FOR ANYONE FACING A MASTECTOMY
You have
more choices
than you know.
When you're facing a mastectomy, the conversation often starts, and stops, at breast mound reconstruction. But going flat is a real, valid, and beautiful option. Still exists so you can see what that looks like, hear from women who've been there, walk into your surgeon's office knowing your choices—and make a choice that’s right for you and feel confident about it.
What is
going flat?
Aesthetic Flat Closure (AFC) is a post-mastectomy chest reconstruction that results in a smooth, flat chest wall—no implants, no ongoing surgeries, no foreign material in your body. It is a safe, healthy option with strong outcomes.
Research shows that the vast majority of women who go flat are happy with their decision. Yet many patients are never told it's an option, or are actively discouraged from choosing it. Some even wake up from surgery with excess tissue left behind against their expressed wishes—called flat denial. All of this is why Still exists.
WHY THIS MATTERS
The barriers are real.
So is your right to choose.
01
It's not always offered
Aesthetic flat closure is not always presented as an option. Patients often report that reconstruction was assumed, not discussed, leaving them without the full picture they needed to make a truly informed decision.
04
Representation is missing
Medical offices are full of images of reconstructed breasts. Rarely will you see what a beautiful aesthetic flat closure looks like—never mind what one on a body like yours might look like. Without visibility, going flat can feel like an invisible option, or worse, a lesser one.
Going flat after mastectomy is far more common than you might think — studies show roughly 60% of mastectomy patients choose not to reconstruct. Yet patients still encounter misinformation, pressure, and a medical system that wasn't always designed with their full range of choices in mind.
Still was created to close that gap.
02
It's not always supported—or done well
Even when patients choose to go flat, they are sometimes talked out of it or the the surgery isn't always performed skillfully. Poor flat closure—leaving excess tissue, creating uneven results—is both a medical and a human rights issue. You deserve a surgeon who respects your choice.
05
Society sends the wrong message
Outdated narratives equate breasts with femininity, beauty, and wholeness. Still exists to tell a different story — one that twelve real women live beautifully every day, in all its diverse and powerful truth.
03
Flat denial is real
Some patients clearly request to go flat and wake up with extra tissue left behind anyway. This violation of body autonomy adds physical, emotional, and financial burden at a time when life is already frightening.
06
Previvors face the same gaps
Facing a prophylactic mastectomy due to BRCA or other genetic risk? The information gap is just as wide. Still's resources serve patients and previvors alike — because everyone deserves to make an informed, empowered choice.
HOW STILL HELPS YOU
Real answers to the questions no one is asking you.
Will I still feel like myself?
The Still Anthology puts real, diverse, extraordinary people in front of you (their bodies, their stories, their lives) so you can answer that question for yourself—not through statistics. Through stories + images and lives fully, beautifully lived—Still shows you the many ways they are Still.
Am I alone in this choice?
You are not. The Still community spans survivors, previvors, and people at every stage of this journey. The Anthology’s flatties and the broader community Still connects you to—show you that going flat is a path walked by many, embraced by most.
What does it actually look like?
Before you walk into a surgeon's office, Still gives you images of what aesthetic flat closure can look like—diverse bodies, different chest shapes, real results. Seeing is believing, and you deserve to see before you decide.
How do I prepare for the conversation?
The Still Compendium gives you context to walk into your provider consultations informed and confident. Know what aesthetic flat closure is, what going flat can be like and look like on real people whose stories and bodies are similar to yours, what to ask—before you're in the room.
Still shifts the narrative between breasts and beauty by creating awareness of Aesthetic Flat Closure (going flat) as a valid mastectomy reconstruction option and promoting flat visibility and body positivity.
Through design and art, Still shares diverse collections of Stories + Images of those who go flat, illuminating the deeply beautiful and profound ways they are Still.
THE STILL PROJECTS
Still Anthologies
The Still Anthologies, Volumes 1 and 2, are a powerful collection of portraits and personal narratives from individuals who chose to go flat after mastectomy. Through striking imagery and deeply honest storytelling, the books challenge conventional ideas of femininity, beauty, and wholeness—revealing lives that are not defined by loss, but by autonomy, resilience, and self-expression.
Featuring contributors ages 27 to 70, including thrivers, survivors and previvors, the anthologies explore a diverse range of experiences, affirming a simple, radical truth: a life without breasts is not a lesser life—it is a full and profoundly beautiful one.
Still Compendium
The Still Compendium is a resource for healthcare providers and patients making reconstruction decisions.
This booklet features the twelve flatties from the Still Anthology, Volume 1 and provides beautiful examples of what aesthetic flat closure and life after going flat can look like.
The Still Compendium is clean and suitable for hospitals, medical practices, and all patients.
Nevertheless,
I am Still
A Still Poster Show Celebrating the beauty of agency.
This traveling poster exhibit shares surprising, empowering truths found on the other side of going flat after mastectomy. The unspoken potential. The answers to the very things questioned when considering going flat. And the reality for so many who have made this choice. I am Still.
Still is Hope
The love, care, and respect that was put into Still is beyond comprehension. We cheered, we screamed, we laughed, we danced, we cried. I have never felt more seen in my life. Lisa and her incredible team came together to make the incredible happen. This is changing the world for flatties. —Jaclyn
In the midst of making a plethora of choices regarding our very survival, every one of us made a choice—a choice that was questioned by the medical field, by society, by friends and family. Are you sure? As if it’s the most abnormal choice in the world. This project is the ripple the world needs —to normalize flat—to find and accept true beauty far beneath the surface. —Sheryl
This idea has turned into so much more. This is hope for the ones who were told different, the ones who don’t realize what we already have…We define us! We are #StillUs #StillHere and #StillStrong! –Starr