A mother of two from Sylvan Lake, Alta., is baring her physical and emotional scars from a nearly fatal battle with cancer, including an ostomy sac surgically inserted on her abdomen, as part of a powerful boudoir photo shoot.
A Facebook video chronicling the shoot has gone viral online, and features Lindsay Percy, 29, recalling the most difficult battle of her life.
In December 2017 and at eight months pregnant with her second daughter, she knew something was wrong. But her extreme weakness was chalked up to the effects of pregnancy and a Crohn’s disease flare up.
Percy said she got worse, and was induced at Christmas for her daughter to be born. She continued to decline and eventually couldn’t even get up off the couch. Less than three weeks after delivering her daughter, doctors discovered her torso was riddled with cancerous tumours.
She was in her doctor’s office when she collapsed to the floor and passed out. On the ambulance ride to the hospital, Percy slipped into a coma. She said she didn’t wake up until several days later.
Percy was diagnosed with Burkitt’s lymphoma, a rare form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma characterized by extremely fast-growing tumours.
“They had found two tumours the size of cantaloupes on each ovary, and tumours riddling my small intestine and small bowel and a small tumour on my liver,” Percy explained.
READ MORE: Advocates work to eliminate the stigma of ostomy
She had surgery to remove the tumours, along with her ovaries and much of her digestive track. She then went into septic shock and had to undergo dialysis to clean her blood.
Percy began bleeding internally because her reconstructed intestines were falling apart. Surgeons operated again and inserted an ostomy bag to collect waste from her small intestine.
That was followed by four rounds of aggressive chemotherapy. All this, with a newborn and toddler at home.
“At that point, the girls hadn’t really crossed my mind — which pains me to say,” Percy said while choking back tears.
“My only thing at that point was surviving. That’s all I had on my mind.”
She eventually adjusted to having the ostomy bag, saying she has a higher quality of life now because she no long deals with the effects of Crohn’s disease.
Months into recovery, Percy decided to do the boudoir photo shoot to show off the scars that changed her life in such a profound way.
“Now I am working to try and empower those who have ileostomies, and who have gone through or are going through a horrible battle with cancer,” Percy said.
She said working with photographer Erika Fetterly of EFP Studios was instrumental in her emotional healing.
“She helped me see the new me — all of my scars, the stretchmarks, everything,” Percy said.
The photographer thinks documenting scars like this are reminders of what makes her clients so strong.
“No matter what is on your body, it’s still you and that is worth celebration,” Fetterly said.
This is the message Fetterly shares in her online women’s empowerment community of more than 6,000 women who might be struggling with self-image.
Share your story, bare your scars and be proud of your journey.
“No matter what’s going on in your life, whether it be you have an ileostomy, or you’re going through cancer treatments… there’s something you can do to help,” Fetterly said.
The images she provides to her clients are never edited or retouched, and are meant to celebrate the changes to their bodies.
“You’re not finding a new you, because it’s the you that’s always been there,” Fetterly said.
It’s a point of view Percy also hopes will resonate with other women in similar situations.
“My outlook on life has changed because I am here and I am alive,” said the young mother. “Being positive, regardless of what you’re going through, is what’s going to get you through life.”
The video was produced by Wild North Photo and Film.
— With files from Karen Bartko, Global News