Editor’s Note: October is breast cancer awareness month. Stories about breast cancer survivors and other breast cancer related topics have been running on Sundays and Wednesdays during October in The Augusta Press.
When she took her wedding vows, Whitney O’Connor expected the “in sickness and in health” part to be something she’d have to worry about in her and her husband’s golden years — not right after her honeymoon.
“I went for my annual (checkup) in January 2017 – six weeks after I got married,” said O’Connor, who was 30 at the time.
Her doctor did a breast exam and determined one breast didn’t feel “consistent” with the other and recommended a mammogram. The mammogram led to a biopsy and a diagnosis of stage 3 breast cancer.
O’Connor remembers the first conversation she had with her husband.
“I had to tell him he married a sick person not a healthy person,” she said. “I wasn’t prepared to do all this.”
It would be the first of many deep conversations the couple would have.
She opted for genetic testing, and tests showed a rare genetic condition called Li-Fraumeni Syndrome. The syndrome often causes cancer in younger people, and it complicated the types of treatment she could have, she said.
She had a double mastectomy and chose to mark the journey in ways others with cancer might not.
The weekend before her surgery she had a “boob voyage” party.
Her girlfriends planned the weekend of pampering at the lake.
“I brought all my bras and threw them into the fire,” she said.
They worked to celebrate her life and their friendship.
Knowing that chemotherapy would take her hair, O’Connor was proactive – cutting it and playing with hairstyles she never would’ve dared to try otherwise, such as a cute pixie and a buzz cut she shared with her husband. The progression to shorter hair and then having her head shaved came in four different appointments.
One of her sisters-in-law is a photographer and one is a make-up artist. Together, they worked with O’Connor to create memories through that transition.
“We spent the day together,” she said, and the event made her “feel pretty.”
O’Connor is a licensed therapist, and one of the things she had to deal with was the emotional and mental health journey she went on. She had to deal with multiple phases of grief – from losing her breasts to losing her hair to losing what she thought her life was supposed to be like, she said.
Those silly fun events, the friendships, the relationship with her husband were all important in her mental health.
[adrotate banner=”15″]
About two years after the first diagnosis, a scan revealed additional breast cancer.
Her doctor advised radiation, but with the Li-Fraumeni syndrome, O’Connor couldn’t undergo regular radiation. Her cells wouldn’t repair as quickly as others.
She got a second opinion and spent part of the pandemic at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., where she received proton therapy.
O’Connor went through both treatments and came out with a desire to find a way to help others who’ve gone through the same thing.
She created The Boobie Queen, a nonprofit business.
O’Connor got the nickname Boobie Queen when she was a teenager. She entered puberty sooner than her friends and wore a bra before they did. That gave her the title.
“It’s super ironic I had that nickname,” she said.
And according to O’Connor, what’s a queen without a crown? The type of crown – from a bra, of course.
O’Connor takes the cups adds sequins, crystals and other finery to create a crown fit for a boobie queen.
With every crown purchased, O’Connor donates a second one. People can also make a donation and give a crown to a woman with breast cancer. Pink might be the color associated with breast cancer month, but O’Connor said the bra crowns can come in any color. She finds a lot of women don’t like pink.
She’s even done college-themed ones with the colors of University of Georgia and Auburn University.
O’Connor’s goal is to have special events for fellow “boobie queens.” She wants to have evenings of pampering and ultimately retreats with women who have breast cancer.
To learn more about The Boobie Queen, visit her website at boobiecrowns.com. She also posts fun photos to remind women to do monthly breast exams and funny videos at her Instagram page @BoobieQueenChronicles.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com
