Fight Like A Girl | Atlanta Portrait Photographer

Meet Kim.  She is "fighting like a girl" against the ugliness that is breast cancer.

I went to high school with Kim and am friends with her on Facebook (what did we DO before Facebook??), so even though I hadn't been in touch with her since we graduated, I knew that she had been battling breast cancer since the fall.  I would periodically read her posts on her Caring Bridge site and follow her along her journey, always amazed at her cheerfulness and strong faith that seemed to be carrying her through chemo.

Last weekend Kim contacted me, asking if I'd take some "before and after" pictures of her.  She is scheduled to have a double mastectomy this Monday and said that since her hair had started falling out after her first of eight rounds of chemo, she'd been hiding out at home, wearing a wig only to go to work, and that none of her friends had seen her without her hair.  I was completely humbled and honored.  And a teeny bit nervous :)

So we met at Piedmont Park this morning, along with one of her best friends (who I also graduated with -- Go Cougars!), with the goal of getting some great images.  She wanted her friends to be able to see what she looked like without hair and I wanted hoped I would be able to make her feel at ease and capture her beauty and the great smile I remembered from high school.

We got a few shots first while she was still wearing her wig...

And then, once she felt comfortable, and with lots of encouragement from me and her best friend, off it came...

And even though I could tell she was a little nervous, it didn't take long for her to get comfortable and as she chatted and laughed with her friend, I snapped away (while also wiping away a few tears of my own.).

I have known people who have battled all different forms of cancer.  Children, adults, grandparents, friends' grandparents.  And while it is sad and scary and tragic, it has never hit me like it did today.  As I watched Kim through my lens, slowly get comfortable in her skin, smiling at the camera and laughing with her friend, her beautiful, hairless head shining in the gorgeous sun, it hit me.  I simply can. not. imagine going through what she is going through.  I think it hit me so hard because I feel like I am so young (ha!) and here is someone the same age as me...she has lost her eyebrows, eyelashes, even the hair on her head and is about to lose both of her breasts.

But she still seemed so upbeat.  So joyful.  So happy.  Commenting several times this morning about all the good that has come to her throughout her journey battling stage 2 breast cancer.  Her story is incredible and truly a testament to following your instinct or listening to God, however you choose to see it.

She discovered a lump and was told by her doctor that it was nothing, so she sought a second opinion.  The second opinion also told her it was nothing, but sent her for a mammogram at Kim's insistance.  3 days later she was being scheduled for biopsies and being told she had cancer.

That was last September.  She has now gone through eight rounds of chemotherapy and is about to endure a double mastectomy and will then go through radiation treatments.  She is a fighter and I am so inspired by her story.  I know God has some great plans in store for her.

Kim, thank you for allowing me to capture your true beauty today.  I am proud to know you and pray that your story will inspire and impact others the way it has me.