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Refinery29
  • 1 hour ago
Roughly 100 people die every day of breast cancer in the U.S. — and virtually all of these deaths are from metastatic breast cancer. That's individual people — moms, daughters, sisters, friends — multifaceted women of which cancer is just one thing, not everything. We are telling the stories of these women who have found strength in their sense of self, power in their beauty, and who refuse to let an incurable, deadly disease tell their story for them. Meet Beth.
Transcript
00:00The general public just has this misconception about breast cancer and that, you know, people
00:04can survive it.
00:06Or, you know, oh, you have breast cancer where you get a new set of breasts and then you
00:09move on with your life.
00:09Well, it's just not that simple.
00:11My name is Beth Fairchild.
00:13I was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer just a little over two years ago.
00:17I was having some intestinal issues and just an overall feeling of tiredness and fatigue.
00:24Finally after a series of tests, it was determined that I needed to have my ovaries removed because
00:29they had grown to the size of grapefruits.
00:32And I went in to have a hysterectomy and when I woke up from my surgery, they told me I
00:37had
00:37stage four breast cancer.
00:39Had I not advocated for more testing, I would have continued to go undiagnosed and would probably
00:46be dead by now.
00:47My disease was very extensive and because I questioned my doctor, the diagnosis and I pushed
00:53for more testing, I was able to finally arrive at a diagnosis.
00:56As women, we are aware of our bodies and we know our bodies certainly better than a physician
01:01does.
01:02It's important to question things and make sure that you're getting the services that
01:06you need.
01:07I'm an artist and early on I discovered that I could make a living in tattooing.
01:11A lot of times when women undergo a mastectomy and reconstruction, they're left without
01:15areolas or nipples.
01:16I realized that there was a need for areola tattooing within the cancer community.
01:21It kind of gives them a sense of restoration, it makes them feel complete again, as selfish
01:27as it sounds.
01:28I mean that's why I do it because it just fills up my cup, that's what I need.
01:31I have no breasts, no female hormones.
01:34I feel more beautiful now than I've ever felt in 37 years.
01:38Some women need hair to be beautiful, some women need breasts to feel beautiful and I
01:42just need to wake up every day and live my life.
01:48Uhhcumbe