:Images of life with cancer…

Pink seems to be the new fall color. As Tess reminded us yesterday, October is breast cancer awareness month. Yesterday I should have stopped and taken a photo of the little trees decorated with pink ribbons. They were back-lit by the sun, gently waving their message in iridescent light.

Last Sunday Chris celebrated her 57th birthday. Today she leaves for a 3-week trip to Peru. For those that don’t know her story, she was diagnosed with IBC (inflammatory breast cancer) 5 1/2 years ago. IBC doesn’t form tumors. Instead, the cancer cells lay down in sheets, often looking like a bruise or orange peel. Because of its nature, IBC is considered stage 4 cancer when diagnosed. The survival rate in 3 years is less than 30%. Chris has battled IBC, appreciating each day ‘she’s bought’, doing it with grace and dignity.

Last night a stunning photo of Chris, a photo that shows her joy, her determination, her beauty was shown on 9News in a segment called Life with cancer. The piece is about renown photographer Katy Kaitakoff. She’s been photographing women and men with breast cancer and the people around them for a book about breast cancer.

To see the piece, including the photo of Chris, click here. There are four still images, then Katy introducing her work. The still image that displays next, the fifth still image, is Chris.