Matters of Life and Dating | |
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Genre | Romantic comedy |
Based on | Up Front by Linda Dackman |
Teleplay by | Nina Colman |
Directed by | Peter Wellington |
Starring | |
Music by | Anton Sanko |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producer | Michael Mahoney |
Cinematography | Joel Ransom |
Editor | Susan Shipton |
Running time | 90 minutes |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | Lifetime |
Release | October 22, 2007 |
Matters of Life and Dating is a 2007 American romantic comedy television film directed by Peter Wellington and written by Nina Colman, based on the 1990 memoir Up Front: Sex and the Post-Mastectomy Woman by Linda Dackman. The film stars Ricki Lake as Dackman, who struggles to re-enter the dating world after being diagnosed with breast cancer and undergoing a mastectomy and breast reconstruction. Holly Robinson Peete and Rachael Harris also star.
The film aired on Lifetime on October 22, 2007.
Linda is a single woman who must re-enter the dating world after undergoing a mastectomy and breast reconstruction surgery due to cancer.
The film is based on the memoirs of Linda Dackman. [1] Lifetime approached songwriters Kara DioGuardi and James Poyser to write a song, "My Bra" performed by Mýa, for the film. [2]
Matters of Life and Dating premiered on Lifetime Television on October 22, 2007, as part of the channel's "Stop Breast Cancer for Life" campaign. [3]
Kevin McDonough of the Intelligencer Journal criticized the film, writing that "It's hard to find fault with a movie trying to help women cope with a life-threatening illness, but Linda's plight might be more accessible if she weren't so darned successful and living such a fabulous two-double-latte-a-day existence and having to fend off so many handsome suitors." [1] A reviewer for the Akron Beacon Journal was also critical, as they felt that Lake's performance was one of the film's major flaws. [4]
Breast reconstruction is the surgical process of rebuilding the shape and look of a breast, most commonly in women who have had surgery to treat breast cancer. It involves using autologous tissue, prosthetic implants, or a combination of both with the goal of reconstructing a natural-looking breast. This process often also includes the rebuilding of the nipple and areola, known as nipple-areola complex (NAC) reconstruction, as one of the final stages.
Mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely. A mastectomy is usually carried out to treat breast cancer. In some cases, women believed to be at high risk of breast cancer have the operation as a preventive measure. Alternatively, some women can choose to have a wide local excision, also known as a lumpectomy, an operation in which a small volume of breast tissue containing the tumor and a surrounding margin of healthy tissue is removed to conserve the breast. Both mastectomy and lumpectomy are referred to as "local therapies" for breast cancer, targeting the area of the tumor, as opposed to systemic therapies, such as chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, or immunotherapy.
Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a red or scaly patch of skin. In those with distant spread of the disease, there may be bone pain, swollen lymph nodes, shortness of breath, or yellow skin.
Ricki Pamela Lake is an American television host and actress. She is known for her lead role as Tracy Turnblad in the 1988 film Hairspray, for which she received a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead. She is also known for her talk show, Ricki Lake, which was broadcast internationally from September 1993 until May 2004. When the show debuted, Lake was 24 and credited as being the youngest person to host a syndicated talk show at the time. In late 2012, Lake began hosting a second syndicated talk show, The Ricki Lake Show. The series was canceled in 2013 after a single season, but Lake won her first Daytime Emmy Award for the project.
Mammaplasty refers to a group of surgical procedures, the goal of which is to reshape or otherwise modify the appearance of the breast. There are two main types of mammoplasty:
Breast augmentation and augmentation mammoplasty is a cosmetic surgery technique using breast-implants and fat-graft mammoplasty techniques to increase the size, change the shape, and alter the texture of the breasts. Although in some cases augmentation mammoplasty is applied to correct congenital defects of the breasts and the chest wall in other cases it is used purely as a cosmetic surgery, primary breast augmentation changes the aesthetics – of size, shape, and texture – of healthy breasts.
A medical tattoo is a tattoo used to treat a condition, communicate medical information, or mark a body location for treatment. People may get a paramedical tattoo to conceal a condition or the effects of treatment, such as creating the appearance of an areola after breast reconstruction, or a cover-up tattoo to disguise the area in an artistic way.
A breast implant is a prosthesis used to change the size, shape, and contour of a person's breast. In reconstructive plastic surgery, breast implants can be placed to restore a natural looking breast following a mastectomy, to correct congenital defects and deformities of the chest wall or, cosmetically, to enlarge the appearance of the breast through breast augmentation surgery.
Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), also known as intraductal carcinoma, is a pre-cancerous or non-invasive cancerous lesion of the breast. DCIS is classified as Stage 0. It rarely produces symptoms or a breast lump that can be felt, typically being detected through screening mammography. It has been diagnosed in a significant percentage of men.
