Dessert First - Facing death twice in one's life is a powerful and life changing experience

Laurel Borowick knew that something was wrong after feeling a hard, misshapen lump in the scar tissue of her right breast. Twelve years earlier, at age 42, she had undergone a mastectomy and major reconstruction after being diagnosed with breast cancer for the first time. She is also my mother.

Facing death twice in one's life is a powerful and life changing experience. My mother has been fortunate enough, in these unfortunate circumstances, to be given a third chance at life and plans to enjoy every moment. While this story touch's heavily on her actual cancer experience, it also digs beneath the surface and examines who she really is and her relationships with those close to her. Illness is very often illustrated from one angle focusing only on the suffering and the pain; my mother lives her story with a different, more positive point of view and this story will break from the typical mold. She says, "You learn to have dessert first ... and not to sweat the little things when big traumatic things happen because you have perspective and you realize that everything is relative." Full of energy and love, she finds peace and understanding through comedy in her own life. I try to capture these moments of optimism in my photographs, while also showing the reality of her cancer treatment as it affects her life each day.

An estimated 192,370 new cases of invasive breast cancer will occur among women in the United States this year. About 40,170 of these women will die from the disease. She is a two-time breast cancer patient, but this temporary fact does not define who she really is. In my eyes, and through my lens, I see her as much more than just another statistic. She is a strong woman, a caring mother, a devoted wife, a kind daughter, an intelligent lawyer, and a powerful human being.

Dessert First from nancy borowick on Vimeo.