When I saw the cover of ENSPIRE Magazine I just knew I had to interview this woman. It takes a lot of guts to pose topless on the cover of a magazine and it takes a truckload to do it at your most vulnerable. To show the world your scars after having your breasts removed.

Maxine’s cover was a world first. I asked her why it was so important to show her scars to the world. She said, “It was important to me because nobody shows their scars. And everyone thinks that breast cancer is just a race and a ribbon. I don’t knock people for the race and the ribbon–they’re my ‘breasties’. But to see the scars, you know that somebody’s been through a battle and they’re struggling.

Maxine Devereaux is currently fighting triple negative breast cancer stage 3C. She went to five difference doctors before one would validate her intuition that something was terribly wrong.

She’s not afraid to speak frankly about how women are perceived in our culture. “[In] Society,  we’re our breasts and our butts and our hair. But then when we lose that, who are we? I’m finding that femininity is who you are in your heart space. Who do you nurture, who do you love, how do you treat the world, how do you treat yourself?”

Losing your hair has to be one of the toughest milestones in cancer for a woman. When I asked Maxine about that, she said, “I’m finding that femininity is who you are in your heart space. Who do you nurture, who do you love, how do you treat the world, how do you treat yourself?”

Knowing that she’s a very spiritual person, I asked Maxine if she thinks she knows why this happened to her.

She responded, “Why not? Because someone needed to be bold enough to change the face of breast cancer.”

There’s been a lot of highs and lows in this journey for Maxine. Her family have had different reactions. Some think she’s gone too far, but Maxine says she hasn’t gone far enough. “I want to go so far that every three minutes a woman isn’t diagnosed, every twelve minutes a woman doesn’t die.”

For Maxine, one of the greatest gifts through this journey has been being able to live her own dreams. For so long she was a caregiver for everyone else’s dreams.

I asked her what she wishes she would’ve know going into this journey. “I wish I had known what to expect. I wish somebody that had gone through this had told me, ‘The first time you see your scars, you’re going to freak out.’

Her message to us is, “Own whatever illness you have. Own it. And don’t be strong for other people because in the middle of the night when everybody is asleep, it’s only you. And you can’t really get the real help that you need unless you’re honest about where you are in your illness.”

If you are newly diagnosed or a friend or family member is going through an illness, I hope this interview with KirstyTV has inspired you and given you some tools in fighting it.

Now go touch your boobies tonight girls, or boys touch your wives.

Seriously… every 19 seconds a woman somewhere in the world is diagnosed with breast cancer & early detection IS WHAT SAVES LIVES. @KirstyTV (Click to Tweet!)

‘The first noticeable symptom of breast cancer is typically a lump that feels different from the rest of the breast tissue. More than 80% of breast cancer cases are discovered when the woman feels a lump.’

Go on go touch em & share this post with all the women you love. kx

Do you have a scar that you’re proud of? Have you fought cancer ? Share with us below in the comments section.

Kirsty attacks life like it’s a chocolate cake. She is the Executive Producer and Host of KirstyTV and an international speaker, author, and entrepreneur based in Los Angeles. You can also follow Kirsty on Facebook and Twitter.