Carina Harris

Carina Harris was in a wonderful place in October 2021. Happily married, mom to a beautiful toddler and enjoying a successful modeling career, Carina had all she had ever wished for. When she found a small lump in her breast she was surprised but not too worried, she was young and had no family history of breast cancer. However when test results came back negative, a feeling that something wasn’t right propelled Carina to pursue further testing which ultimately resulted in a diagnosis of breast cancer.

Cancer affects everyone differently. A professional model since the age of 17, Carina has appeared on the covers of magazines such as Glamour, GQ, Elle and Playboy as well as being the first woman ever on the cover of Men’s Health Magazine. As a woman who had spent her entire life being praised for her beauty, the idea of losing her hair and looking sick was one of the things Carina dreaded most. If her value was in her looks, who was she without them? Could she make it through 8 brutal rounds of chemotherapy, fighting for her life, and still be herself? How would her husband, her daughter, her friends view her if she was not the Carina they knew? And how would that affect her morale and the strength she knew she needed to endure what was ahead?

Although she had no control over the cancer, Carina realized she had control over her own self-care. Taking back control of her appearance was something that gave her strength, although it wasn’t easy at first. Looking in the mirror was upsetting and felt like a loss of identity. Shopping for wigs, scarves and hats was daunting. Figuring out how to recreate her natural eyebrows was frustrating. She felt insecure and worried about how her husband, her daughter and her friends would feel about seeing her without her hair and so she made sure she was fully made up and wearing a wig or scarf whenever she was not alone.

Carina believed that looking better would help her feel better and would give her more strength and courage to make it through her treatments. Wigs concealed her new reality, but they also concealed her fight. She wanted to be brave enough to show her new look and to embrace her new beauty – one that was not reliant on long hair or natural eyebrows. As she battled through chemo and a double mastectomy, Carina came to realize that underneath it all she was still the same person: a mother, a wife, a model and a fighter. Taking back control of her appearance helped her to feel like herself again – sexy, pretty, confident and still the same person despite her cancer.

“You learn so much about yourself when I you’re stripped down - I learned that my hair doesn’t define who I am. I stand proud of not only who I used to be, but who I’ve become. I would love to share my experience now to help others going through a similar challenge with redefining their beauty. Despite the scary journey ahead, there are ways to make the path easier and to still feel beautiful. I’m hopeful that my experience and the strength and knowledge I’ve gained through this journey will help and inspire others to make it through by inheriting the tools and knowledge which allowed me to minimize the fear, pain and anxiety associated with changing appearance due to breast cancer.”

Early detection is crucial. This includes doing monthly breast self-exams and scheduling regular mammograms. “Don’t put it off!” says Carina. “And if you feel something is wrong, listen to your body and keep following up. My insistence saved my life.”

Follow Carina on TIKTOK for tips, tricks and strategies in coping with breast cancer.