Bethany Pendergrass is a breast cancer survivor from Albuquerque, New Mexico. In May 2018, she decided to cut her hair short after she felt a lump when adjusting her bra. She had found out that she had stage two breast cancer. Despite the bad news, she ended up making light of the situation she was in and decided to take a more positive outlook.
A Breast Cancer Survivor With a Positive Outlook
After Bethany cut her hair, one of her friends mentioned to her that she looked like Fraulein Maria from The Sound of Music who is played by Julie Andrews. She posted a picture of herself online as a joke; however, she soon realized that it was a way to document her cancer treatments in a more positive way.
She had read that many cancer patients keep journals documenting their experiences, but she didn’t want to have just any old journal. She wanted to make it fun and entertaining.
Her pictures helped her stay focused on the positives, and they gave her an outlet to express her emotions.
Just 21 months after her diagnosis, her scans are showing that she has “no evidence of disease”. She’s now working on her last iconic movie character recreation picture in order to close the chapter on that part of her life.
The Movie Character Recreations
During her treatments, Bethany shared a picture on her Instagram once a week for 82 weeks, each time choosing a different character.
She has recreated Marilyn Monroe, Janet Leigh from Psycho, Miss Piggy, Charlize Theron from Mad Max: Fury Road, and more.
Aside from her movie character recreations, she also posted some setbacks that she had been going through to give people a more honest insight into what her life looked like with cancer.
Now, as a breast cancer survivor, she is able to look back and remember that she’s a strong person and a fighter.