Faces & Stories of Breast Cancer You Don't Always See.
- Research
- Aug 19, 2020
- 2 min read
Experiencing Breast Cancer As a Young Family and The Photographs That Helped Them Through: THE KOMEN BLOG | Aug 19, 2020
Anna Rathkopf was diagnosed with breast cancer three years ago at age 37. Now in remission, she put together a photo series showcasing other survivors who “are on the margins of the breast cancer conversation.”
On her 37th birthday, she was in the middle of reading a book when she innocently scratched her breast—and felt a lump. “Immediately, my stomach dropped,” Just three months earlier, she'd asked her gynecologist about getting a mammogram. She didn't have any breast cancer symptoms at the time, but she had a friend who had been diagnosed with the disease, and that weighed heavily on her mind.
Her doctor brushed her off, she says, because she had none of the risk factors that would have necessitated an early screening. (Breast cancer organizations generally recommend that women with no risk factors have a first mammogram at 40.) Less than two weeks later, however, Rathkopf was diagnosed with triple positive breast cancer, one of several subtypes of the disease. She had a difficult time understanding why breast cancer happened to her. “My breasts at one point provided food for my son. And now, I didn’t know why my body was trying to kill me,” she recalls.
‘Hearing the stories of others sometimes prompts our own advocacy for healthcare’
Rathkopf and her husband are both photographers (@rathkopfphotography). Following her diagnosis, they started taking photos of each other to document their journey, which helped them process what was happening: the chemo, radiation, hair loss, surgery, and amid it all, precious time with their toddler son. The photo series, titled “HER2: An Intimate Breast Cancer Experience,” can be viewed on the Susan G. Komen breast cancer blog and also at www.rathkopf.com
PROJECT PINK – Dedicated to the empowerment of men & women in the on-going fight against Breast Cancer in Bermuda.
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