The Bachelor’s Lesley Murphy Just Shared This Brave Post-Mastectomy Photo

While we’re used to seeing plenty of drama while The Bachelor cameras are rolling (and even when they’re turned off, TBH), that doesn’t mean that that the contestants we either like, love, or loathe don’t face challenges when they return to their lives at home (just ask Josh Murray and Amanda Stanton). That includes Lesley Murphy, who has just shared an incredibly brave post-op photo after undergoing a double mastectomy.

When Murphy tested positive for the BRCA2 gene mutation, she knew it meant she had a higher risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer. After watching her mother battle and beat the disease, Lesley decided to take matters into her own hands when it came to her physical health. The 29-year-old opted for a double mastectomy to try to lessen the likelihood of being diagnosed with cancer herself.

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My Sunday best, or what I could manage to put on today with limited arm movements.🤷🏼‍♀️My mom washed and dried my hair today. She dresses me in the mornings. She also measures my drains twice daily which are the tubes you see coming out of my lovely red apron I never take off. She's the freaking best. She slept in my hospital room and bed at home for the first few nights, helping me in and out of bed and giving me meds at horrid hours to control the pain. I have to sleep on my back in the exact same position every night. Sometimes when I make the wrong movements it feels like my chest is detaching from my body, but all in all, I think my upper half is healing nicely! Sure, it's sunken in and lumpy because what you see are deflated expanders that were put in which will gradually get filled every 2-3 weeks as I get ready for reconstructive surgery. Hopefully by then the permanent marker will be off my body😂I feel lucky because my surgeons only made one vertical incision on the lower half of both breasts while saving skin & nipple. So while all breast tissue is (hopefully) gone, I retained some of the old me! Happy Sunday. God is good.🙌🏻💞 #LesleysBreasties #LesNipsBRCAintheBud #BreastCancerAwareness #FightLikeAGirl

A post shared by Lesley • The Road Les Traveled (@lesleyannemurphy) on Apr 16, 2017 at 7:56pm PDT

Murphy has now taken to Instagram to not only share a picture of herself post-op, but to also share her story, saying, “My Sunday best, or what I could manage to put on today with limited arm movements.🤷🏼‍♀️My mom washed and dried my hair today. She dresses me in the mornings. She also measures my drains twice daily which are the tubes you see coming out of my lovely red apron I never take off. She’s the freaking best. She slept in my hospital room and bed at home for the first few nights, helping me in and out of bed and giving me meds at horrid hours to control the pain.”

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Kicked cancer's ass before it could kick mine, and my favorite people were very instrumental in the process.👊🏻4•11•17 #DreamTeam #LesNipsBRCAintheBud #LesleysBreasties #BreastCancerAwareness #FightLikeAGirl Photo by @uamshealth

A post shared by Lesley • The Road Les Traveled (@lesleyannemurphy) on Apr 14, 2017 at 5:25pm PDT

She continued, “I have to sleep on my back in the exact same position every night. Sometimes when I make the wrong movements it feels like my chest is detaching from my body, but all in all, I think my upper half is healing nicely! Sure, it’s sunken in and lumpy because what you see are deflated expanders that were put in which will gradually get filled every 2-3 weeks as I get ready for reconstructive surgery. Hopefully by then the permanent marker will be off my body😂I feel lucky because my surgeons only made one vertical incision on the lower half of both breasts while saving skin & nipple. So while all breast tissue is (hopefully) gone, I retained some of the old me! Happy Sunday. God is good.🙌🏻💞 #LesleysBreasties #LesNipsBRCAintheBud #BreastCancerAwareness #FightLikeAGirl.”

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1 week post op: Today was a good day. I put on make-up and pants for my doc appt. Make-up and pants! And shoes! I actually left the house for the first time since surgery. I didn't even have to wear the dreaded pink cape for very long today either😂They are always used on patient's so doctors can have easy access to check their handiwork. This one really wasn't so bad. It's very 2017 Hospital Spring Collection, if you will💁🏼Maybe just fringe the sleeves and boom. Coachella Weekend no. 2 outfit is done. Anywho, I was so excited to wake up today because I was getting 2 out of the 4 drains removed! I wish everyone could know what that before-and-after felt like. Beforehand, 4 drains made my chest feel so tight. It hurt like hell to laugh and to cry. To cough and to sneeze. All of these common occurrences reminded ever fiber in my body of the recent trauma it just experienced. Now with 2 drains out, so much weigh feels lifted from my chest. I can breathe a bit deeper and sit up faster. I can't wait until next week when the final two come out, even though it truly felt like snakes were slithering through my body as the doctor pulled at them this morning.🐍BLAH. Gives me chills just thinking about it. Check my Insta story for more explanation. As always, I love you guys. I read every heart felt comment and truly feel the love of this incredible support system. I'm amazed by all the stories told in comments, emails and DMs. Young, old, sad, happy, preventative, or a fight of a lifetime. Each one is inspiring, so thanks for telling your story and being so open and vulnerable here with me💞Together we are creating so much awareness for early detection, screenings, gene mutations and how to work with the options we have. Thank you, thank you, thank you. #LesleysBreasties #LesNipsBRCAintheBud #BreastCancerAwareness #FightLikeAGirl

A post shared by Lesley • The Road Les Traveled (@lesleyannemurphy) on Apr 18, 2017 at 8:11pm PDT

Fans were touched by her openness and honesty, leaving comments like, “How beautiful & brave of u to share this with us!! I’m sure you are an inspiration to many!! ❤️❤️” and “Thank you for your bravery and strength! My mom and grandmother are both breast cancer survivors and your story has motivated me to have the same testing conducted. 💜”

Thank you, Lesley, for your inspiration, your bravery, and for #fightinglikeagirl!

What do you think about Lesley Murphy sharing a pic of herself post-mastectomy? Let us know @BritandCo!

(h/t Today; photo via Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty)