BY RANDY ROUGHTON
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Now that she has the biggest crisis of her life behind her, Master Sgt. Keri Whitehead’s ready to close the window that gave unprecedented public access to her fight against breast cancer.
Her hair is almost back to its normal shoulder length now, as is her physical stamina after the 30 radiation treatments and three main reconstructive surgeries she endured.
The 15-year Air Force veteran and 1st Combat Camera Squadron’s combat photography flight chief at Joint Base Charleston, S.C., is looking forward to a new start with the new year.
“It actually hasn’t been that bad because I haven’t let it be that bad,” Whitehead said. “It’s been a learning experience for me. I’ve learned a lot about me as a person. I learned a lot about what I’m capable of, and I learned a lot about human nature, through the people I interact with who showed me they genuinely cared. I’ve learned I’m going to be all right by myself. I have my kid, I have my health now, and I have my career.
“I’m really happy to see 2012 because I won’t have nearly as many medical appointments. I’m actually getting back on track with all of my ancillary qualifications, so I’m back in action and can go back to being a regular master sergeant.”
“Keri’s War,” a series of images and interviews that documented Whitehead’s cancer fight, from diagnosis through reconstructive surgery, will feature the final installment later this month at www.keriswar.org. It will focus on reconstruction and wrapping up the series, said Master Sgt. J.T. Lock, who was a combat photographer in Whitehead’s squadron at the time she was diagnosed, and who approached her with the concept. Since Keri’s War first launched in October 2010, Whitehead has heard from other Airmen facing the same challenges she did.
“Once I accepted the decision (to do the story), I never reconsidered it,” she said. “It just became a way of life for me. Every time somebody who is in the Air Force gets diagnosed with breast cancer, I get an email. That’s the sad part, because you don’t want to be more aware of people having what you have, but it’s nice that they feel they can connect with you like that. I’m glad that Keri’s War gave us the opportunity to shed light on such a horrific thing in a way that people can relate to.”
During the last weekend of February 2010, Whitehead, who had just returned from her first deployment as a combat photographer, felt pain on the outer side of her right breast, accompanied by a significant-sized lump.
Whitehead was diagnosed with cancer and underwent a lumpectomy, which removed more than 35 percent of her right breast, followed by a mastectomy. During the procedures, doctors removed five lymph nodes, three of which were cancerous. Whitehead began a six-month chemotherapy schedule in May 2010, followed with radiation treatments in December and most of January. She then had reconstructive surgeries in March and October.
But not even cancer could stop her from achieving her dreams. Nearly a month after her plastic surgeon gave her the green light to resume physical fitness, Whitehead ran the Air Force Half-Marathon at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. The day before her last surgery, she achieved another major goal when she passed her physical fitness test.
“One of the things I was most worried about with this PT test was pushups, because there had been so much damage to my muscle structure,” she said. “I didn’t start doing pushups again until mid to late September. For the first time since we started doing this type of PT test, I was actually worried about meeting the Air Force minimum. I kept working at it and working at it, and I was actually able to do 30 pushups. Between that and the other components, it gave me a score of 95.”
Whitehead credits inspiration provided by her daughter, Kassidy, for her strong mental outlook during recovery and passing her PT test.
While the 5-year-old never knew the seriousness of her mother’s illness, Kassidy’s faith in her mother played an important role in Whitehead’s recovery. Even on the morning of Whitehead’s PT test, Kassidy assured her mother she would do great.
“But why do you think I’ll do well?” Whitehead asked her daughter.
Kassidy replied, “Because you’re the best mommy ever.”
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