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NPOAS Vice President, Christy Avila, Passes Away from MBC
NPOAS VP Christy Avila has passed away from MBC.
Claudia’s Story: Stay Firm With What You Want For Yourself
Claudia was diagnosed with two different types of breast cancer in both breasts at age 51 after her yearly mammogram. She knew she didn’t want reconstruction because she wanted to minimize surgery. She found the NPOAS website and used the resources there to advocate for her choice, finding an excellent surgeon who supported her choice and gave her a great surgical outcome.
Ruth’s Story: I Have Created a New Identity
Don’t be afraid to challenge expectations and attitudes. Societal attitudes are changing and with greater awareness, being flat is an option.
Katherine’s Story: I Refuse to Hide What I Have Endured
I refuse to hide what I have endured.
I stand whole and perfect with my scars.
To be honest and valiant. To proclaim the truth.
Natalie’s Story: Finding My Path Through Mastectomy and Reconstruction
Natalie experienced her mother’s breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, and shortly thereafter was diagnosed with a genetic predisposition to the […]
Breast Reconstructive Surgeon’s View on Aesthetic Flat Closure Surgery After Mastectomy
Facing Life After Mastectomy Receiving a breast cancer diagnosis is understandably frightening and emotional. In that turmoil of processing such […]
BCAM Corporate Fundraisers for NPOAS
Enormous thanks to three amazing companies – Total Truck Branding, Crazy Dayz Tattoos, and CRDN – for selecting NPOAS as […]
New Resource – Sex & Gender Diverse
New resource at NPOAS! Diversity is a beautiful thing… read all about the intersection of sex, gender, mastectomy & AFC […]
NPOAS 2022-2023 Two Year Strategic Plan
Here’s our detailed aesthetic flat closure advocacy roadmap for the next two years, give or take, broken down by category. […]
October 13th is Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC) Awareness Day
Repost from International FLAT Day Today, October 13th, is Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day. MBC is the only breast cancer […]
New Project! Amend the NAPBC’s Reconstructive Protocol
Women going flat after mastectomy are not getting the care we need and deserve, in part because most of us […]
Vermont Insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield Supports Revision Bill
Big progress continues in Vermont in ensuring insurance coverage for flat closure and revision services! Representative Charen Fegard’s flat revision […]
State of Vermont Moves to Protect Patients
Vermont State Agency Issues Consumer Alert on Revision Denials Big progress is happening right now in Vermont to ensure insurance […]
Informed Consent is Non-Negotiable
Australian Woman Says Her Surgeon Placed Expanders Without Her Consent ** Update: unfolding information suggests that this situation does not represent […]
Pioneers in Flat Advocacy: Marie-Claude Belzile
Pioneers in Flat Advocacy – A blog series designed to highlight and amplify the voices of the flat advocates whose work built (and continues to build) the foundation for the work that other advocates are doing now.
Clear Language: “Flat Closure”
What does the term “flat closure” mean? Flat closure = chest wall reconstruction post-mastectomy Flat closure is shorthand for surgery […]
Flat Denial: Who is Most at Risk?