Breast prostheses are breast forms intended to look like breasts. They are often used temporarily or permanently by women after mastectomy or lumpectomy procedures, but may also be used by for aesthetic purposes. There are a number of materials and designs; although, the most common construction is gel in a plastic film meant to feel similar to a person's skin. Prostheses may be purchased at a surgical supply store, pharmacy, custom lingerie shop, or even through private services that come to a person's home. There are many types of ready made breast prostheses including full or standard prostheses, partial prostheses such a shell prostheses, and stick on prostheses. Customized options are also available from specialty shops, which are moulded to fit an individual's chest by taking an impression of the breast(s). The areola and nipple may be replicated as part of the breast form or as separate nipple prosthesis. Both custom made and off-the shelf breast prostheses come in varieties that are designed to either be held in a pocket in a specially designed mastectomy bra or attached to the skin via adhesive or other methods and worn with a standard bra. There are many factors to consider when selecting breast prostheses such as different types and the care they require, insurance coverage, and psychosocial effects.
Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy is a 2006 television film that aired on Lifetime Television and starred Sarah Chalke. It is based on the memoir of the same name, written by Geralyn Lucas. The book and the TV movie depict Geralyn Lucas's fight with breast cancer.
"My Bra" is a song recorded by American singer Mya. It written by songwriters Kara DioGuardi and James Poyser with production helmed by the latter and commissioned as Lifetime's Stop the Breast Cancer Life campaign first ever theme song to raise breast cancer awareness and promote Lifetime's original movie "Matters of Life and Dating".
Breast-conserving surgery refers to an operation that aims to remove breast cancer while avoiding a mastectomy. Different forms of this operation include: lumpectomy (tylectomy), wide local excision, segmental resection, and quadrantectomy. Breast-conserving surgery has been increasingly accepted as an alternative to mastectomy in specific patients, as it provides tumor removal while maintaining an acceptable cosmetic outcome. This page reviews the history of this operation, important considerations in decision making and patient selection, and the emerging field of oncoplastic breast conservation surgery.
A DIEP flap is type of breast reconstruction where blood vessels, fat, and skin from the lower belly are relocated to the chest to rebuild breasts after mastectomy. DIEP stands for the deep inferior epigastric perforator artery, which runs through the abdomen. This is a type of autologous reconstruction, meaning one's own tissue is used.
Nipple/Areola prostheses are made of silicone by breast prosthesis manufacturers and anaplastologists for breast cancer survivors who were treated for breast cancer with a mastectomy. Prostheses can be worn weeks after a mastectomy, breast reconstruction, or even nipple reconstruction. As an inexpensive and convenient alternative to surgery, patients may choose to wear them anytime during treatment. Patients who ultimately find nipple prostheses thought that they should be informed of them during the consultation prior to mastectomy.
A preventive mastectomy or prophylactic mastectomy or risk-reducing mastectomy (RRM) is an elective operation to remove the breasts so that the risk of breast cancer is reduced.
No Bra Day is an annual observance on August 9 on which women are encouraged to go braless as a means to encourage breast cancer awareness. No Bra Day was initially observed on July 9, 2011, but within three years it had moved to the 9th day of the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, August. Users on social media are encouraged to post using the hashtag #nobraday to promote awareness of breast cancer symptoms and to encourage gender equality. Some users on social media sites also encourage women to post pictures of themselves not wearing a bra. Some women embrace No Bra Day as a political statement while others prefer the comfort of discarding what they view as a restrictive, uncomfortable garment.
Mia K. Markey is an American biomedical engineer and an Engineering Foundation Endowed Faculty Fellow in Engineering at University of Texas at Austin and at the MD Anderson Cancer Center. Her research focus is on sex differences and the effects they leave on medical practices, including the psychosocial adjustment women who undergo mastectomies for breast cancer in order to improve their mental and physical well being. Some of her work includes, but is not limited to studying the impact of implant-based breast reduction reconstruction and mastectomies on bra fit. In addition to her work with women with breast cancer, she has also done research addressing body image after facial reconstruction surgery of patients battling facial cancers.
Prophylactic surgery, is a form of surgery whose purpose is to minimize or prevent the risk of developing cancer in an organ or gland that has yet to develop cancer and is known to be at high risk of developing cancer. This form of preventive healthcare may include surgeries such as mastectomies, oophorectomies, colectomies and surgical corrections, such as the surgical correction of cryptorchidism or undescended testis. Another less common definition of prophylactic surgery also includes the prevention of other diseases, outcomes or even future appearance.
Lisa J. M. Caldon is a British professor and clinical lecturer specialising in oncology. In her 20 year career, Caldon has published some 20 papers in the field of medicine. These have appeared in some of the top medical and peer-reviewed journals in Britain and abroad, including Medical Education, the European Journal of Cancer, the British Journal of Surgery, Patient Education and Counseling, Psycho-Oncology, Future Oncology, BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, and The Lancet Oncology. Caldon has worked at The University of Sheffield and with Cancer Research UK.