Brave cancer survivor:
“I want to inspire other women – by revealing my mastectomy scars on top of mountains”
Climbing to the top of a mountain, Cat Levitt pauses, before whipping off her top and exposing her bare chest, throwing her head back and spreading her arms wide in triumph. For her, it’s an empowering way to celebrate her post-mastectomy body.
Cat, 35, who has a daughter, Addie, five, explains, “Flashing in the wilderness is a way for me to show everybody there’s strength in your scars and strength in breast cancer.
“I never thought I’d get to where I am now and love my scars. After you go through these surgeries, you feel really awful. I felt like a piece of what made me a woman and a mother were missing. I know a lot of women who are going through chemotherapy, or who have just had surgery, and they don’t know if they’ll ever get that strength back. It takes a while, but you do.
“And I want to inspire them, by posting pictures of myself flashing online and showing there’s nothing to hide and that instead you should celebrate women’s bodies in all shape and sizes.”
Cat was diagnosed with breast cancer in June 2018, after her boyfriend Isaac, 34, found a lump in her right breast.
She says, “We’d only been together for a month or so, after we met on a walk when our dogs’ leads got caught up together. He told me that I should get it checked out immediately, but I thought I was too young for cancer and went on holiday instead.”
SHOCKED
On their return, Isaac encouraged her to make an appointment for an ultrasound, which showed a lump. A biopsy confirmed it was cancerous.
Cat remembers, “I was shocked. I felt like I was too young, my daughter was only three then, so I immediately thought that I wasn’t going to be there throughout her life, which was so sad. Even though I hadn’t been with Isaac long, he was amazing and really looked after me.”
In August 2018, Cat had a double mastectomy – removing her left breast too as a preventative measure. Doctors took out all of her breast tissue and put in expanders to prepare her chest for implants. And in September 2018, she started four rounds of chemotherapy.
She says, “My first round was horrendous; my body reacted badly. But Isaac was there all the way, he took time off work to look after me.
I was so grateful.”
After chemotherapy, Cat underwent two gruelling surgeries to reconstruct her breasts, finishing in May 2019. And she was given the all-clear from cancer at the end of 2019. But despite being delighted to have beaten the disease, Cat struggled with her body image.
She says, “I had scars and no nipples. I felt ugly; I felt like I wasn’t a woman any more and that I was never going to be sexy or beautiful again. I felt very defeated and overwhelmed.”
BODY ISSUES
But with Isaac’s encouragement, Cat decided to tackle her body issues head-on. First, she began posting pictures of her bare chest on social media, to normalise post-surgery bodies. Then Cat, who lives in Colorado, USA, and was already a keen hiker, began trekking around the west coast of America at the start of 2019. When she reached the summit of some of its mountains
and beauty spots, she decided to go topless as a way to reclaim her body and show that you can conquer anything after breast cancer.
She’s since visited more than ten different locations, and Isaac takes photographs for her to share with her thousands of Instagram followers. By posting online, she hoped to educate other women about breast cancer, particularly those in their twenties and thirties,
I HAD SCARS AND NO NIPPLES – I FELT UGLY AND LIKE I WASN’T A WOMAN ANY MORE
and help them learn to love their bodies.
Since first posting her photos at the end of 2019,
Cat has been inundated with messages of thanks from thousands of women, of all ages.
POSITIVITY
She says, “A lot of people tell me they feel more prepared and better because they found my page, which is great. I know I’m doing something positive. I had one woman who did a sexy photo shoot before losing her breasts – she said my pictures empowered her to do one after, too.
“Some people tell me they’re going to try to get outside and push their body a little more because they know they can get there, which is so great.”
Cat adds, “I hike a lot so it’s freeing to feel like I’ve reached my destination and then to celebrate. And I hope women will see my pictures and be reminded to check their breasts, too.
“I’m showing other women that you can conquer anything after a breast cancer diagnosis. You can be as alive and as powerful as ever.”