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Editor's Pick, Inspiration, Local Heroes, Special Needs

Optimism Crusaders

Published June 18, 2021Admin Only:

Optimistic Expressions portrait service for cancer patients founded by Eden Feeley
(Photo Courtesy of Olivia Engelsman)

Irvine mom battling cancer is on a mission to pay-it-forward while moving forward with her 10-year-old daughter by her side. 

Irvine resident Eden Feeley has spent the last few years battling stage IV cancer with her 10-year-old daughter, London, at her side. However, hers is not a story of devastation, but rather one of optimism.

“We made a happy situation out of a very sad situation,” says Feeley.

Feeley was diagnosed with stage IV, triple-negative breast cancer in February 2019, after multiple misdiagnoses.

“The tumor had spread to my sternum bone and that classified me as stage IV,” says Feeley. “And triple-negative is a pretty rare breast cancer that has no cure.”

Triple-negative breast cancer grows and spreads faster than other types of breast cancer and responds to limited forms of treatment, according to the American Cancer Society. 

The single mom had to quit her job, close her creative agency, undergo surgery and endure 36 rounds of radiation. 

“Then right after I came out of treatment, COVID hit,” she says.

Since she was immunocompromised, Feeley homeschooled London and the two spent the last year-and-a-half in strict quarantine. In spite of their struggle, the pair remained undaunted and Feeley felt compelled to find ways they could give back to the cancer community. 

Her friend and former client, photographer Olivia Engelsman, approached Feeley and London about doing a photoshoot to document their journey. Feeley and others found the resulting images — shot at the Newport Back Bay — inspiring.

“So often you see so many photographs of people being a victim through cancer treatment,” says Feeley, “but you don’t ever get to see the beauty and the people connected with them through it. London is my family and these pictures with her represented a beautiful time during the hardest time in my life. Having that captured was huge.”


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Hoping to help other women living with cancer get the same gift, Feeley and Engelsman teamed up to launch Optimistic Expressions, a pay-it-forward photography service. For every portrait session purchased, an additional portrait session is donated to a woman living with cancer. 

“The heart of Optimistic Expressions is in the name: We bring an optimistic, loving feeling to the women we photograph living with cancer,” says Feeley. 

Optimistic Expressions recently photographed Dorianna, also a stage IV cancer survivor.

“She said it was the most inspirational day of her life,” says Feeley.

She also says Dorianna was unsure about how to tell her friends and family about her fight with cancer. 

“She felt that having these pictures would be the perfect way to tell them, with class and beauty and strength and without being the victim,” Feeley says. 

London has also found a way to give back to the community. She’s writing a children’s book that uses humor and characters, like her dachshund named CoCo, to talk about what it’s like for children whose mothers are living with cancer.

“When London was asked what she wanted to do for her summer break she said, ‘Travel in a van with my Mommy while writing my book,’” says Feeley. 

Always the optimists, and with only a few weeks left of homeschooling, the pair has launched a GoFundMe (www.gofundme.com/f/help-eden-and-london-buy-a-van) to raise money to publish London’s book and to buy a van in which London can document their mother-daughter road trip adventures. Their project is called ONWARD … In A Van. 

“We came up with the idea of doing ONWARD … In A Van, because that’s what we are doing, we are moving onward with our lives through this cancer,” says Feeley.

So far Feeley and London have raised $18,660 on their GoFundMe page and compiled a bucket list of the places they’d like to visit together with a map they use to plan the route. They hope to reach their goal of $36,000.

Feeley also hopes London will remember her optimism far beyond her summer vacation. 

“I want her to see what Mommy did with this diagnosis and what I did for other people, to show her to make the best of whatever is thrown your way,” says Feeley. “And when she sees me, she sees me not living in fear. She sees me living in strength.”

For family portrait bookings and pay-it-forward portrait bookings for women living with cancer, email optimisticportraits@gmail.com

The ONWARD … In A Van GoFundMe can be found at www.gofundme.com/f/help-eden-and-london-buy-a-van


By Sarah Mosqueda

Comments

  1. Stacey says

    July 9, 2021 at 1:37 pm

    It is nice to see recognition for the fight that so many women share. Thank you Parenting OC for covering this story and exposing an optimistic point of view for such a challenging disease. This story should be posted on your social media to bring more awareness to the disease in the OC community!

    Reply
  2. Cathy says

    June 27, 2021 at 8:07 am

    Beautiful photo! Beautiful story of courage.

    Reply
  3. Dale Brown says

    June 25, 2021 at 9:04 pm

    I am so very proud of my daughter and her fight with cancer. She is my hero in so many ways with her love for nature, her love for life, family and her determination to let the world know about her fight for survival. Giving back to the Cancer community is one of her generous ways to let the world know how hard it is to fight against this vile diagnosis. Encouraging my granddaughter London to tell her story is another way of taking on the challenge. She is my daughter, my heart and my love. .

    Reply
    • Eden says

      July 4, 2021 at 12:04 pm

      I love you Mummy!

      Reply

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