To spare or not to spare

Just when I thought I had it all worked out, my breast surgeon presented me with another decision I'll need to make before my mastectomy. This one's about the healthy boob (the mastectomy will be bilateral). We already know that she'll remove the whole breast—including the nipple—on my cancer boob. Apparently, though, I can opt to keep the nipple and aureola of the healthy boob if I want. They call this "sparing."

So my surgeon needs to know: do I want to keep the nipple? Or remove it like the other side? It sounds ridiculous, I know, but apparently there are options. The pros of keeping it are: 1) it's already there, so the plastic surgeon wouldn't have to form a new one, and 2) well, I guess there aren't any more pros. The cons of keeping it are: 1) while the plastic surgeon would attempt to construct a fake nipple that matches my natural one, they wouldn't match up exactly, and 2) I may decide I don't want nipples, period (there are actually some good reasons for this). I was told that women don't have sensation in their nipples (real or fake ones) after surgery anyway, so no matter what I decide they would really only be there for cosmetic reasons.

To spare or not to spare? Or you could put it another way - do I want my breasts to wink or not wink at people? I'm hoping to get some advice from my fellow Pink Ribbon Cowgirls at our luncheon tomorrow. And what does Mr. Pincushion have to say about it?

Stay tuned!