BTW - P.ink is pronounced "pea ink" The idea to adorn my own mastectomy scar with a tattoo came to me before I'd had any of my surgeries, while reading Geralyn Lucas' Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy. At the end of the breast cancer memoir, Geralyn shares how she opted to not get nipple reconstruction but instead got a small winged heart tattooed near her mastectomy scar. I too had decided not to go with any of the available nipple reconstruction options and the moment I read about Geralyn's tattoo I knew this was something I needed to do.
I heard about Personal Ink last fall. This organization would be providing breast cancer survivors with mastectomy tattoos on "P.ink Day", which would be held in my own hometown of Brooklyn, NY, 3 years to the day since my doctor called to say cancerous cells had been found in the tissue taken during the core biopsy done on my left breast. I told my husband I was getting a free tattoo and he said "um...things you pay for" but tattoos are really expensive (one reason I hadn't yet gotten one), I didn't know the first thing about finding an experienced artist on my own (P.ink would provide artists who have mastectomy tattooing skills) and these people seemed legit (P.ink was founded by the VP, Director of Experience Design at ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky).
I heard about Personal Ink last fall. This organization would be providing breast cancer survivors with mastectomy tattoos on "P.ink Day", which would be held in my own hometown of Brooklyn, NY, 3 years to the day since my doctor called to say cancerous cells had been found in the tissue taken during the core biopsy done on my left breast. I told my husband I was getting a free tattoo and he said "um...things you pay for" but tattoos are really expensive (one reason I hadn't yet gotten one), I didn't know the first thing about finding an experienced artist on my own (P.ink would provide artists who have mastectomy tattooing skills) and these people seemed legit (P.ink was founded by the VP, Director of Experience Design at ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky).
As the official t-shirts say: "I got P.ink'd in Brooklyn" ...and it was amazing! Really, from my first communication with P.ink through today, every one of my interactions with the P.ink team has proven that this is a group of individuals who truly care. It is a group powered by love. In fact, it's a family affair! Noel Franus founded Personal Ink after his sister-in-law, Molly Ortwein, decided to tattoo over her own double mastectomy scars.
Tattoo by Roxx, 2 Spirit Tattoo My tattoo was done by Roxx of 2 Spirit Tattoo in San Francisco. I had an abstract idea of what I wanted for my tattoo. I told Roxx that I wanted an image representative of a dove but without the feathers and eyeballs. The morning of P.ink Day 2013, hosted by Saved Tattoo in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Roxx came up with a geometric interpretation of a dove's wing. I had to have it.
I went into P.ink Day thinking I wanted the tattoo (my first ever!) as a way to capture everything my husband and I had been through, close that chapter and move on. What I learned in the weeks after receiving my tattoo, was that I actually entered into P.ink Day with some serious body image issues resulting from my feelings about my mastectomy scar. But the tattoo allowed me to once again like what I see when I look in the mirror.
My husband and I were so impressed by the P.ink team, the CP+B team and our own P.ink Day experience that we immediately volunteered to help in any possible way. This year's P.ink Day would expand on the 1 city, 10 artist-survivor pairs model of last year. #pinktattooday (official hashtag) 2014 would be taking place in 12 cities across the US & Canada, with 38 breast cancer survivors receiving mastectomy tattoos on the same day: 10/10/14. I was asked to lead P.ink Day for New York City.
My mom and aunt were among our volunteers in NYC P.ink Day 2014: NYC took place at Gristle Tattoo in Brooklyn, which is owned by the endlessly generous Dina Di Censo. We had 6 artist-survivor pairs. In planning P.ink Day, I was guided by my desire to re-create those feelings of love, support and family that I experienced the previous year. (In fact, my family and close friends made up our 8-member volunteer team.) The happy tears and smiles on the faces of our survivors allow me to believe that my team and I met our goal but I also got so much in return. I've gotten to know our survivors - Christine, Diana, Rose Marie, Shani, Giovanna and Bernadette - over the past few months. These women are strong, smart, funny, resilient and have been an inspiration to me.
| So what's next? Details for P.ink Day 2015 are not yet released but if you or someone you know is interested in getting a mastectomy scar tattoo from Personal Ink, please check out our signup form. In the meanwhile, the Inkspiration app lets you "try on" tattoo designs. If you want to help, check out our donor page or email me to volunteer for or sponsor a future P.ink Day: info@pieceocakenutrition.com. |  The Inkspiration app by P.ink |
There are lots more photos from P.ink Day in NYC and across North America! Here's where you can find them:
Personal Ink Pinterest Page
My own Pinterest page
Photographer Lydia Perez DeJesus' Instagram page
The official website of Personal Ink is a resource for information about experienced tattoo artists, design ideas and P.ink updates.
Personal Ink Pinterest Page
My own Pinterest page
Photographer Lydia Perez DeJesus' Instagram page
The official website of Personal Ink is a resource for information about experienced tattoo artists, design ideas and P.ink updates.
