Although Tina’s pay if forward for PIP account will close, it was a successful endeavor. Fundraising for a charitable cause directly through MFI has never been done before. This was a watershed event and we appreciate everyone’s understanding and patience throughout the process. Allowing Tina to utilize MFI for a different outcome made a huge difference to two women in need (Rebecca and Sue). Below I’ve attached a letter of gratitude from Sue Coates, one of the women who will undergo surgery on June 13th, because of your assistance. We’ll conduct a follow up interview with both Sue and Rebecca after their operations.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hello MFI,

My name is Sue Coates, I am one of the ladies you have offered to help with the removal & replacement of PIP implants.

I found out in January of 2012 that I have PIP implants, and I must say the news came as a very big shock. After several letters from my local NHS hospital I was seen by a consultant, who offered no help at all. I was devestated and didn’t know where to turn.

I contacted a PIP implants help group on Facebook, where I met Antonia Mariconda, Tina, and other supporters. They offered assistance in getting a removal and replacement, which has been wonderful. I really dont know where I would be without the support of our small group of wonderful women.

As for my upcoming surgery, I cannot stress to you how greatful I am for your kind donations. This has been such a hard time for my family and I, but your generosity and Tina’s fundraising has made such a difference to us. I would like to thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I am an emotional girl but when I got the call telling me about your support I nearly fell off my chair. Honestly, I cried quite a lot, which is no surprise considering what was being offered to me.

What you are doing is a wonderful thing, and if there is anything I can do in return then please dont hesitate to ask.

Thank you again you are a truely wonderful people.

[ via: adweek.com ]

Many participants in the focus group knew nothing about the history of the battle. Numerous others indicated the images on the new bill too closely resembled the Twin Towers before 9/11 and were too pornographic. Really?!

The new bill:

The Twin Towers with topless ladies in question:

Not actually the Twin Towers with topless ladies

[ From: buzzfeed.com ]

An excerpt from the review:

Williams’ journey begins when, alarmed by a news article about toxins in breast milk, she decides to get her own milk tested. And, surprise! It’s packed with toxins—specifically, chemical flame retardants—that Williams is funneling directly into her baby. (“Well, at least your breasts won’t spontaneously ignite!” her husband jokes, because that’s exactly what you want to hear when adjusting to the news that you’re a human baby-poison factory.) This sends her down a rabbit hole in search of deeper understanding of her own anatomy— into the evolutionary history of mammals, to Peru to investigate nursing and weaning, back to the first breast augmentation surgery, and all over the world to interview more boob experts than you can shake a pasty at.

And she discovers that breasts are complicated. Impossibly so. She learns that it’s the breast’s permeability that make it such an evolutionary powerhouse (lots and lots of estrogen receptors help human puberty occur at the optimal time; nutrient-rich breast milk makes for giant brains)—but that same permeability is also, partially, what causes one in eight women to develop breast cancer. Our breasts make us great but they also make us vulnerable, and you can’t help but come away from Williams’ book feeling a bit helpless. (Self-examinations! Self-examinations are key!) While she makes the story as dynamic as possible, there’s no escaping that this is science journalism—there are lots of PBDE levels and octa-203 and penta-47 and dioxin and “lobule type 4” and other such enemies of lively prose. But that’s OK—there are enough surprises and genuinely horrifying learning moments to keep a reader (especially a lady-reader), uh, latched on.

The review concludes with “Five Things I Learned About Breasts From Florence Williams’ Breasts,” with West taking a comedic approach, surprisingly, without undermining the book’s implications. Parting quips aside, the book appears to delve into uncharted areas of breast science and sociology, offering a fascinating exploration of the past, present and future of breasts, and what we can do to save them.

Amazon.com, I’ll take two please.

You can read the full review here: Your Breasts Are Trying to Kill You.

[ From slate.com (via: boingboing.net) ]

The Macrolane gel used in the £2,500 treatment makes it more difficult to spot tumors in standard mammogram scans, doctors say.

The procedure was marketed as the “lunchtime boob” job because it takes just 45 minutes and boosts breast size by a cup.

More than 5,000 British women chose to have the filler as an alternative to surgery, despite the fact that the treatment is unregulated because the gel is not officially classed as a medicine.

[ bustygirlcomics.com ]

Seriously.

The FBI accuses the 30-year-old Linux administrator, who goes by the name wormer, of being part of an anonymous hacking group called CabinCr3w. The woman in the photo is his Australian girlfriend who lives in Melbourne, Australia. This image was used by the FBI as ‘definitive proof’ that Ochoa is the hacker involved in several illegal actions.

Back in February, Ochoa allegedly posted a tweet under the handle @Anonw0rmer directing followers to a site containing stolen information from various law enforcement agency websites. At the bottom of the site was a photo of his girlfriend with a sign that read: “PwNd by w0rmer & CabinCr3w <3 u BiTch’s !”

The picture was taken with an iPhone with GPS information that showed the photo was taken at the woman’s home. Other tweets from @Anonw0rmer had more pictures of this woman and links to sites with illegally obtained information. This was enough cause for the FBI to gain access to Ochoa’s Facebook page where they discovered more photos of the Australian woman and also that she was listed as his girlfriend.

Though the photo used as evidence does not show the woman’s face, the boobs were enough proof to convince the FBI that there is no doubt that this is the same woman, and that Ochoa is wormer. Busted!

[ From: gizmodo.com ]

This film documents a couple who fell so madly in love with each other that they underwent several plastic surgery procedures – including breast implants – as a way to solidify their union by looking more and more alike. They call their transformative project “Pandrogyne.”

Whoa.

Has anyone seen this yet?

[ thestranger.com ]

Myers uses precisely mixed pigments that create a perfect three dimensional illusion of the real thing, which he says is “far more rewarding than anything else I have ever done.” The 49-year-old artist revealed to the AFP. “When it’s completed and they see the final results, most women feel very emotional because they realize: ‘The thing is over, I’m whole again.’”

Having spent the last ten years of his career concentrating on post-op cosmetic tattoos, Myers is truly amazing at what he does. You can view some examples (NSFW) of his reconstructive tattooing on his website here. He’s so good at what he does that he has recently been asked by the revered Johns Hopkins Hospital to work for its Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery Department.

Some hospitals also offer post-mastectomy tattoos, but Myers told the AFP they are typically carried out by nurses with no more than “a couple of days” training. It takes Myers about two hours to complete his work, during which he determines the color, the size, and the shape of the areolas of each patient.

[ From: jezebel.com ]