Cancer survivor Mariana Milward, 33, has bared her chest in over 200 Rio de Janeiro churches already, even though she was told by several people that the scars of her double mastectomy are improper and unsightly.
But Milward isn't ashamed of them - in fact, she believes they are something to be proud of because they show she's "been through a war and I've survived."
Milward, a former sergeant nurse who served with the Brazilian army, was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive stage three infiltrating ductal carcinoma in August 2009 when she was only 24 years old, according to the Daily Mail. Doctors told her chances of survival were slim, and even advised her to prepare her death certificate.
"I was diagnosed with cancer at an age when doctors said it was unlucky to have because I was so young," she said. "I discovered a nodule first in my left breast while taking a bath. A month later a lump appeared in my right one. The biopsy showed my strain was so rare I was told it was incurable. The nodules in my breasts were rotting away inside. The swelling was so big and hard it protruded through my skin."
Because of the negative feedback from doctors, Milward went home and just waited to die. She fell into a deep depression and refused to eat. But after a month, she decided to get a second opinion and was referred to the National Institute of Cancer in Rio.
For four months, she endured six gruelling sessions of chemotherapy. The drugs slowed down the necrosis and reduced the malignant cells, but the doctors told her she still had to have her breasts removed. Otherwise, the disease would spread to the rest of her body.
Milward prepared herself for the consequences, and she was warned that the scars would be "grotesque to look at." Many family members advised against the procedure, so much so that it was her boyfriend of 15 years, Cristiano, who took responsibility for her medical forms.
The day of her procedure, Milward had a conversation with God. "I promised God that if I survived I would never be ashamed of my scars or embarrassed to show them," she said. "I promised to be an example of hope to other women battling cancer by telling my story and inspiring them to keep going even when they have been told there is no hope."
And that is exactly what she is doing now. "I decided to show my scars in churches because these are the places that have kept on inviting me to talk," she said. "In the beginning a lot of people were shocked. Even today, some are still outraged at what I do. When I tell my story and remove my top, there are a few who turn their faces away saying they don't want to see it. But there are many who get very emotional and hug me. They share their stories of suffering and say they're inspired by how I've pulled through."
Now, Milward is both a wife and mother to a son named Daniel, even though she was initially told she would never bear children. Milward has defied the odds and is proud of her survival story. "Although I have no breasts I'm an example to other women that miracles can happen and there is always hope," she said.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and people can help this cause by sharing their own survival stories, donating to organizations and charities that care for women with breast cancer, and hold fundraisers for the cause.
