Mom Shares Instagram Photo to Make a Point About Hidden Cancer Symptoms

Kirstin Pretorius's breast cancer began quietly — it arrived without announcing itself, without a family history or a single symptom. The 34-year-old mom of two was living her best life — smashing fitness goals, feeling the love in her strong marriage, raising strong daughters — and had the glow to prove it.

But in the below photo, which looks like it could run in a health and wellness ad, Pretorius's body was fighting three cancerous tumors in her right breast that had already metastasized to her lymph nodes. And she didn't even know it.

[instagram ]https://www.instagram.com/p/BWyGlWgDf5C/?taken-by=kicking_the_big_c[/instagram]

Moral of the story? Cancer's face is deceiving. "I didn't know and I didn't feel," Pretorius wrote in the photo's caption. "If my doctor hadn't examined me, I'd still be blissfully unaware, reaching new fitness goals with my body, eating my futile little anti-oxidant high virtually-vegan wonder food diet."

This wasn't something Pretorius missed for lack of trying. "I thought I was doing breast exams right but I wasn't because I couldn't feel it," she told the Daily Mail. Even after her doctor found the lump, she could only feel it lying on her back, with one arm above her head.

[instagram ]https://www.instagram.com/p/BXAV1EKDb7s/?taken-by=kicking_the_big_c[/instagram]

Today, though, Pretorius is aware — and she's gone into treatment with her eyes wide open. She's even created an Instagram account, aptly titled @kicking_the_big_c, to let other breast cancer warriors (and all women!) in on her journey towards remission. From a head-shaving party to wig shopping and a right breast mastectomy and chemotherapy, Pretorius is sharing it all — as her Instagram bio reads, "the good, the bad and the ugly."

[instagram ]https://www.instagram.com/p/BYHvr9qjzVm/?taken-by=kicking_the_big_c[/instagram]

Her feed is a burst of positivity, a reel of colorful head scarves and hot pink lipstick — but Pretorius is the first to acknowledge the hard days. "I don't like to be miserable and I don't like miserable people around me. I do have bad days and bad moments like everyone else but you just have to fake it during those times and push through," she said. "It's about who you surround yourself with too, it's important to interact with people who force you to be positive and to see the humor in these situations. My husband has just been incredible even though it's been so hard for him inside."

[instagram ]https://www.instagram.com/p/BXcvVSjjaHF/?taken-by=kicking_the_big_c[/instagram]

As Pretorius moves forward, in treatment and in life, she wants everyone to understand that cancer doesn't always look like cancer — and healthy, clean, chemical-free lifestyles don't prevent us from becoming sick or allow us to stop checking in with our bodies. "I'd be packing my little plastic-free super food school lunches for my girls, lecturing them on healthy lifestyles. I'd be chemically-free cleaning my home wondering why the whole world doesn't use essential oils, all the while growing and feeding my precious cancer. So check your boobs. Know your body. Cancer happens. To anyone."

[instagram ]https://www.instagram.com/p/BX1SQqfDK82/?taken-by=kicking_the_big_c[/instagram]

(h/t Daily Mail)