21 Heartbreaking Photos Showing A Woman Preparing To Battle Breast Cancer As Her Husband Shaves Her Head

Published 5 years ago

Recently, photographer Mandy Parks had the opportunity to do one of the most heartbreaking and incredibly touching photoshoots yet – she captured Charlie Johnson preparing for her battle with cancer as her husband, Kelsey, shaves her head. Since the photographer shared the pictures on August 20, they were shared over 276K times and received over 283K likes with many people showing support by wishing Charlie the best and sharing their own inspiring cancer stories.

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Image credits: mandyparksphotography

“Strong women aren’t simply born. They are made by the storms they walk through. From the pain, mistakes, and heartache we achieve pride and strength,” writes photographer Mandy Parks on her post.

Image credits: mandyparksphotography

“I don’t know who needs to see this today. Or yesterday. Or someone you know might get this phone call tomorrow. Show them what strength looks like. Let them know they are not alone. Stand by them as they kick this like the warrior they are!” added Mandy.

Image credits: mandyparksphotography

“Hair follicles, the structures in the skin filled with tiny blood vessels that make hair, are some of the fastest-growing cells in the body. If you’re not in cancer treatment, your hair follicles divide every 23 to 72 hours. But as the chemo does its work against cancer cells, it also destroys hair cells,” writes BreastCancer.org. “Within a few weeks of starting chemo, you may lose some or all of your hair.”

Image credits: mandyparksphotography

Seeing the sudden hair loss can be extremely upsetting – that’s why many people opt to shave their heads when undergoing chemotherapy. Sadly, some chemotherapy drugs affect other body hair too, like eyelashes and pubic hair. “The extent of hair loss depends on which drugs or other treatments are used, and for how long. The various classes of chemotherapy drugs all produce different reactions,” writes BreastCancer.org.

Image credits: mandyparksphotography

According to BreastCancer.org, around 1 in 8 U.S. women will develop breast cancer during their lifetime and estimate about 268,600 new cases of invasive and 62,930 cases of non-invasive breast cancer to be diagnosed in 2019. Doctors encourage women to get regular check-ups for breast cancer as discovering cancer in its early stages can mean a higher chance of success during treatment.

Image credits: mandyparksphotography

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Aušrys Uptas

One day, this guy just kind of figured - "I spend most of my time on the internet anyway, why not turn it into a profession?" - and he did! Now he not only gets to browse the latest cat videos and fresh memes every day but also shares them with people all over the world, making sure they stay up to date with everything that's trending on the web. Some things that always pique his interest are old technologies, literature and all sorts of odd vintage goodness. So if you find something that's too bizarre not to share, make sure to hit him up!