This inspiring mum with cancer has turned her chemo sessions into a hilarious photo series to show the disease won’t beat her
Actress Karen Walsh has turned hospital visits into movie themed parties to help her cope
A CANCER sufferer has turned her chemo sessions into and amazing set of photo opportunities to inspire others.
Karen Walsh started a series of Instagram posts to document her battle after being diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer.
The 40-year-old mum-of-two went to her doctor for what she thought were stomach cramps but was told she had a tumour in her colon and it had spread to her liver, as well as three in her lymph nodes.
The New York actress was put on a series of gruelling chemotherapy but decided to cheer up each session by inviting friends and family and playing dress up,
She says the photos – which include nods to Star Wars, Thelma and Louise and Game of Thrones – are her “coping mechanism” and gets her friends, family and medical staff involved, paying a hospital homage to films like Star Wars, Forrest Gump and The Breakfast Club.
She told the Huffington Post: “When people are like, ‘Oh, you’re so brave, you’re so inspiring,’ sometimes I don’t understand that because I just don’t see how else I would handle this.
“I have to get through this for my kids … I just don’t have any choice if I want to be around to see my kids graduate from college, or get married or whatever they end up doing. I want to be around for that, so I need to try everything that I can.”
Despite her strength and her inspiring pictures, Karen admits to darker moments,
She added: “There are times when I’m like, “Oh god, I have cancer”‘, ‘And I have two young kids, my husband’s company’s closing, we don’t know what we’re going to do about insurance.
“We have a lot going on in our home that’s really stressful. I think it’s really important to let that out, but I don’t feel the need to sit in it longer than I need to sit in it.”