Nalle was not welcoming any foreign matter into her body and opted for an incredibly complex surgery to reconstruct her breasts rather than have silicone implants.
She lifts her shirt and opens her bra to reveal in-depth scarring under newly formed breasts, complete with tattooed ariolas and nipples.
It wasn't until after having both breasts removed that she was told the lump was pre-cancerous.
"I don't regret doing it, but it has been incredibly difficult," Nalle says about her eight different surgeries, with even more prescribed.
"It makes sense to me that some women don't want to go through reconstructive surgery, which is why I wanted to open this shop."
Nalle said she and her husband saved for three years to fund the salon, and then her mother-in-law died of cancer and left them the money needed to start the salon.
She volunteers for Reach for Recovery
Nalle volunteers for Reach for Recovery, a program through the American Cancer Society that arranges for breast cancer survivors to meet with recently diagnosed patients to help them deal with what may be the most uncertain time in their lives.
"It's a very scary thing, and you wouldn't believe the women that I've talked to who have said they'd rather die than lose one or both of their breasts," Nalle said.
Although she loves her job, Nalle finds the lack of information for women about post-surgery options is astounding.
"Because of HIPPA (federal privacy law), we can't walk into hospitals and reach out to breast cancer patients, so all we can do is rely on doctor's offices to distribute the information to those who are diagnosed. It doesn't always happen that way, nor are patients educated about what their insurance will cover," Nalle says, explaining that if a woman's insurance covers a mastectomy it covers all other related products.
Nalle refers to the Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act, a federal law passed in 1998 that provides protections to patients who elect to have reconstruction due to a mastectomy. This law applies only to those whose insurance plans cover mastectomies; it does not require health plans or issuers to pay for mastectomies.
"It's usually a while after their surgeries before they're made aware or stumble on some information. We should be seeing them as soon as they've been diagnosed," Nalle said.
Nalle said she will provide, fit and service any woman who has the appropriate insurance at no up-front cost. The insurance companies are then billed for the services, which Nalle said has been another startling wake-up call.
"I have been open since May, and you wouldn't believe the amount of pay that is still outstanding due to me from the insurance companies. I end up going broke in between payment times, but there's no way I can turn any women away," Nalle said.
But Nalle said she didn't go into the business to make money.
"This is something you do because you believe in it, and I do."
