Portrait of US: Issue #04 - Cynthea and Casper - Savannah, GA
How two women face a similar obstacle
In this work I often find connections not only between participants, but (spoiler alert) also to myself. Ultimately, that is what this project is about - finding those common threads between all of our stories.
We met Cynthea and Casper within the same week in Savannah, GA, both had thyroid cancer within the last year or two. Cynthea had been diagnosed about two years prior and had gone through her surgery to have her thyroid removed, leaving her with a small horizontal scar on the front of her neck. Casper was just about to go in for this surgery, and had received her diagnosis about a month prior to speaking with us.
“Professionally I am a journalist, I am a social media influencer, I am a Model. To have a scar across my neck was really daunting. Like, the thought of that was just so stressful. That whole journey has been the biggest kick in the butt - it just acted like fire under me.” - Cynthea
To me both of their stories together give us a fuller picture of what going through this might be like. Cynthea spoke about what the scar meant to her now, while Casper shared some speculation on what it might mean to her in the future.
“I am kind of most excited about the scar, I think it could be kind of fun. It is kind of like a tattoo I am paying thousands of dollars for because surgery is expensive.”
- Casper
For me, these stories also speak to the fact that as women, there is often a point where we have to accept Who We Are, How We Are and What We Look Like. This society has told me my entire life that I do not fit - I have never seen my self in ads or movies, and I have almost always felt foreign. My relationship to my body is a constant give and take, a constant battle of acceptance and annoyance. What is so refreshing about hearing these two stories back to back - is understanding that no matter what, we are always learning to overcome what society tells us is “right” - and that overcoming that often leads us to a freer, happier, healthier place.
Hear Cynthea’s story here:
Hear an excerpt of Caspers story here - her complete story will be premiering on episode #04 of our podcast this coming Saturday.
Huge nuclear facility run by the DoD nearby Savannah. Young persons with thyroid cancers?