TAMPA, Fla. — Navigating motherhood is hard enough, but if you add in a cancer diagnosis, it can be crushing.
What You Need To Know
- Alicia Harris is a breast cancer survivor who turned her own challenging experience into a mission of hope
- She started Journi For Two, an organization dedicated to pregnant women battling cancer, inspired by her journey of fighting cancer while pregnant.
- The organization provides emotional support, medical coordination, and financial resources to these brave women
- To learn more about Journi for Two, visit Henry's website
On this day, Hilary Pratt and her daughter, Charlotte, are getting some special love and attention.
Pratt is having her makeup done and her picture taken by a photographer.
“Look how cute you are,” said Alicia Harris to Pratt.
Pratt didn’t ask for this special treatment.
“Ok, I have a few bows. I don’t know which one to do — I think I want to do this one,” said Pratt, as she picks out an outfit for Charlotte.
She was actually found by Harris, who was searching for moms like her to pamper.
“I was hoping for that connection,” said Pratt. “I needed that connection at that time too, just to talk to another mom who gets it.”
Harris and Pratt have a lot in common.
Both mothers have two cute girls, and both were diagnosed with cancer while pregnant.
“The doctors did an X-ray, found out that I had a huge mass. So the next day, I had to do the biopsy and an emergency C-section,” said Pratt.
She has Non-Hodgkin’s B-cell lymphoma, a very aggressive cancer. It was discovered when she was 37 weeks pregnant.
A few years earlier, Harris found out she had breast cancer while pregnant with her daughter, Journi.
“I wanted to offer, for moms that find themselves in similar situations as me,” said Harris.
That is why she started a nonprofit called Journi for Two, named after her daughter.
Harris sees herself in Pratt, and her daughter.
Journi For Two provides days of beauty and pampering with women who all understand cancer well.
“This cancer thing has affected my whole family,” said Lynda Lopez of Novalyn Photography. “So when she reached out to me, it is actually something I have been wanting to do for quite sometime.”
Cancer takes a lot from people. Journi For Two is about giving something back.
For Pratt, pictures with Charlotte are incredibly important.
“These photos I am going to have forever,” said Pratt. “It is always is going to be a memory, you know, and I didn’t want short hair, but I am going to have short hair in these photos, and I can embrace that and love that.”
Pratt’s cancer is not completely gone. But no matter what happens, this organization gave her a network of mothers who understand.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” said Pratt. “It was exactly what I needed.”