In the recently published memoir โ€œFlat: Reclaiming My Body From Breast Cancer,โ€ Catherine Guthrie tells the story of grievous medical mistakes that she managed to record without sugarcoating their consequences or flailing against the injustice of it all.

As โ€œFlatโ€ explains, all of the doctors Ms. Guthrie met assumed that she would want breast reconstruction after a mastectomy. โ€œMost women want to look normal in clothes,โ€ the doctor informed her.