You've Got To See The Stunning Way This Woman Is Documenting Her Double Mastectomy

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March 10, 2017 2:32 PM

One New York woman is baring it all on Instagram for the most inspiring reason.

Lady documents her double mastectomy.

“I look in the mirror and see my scars as strength."

One New York woman is baring it all on Instagram for the most inspiring reason. After testing positive for the BRCA1 gene mutation, 24-year-old Paige More had a preventative double mastectomy—the results of which she's sharing in a series of awesome photos.

More got the BRCA1 test since she had a family history of breast cancer—a BRCA1 gene mutation means you're at a significantly higher risk for breast and ovarian cancer. Faced with the reality that she had a 55 to 65 percent chance of developing breast cancer, More was looking at a choice between a lifetime of monitoring, worrying, and checkups or a preventative double mastectomy to remove her breasts. She chose the latter.

In a bilateral mastectomy, both breasts and sometimes the nipples are removed, requiring intense mental and physical recovery.

After the massive surgery, More set up her "previvor" Instagram account to document her recovery for her 13-year-old sister who has yet to be tested for the mutation, she told People. "While I was home recovering, I just didn't want her to think that this is scary," More said. "I wanted her to look at me and feel strong and proud and beautiful. I just hope that in a couple years when she gets tested, God forbid I hope she's not positive, but if she is she can think back to this and say that I can do this too."

More, a talent booker for Good Morning America, is creating a sisterhood of "breast friends," bringing together previvors like herself and women who have been touched by the disease. Recently, More was invited to walk the runway at New York Fashion Week during the #Cancerland x AnaOno show, where all the bare-chested models were dealing with breast cancer in some way.

"I no longer wake up worried that this is going to be the day I get cancer, or the day I find a lump. I look in the mirror and see my scars as strength, and I see the new shape of myself," More said. "I saved my own life. There's nothing sexier than that."

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