Woman documents cancer journey by turning her chemo treatments into awesome photo ops

Aerial

This crazy-looking aerial shot Walsh did with her director-choreographer friend Sam Pinkleton inspired the whole series.

“I told him he had to do a selfie with me if he was going to be my ‘healing treatment’ date (my preferred language for chemo), and well… Sam is a really fun guy to play with, and we basically ended up making it look like I was doing some aerial work on a window ledge while being infused. The time passed so quickly and, frankly, so enjoyably that it became clear that was a good way for me to play and do something creative during my treatments,” Walsh told SheKnows.

‘Forrest Gump’

This great Forrest Gump homage was done for round 16 of her chemo treatments. Sometimes life really is like a box of chocolates. You may never know what you’re going to get, but it’s what you do with what you’re dealt that makes you who you are. Case in point: Karen Walsh.

‘Golden Girls’

Here’s a little Golden Girls action for you. This really gives new meaning to the theme song “Thank You for Being a Friend.”

Naturally, as an actress, Walsh has a ton of fellow actor friends who were willing to dress up and act silly with her, but she was touched by how many non-actor friends got involved too. “Most of my friends here in NYC are actors, so dressing up and acting silly isn’t a stretch… for any of them. And we also run with a fun non-actor crew of fellow parents, where costume parties have been a big thing in our social circle for a long time.”

Superheroes

What better way is there to battle cancer than with a bunch of superheroes around you?

Subway ride

The doctors and nurses at New York Presbyterian were so supportive of her somewhat unorthodox way of coping with treatment. “Dr. Ruggiero and his awesome staff and nurses at NYP/Weill Cornell have been so amazing. Dr. R is really supportive of them, as he sees it as a way to help other people going through the same thing with a little levity and also to be reminded that they aren’t alone,” Walsh told SheKnows. He even appeared in a couple of her fake subway photo shoots (he’s the one in the lab coat sitting next to Walsh in the middle).

St. Paddy’s Day

Of course, recovery involves more than just sitting with a chemo drip in your arm. Sometimes she had to have CT scans, which can be super scary unless you’re surrounded by crazy Irish-lovin’ friends on St. Paddy’s Day.

The race to win

Could there be a better metaphor for leaving cancer in the dust? I don’t think so. As you can see, Walsh is winning all the medals.

‘Thelma & Louise’

At the beginning of her treatment, it was hard for Walsh to keep up her incredibly active acting life. While the stagings weren’t much, they helped keep her creative juices flowing when she couldn’t perform professionally. “I’ve been lucky enough to continue working as I have gone through the last nine months, but at the beginning it was a little overwhelming, and I didn’t have time to even think about work. This became a great way for me to keep feeling creative and to keep playing,” Walsh told SheKnows.

Willy Wonka

This incredible Willy Wonka homage is definitely my favorite. As is Walsh’s portrayal of the spoiled Veruca Salt.

Badasses

Now this was one of the earlier rounds, so they hadn’t gotten into full-fledged movie homages yet, but that doesn’t make it any less creative. According to the caption, this look was inspired by the 7-year-olds of the ladies in the photo, who obviously love pink hair, sharks and daggers. I mean really, who doesn’t love all that stuff rolled together?

Christmas

While Christmas had to be celebrated in hospital, Walsh and her family and friends went all out to make it awesome. As you can see, they even turned her medicine portal into a fabulous Christmas tree complete with tiny presents!

‘Rocky’

Walsh admits that sometimes it was hard to get up the energy to pull a photo shoot together. After all, cancer treatments are incredibly harsh on the body. Put that together with raising a family and carrying on a successful acting career, and you’d be sleeping on your feet.

“There have been a couple of weeks when I have just been really busy with life, kids and work… the effort to pull something together becomes a little exhausting. But I’m always so happy that I did. It always works out… Some photos are better than others, but it’s a fun bonding experience with friends regardless, and I’m not going to stress out if a photo doesn’t hit the mark,” Walsh told SheKnows.

‘Breakfast Club’

Not only are they fun, but the photo shoots infuse her with life and positive energy, even when she’s at her lowest points.

“The best part is that I generally feel pretty rough on ‘day three’ of my treatment, and it’s really fun to look back at a good time and know it was only two days ago and that I will feel better.”

‘Star Wars’

Her efforts are paying off in more ways than one. Walsh is now a spokeswoman/ambassador for the American Cancer Society’s 80% by 2018 campaign, which aims to get 80 percent of the eligible population screened for colon cancer by 2018. As such, she cannot stress enough how important it is to get screened, especially if you have a family history of colon cancer. Her diagnosis convinced her brother to get tested, and they happened to find and remove a cancerous polyp, which very well could’ve saved his life.

So learn your family history, get tested, and if you end up with a cancer diagnosis, remember — the best way to beat it is with the support of your loved ones, whether or not they’re cool dressing up like hobbits and doing a Lord of the Rings photo shoot.