Elizabeth Reineke
Receptor
Pigma Micron Ink Pen on watercolor paper
Artist Statement
I was completely blindsided when I was diagnosed with breast cancer in October of 2018. After much discussion with my Doctor, it was decided that I would begin treatment with a powerful hormone blocking medication to try and shrink the tumor before attempting surgery. Due to my tendency towards having dangerous reactions to drugs, I was checked into the hospital in order to test my reaction to this treatment in a safe and controlled environment. I was terrified not knowing if this treatment would hurt me or if it would be the weapon that I desperately needed in order to help keep me alive. The tests took many hours and I was shaky and exhausted, but fortunately, and to my great relief, everything went well and I left having completed my first round of what would be monthly treatments. The next day I woke up feeling quite foggy and very anxious as I began to experience some of the many side effects of this drug, and I found that I needed to do something in order to help me stay focused and to calm my growing anxiety. Creating art has often been the thing that can get me out of my head and back into my heart. The hours slipped by as I felt driven to express all my many emotions and put them onto paper, to document and fully recognize that my cancer treatment had officially begun. This drawing is what poured out of me that day...it seemed to almost draw itself in order to help me process the enormity of the challenge I knew I was now facing head on. This artwork illustrates the battle between darkness and light that had just begun inside of my body. I needed to be reminded that this fight was taking place behind a very powerful shield that symbolized the strength of my eternal spirit. My very life-force was now fully activated and engaged in order to help protect and assist me as I began this long healing journey. Six months of treatments followed by two back to back surgeries and then a long course of radiation and I am very grateful to be able to say that eight years later, I am still here.
52 Views of Cancer
52 Views of Cancer is a deck of playing cards illustrated by people who know cancer firsthand. Each of the 52 cards carries original artwork by a different cancer patient, survivor, or immediate family member, each with their own view of the disease.
The artwork comes first. We're bringing the deck to major scientific and medical conferences and putting these artists' work directly into the hands of the researchers and clinicians working on the cancers they've faced.
Learn more about Invenra’s efforts to fight cancer.
