I love everything about this session. The beautiful light and location, their expressions, and the love you feel when you see how Kathy and Mike look at their children. When Kathy contacted me to set this session up, it came with a very important message. She wanted me to share it with you in hopes she can save someones life and spread awareness. She is such a beautiful person inside and out, and I think it’s brave and wonderful that she wants to share her story.
She just gave birth to her beautiful son, Mikey in May. When he was about 6 weeks old, she found a lump in her breast while breastfeeding. She went to the doctor and was diagnosed with breast cancer. Fortunately they caught it early and the prognosis is excellent. Shortly after her diagnosis, she had surgery to remove the cancer and four lymph nodes. Her cancer was stage 1 but grade 3 meaning she will still need chemo. Kathy says “grade describes the tumor and ranges from 1-3, with 3 being worst. Cancer cells can look pretty close to what normal cells look like or they can be ugly. Mine are ugly. And they can be organized like city streets or crazy unorganized. Mine are unorganized. So while I caught it very early, my cancer is more malignant. That coupled with the fact that I’m very young means that I’ll benefit from chemo. Chemo cuts my chance of recurrence in half, to about 10%.” She is still on her journey, but I am happy to report she is doing really well so far. Anyone who knows Kathy, knows she is a very positive person which is such a great tool in her fight.
I think another thing to take away from all of this is that it happened even though her doctors said no cancer stood out in her mammogram. She wants to stress the importance of doing monthly breast exams even if you come back with a clean mammogram. The truth is cancer does not discriminate. It knows no age, and it can happen to anyone. If you are unsure of where to start for a self exam, click this link.
Thanks for reading and remind all of the important women in your life. 😉
