"Finding Resilience: Thirteen Survivors’ Paths to Inner Peace
Statistics tell us that one in eight women, and one in eight hundred men, from all walks of life will develop breast cancer in their lifetime. Beyond the numbers however, each of these individuals will have a unique treatment and recovery experience. Each will be impacted differently. They will all forge their own paths and have their own stories to tell. I did not have a true appreciation of this until I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016.
About a year after my initial breast cancer diagnosis, I was leaving one of my oncology appointments at Norwalk Hospital and I couldn’t help but notice the vast number of people in the waiting area. They all looked so solemn. As I looked into the eyes of those individuals, I was moved to appreciate how fortunate I was. And I wondered whether these patients and their caregivers had met the amazing staff at The Smilow Family Breast Health Center like I had?
Norwalk Hospital, through The Smilow Center, has a unique support program for its breast cancer patients offering patient navigation, family counseling, support groups, financial support, nutrition, acupuncture, and exercise programs, just to name a few. On that day, I was inspired to do what I could to try to ensure that other patients had the opportunity to benefit from The Smilow Center’s support services.
These programs help patients find their own resilience and strength to negate those adverse feelings a cancer diagnosis can often bring. So many of the people that I have met have incredible stories of how they were able to stay positive through their own cancer treatment and recovery. The programs, the people that I have met through them, and sense of community we developed have helped me get through my cancer diagnosis and treatment both physically and mentally. For me and many others, including those with other types of cancers, The Smilow Center has been life-saving.
As a professional photographer for 35 years, my goal for this exhibit is to share some of these individual’s amazing stories. I want to highlight the beauty, positive energy and determination that can come through survivorship. All of us in this community want to help other breast cancer patients find their own inner strength, as well as help raise funds for The Smilow Family Breast Health Center at Norwalk Hospital. These services are in large part, dependent on donations.
After discussions with The Smilow Center, Norwalk Hospital’s Foundation and each of the 13 participants you see in this exhibit, we were able to come up with a creative and respectful way to capture their stories so that we could share them with a wider audience. With help from photo assistants, hair stylists, makeup artists, 13 trusting and willing participants, and a strong support system telling me we could do this, we are so proud to present this exhibit. I hope you enjoy viewing it and will consider donating to The Smilow Family Breast Health Center at Norwalk Hospital so they can continue to serve their breast cancer patients in such an extraordinary way.
To learn how you can help our mission, please follow the instructions, below.
Thank you.
Pam Rouleau, Photographer
