Sculpting a Survivor

Jean Pupkes, a clinical nurse specialist for breast and women’s cancers at North Memorial Hubert Humphrey Cancer Center, acts as a sounding board for women deciding whether to reconstruct. She occasionally hears women say, “I think flat is fine,” and opt for no reconstruction following mastectomies, but she also helps many patients during and after their procedures.

Although she encounters some patients disappointed with the results of their reconstructions, Pupkes says the majority is very happy with the outcome. She’s had several women approach her, in fact, and say, “Come and see my breasts,” as they pull her into the bathroom and proudly lift up their shirts.

Surgical nurse and breast cancer survivor Peggy Halvorson also helps many cancer patients through reconstruction and had her own breasts reconstructed in 2003. As is the case with some flap procedures, Halvorson had multiple surgeries, including one to tattoo a nipple and another to place an implant after the doctors removed necrotic (dead) tissue from the initial flap. Through it all, she’s remained optimistic—“It’s been a long haul,” she says with a laugh—but she knows the decision to reconstruct is different for every person. “This is always something that the patient should do for themselves,” she says, mentioning how some women continue struggling to adapt to their new figures even several years after a mastectomy. “It’s a very personal decision.”

Abele and Halvorson, who have worked for the American Cancer Society for the past few years promoting galas and fundraising events and offering support to patients and survivors around them, feel a similar kinship with cancer survivors. They both refer to their bond as a club.

Like many of the “club members,” Abele still struggles with pain and weakness on a regular basis. But she stays positive. When speaking about both her fellow cancer survivors and the added emotion of learning on 9/11 that she had the disease, she says, in a hopeful tone, “I felt connected.”