‘That’s gorgeous’: Breast cancer patient moved to tears after seeing tattooed nipple
Roxanne Edwards saw the tears stream down Patricia Frommer’s face as she peered into the mirror.
What was being reflected back to Frommer was an image of her former self — an image before breast cancer and the ravages of healing and reconstruction surgery.
Edwards, an LPN and certified medical tattooist at the University of Kansas Hospital, was able to re-create a nipple and areola in a 3D effect.
As Frommer cried, Edwards came around to the side of the bed, gave her a hug and cried with her.
“I had no idea that it would affect her that way,” Edwards said. “She was crying. It wasn’t sad tears. It was very happy tears...she was just so happy that she felt normal right then.”
Edwards, 59, has been doing tattoos in the plastic surgery department at KU hospital for four years.
In a 2015 article in The Kansas City Star, Edwards said doing these tattoos is “the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done.”
“It is very emotional, “ Edwards said of her work. “A lot of women have come to me and said they didn’t think they needed them and have gone years without having it done. But, as soon as they do, it makes a world of difference. They will look in the mirror and instantly get emotional. They will say to me, ‘I am a woman again.’ I cry with them.”
For the nipple tattoos, Edwards trained at the American Institute for Intradermal Cosmetics in Texas, where she also learned to apply eyebrows and lip lines for patients who have lost them as a consequence of other procedures or ailments. Nipple tattoos bring the most satisfaction.
Edwards received national attention last month when her granddaughter, Jordan Stiers, won $10,000 in a basketball contest during “Late Night in the Phog” at Allen Fieldhouse. Stiers, a sophomore at the University of Kansas, selected former KU player Brennan Bechard to shoot a half-court shot for her. The shot went in and Bill Self wrote a check for $10,000 and handed it to Stiers.
She immediately announced the money would go to her “Nana.”
“I was just thinking about my Nana and what I was going to do to help her,” Stiers told The Kansas City Star right after winning the money. “I’ve always thought about that one question: If you win so much money, what are you going to do with it? And she’s helped me a lot in my life, so pay it forward.”
Stiers said Edwards raised her and four siblings in her Independence home.
“She took us in when things were tough,” Stiers said. “It’s been rough for her, but she’s taken care of us, so I’m going to take care of her.”
This story was originally published November 16, 2016 at 4:09 PM with the headline "‘That’s gorgeous’: Breast cancer patient moved to tears after seeing tattooed nipple."