Betty Ford's Positive Outlook After a Mastectomy

Erica3681 · July 2011

In the New York Times article about Betty Ford's death yesterday, at 93, there's a great quote from her about how she felt about her mastectomy surgery in 1974:

Mrs. Ford was once asked if she felt sorry for herself during the trauma of losing her breast.

“No! Oh, no — heavens, no,” she replied. “I’ve heard women say they’d rather lose their right arm, and I can’t imagine it. It’s so stupid. I can even wear my evening clothes.”

Mrs. Ford helped to remove a lot of the stigma of breast cancer by her openness about the disease. And her attitude toward adjusting to life breast-free is still inspirational to me.

Barbara

BreastFree.org

BoobsinaBox · July 2011

You said it, Barbara, and she was one of my inspirations as well. And then she lived to 93! Would that we could all do as well!

Dawn

Anonymous · July 2011

Yeah, she really was something. Helped reduce the stigma of both breast cancer and drug addiction. I've always liked how she was open and honest about her experiences. When you think about the time period in which she was speaking directly about these issues, it's even more amazing.