Ami Salmen isn91裸聊视频檛 your average 28-year-old. Not only is she currently first in her group in the national 91裸聊视频業nked91裸聊视频� competition, but she also just beat a very rare and aggressive form of breast cancer.
Inked Magazine is currently holding its annual online competition to find a tattooed model to appear on its cover. The winner is decided by public online votes. As well as appearing on the cover, the winner will also take home a grand prize of $25,000.
Salmen91裸聊视频檚 story has struck a chord with the public, and she is in the running for the top 15.
Salmen says her tattoos have helped her to accept her new body, and keep loving herself throughout her breast cancer journey.
91裸聊视频淚 got my first tattoo at age 16, and since then I91裸聊视频檝e gotten so many more. I have them all over. My legs, my chest, my arms, the back of my neck, my ribs and sides,91裸聊视频� Salmen said. 91裸聊视频淢ost of them are memorial tattoos and a lot of them have different meanings.91裸聊视频�
She says if she had to choose a favourite tattoo, it would be one on her left leg.
91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 a memorial for an uncle figure of mine who passed away. He lived on the Steeples Ranch, I practically grew up there. The tattoo has the mountains and critters 91裸聊视频� it91裸聊视频檚 really symbolic of him and my upbringing.91裸聊视频�
The top 10 will be decided on Feb. 10, the top five on Feb. 17, and voting for the finals takes place from March 11 to 17. You can vote for Salmen
Salmen, originally from Cranbrook, moved to Kelowna in 2013. She didn91裸聊视频檛 plan on entering the Inked competition 91裸聊视频� it was her friend91裸聊视频檚 idea. But she says she91裸聊视频檚 been surprised by the amount of support she has received.
Salmen says she would donate some of the funds, save some, and use some to take her best friend on a trip.
91裸聊视频淚 would donate five to seven thousand to the BC Cancer Society. They have helped me so much. There are different fundraising streams through the society, and some cancers don91裸聊视频檛 receive as much funding as others,91裸聊视频� Salmen said. 91裸聊视频淚 also would take my best friend on a trip. She held my hair, so to speak, the hair I didn91裸聊视频檛 have, through all of my cancer treatments. I don91裸聊视频檛 have family that lives close by.91裸聊视频�
Salmen says that entering the Inked competition has allowed her to share her breast cancer story 91裸聊视频� something she wants to raise more awareness of.
91裸聊视频淐ancer doesn91裸聊视频檛 discriminate. It can hit any person at any age, any time,91裸聊视频� she said.
Salmen has spent the last year and a half going through chemo, radiation and multiple surgeries. She was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer, a very rare and aggressive form. The type of cancer she was diagnosed with has a 75 per cent recurrence rate within the first five years. If it comes back, the survival rate is just ten per cent.
91裸聊视频淚 was sitting in bed one day, just watching a show or something, and I went to itch my arm. I felt a hard lump, about the size of a pea,91裸聊视频� Salmen said of day one of her journey. 91裸聊视频淚 made an appointment and got in a few days later. My doctor found another lump, and so I went in for an ultrasound.
91裸聊视频淚 wasn91裸聊视频檛 even home from the ultrasound appointment when they called back. One week later, November 26th, I was diagnosed.91裸聊视频�
From then on it was appointment after appointment. Salmen was told she91裸聊视频檇 have to undergo four to six months of chemo, plus radiation and surgeries.
91裸聊视频淚 stopped work on December 15th, and started chemo on January 8th. I finished chemo in April. It sucked. It started with this really nasty drug that they call the red devil,91裸聊视频� Salmen said, shuddering. 91裸聊视频淟et me tell you 91裸聊视频� it makes, you, sick.91裸聊视频�
Three days after her second treatment, her hair began falling out.
91裸聊视频淚t was traumatic. It91裸聊视频檚 just like you see in the movies, big chunks falling out at once. Within a few days it was all gone,91裸聊视频� Salmen recalled. 91裸聊视频淭he next round of chemo was a lot easier, but I had allergies to it and it made me super itchy. At least I was strong enough to go for walks outside and start to live a little more normally. I also had a full response to that treatment, which is good.91裸聊视频�
Next came her first surgery 91裸聊视频� a double bilateral mastectomy.
91裸聊视频淎fter that process I started radiation. It took five weeks, every day from Monday to Friday. The radiation itself wasn91裸聊视频檛 so bad, but the healing process was almost unbearable. My skin was peeling and flaking, it91裸聊视频檚 still really scarred.91裸聊视频�
Now, almost two years later, Salmen goes for her final reconstructive surgery in March.
91裸聊视频淚 was 26 when I was diagnosed and I just turned 28 a few weeks ago,91裸聊视频� Salmen said. 91裸聊视频淚 don91裸聊视频檛 have the mutated gene, and I91裸聊视频檓 first in my family to get it. Right now I91裸聊视频檓 feeling good; I get tired easily. My doctors are very happy with everything and my oncologist is absolutely on it.91裸聊视频�
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Being so young, Salmen explained that part of the chemo treatment involves induced menopause, with the goal of hopefully saving her uterus and ovaries.
91裸聊视频淚 had 17 eggs frozen, in case,91裸聊视频� Salmen said, adding that there is a monthly cost to keep them frozen. 91裸聊视频淐ancer is expensive. Luckily, for me, my treatments were covered. But not everyone is. It can cost 10 to 15 thousand dollars for each treatment. Anti-nausea pills are $122 for three pills. I had a GoFundMe page, and my friends set up a fundraiser raffle. I was blown away by their support.91裸聊视频�
Salmen also met a new friend while going through treatments. This friend is the same age with a similar form of cancer. Salmen says her friend91裸聊视频檚 doctor didn91裸聊视频檛 take her seriously until her cancerous lump was the size of a lemon.
91裸聊视频淭he doctors told her she was too young to have breast cancer,91裸聊视频� Salmen said.
Referencing the fact that her cancer could return within the next five years, Salmen91裸聊视频檚 advice for herself, and everyone else, is to live life with passion and purpose.
91裸聊视频淚 try to stay positive in everything I do. Even through all of this, I only cried twice - when I lost my hair and after my first surgery. But your attitude is half the battle. I thought, well, at least I won91裸聊视频檛 have to buy shampoo for a while,91裸聊视频� she explained. 91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檓 in a mode to get things done. You just don91裸聊视频檛 know. I can91裸聊视频檛 wait to get back to work full-time. I have so many goals. I want to travel. I have so many things I want to do91裸聊视频 want to be open about my story and want to spread awareness.91裸聊视频�
Inked is a tattoo lifestyle digital media company that bills itself as the 91裸聊视频榦utsiders91裸聊视频� insider media. Covering music, fashion, art, sports and the rest of the lifestyle of the tattooed, Inked has made the transition from the newsstand to digital media company, and a brand that sits among magazines like GQ and Vanity Fair, according to Wikipedia.
corey.bullock@cranbrooktownsman.com
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