How to keep the same image in MSMessageTemplateLayout

When a user first sends an MSMessage it has an image in its MSMessageTemplateLayout. But then after you or another user send a new message in the same session without an image, the image is replaced with nothing, and the message doesn't have an image any more. The only solution to this is to make users send this image in the MSMessageTemplateLayout every time they send a new message in the session, which would cost them a ton of bandwidth(and make the exchange slower). Is it possible to send MSMessageTemplateLayout image once and have it not be replaced with a blank?