NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — In this Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a Nashville singer/songwriter who has lived with breast cancer is speaking about the things that helped her get through treatment.
"Ever since I've been a little kid, I've loved singing," smiled Laura Rabell. "I was in college, one of my friends said, 'I saw you singing at a stoplight, you were really singing! You were really going for it!'"
For the past seven years, Laura's taken stages around Nashville.
"As a musician, I feel like a lot of my songs are diary entries," she said.
Today, that outlet has never meant more to her. Both of Laura's grandmothers lived with cancer. Both of her parents lived with cancer, too. In 2019, a diagnosis was given to Laura.
"I guess I've had such a family history of cancer that I was like, of course, yes, I was expecting this," said Laura. "It went very quickly from being an exercise in theory, oh no and what if, to being extremely real."
Just before beginning her treatment for breast cancer at Ascension Saint Thomas MidTown, Laura began recording a music video.
"Right before chemo, I decided to cut all my hair off and dye it purple and go crazy and have fun with it," said Laura. "I definitely felt very rock n' roll."
Continuing to perform during treatment, Laura became known as the singer with pink and purple hair.
"I felt more empowered by wearing my wild, rock n' roll pink and purple wigs and having fun with it," she said.
They helped. Laura said what helped even more was the group classes with the Ascension Saint Thomas cancer wellness community.
"Another part of my journey was getting genetic testing," she said. "I met a genetic counselor through Saint Thomas and found that I had a hereditary cancer mutation."
Today, Laura is cancer free and still singing it loud.
"No matter what I'm going through, I think music going to be there for me," said Laura.
For more on genetic testing and couseling, visit online.
