By Darrell Halen

The scars from skin cancer treatments made Kim Sanga too embarrassed to wear a two-piece bathing suit in her own backyard. Her husband, Shawn, told her she was crazy and that her scars tell a story.

“It hit me that I shouldn’t be afraid. I should celebrate my scars,” Sanga said.

Now, she and other cancer survivors are doing just that.

Sanga, a Salem resident, has teamed up with a Manchester photographer – a breast cancer survivor – to produce a book, “Beyond the Scars.”

The two women hope to profile 50 to 100 cancer survivors in their book, which will feature photographs and poignant stories.

Sanga has battled skin cancer since she was 18. Now 31, she has 47 scars, from her face to her toes, and 30 more to come.

“You do go through the vain points that you’re embarrassed to be in your own skin,” said Sanga, who has used scarves to cover her neck. “These have been very hard for me.”

When Sanga came up with the idea for the book and contacted the American Cancer Society in her search for a photographer, the organization put her in touch with Kristin Despathy, who had undergone a mastectomy.

Despathy, 30, who owns Rheault Photographers  in Manchester and lives in Raymond, used photography to deal with her illness. One of the photos she took of herself that will probably be included in the book reveals the scar, about seven inches long, as the result of her mastectomy.

“That was my way of dealing with it, taking pictures,” she recalled. “That’s how I’ve always dealt with things that are really hard in my life.”

One day, when she was having a hard time and feeling overwhelmed, she went into her bathroom with her camera equipment, taped black felt in the shower, jumped in the shower and starting shooting.

“I wanted to be able to sit down and look at how I felt vs. just feeling it inside,” she recalled. “Actually see it and just get it out. I just felt like it was stuck inside, and I think it was also important for me to do for my family members to see.”

Among those who will be featured in the book are Salem Police Chief Paul Donovan, a cancer survivor; Shonda Schilling, wife of Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Shilling, who has been public about her battle with malignant melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer; Miss Maryland 2006, Brittany Lietz, who battled skin cancer; and a Salem boy who beat a brain tumor and continues to shave his head with his father.

The people who will be profiled – adults and kids – are those who have beat cancer and those who are still battling it. Not everyone will be revealing their scars.

Sanga, who is writing the profiles, and Despathy are still searching for people to profile.

They want to find more diversity: more men, more cancer types and broader ethnicity.

“For somebody who has had cancer, they’re very touched and can relate to it,”

Despathy said of her photos. “For people who were my caretakers, it meant that much more to them. For people who had nothing to do with cancer, I think there’s a bit of shock value at first. When they hear what I’ve gone through, that kind of thing, I think they open up more to it.”

The women hope the book will inspire people.

“We beat it. We got through it with our strength, with our inspiration, support from our family and our friends,” said Sanga. “The whole purpose is to shed some light at the end of the tunnel. You can get there, you can get through it.”

For the women producing the book, their project is therapeutic. They have an almost instant connection with the other cancer survivors they meet.

The women have a publisher lined up, and hope to complete the book in time for Relay for Life, fundraising events held in communities throughout the United States to benefit the American Cancer Society.

They hope to have author book signings and exhibit the photos during gallery tours.

They also hope to bring ACS into their project as a partner and share proceeds from book sales with the organization.

Finding a publisher wasn’t easy. Sanga sent out  dozens of queries and book proposals but only two companies showed interest. Some publishers told Sanga that cancer is a subject they didn’t want to touch.

“Now that (my scars) are happening in places where I can’t hide them anymore, this book means so much more,” said Sanga. “We shouldn’t have to be embarrassed or ashamed or afraid.”