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This mother wanted her son to have photos to understand her breast cancer journey

Published October 31, 2021 at 4:13 AM EDT

Keyla “Nunny” Reece, 41, of Hope Mills, N.C., reacts to news of her friend’s death from breast cancer while vacationing at Myrtle Beach, S.C. on Nov. 30, 2019. In 2015, Nunny felt a lump in her breast, got it checked out and was told it was a benign cyst. Two years later, " I started having a lot of issues and I knew something was wrong., said Nunny." Nunny was treated for lupus until new symptoms arose and further testing was done. A new lump was discovered under her armpit. At the age of 39, on June 7, 2017, doctors diagnosed her with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer, and by that point the cancer spread to her ribs, lungs, spine, and pelvis. After an initial period of shock and anger, Nunny started advocating and raising awareness for MBC in women of color by becoming a Tigerlily Foundation advocate, sharing her story as often as possible, and creating TikTok videos, insightful posts and information on her social media platforms. In addition to her advocacy, Nunny is committed to fulfilling her goals on her “livelovelife” list, including renewing her vows with her husband of 20 years, Scott Reece. — In 2015, Keyla "Nunny" Reece, felt a lump in her breast, got it checked out and was told it was a benign cyst. A new lump was discovered under her armpit. At the age of 39, on June 7, 2017, doctors diagnosed her with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer, and by that point the cancer spread to her ribs, lungs, spine, and pelvis.

Photographer Angelica Edwards met Keyla "Nunny" Reece when she took an assignment to cover a story about hospital parking fees for her student newspaper at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 2015, Reece, of Hope Mills, N.C., felt a lump in her breast, got it checked out and was told it was a benign cyst. Two years later, she felt an additional lump, this time under her armpit, while simultaneously experiencing skin blotches and extreme back pain. In June 2017, doctors diagnosed Reece with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. It had spread to her ribs, lungs, spine and pelvis.After the initial photo assignment, Edwards contacted Reece to see if she would allow her to document her journey.Reece was excited to share her story. She said she wanted her son, Ryan, who was 10 years old at the time, to be able to look back and understand what his mother went through as he got older and she was no longer here.October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. As the month ends, we take an intimate look at Reece's breast cancer journey through pictures.Angelica Edwards is a photographer based in Chapel Hill, N.C. Follow her on Instagram @angelica_edwards2 Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.