The new issue of a favorite magazine has arrived in today's mail. The cover photograph, in black and white, features the portrait of a young woman, eyes closed, serene expression on her face. She has a perfectly smooth scalp. Putting all this info together, and given the focus of the magazine, I immediately think "buddhist nun." The inside cover reveals the truth: Another photo of the woman, but in this one enough of her torso is showing that it is apparent she has had one breast removed. I start reading through the magazine, and all articles center on the same topic: medicine. Fiction, poetry, personal essays from readers, and photography all revolve around this central theme. There is a lengthy interview with a well known MD who is trained in western medicine, but preaches and practices a more alternative approach. At the end of the slim periodical there is a third photograph of the same woman featured on the cover -- still with a calm expression on her face, only now her eyes are open and she gazes directly into the camera. A single shiny wet line runs from each eye. One tear rests on her cheek, and the other falls to her chin. I am immediately struck by the beauty of the photographs, the sadness I see in them, and the courage of this woman. I am also wondering about her. It is apparent what was going on at the time the pictures were taken, but how is she now?  I think of a friend of mine currently fighting her own battle with cancer, and I think about my best friend, now considered cured after being treated for it over 20 years ago. I think about my husband, still not cancer free after three years of treatment. I think about my sister and another friend's husband who both succumbed to this terrible disease.

Elsewhere in the magazine, I find out more about the photographer and the woman featured in the photos. At the time she was being treated for a rare form of breast cancer, and feared she would not survive the year. She wanted the pictures made because she says "no one wants to look at it, even though everyone has known someone with breast cancer. I wanted to show people what it really is." 

I admire this woman for facing this disease so directly, so unflinchingly, and for documenting her journey, which will no doubt inspire and encourage others. I am thinking of everyone who faces a cancer diagnosis. I am grateful for the medical practitioners and researchers who dedicate themselves to eliminating this disease, and for the hospice workers who help transition those who don't survive it. I am thankful for the bone marrow donors who, often anonymously, give so much hope, and oftentimes a cure to others.

The magazine tells me the woman featured in the photographs is now cancer free, has regrown her hair and has resumed her life. I am happy for her and her loved ones. I am grateful for her courage in telling her story, and to the photographer for telling it with so much grace and sensitivity.