I’m Paige Shafer, and I’m from Kentucky. I was diagnosed with triple positive stage 2b IDC breast cancer in September 2019 at age 26. I’ve made it my goal to help educate young women on the early warning signs of breast cancer and to support those going through similar journeys through my Instagram @PaigeShafer03.
I was playing Cards Against Humanities with friends one night and couldn’t contain my giggles when I picked up a particular card. Not that this is new for this game, but I had never had a card speak to me on such a personal and spiritual level. That card? “One titty hanging out.”
For a little backstory, I’ve had a bilateral mastectomy and reconstruction. An important thing to note about the surgery I had, is that they cut through the nerves in my chest, leaving my new and improved foobies (fake boobies) a bit (read totally) numb.
This has proven to be a tad bit of an issue on more than one occasion already, and we’ve only been together three months. The first time I found out this was going to be a problem was after my radiation consultation. I had a great appointment, the team was making me feel really comfortable, we were standing by door, joking around, talking about cats, and I looked down and my entire right foob was hanging out of my gown. I had no clue; I couldn’t feel a thing. Nobody said a thing about it as I just casually closed my top. (They had just seen me topless on the table, so no biggie.) Flash forward a few weeks, I’m sitting at home, wearing a shirt I’d worn countless times. This was the first time I’d worn it since my surgery though, and I did opt to get smaller implants than I had previously. Well, this shirt was baggy and loose before, but now, you can see where this is going, right? I looked down, and there it was again, my whole right foob, hanging out. Good thing my friends are used to seeing my foobs now, because of course I took a video to send them so they could laugh at my new life problems with me. I said something along the lines of this being my new normal, having to check to make sure I’m not walking around with one titty hanging out in that video. A few people responded with the counterpoint that I should just do it anyways. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t pictured people’s reaction to one nipple-less titty hanging out while walking down the street. I don’t think they’re ready yet, so for now, I’ll keep laughing and sharing with my friends, and double checking to make sure my foobs are safe and secure inside the shirt.
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