We’re All at Risk, Right? Our research, presented last year at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, has identified several […]
Kim’s Revision Surgery After Intentional Flat Denial
I finally decided to get revision surgery, after almost three years living with “a little extra in case you change […]
NPOAS’ Table at the 2019 AHN SABCS Review
A Great Opportunity for Provider Outreach Thanks to Allegheny Health Network and San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium for putting together the 2019 AHN SABCS […]
NPOAS Board of Directors
Not Putting on a Shirt is starting 2020 off with a BANG! The new year brings a new crew and […]
NPOAS Exhibit at 2019 Pittsburgh SABCS Review
Not Putting on a Shirt will be exhibiting at the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium Review at the Pittsburgh […]
Share Your Experience: Revision Surgery
Help us ensure women’s access to care by filling out our short online survey. Your participation in the survey will […]
Tina – Flat Has Been Freeing
Editor: It’s been some months since we published our last personal story of going flat. Today we hear from Tina […]
Vermont Rep. Fegard Introduces Revision Bill
Breaking news! Vermont State Representative Charen Fegard has just introduced an historic bill requiring insurance coverage for revision surgery! Charen […]
Our Poster at SABCS 2019
We had a successful poster session at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) this past month, presenting a poster […]
Coding for Flat Closure
Interested in helping us break down barriers that women going flat face when trying to achieve an aesthetic result they […]
Shared Decision Making: Protecting Patient Autonomy and Informed Consent
SDM is about patient autonomy and informed consent. Shared decision making (SDM) is a collaborative model of clinical decision-making that […]
Cleveland Clinic Researchers Publish Paper on Aesthetic Flat Closure
You read that right. Cleveland Clinic researchers, in partnership with the University of Toledo, have been researching flat closure. Cleveland […]
FDA Issues Landmark Recommendations for Implant Manufacturers
Hot off the press – FDA is listening to women’s voices on breast implants. Today, FDA issued a recommendation to […]
NPOAS Will Have a Poster Presentation at SABCS 2019
Big news! NPOAS will be presenting a research poster at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium this year, December 10th – 14th. […]
Plastic Surgeons Are NOT Required to Discuss Aesthetic Flat Closure
It’s true… plastic surgeons are not required to discuss aesthetic flat closure during the reconstructive consult. Christy Avila of Fierce, Flat, Forward was […]
Behind the Pink Ribbon Podcast with NPOAS Founder Kim Bowles
Now you can listen to NPOAS founder Kim Bowles’ interview with Behind the Pink Ribbon, a new breast cancer podcast by […]
Midwest Breast & Aesthetic Surgery Publishes Videos on Flat Closure
Flat closure to produce a smooth, breastless chest wall contour is a reconstructive procedure. Listen to Dr. Pankaj Tiwari at Midwest […]
UCLA Researcher Launches Flat Closure Survey
We are so excited to share this news with our community. Dr. Deanna J. Attai, former President of the American Society […]
October 13th is Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day
October 13th is Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day. Metastatic breast cancer (MBC) is the only breast cancer that kills, and […]
Flat Closure is Reconstructive, NOT Cosmetic
“Reconstructive” vs “Cosmetic”Surgery In the world of plastic surgery, reconstructive procedures are usually covered by insurance while cosmetic procedures are […]
International FLAT Day is October 7th!
“International FLAT Day” was created to celebrate going flat – to promote breast reconstruction awareness, to promote flat closure (breastless, […]
FLAT Is Where It’s At Interviews Metro Surgical Associates
The FLAT Podcast Stephanie Astalos Jones, who shared her story with NPOAS last year, recently launched her project Flat Is […]
Now Online – Flat Friendly Surgeons Directory
Your new surgeon is just a click away. Great news for women going flat! Our 150+ strong, international Flat Friendly […]
New Resource Pages at Flat Closure NOW: Explant and Revision (ARCHIVED)
New Resource Pages at Flat Closure NOW for Patients Seeking Explant and Revision Surgery EXPLANT SURGERY Our sister organization, Flat […]
Focus on Flat Closure Techniques
Awareness Continues to Spread Word continues to spread among the surgical community that patients going flat after mastectomy expect their […]
What Flat Denial Is, and Is Not
We would like to clear up any confusion about what flat denial is, and what it is not. We want […]
Putting Flat on the Menu: Flat Closure NOW (Archived)
At Not Putting on a Shirt, we are SO excited to announce the official launch of the new collaborative flat advocacy […]
NPR Interview With Catherine Guthrie
Women’s health journalist Catherine Guthrie, whose groundbreaking article in Cosmopolitan blew the lid off of flat denial, was just featured […]
NPoaS on the Today Show!
Women’s health journalist and author of “FLAT: Reclaiming my body from breast cancer” Catherine Guthrie and Not Putting on a Shirt […]
Register now for the NPoaS Walk on Oct 23rd!
You can now register here for Not Putting on a Shirt’s Walk on Oct 23rd (Tuesday). Registration is easy and […]