Everything happens for a reason.
On tonight's episode of Botched, which aired on July 13, Dr. Terry Dubrow inarguably saves a patient's life after an unfinished double mastectomy. Shannah tested positive for the BRCA-2 gene in 2014, but her "breast reconstruction needs a reconstruction," according to her.
"They just don't look like a set of breasts," Shannah explained of her "deformed" bust. She was inspired to get tested after her father developed Paget's cancer, a male form of breast cancer that starts on the outside nipple. Shannah received her double mastectomy and breast reconstruction in Sept. 2014; her father passed away later that year.
"I just think of this whole journey and it is not a fun journey," Shannah reflected. "My dad literally saved my life and if it wasn't for him having breast cancer, I wouldn't be here. Literally."
Yet, her gel silicone implants and "tattooed on" new nipples have become misshapen over time. "I just thought, this is just reconstruction," Shannah continued. "It's not going to be perfect."
But Shannah wanted to prove to herself and her young daughter—who also has a 50/50 chance of carrying the BRCA gene—that there is still beauty after a double mastectomy.
"I don't want her thinking this is the best it's going to happen," Shannah opened up. "I think about how she's going to feel if she sees me this way...They don't even match. I'm 43 with a 60 year-old's body right now. In my head, I'm not comfortable in my skin."
During the consultation with Dr. Dubrow and Dr. Paul Nassif, Shannah showed the physicians her lumpy chest.
"Your implants are not filling out the lower parts of the breast down below...What was going on with that lip of excess skin?" Dr. Dubrow asked. "Why couldn't the implant get in there and expand it out?"
Shannah's "severe breast distortion" is believed to be due to "retained breast tissue" or "inadequately released scar tissue," but Dr. Dubrow wouldn't know the real cause of the sunken-in implants until he operates.
However, Shannah was worried that her past mastectomy was unsuccessful and that's the real reason her implants aren't sitting right. "A big fear of mine is that it's still breast issue that they didn't get," she admitted.
Dr. Dubrow can't believe that to be the case. "It seems unlikely that [the doctor] would leave breast tissue in the left breast," he told the camera. "If they did that, it would be unacceptable and, quite frankly, devastating."
He opted to cut out the excess skin, redo Shannah's implants and and tattoo her nipples again.
Shannah remained hopeful. "I think everything happens for a reason," she repeated. "I told myself that I wasn't going to cry but my dad was best friend. I want to honor him. I will wear scars with pride if I have to because it tells my story, it tells his story, and I hope it will have a happy ending."
Even though she hoped that the breast "lip" was not breast tissue, Shannah was ready to go under the knife to bravely find out. "You've got to take a leap of faith in something, right?" she shared.
Dr. Dubrow admitted that even he was stumped: "I don't really have an idea to what this is, but whatever I find, I will deal with," he comforted her.
Shannah also did not want the surgery to affect a large tattoo on her right shoulder blade, a robin in honor of her dad, Robin. "I'm not moving any part of robin," Dubrow assured Shannah. "Robin is with us for a very particular reason today."
After the procedure, Dr. Dubrow had some unsettling news to tell Shannah. "These are the times when being a plastic surgeon and a doctor can be really tough because she's going to have a lot of stress when she hears the news that there was retained breast tissue," Dubrow said in a confessional. "But hopefully the fact that I removed all that breast tissue and removed the risk associated with it will remove that stress."
It turns out Shannah had "a lot left" of her breast tissue; in effect, her past doctor did not properly perform her double mastectomy. "You still had 100 percent risk of breast cancer on the left side," Dubrow added.
Even Shannah's textured breast implants increased her risk of developing cancer. "Textured implants that can predispose you to a very rare form of breast cancer and lymphoma," Dubrow continued. "You not only had tissue left in that predisposed you to cancer, but you had an implant in that there disposed you to another rare form of cancer."
Through tears, Shannah shared her gratitude. Dr. Dubrow also pointed out that after doing an internal breast exam, Shannah is cancer-free. She also has a new set of breasts that fit her frame.
"I have breasts! I have normal breasts," Shannah gushed. "It's so exciting. Everything happened for a reason. I can finally say that I'm breast cancer free."
And yes, Shannah tattooed her nipples again and even they looked better than before.
"I can now hope that my reconstruction can help alleviate any fear that my daughter may have for her future," Shannah concluded. "If my dad was here today, there's no doubt in my mind that he would be proud of me."
The episode also included Yazmin, who suffered from a "lumpy and bumpy" chin that she called her own personal "giant," and a consultation with Instagram influencer "snow bunny" Danii whose "perfect booty" was slightly asymmetrical.
Watch the full episode here, and binge past seasons of Botched on Peacock.
(E! and Peacock are both a part of the NBCUniversal family.)