Survivor’s biography shows people are more than their diseases
Illness can do strange things to people. No one is immune from the occasional cold or flu that leaves you sweaty and exhausted and laying in bed, begging for the end to come. But we move on and get healthy. For some, however, the unthinkable happens and their body declares mutiny and slowly falls apart. Life changes suddenly and the future becomes uncertain, whether through a lifelong chronic illness or a life-threatening disease.
As Breast Cancer Awareness Month ends, many of us are reminded of the frailty of life. According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, one in eight women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime. This means it is nearly impossible to escape the sting of this pernicious disease in some way.
As serious as this form of cancer is, there are many accounts of women fighting and beating this silent killer. One of these accounts is that of Geralyn Lucas in her biography, “Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy.” At just 27, Lucas discovered a lump in her breast after scoring her dream job at Dateline 20/20. After a biopsy, she was given the nightmare diagnosis: breast cancer. She was also told that her best chance of survival was a mastectomy, or the removal of at least one, if not both, of her breasts.
My favorite part of her story is how she bluntly explains her feelings during her battle with cancer. In a culture obsessed with beauty, the idea of losing her hair and her breasts, what is seen as all femininity, was overwhelming for her. She opens herself to the reader, showing her anger, pain, depression and final acceptance of her fate. Lipstick was her tie to her former life.
Lipstick has been seen as a staple for women for decades, and for Lucas, her identity was in her long dark hair and bright red lipstick. She explains that as she stood in the dressing room, wearing a hospital gown and mentally preparing to lose her most quintessential female body part, she looked in a mirror and made a choice to take control of her disease. As she applied a long-lasting, fire-truck red lipstick, she was telling herself, the world and breast cancer that she would not lose herself to this disease. She was not her breast cancer. She was Geralyn.
It’s hard to explain my feelings reading her account of taking control of her disease and refusing to let it define her. Though I personally have never had to fight breast cancer, I do fight my own battle with a chronic illness. She described the daily physical and mental pain so acutely, at times I had to step away and pull myself out of my own mind.
I opened this article by saying illness does strange things to people. This last year, being diagnosed with my illness has taught me more than I can explain about myself. At times, I was in denial. Other times, I wondered if I was crazy. Depression just comes with the territory, knowing there are things I planned for my future I won’t ever be able to do, activities I used to love that I physically am not able to do.
Dating was always punctuated with, “Oh, I’m sick and he probably doesn’t want to deal with it.” Having medications prescribed and taken away and adjusted makes school more difficult than ever before. But the most important thing I’ve had to learn, the thing that most inspires me about Lucas’ story, is that we are not our diseases. We are people. We are our dreams, fears, personalities, humors and minds. I believe in the strength of women.
As Breast Cancer Awareness Month ends, I hope everyone can find inspiration in the stories of the women and men who have survived breast cancer, and remember those who aren’t with us anymore. Wear your lipstick and go strong.
— Kasey Van Dyke is a five-year sophomore because she can’t just make up her mind about a major. Currently she wants to do space things in the future and is studying physics. That may change next week. She enjoys Diet Coke and South Park. Send questions and comments kaseyvandyke2@gmail.com.