for AFC patients.
We are also looking forward to new research on flat closure technique being published that’s currently in the works, and to pushing forward state and federal legislative amendments (in the works now) to protect the interests of women going flat.
We can’t wait to publish our NEW brochure for medical professionals, a collaboration with @LessThanTwoBreasts (IG), “My Choice: AFC”
This brochure will help us reach patients when they are first diagnosed, by ensuring information about aesthetic flat closure is available at oncology clinics!
We are so excited to continue to support the Stand Tall AFC campaign and attending its 2022 events!
Stay tuned for publication of our detailed Two Year Strategic Plan for 2022-2023!