Your Scar Is a Sign of Your Strength
- 16-year-old Allison Hale was stunned when she returned to school after cancer treatment and opened her yearbook. She knew something was wrong with her photo immediately–her chemotherapy port scar had been erased.
- Hale was quick to address the issue, and the yearbook company was understanding and helpful, but she wants to use this as a teachable moment. Hale wants other survivors and people with marks on their body to know that they have nothing to hide.
- For Hale, her scar has come come to be a symbol of everything she has battled against, and everything she has triumphed over. She finds strength in wearing it proudly.
The 16-year-old Indiana resident was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in December 2020. Her world was rocked by the news. "There was a lot happening in my life, outside of my health. I was already in a bad place mentally,” she told PEOPLE. “Then, to be diagnosed with cancer right before Christmas at 15, it just diminishes every feeling of confidence and worth that you feel."
Read MoreThis pride and bravery became an important part of how Hale saw herself. “That was who I am. That was the picture of what I was going through and how strong I was to be able to show it. I was immediately so happy to not have that weight on my shoulders and to be able to take control of that," she said.
Hale was treated at Indianapolis's Riley Children's Hospital. She found that the energy of her nurses "made everything seem not as scary," and the support of the other kids undergoing cancer treatment made "all the difference." She went through five rounds of chemotherapy and 20 sessions of radiation therapy.
Hale never thought of her chemotherapy port as something to be embarrassed of. "That was the access to heal me, to cure me,” she said. “That’s not something that I want to try to hide because that saved my life.” Hale was declared cancer-free in July, and she was excited when yearbook photo day arrived in mid-August. This time, it carried extra weight: "At one point you’re like, ‘Okay, I may never have another birthday again or another yearbook photo.’ I was just so ecstatic to have another picture and to be able to show the new person, the stronger Allison, that I had become.”
When Hale returned to school and saw her yearbook photo, she wasted no time getting on the phone with the yearbook company to resolve the issue. She noted that she had deliberately not checked the box asking if she wanted her photo edited. "They were so nice and understanding," she said of the photography company. Hale wants to use her story to encourage body positivity and let other people with scars know that they have nothing to hide. "You need to stop thinking, ‘How do people see me?’ and start thinking more of, how do you see you? Once that perspective changes, everything changes," she said.
After this incident, Hale found her scar to be an even greater source of pride. “When I look at my scar now, I feel incredibly empowered, stronger than I ever thought I could be,” she explained. “I feel like a beautiful person, not even just looking in the mirror, but just thinking about who I am and how I’m trying to better myself.”
Ann Caruso spends her days helping celebrities with the way they look and dress. Her take on body image was rattled after a breast cancer diagnosis.
Body Positivity After Cancer
Struggling with body image after treatment for cancer is not unusual.
Having surgery that leaves a scar might be a necessary course of action. But it's important to remember that many of the physical changes caused by cancer treatment are only temporary even scars fade over time.
Marisa Gholson, a physician assistant at Compass Oncology at the Vancouver Cancer Center in Vancouver, Wa., tells SurvivorNet that many women even begin to embrace their scars after treatment. "Some ladies will call them a badge of honor, that they have gone through that surgery," Gholson says.
Cancer survivors like celebrity stylist Ann Caruso have shared similar takes in conversations with SurvivorNet. Caruso had 12 surgeries to treat her breast cancer, and told SurvivorNet that all of the changes to her body really affected the way she saw her body.
"You're not the same carefree person that you once were, and it was very hard for me to look at myself every day," Caruso said in a previous interview with SurvivorNet. "It was like I was a totally different person and didn't fit into any of my clothes for so long."
But the celebrity stylist has learned a whole lot about femininity and body image since beating breast cancer. She hopes to impart her knowledge upon others dealing with similar struggles.
"Femininity is a state of mind," Caruso said. "And I think that's something that we have to remind ourselves."
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