SurvivorNetTV Presents: 'SN & You - Body Image: Embracing Your Body'
- SurvivorNetTV presents ‘Body Image: Embracing your Body,’ an episode from our original series SN & You that depicts breast cancer survivors’ journeys to feel beautiful in their bodies.
- Follow four women on their attempts not only to take back their bodies but also to rediscover their identities.
- Breast cancer is the most common cancer in American women, except for skin cancers.
Presenting SurvivorNetTV’s original series SN & You. In this episode, Body Image: Embracing Your Body, we follow the journeys of four breast cancer survivors as they reconcile and learn to love their bodies after cancer.
These woman have been through everything including single mastectomies, double mastectomies, chemotherapy and radiation, but this episode shows how the power of the human spirit can triumph over self doubt and adversity.
Body image changes after cancer treatment are very common. In fact, women going through breast cancer and ovarian cancer report struggling with side effects like scars or other physical changes that can come after surgery. Watching this short film can help put these challenges into context and offer support from women who have been through similar situations.
For women with ovarian cancer, body image can be more distressing if surgery is needed to remove reproductive organs. Marisa Gholson, a physician’s assistant at Compass Oncology in Portland, Oregon, reports that scars and other side effects from ovarian cancer treatments can take time to overcome, but eventually are less apparent. Self-acceptance is an essential part of living with cancer, regardless of severity.
“Femininity is a state of mind,” says Ann Caruso, a celebrity stylist. “Society has us thinking that our breasts are what makes us sexy. You know, there are so many other things. There’s touch, there’s our eyes — a glance, the way we speak. It’s the curve of our body, it’s the way that we think. There are so many special things about being a woman.”
After a year of intense treatment, Dana Donofree, the founder of AnaOno, could not find a bra that fit her altered body and decided to design her own. Her company, AnaOno, creates bras for breast cancer survivors.
“If you want reconstructed breasts because it makes you feel whole, do it. If you want to remove them because it makes you feel empowered, do it,” says Donofree.
“You live in this skin, you express yourself the way you want to,” she emphasizes.
Jacqueline Kazinski says her battle with breast cancer shattered her confidence, but reconstructive surgery helped bring it back. “My confidence was gone, my confidence was destroyed. I was always vain about my appearance and my weight let alone losing a breast, well both.”
Chiara D’Agostino had chemo, two mastectomies, reconstructive surgery and then an implant landed her in the emergency room where she learned her cancer had progressed to stage 4.
“I think that society might tend to put physicians on pedestals,” she says. “You know they’re not God, they don’t know everything, so my advice is to be your own advocate if you have questions, keep asking until you get answers.”
Follow these women on their incredible journeys to not only feel beautiful but also to reconstruct an empowered sense of self and rediscover their identities.
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
SurvivorNetTV Presents: 'SN & You - Body Image: Embracing Your Body'
- SurvivorNetTV presents ‘Body Image: Embracing your Body,’ an episode from our original series SN & You that depicts breast cancer survivors’ journeys to feel beautiful in their bodies.
- Follow four women on their attempts not only to take back their bodies but also to rediscover their identities.
- Breast cancer is the most common cancer in American women, except for skin cancers.
Presenting
SurvivorNetTV’s original series
SN & You. In this episode,
Body Image: Embracing Your Body, we follow the journeys of four breast cancer survivors as they reconcile and learn to love their bodies after cancer.
These woman have been through everything including single mastectomies, double mastectomies, chemotherapy and radiation, but this episode shows how the power of the human spirit can triumph over self doubt and adversity.
Read More Body image changes after cancer treatment are very common. In fact, women going through breast cancer and ovarian cancer report struggling with side effects like scars or other physical changes that can come after surgery. Watching this short film can help put these challenges into context and offer support from women who have been through similar situations.
For women with ovarian cancer, body image can be more distressing if surgery is needed to remove reproductive organs. Marisa Gholson, a physician’s assistant at Compass Oncology in Portland, Oregon, reports that scars and other side effects from ovarian cancer treatments can take time to overcome, but eventually are less apparent. Self-acceptance is an essential part of living with cancer, regardless of severity.
“Femininity is a state of mind,” says Ann Caruso, a celebrity stylist. “Society has us thinking that our breasts are what makes us sexy. You know, there are so many other things. There’s touch, there’s our eyes — a glance, the way we speak. It’s the curve of our body, it’s the way that we think. There are so many special things about being a woman.”
After a year of intense treatment, Dana Donofree, the founder of AnaOno, could not find a bra that fit her altered body and decided to design her own. Her company, AnaOno, creates bras for breast cancer survivors.
“If you want reconstructed breasts because it makes you feel whole, do it. If you want to remove them because it makes you feel empowered, do it,” says Donofree.
“You live in this skin, you express yourself the way you want to,” she emphasizes.
Jacqueline Kazinski says her battle with breast cancer shattered her confidence, but reconstructive surgery helped bring it back. “My confidence was gone, my confidence was destroyed. I was always vain about my appearance and my weight let alone losing a breast, well both.”
Chiara D’Agostino had chemo, two mastectomies, reconstructive surgery and then an implant landed her in the emergency room where she learned her cancer had progressed to stage 4.
“I think that society might tend to put physicians on pedestals,” she says. “You know they’re not God, they don’t know everything, so my advice is to be your own advocate if you have questions, keep asking until you get answers.”
Follow these women on their incredible journeys to not only feel beautiful but also to reconstruct an empowered sense of self and rediscover their identities.
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
