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Flat and Happy: Mastectomy and Flat Closure - A Personal, Practical Guide
The weeks leading up to mastectomy surgery or the removal of an implant are often filled with scary statistics and bewildering medical jargon. For a woman navigating this tumultuous time, Flat and Happy is like a conversation with a good friend who's been there and done all the informative, personal and brimming with humor and heart. Written in consultation with experienced breast cancer specialists, this comprehensive guide is hailed as a "unique and invaluable resource for any woman faced with a diagnosis of breast cancer." Flat and Happy gives women who are seeking an alternative to breast reconstruction the information and tools they need to make informed decisions and to advocate for themselves before and after surgery.
- GenresNonfiction
368 pages, Paperback
Published May 14, 2022
32 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
Katrin van Dam
3 books35 followersKatrin van Dam has worked in children’s media and licensing for nearly thirty years and is currently a creative executive at a major media company. In 2018, Scholastic published her debut young adult novel, Come November. A few months later, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy. After getting a taste of the societal pressure to have reconstruction, she felt compelled to provide a resource for women who are facing this difficult decision. Flat and Happy, her first work of nonfiction, came out of that commitment.
Kat lives with her husband in New York City. She is an avid theatergoer and enjoys hosting raucous dinner parties and traveling. She is also passionate about good food, storytelling, and saving our beautiful, besieged planet (not necessarily in that order). She is a graduate of Yale University.
Kat lives with her husband in New York City. She is an avid theatergoer and enjoys hosting raucous dinner parties and traveling. She is also passionate about good food, storytelling, and saving our beautiful, besieged planet (not necessarily in that order). She is a graduate of Yale University.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 14, 2022
This was by far the most helpful and comprehensive resource I have found not only on aesthetic flat closures but for all options of breast reconstruction. I found out I have the BRCA gene a few years ago and I was only given information on reconstruction and wanted to see what other options I have for when the time comes to yeet the teets. I highly recommend to anyone looking for information on mastectomy related decisions!
May 21, 2022
Life-altering decisions shouldn't have to be made based on a ten-minute conversation with a doctor or surgeon. Add in the anxiety levels that go along with a cancer diagnosis, and how do you process what you really need to know and remember to ask what you need to ask?
Written with warmth, empathy, and humor, this book is so helpful. It explains all the surgical options in an even-handed way and helps you understand future implications for the decisions you make. Although the author unapologetically makes a case for aesthetic flat closure, she adds in the personal accounts of other women who have made different choices with diverse experiences, attitudes, and outcomes after mastectomy. The chapters that explain technical surgical options are easy to understand, and illustrations are helpful without being too graphic. Understanding pros and cons of different kinds of surgical choices (along with the checklists of essential questions!) will allow you to have more informed and satisfactory discussions with your surgeon about your own particular surgical needs following a breast cancer diagnosis.
Written with warmth, empathy, and humor, this book is so helpful. It explains all the surgical options in an even-handed way and helps you understand future implications for the decisions you make. Although the author unapologetically makes a case for aesthetic flat closure, she adds in the personal accounts of other women who have made different choices with diverse experiences, attitudes, and outcomes after mastectomy. The chapters that explain technical surgical options are easy to understand, and illustrations are helpful without being too graphic. Understanding pros and cons of different kinds of surgical choices (along with the checklists of essential questions!) will allow you to have more informed and satisfactory discussions with your surgeon about your own particular surgical needs following a breast cancer diagnosis.
November 9, 2024
Essential reading
This book is so well written, easy to understand and informative. It was absolutely essential in my decision to have a Goldilocks. If you are facing impossible, life altering decisions you need all of the facts and options available to make an informed choice. Often all of these options aren't shared by your medical team.
I am so grateful to have stumbled on this resource, it has literally changed my medical outcome and allowed me to feel comfortable in my decision. I will recommend this book to everyone I know having to make these decisions, and I thank Katrin and Camelia from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to create this much needed resource!
This book is so well written, easy to understand and informative. It was absolutely essential in my decision to have a Goldilocks. If you are facing impossible, life altering decisions you need all of the facts and options available to make an informed choice. Often all of these options aren't shared by your medical team.
I am so grateful to have stumbled on this resource, it has literally changed my medical outcome and allowed me to feel comfortable in my decision. I will recommend this book to everyone I know having to make these decisions, and I thank Katrin and Camelia from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to create this much needed resource!
April 30, 2023
Not an easy read as such given the subject matter, but certainly written in a friendly, easy to follow and read it way.
It's proved invaluable research for me as a woman in this situation - having cancer and needing a mastectomy.
I'm stunned by the attitudes of many! believing it to be acceptable to use inferior materials, sometimes not even fit for purpose, for implants, the lack of recall when they knew implants were dangerous, the blatant disregard for how a woman feels and the over keen emphasis on reconstruction just to suit a patriarchal society's concept on women. Grrrrr but I am grateful this book helped inform me and has helped me make a very difficult decision.
It's proved invaluable research for me as a woman in this situation - having cancer and needing a mastectomy.
I'm stunned by the attitudes of many! believing it to be acceptable to use inferior materials, sometimes not even fit for purpose, for implants, the lack of recall when they knew implants were dangerous, the blatant disregard for how a woman feels and the over keen emphasis on reconstruction just to suit a patriarchal society's concept on women. Grrrrr but I am grateful this book helped inform me and has helped me make a very difficult decision.
March 11, 2023
Comprehensive information from diagnosis through surgery and beyond. Essential reading for anyone facing surgery following a breast cancer diagnosis.
November 3, 2024
I read this book 6 weeks after my double mastectomy with aesthetic flat closure. It confirmed that I made the right decision for me. The author is careful to recognize that breast cancer treatment and reconstruction decisions are highly individualized and each person needs to trust their own journey.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews