“I get emotional watching mothers with their kids on their wedding days, wondering if I’ll ever get the chance.”
‘Mama, I don’t want you to be sick.’ It stabbed me in the heart. ‘It’s going to be fixed.’ It was blow after blow.’: Woman battles breast cancer, ‘Tomorrow isn’t promised’
‘I took comfort in the fact my ugly, clunky ‘frankenboobs’ wouldn’t be with me forever. But, y’all, I am SCARED.’: Cancer fighter prepares for reconstruction surgery, ‘I am MORE than this body’
“I have to face the reality this is the end of the journey. Whatever I wake up to, or whatever I wake up with—that will be my new body. There is no next phase, there is no going back.”
‘You have 5 years to live.’ It was the first time I ever saw my husband cry.’: Mother diagnosed with Metastatic Breast Cancer advocates for research, encourages ‘camaraderie and healing’
“I was diagnosed with breast cancer at 34. I was upset, but I wasn’t surprised. I thought it was completely normal, as I had never been to a breast health clinic before.”
‘Nobody commented on my bathing suit. Not only that. My butt. I’m sad now, you see. I was never a bikini kind of girl.’: Woman struggling with body positivity says ‘the world isn’t judging you like you think it is’
“I breathed in deep, walked down the hallway. ‘Oh, there she is.’ I can look at this picture and tell you ten thousand ways I hate it. I disrobed to jump in the hot tub with a bunch of friends.”
‘We felt a bump while being intimate. A wave of utter darkness hit me. I felt like I never stood a chance to win.’: Woman says overcoming breast cancer was ‘the fight of my life’
“I freaked out. Then, BOOM! I said ta-ta to both of my tatas.’ Words cannot express the fear I felt.”
‘The bullying from doctors was scarring. I felt a lump and started to shake. My self-esteem was rocked.’: Woman battles aggressive breast cancer after serious arm injury, ‘The harder it got, the more people showed up’
“The nurse I was assigned to made fun of my face painting and I got incredibly sick. I stood next to our car, afraid I would fall over while I screamed, ‘NOT ME!’ over and over again in broad daylight. I asked him one question, ‘Am I going to die?’ He didn’t answer.”
‘The nurse approached me with a pitying look. ‘You won’t be receiving your treatment.’ I cried hot, silent, angry tears.’: Woman urges ‘live life to the fullest’ after brave battle with breast cancer
“My husband was about to leave for his weekend trip when he felt my forehead was scorching hot. I felt so cold and feverish. The next few hours were a fog. My treatments were deferred. I was too weak.”
‘I’d hold my breasts in each hand. ‘Who would I be without these?’: Woman opens up about her journey to self-love, ‘My body wasn’t a temple. I definitely didn’t treat it like one.’
“I used to get changed in P.E. and look at all the other girls around me. My hips were wider, my legs were thicker, and my stomach had a ‘flab’ to it. I was already in a C cup by the time I turned 12. I couldn’t bear being naked in front of my boyfriend. I would wear baggy t-shirts during sex, and he wasn’t allowed to see my boobs without a bra–I had forbidden that! My ex-boyfriends would tell me if I just lost weight, I’d be ‘unreal.’”
‘I am confident you have the deadliest form of skin cancer.’ I burnt regularly. I remember peeling off dead skin.’: Woman survives both skin and breast cancer, has learned to always ‘trust your gut’ when it comes to your health
“I was lying on a sun lounger (in the shade of course) and I suddenly got an overwhelming, unexplainable gut feeling I needed a mammogram. I didn’t have any lumps, but my gut was screaming it was the right thing to do. I had so many unanswered questions. ‘Am I dying? How long do I have left to live? Will I be here to see my children grow up?’ I was so vulnerable and weak and didn’t know whether I had the strength to climb the mountain which now seemed to be looming in front of me.”
‘I stepped onto the bus and felt a ‘release.’ A warm sensation and then a POP. I lost my balance, my eyes closed shut.’: Woman beats breast cancer after losing her mother
“I’m often asked the same question. ‘What was your reaction to the news?!’If you really really want to know, I was ecstatic. I knew I had cancer. Something lit up in me like a light bulb. A vision of me on my death bed. I remember a tear dropping in remembrance of my mother. The joy of knowing that after losing her at age 14, I could finally meet her again. There I stood, 25, receiving the best news of my life, standing in a bus, in pain, weak.”
