FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE) - Breast cancer survivors have choices to make about reconstruction, and in honor of Breast Reconstruction Awareness (B.R.A.) Day Community Medical Centers held an event to tell them about their options. It brought together patients, plastic surgeons, breast implant vendors, post-operative garment vendors, tattoo artists creating 3D nipples, and more. "It's really interesting. Studies that look at patients that have had delayed reconstruction – so they had a mastectomy as part of their treatment and then years later that had reconstruction, they actually identify the reconstruction as the one that healed them, not the one that removed their cancer,” Dr. Erich Lemker, a plastic surgeon with Community Medical, said. Community Medical Centers is among the few places breast cancer patients can get oncology and breast reconstruction care in the same facility, keeping patients closer to home. Dr. Eliza-Jasmine Tran, a reconstruction surgeon at Community Medical, believes this helps patients heal. "We certainly believe it provides a much more valued experience to stay here and have their support while they're going through this huge reconstruction surgery," Dr. Tran said. The B.R.A. (Breast Reconstruction Awareness ) Day event also brought in Medical Tatoo Artist Kimberly Bearden - who specializes in 3D nipple tattoos. Bearden started her business, Restorative Micropigmintation, after her own breast cancer journey in 2017. She noticed many women didn’t know where to go to get nipple tattoos, how much it would cost or what it would look like. “So they just leave it unfinished, but then they can feel a little hollow when it’s unfinished when they look in the mirror a little unfinished,” Bearden said. With Bearden's artistry, she can create natural-looking nipples she says can fool even physicians and now her services are almost always covered by insurance. It's a huge relief for those on their breast cancer journey still searching for the ending. “It can be quite emotional when a woman finishes her reconstruction and looks in the mirror and sees herself in a new way.  It’s emotional for me too,” Bearden said.