Photos on Deborah Cohan’s CaringBridge page show what appears to be a fit, healthy woman. In one photo she is leaping into the air, in others, she looks relaxed while she plays with her children outdoors. The photos, some as recent as November 1, 2013, offer no hints that the vibrant woman pictured is about to undergo a double mastectomy. The surgery, described by one woman as “brutal,” involves the removal of both breasts in an attempt to treat breast cancer.
This is the surgery for which Cohan was preparing in early November, and on November 5, she entered the operating room early in the morning, ready to take this huge step on her path to recovery. Inside the operating room, however, the mood was anything but solemn.
As Cohan had reported on her CaringBridge page, she was planning a pre-surgery dance party, right there in the OR. The entire surgical team got in on the action, laughing and dancing to Beyonc?’s “Get Me Bodied.”
Cohan invited friends, family and other visitors to her site to join in the party, asking them to send video clips of them dancing to the same song. Videos came in from all over the country, and people young and old danced with Cohen in a beautiful and exuberant show of support.
On November 8, Cohan expressed her gratitude via her CaringBridge page, and reached out to other women facing the same surgery, offering Skype dance parties to anyone ready to dance her way to recovery.
Edited by SS
