My name is Carla Fourie and I am a breast cancer survivor!

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In November 2010 at age 35, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Needless to say I was shocked, but with the support of my amazing family I started the process of "getting on with it" as best I could.

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It all happened very quickly for me and I chose to have a bilateral mastectomy, due to the medical facts of my case. I was scared. Part of dealing with the fear of cancer was to see beyond it, setting my sights on surviving. But that brought up another chilling unknown....what was I going to look like?

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I am a qualified special effects make-up artist in the film industry, working with high detail prosthetics, so with the help of some friends I had a cast made of my chest. I'm not sure why I wanted to do this, perhaps for posterity as I wanted to remember what I looked like, or perhaps my practical and meticulous side demanded I could show my reconstructive surgeon exactly how I looked.

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I was blessed and I had an amazing doctor and great results. Only thing missing was my nipples. So I made myself some to stick on. Immediately my new chest looked more real, and when it came to the process of having new nipples made, I pulled out my buds and showed them to my reconstructive surgeon and said "I want them to look like that".

 

She was impressed and told me I had a great idea. After a few years and quite a few surgeries, I was finally ready to make my nipples more permanent, and so I started with the 3D tattooing.

I realized that there are a lot of women out there who have been through what I have, all with different needs and desires. No one has the same conditions, treatments or experiences, but I feel that my product can help everyone. Whether you have one breast or no breasts, even just having a nipple makes a big difference.