"I had asked my mom to buy me something that would give me good luck for my first surgery," said Toomey, a junior at Chapel Hill High School.

She was about to undergo the biopsy that ultimately chose led to her diagnosis of Hodgkin's lymphoma.

That day she and her mother selected a necklace of a four-leaf clover.

"I am Irish, so it is appropriate," Toomey said. "I wore it until I had to take off all my jewelry for the surgery. It represents good luck and hope."

With her lymphoma now in remission, Toomey is joining five other teenaged cancer survivors in putting on a photography exhibit at University Mall. It opens this Wednesday, May 18, with a free meet-the-artists' reception from 6 to 8 p.m. and runs through next Sunday.

One of Toomey's photographs features her necklace. Another is of her wig holder, with half the form in shadow and the other half illuminated.

"The light represents the hope," she said.

The exhibit, "I CANcer: a photo journey," grew out of a new support group at UNC Hospitals for teens who have survived cancer or rare blood disorders. It was started by recreational therapist/child life specialist Jessica Irven and Dr. Justin Yopp, a psychologist at the N.C. Cancer Hospital.

The idea for the exhibit came from Irven's co-worker Stephanie Mazze, who had heard about a New York City hospital that gave teens cameras to document their experiences with major illness.

In the support group meetings, the teens ate pizza, downloaded photos onto a big screen and talked about what each picture represented. Irven helped facilitate along with Yopp, and Heather Rompel, a pediatric oncology nurse who planned to stay for one session and ended up stayed for the entire nine months since. Mazze's husband Aaron donated cameras and memory cards.

"One of the main comments we hear from teens going through this experience of cancer is that their peers just cannot relate, understandably," Irven said. "In this group they have had a chance to find out their experiences had some commonalities and that, while their particular journey was unique, the path they went down was similar to others. That is so important, for teens to know they are normal."

Family matters

Emma Gilchrist's photos in the exhibit are not ones she took as part of the support group. Rather, the East Chapel Hill High School teen went through her family album, choosing photos of her family.

"I was going with the theme of the people that have helped and supported me and have kept me healthy," she said. "There is a picture of my mom, Jennifer Wyatt, holding me and my sister Gillian when I was little, and one old picture of me when I was 4, of my best friend Chloe and me."

Gilchrist, who loves theater and the pageantry of weddings, was diagnosed at 1 year old with a neuroblastoma, a tumor that develops from nerve tissue. It damaged her spine, and she uses a wheelchair. She joined the support group because she was having a hard time at school meeting people who shared her interests.

"I thought if I went to this group I could find people like me who understand what is going on with me," she said. "I have only been to one meeting but everyone was so friendly. They were very happy I was there. It was nice."

Needles

Emily Flowers hated getting stuck with hypodermic needles throughout her treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma. Some of her photos depict unhappy faces she made of needles. But one is happy.

"The happy face was near the end," said Flowers, a 19-year-old from Lumberton who paints, draws, makes jewelry and does pottery. Although er entire school prayed for her and all 300 students made cards for her, she still felt isolated.

"I couldn't go to school. I was upset and sad because I was stuck in my house almost 24/7," Flowers said.

She said she is a different person now. Her survival has brought her out of her shy shell.

"Using the camera in the group made it easier to show what we felt," she said. You can hear and listen, but it is easier to understand if you can actually see."

Each photographer will have several photographs in the show. Flowers chose a photo of her and her mother clasping hands.

"It is symbolic of what we had gone through," she said. "She was with me the most. She took me up to Chapel Hill and sat with me through chemo."

'Chemo sucks'

One of Naomi McIlvaine's mother's friends sent her a card while she was undergoing treatment for leukemia. "Chemo sucks," it read.

McIlvaine, 15, photographed the card for the show. Another photo is of the calendar that was in her room when she had a bone marrow transplant in December.

The Hendersonville resident has been home schooled her entire life. At first, she didn't want to join the support group. But she gave it a try, and found herself drawn to continue.

"The group made me feel like a person again and not the only teenager who had lost her hair," she said.

Photographs by group members Aaron "Kileki" M. and cupidzArrow round out the exhibit.

Toomey said the group has helped her deal with being a cancer survivor.

"There are still many challenges I feel in terms of having scans and the fear of getting sick again," she said. "The photo project has been a helpful way to express this. By playing with the angles and lighting I believe everyone was able to find the best way to capture their emotions."