Melons, Coconuts, and Tater Tots
Boobs, hooters, jugs, tits, melons, ta-tas, coconuts, the twins, the girls, puppies, maracas, funbags, chesticles, bazoombas, cha-chas, knockers, cans, lady lumps, gazongas, rocket launchers, tater tots, party pillows…I could go on. Seriously, I really could go on. Cosmopolitan magazine names 99 different terms for breasts and I don’t believe for a minute it’s a complete list. Why the fascination? As Julia Roberts famously said in Notting Hill, “They’re just breasts.”
Breasts are the most obvious and iconic symbol of femininity. They’ve been carved in stone by sculptors, celebrated by poets, displayed in all manner of tantalizing ways, employed to good effect in sex play and, lest we forget, fed quite a few babies. A paper in the peer-reviewed journal Plastic Surgery stated, “In many cultures, the female breast is a potent symbol of beauty, motherhood, and vitality….”
So, what happens when a woman who has associated her breasts with beauty, womanhood, and desirability loses her breasts to cancer? Studies have shown that mastectomy can cause psychological reactions such as depression, anxiety, and stress, and affect body esteem and quality of life.
Dr. Matthew Richards is a surgeon at the Beebe Center for Breast Health. In that role he navigates the tricky waters of altering or removing breasts because of breast cancer. While he performs a range of procedures, most of his practice is biopsies, lumpectomies, and mastectomies.
There’s no underestimating the emotional and psychological impact such procedures carry. “I let the patient lead the conversation with how they’re feeling, what their wishes are in terms of the surgical outcome,” Richards says. “I try my best to provide them with support services…and peer mentor groups that can help soften or talk through that emotion. Certainly, it’s harder for me, as a man, trying to discuss with women a big component of some of their femininity.”
A cancer survivor himself, Dr. Richards initially wanted to be a pediatric oncologist but found that surgery was a better fit. “I like to build things, fix things. I like the artistry of surgery.” He liked the science of cancer but wanted patient interaction, so when he rotated through breast surgery during his training, it clicked. “This is really a perfect combination of the things I wanted to do when I started medical school and the things that I liked doing as a surgeon.”
Dr. Matthew Richards
Healthcare and the LGBTQ+ Community
According to some breast cancer research, lesbian women have a higher incidence of breast cancer and worse outcomes. Risk factors include a higher average BMI, more alcohol use, more smoking, and less screening.
“There’s a unique set of risk factors of the LGBTQ population as a whole that can elevate risks for developing any type of cancer,” says Richards. “There seems to be this underlying increased risk but then there’s also underutilization or an under-focus on health maintenance and health care in this population because of a mistrust, historically, in the medical profession.”
The higher risk and underutilization of health services motivates Dr. Richards to focus on LGBTQ health, health maintenance, and cancer screening.
Although not currently certified to do implant-based reconstruction or female-to-male chest surgery for transgender patients, he hopes to add those capabilities in the future. “We need more support and more information for these populations,” he says, “because they are so stigmatized and so misunderstood, and there’s not a lot of solid medical training [for transgender care]…so there needs to be better access to care, better access to resources, and on the medical side, there needs to be better training of the providers.”
Beebe Healthcare is working to address healthcare equity. They partner with organizations such as CAMP Rehoboth and promise “a safe place where members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning communities can access care with respect and dignity.” Recently, Beebe hired Elizabeth Campbell, J.D., as its first Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging to ensure that these qualities remain a focus throughout the organization. For more information: beebehealthcare.org/beebe-lgbtq-inclusive.
Nancy Sakaduski is an award-winning writer and editor who owns Cat & Mouse Press in Lewes, Delaware.
Marble statue “Galatea,” Robert Le Lorrain, 1701, National Gallery of Art, Samuel H. Kress Collection
Dr. Matthew Richards, courtesy of Beebe Healthcare