love, breast cancer, etc.

love, cancer, etc.

San Francisco Magazine interview

F-Stop Beyond
interview about my photography and how I am using my self-portraits of my mastectomy to encourage women to get their annual mammograms

©Deborah D. Lattimore, All Rights Reserved

These images are not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit written permission.


on september 12, 2008, i had my annual mammogram, which showed a lesion. i then had three more mammograms, an ultrasound, an MRI, and a core-needle biopsy. the results indicated an ER-, PR-, HER2- (triple negative), Grade 3, Stage 1 (8mm) tumor 1 millimeter from the chest wall. because of the location of the tumor and the fact that this cancer was Grade 3 and aggressive, (and because i have always wanted a flat chest!) i had a double mastectomy on november 20th, followed by four months of chemo (AC/Taxol, started january 14, 2009, ended may 1, 2009), 33 tomotherapy radiation treatments, ending july 6, 2009.

both my biological mother and grandmother died of breast cancer which spread to the bone, so i've been worried about this happening for a long time. losing my breasts didn't bother me at all, but chemo was tough. i am grateful for this cancer, though, because it has shaken up my life completely, in good ways.

two women on flickr have been my stalwart friends and confidants: adriene hughes and debbie buckner. i am so indebted to them and love them so much.

PLEASE spread the word about annual mammograms, self-exams, and early detection! this is what has saved my life.

very important info about breast cancer

best ways to try to prevent cancer

101 photos, 1 video | 3,295 views

items are from between 07 Feb 2006 & 23 Feb 2009.