The Bachelor's Lesley Murphy is a source of inspiration to women everywhere, as she's unafraid to share the results of her double mastectomy.

ADVERTISEMENT

Murphy, who competed on Season 17 of The Bachelor starring Sean Lowe when she worked as a political consultant, has been recovering from a double mastectomy.

She had "preventative surgery" earlier this month after testing positive for the BRCA2 genetic mutation, which put her at a high risk of developing breast and/or ovarian cancer.

Days after the operation, Murphy shared a photo Sunday on Instagram of her bare chest slightly covered by her long blonde hair. Since she has limited arm movements, her mother washed and dried her hair for the day.

"[My mom] 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," Murphy captioned the NSFW image.

The 29-year-old travel blogger had her operation done at the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences Hospital in Little Rock, AR.

"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," she continued in her post.

"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."

And then on Tuesday, Murphy provided fans with a one-week post op update, saying that she was having a good day. She was able to put on her makeup and wear normal 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 patients 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," Murphy joked.

"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."

Murphy disclosed that she can now breathe a big deeper and sit up faster.

She already had two drains removed -- which was a strange sensation but also a huge relief for the blonde beauty -- but has two more drains that will be taken out next week. 

"Gives me chills just thinking about it... As always, I love you guys. I read every heart felt comment and truly feel the love of this incredible support system... 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," she wrote.

Murphy revealed last month she had decided to undergo the double mastectomy because she watched her resilient mother battle breast cancer and wants to be just as strong.

On Lowe's The Bachelor season in 2013, Murphy, 25-years-old at the time, was eliminated just before hometown dates during the seventh episode because Lowe felt the Washington, D.C. native wasn't opening up fully or fast enough to match where his heart was in the process.

Lowe ended up proposing marriage to his now-wife Catherine Giudici with whom he shares a son.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON GOOGLE NEWS