I decided to be brave and take self-portraits without my chemotherapy wig. As most everyone knows I had breast cancer (I say had because I was assured that it was taken out with surgery) but to make sure it is eradicated, I have had to undergo chemotherapy, which caused me to lose my hair. I have a beautiful wig but I just wanted everyone to know that I am a fighter. This is the reason I chose the warrior photo as the featured image. Me with my fists up. So, this is me in all my glory.
Chemotherapy – Marilyn with Wig 4/21
I am about to embark on a new journey, namely chemotherapy. I found out I had breast cancer yet again (first time was 34 years ago, when I was still young). This is not a recurrence, it is a new and improved cancer. It actually was about 3 tumors (and don’t ask me how the hell that happened) but that’s what did. I had two surgeries – one just a lumpectomy, and when the pathology report came in, the doctor told me, although the ca was only stage 1 (it had not spread) it was a very aggressive cancer (of course, only the best for me). So, I had to do something I never wanted to do–I had a mastectomy (boo-hoo). Now I am having chemo too on Tuesday. In trying to be proactive, I bought a wig and here are a couple of self-portraits of me wearing it. I had it over my hair. I decided to document this.
Breast Cancer Benefit for Rosanne Grubbs
On Saturday, October 10, I attended a breast cancer fundraiser for Rosanne. She has been battling this disease since 2009. Since that time she has incurred many medical bills, which is why this fundraiser was arranged. It was a beautiful evening, with good food and good music. I volunteered to be the photographer of this event and I tried to capture the love people have for her and their joy as they honored her. The ultimate goal is to increase breast cancer awareness and to create a permanent vehicle for people to contribute for breast cancer research. $17,000 was raised at this event alone and we hope this is just the start in fighting this deadly disease.