Facing invasive ductal carcinoma, a Texas woman defies breast cancer’s toll by embracing personal strength & reclaiming identity through a powerful henna crown.
TARRANT COUNTY, Texas — Every time Katheryn Stephenson takes a seat, she takes back a piece of her strength.
“I’m scared excited if that makes sense,” she said — a feeling born from a year filled with fear, grit, and determination.
Just twelve months earlier, Katheryn and her husband Greg sat down for news no one wants to hear.
“It’s a bummer. There’s no shortcuts. It is a bummer. This is a bummer,” her husband Greg told WFAA after doctors diagnosed her with invasive ductal carcinoma — the most common form of breast cancer. She’d had a clean scan the year before.
“Katheryn has been very spirited even when she’s not having good days,” said medical oncologist Dr. Doug Gibson, along with surgery oncologist Dr. Ariel Gallaty.
Before Katheryn ever felt the cancer, she felt chemotherapy’s toll.
“I had good hair. Long, thick,” she remembered.
But rather than let the disease take something from her, she made a promise: she would fight this cancer on her own terms. She shaved her head before chemo could take it.
“My kids think I’m a genie,” she joked. Greg shaved his too — “Solidarity!” — because they are, as he put it, “Juntos… together.”
That decision led her to another powerful moment of reclaiming identity: a henna crown. Henna is a natural dye which is used to make temporary designs on the body. Katheryn is getting henna for her head.
“If you wanna wear a wig, that’s fine, but wigs aren’t for me,” Katheryn said.
“I tell them I’m an artist, and my medium is people,” said Marena Hussein, founder of Haus of Henna.
She began creating henna designs in college to help friends hide scars. Now she helps women like Katheryn feel seen, beautiful, and in control during cancer’s most vulnerable moments.
“This is one of the most intimate things you can do,” Marena said.
Katheryn chose a henna crown featuring a sea turtle blended into flowers.
“A turtle means patience and endurance,” she explained. As the design takes shape, Stephenson admits, “It gives you something to think about other than, ‘Holy Crap, I have cancer!’”
Eight months after her diagnosis and six rounds of chemo later, Katheryn got the chance to ring the bell. The chemo treatments are over, and more isolated treatments will continue in the future.
“It’s one of the better things we get to experience because we have good days and bad days,” Dr. Gallaty said.
“There’s never been one ounce of pity. ‘Oh, why did this have to happen to me?’ No, none of that,” Katheryn’s mother said.
When the bell rings, she declares with raw honesty about cancer: “Not a fan. Zero stars!”
But the moment that follows — the henna reveal — is quieter, deeper. The turtle blended into flowers design is an ode to her cancer fight. Along with a deeply supportive family, she has needed patience, endurance, and much more.
“I think it makes me feel pretty,” she said softly, seeing herself again in the mirror. “It’s been one of the more empowering things I’ve been able to do.”
So much of cancer is out of your control. But this? This was on her terms.