Metro Vancouver nurse changes lives of breast cancer survivors one tattoo at a time

A Metro Vancouver nurse is using her tattooing skills to help change the lives of breast cancer survivors across the region in a one-of-a-kind clinic.

Sandi Saunier is a registered surgical nurse and tattoo artist who works in the Areola Tattoo Clinic at Eagle Ridge Hospital.

The RN has tattooed areolas on the breasts of breast cancer survivors in the ambulatory care clinic at the Port Moody Hospital for over a decade.

“There is physical and emotional trauma that comes with breast cancer,” said Saunier in a release from Fraser Health. “While I’m tattooing, we talk, laugh, and sometimes cry.”

Sandi Saunier/Fraser Health

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According to the Government of Canada, one in eight women is expected to develop breast cancer during their lifetime. The most common form of cancer in Canadian women may result in mastectomy — where doctors remove the diseased tissue, often taking the nipples and areolas in the process.

A plastic surgeon brought the idea of an areola tattoo clinic up to Saunier in 2009, and she has since trained with a medical tattoo specialist and a regular tattoo artist.

“We realized that many women, post-reconstructive surgery, were not completing the process because they were either not comfortable going to a tattoo artist, or they couldn’t afford the procedure.”

Areola tattooing uses pigments to simulate the physical dimension and depth of an areola which is usually removed during a mastectomy.

Sandi Saunier/Fraser Health

Saunier has tattooed areolas on about 1,300 breast cancer survivors, with patients receiving the tattoos for free thanks to donations from the community and ongoing funding from Eagle Ridge Hospital Foundation.

“Eagle Ridge Hospital Foundation has proudly supported and funded the Areola Tattoo Clinic since 2012,” said Kristina Chung, Executive Director of Eagle Ridge Hospital Foundation, in a statement. “Relying solely on donations, this invaluable service provides essential healing and support to breast cancer survivors, and we are honoured to play such a critical role in their recovery.

“Through ongoing community support and generous donations, we are dedicated to maintaining this service free of charge, ensuring accessible care for breast cancer survivors who wish to undergo this procedure as part of their healing journey.”

Fraser Health shared the story of Gen, a breast cancer survivor in her early 30s, who was referred to the clinic after undergoing a double mastectomy.

“When the bandages came off, I cried for days,” said Gen, who is herself a radiation technologist. “I wanted to look normal, and having my areolas tattooed was the last missing piece for me before I could feel completely healed.”

Saunier is happy to help her patients and shared that her work through the Areola Tattoo Clinic at Eagle Ridge Hospital gives her a different kind of joy.

“As a nurse, you never get an hour-and-a-half with a patient, just the two of you,” she explained. “For me, doing areola tattooing is instant gratification. I get to see patients come in with nothing and in less than two hours, they are feeling fulfilled.”

The Areola Tattoo Clinic program is available to mastectomy patients referred by a surgeon throughout the Lower Mainland. For more information and to donate, visit them online.