Back To Life Project
Cancer Survivor
Volume One: Lyly
Salon LG Gives Back!
We are starting our new blog series, Back to Life, focused on helping and empowering women in need to get back on their feet and come back stronger than ever! Our first volume is the beautiful Lyly Koenig, three-time cancer survivor. Read Lyly’s awe-inspiring story below.
“The fall of 2006 I was having a blast. I was living life to it’s fullest in San Diego, California. I had been an NFL Cheerleader for two teams, the St. Louis Rams, and the San Diego Chargers, I had a wonderful career, and was surrounded by the best group of girlfriends. One evening I was getting ready to head out with the girls when I noticed a lump on my left breast. Stupidly I ignored it, but finally got it checked. A few weeks later I was diagnosed with Stage I breast cancer. It was the week of my 32nd birthday. Happy birthday to me. At the same time, I found out I had a BRCA II gene mutation, which is probably the cause of my getting cancer.
I packed up my SoCal life and my condo and moved back to my hometown of St. Louis to undergo treatment near my family. Cancer and I fought each other hard for a year. I submitted to what my Oncologist called, “the whole kitchen sink” treatment. Over that year I had numerous biopsy’s, a radical bilateral mastectomy, chemotherapy, radiation, herceptin treatments and lost all of my hair. I was finally cancer free by the end of 2007.
Cancer survivors jorney
Volume Two: Terri
Salon LG is proud to announce such a loving woman for this month’s Back to Life project. The candidate, Terri, shares her incredible and enlightening story with us below. Terri, in return for complimentary extensions and services from Salon LG, teaches us a lesson on finding the most important first love- the love for self.
Terri’s quest for beauty was something those around her noticed from the very start.
“My Italian Grandmother nicknamed me ‘Coquetta’. In Italian the loose translation is: ‘a woman who is very concerned with looking just right’. I was always playing with my hair, trying new makeup and making sure my outfits looked just right.”
Even as early as age 6, Terri suffered severe self-consciousness. From begging for a nose job to unnecessary diets, Terri’s main overwhelming concern seemed to be her looks. This self-concern eventually led to an unhealthy form of self-control.
Terri states, “I began to starve myself and dropped to 80 lbs by my 17th birthday. No one knew what anorexia was at that time. Everyone praised me for obtaining the Twiggy look.”
After high school, Terri’s weight was more normal, due to her end of dance competitions and a healthy, new romantic relationship. It was at this stage in her life that Terri had headed for the sunny shores of California, or as Terri puts, “the land of golden tans and perfect bodies.”
During her mid-twenties, Terri spent hours at the beach, on a quest for that golden tan. She also started experimenting with vegetarianism and veganism. “My weight again dropped below 100 pounds. I felt strong, in control and on top of the world. My hair thinned but hey, I had the tanned perfect body. I remember something I said to myself many times- I would rather die than be fat”, she chillingly recalls.
