From People
When doctors told Shanice more than 10 years ago that they had found a cancerous lump in her breast, she was scared. When it turned out to be a cyst, she was relieved, but also afraid of getting another misdiagnosis. She avoided mammograms for 8 years and when she finally had one, it led to a breast cancer diagnosis.
On Oct. 30, the R&B singer appeared on Good Morning America and opened up about her difficult health journey. She was in her mid-40s when doctors told her that a cancerous lump was found in her breast.
However, further testing determined that the lump was actually a cyst and she required no additional testing. Still, the health scare kept her away from mammograms for nearly a decade.
"Because of the fear that I had when they thought they saw something, I didn't go for eight years," Shanice, now 51, told the outlet.
Shanice noted doctors also told her she has dense breasts. Dense breasts have more tissue and less fat, which makes reading mammograms more difficult as tissue and possible tumors both appear white in results, according to the American Cancer Society.
After 8 years of skipping her routine mammograms, Shanice decided to get screened in March after feeling a lump in her breast.
Following the mammogram, the "I Love Your Smile" singer was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Doctors initially believed that she had an early form of breast cancer called ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), which is a non-invasive, stage zero cancer trapped inside the milk ducts.
Shanice decided that a double mastectomy was the best option for her and she underwent surgery in May.
However, during the procedure, doctors discovered that she actually had a stage 1, one-centimeter tumor in her breast.
"When I had my surgery and they told me I had cancer, I literally lost my smile," she recalled. "But I wanted to come on the show to encourage women that you have to keep smiling. I got my smile back."
19 comments:
Man, these arrogant heffas gonna learn to stop playing with their health! I get breast exams every year, starting at 42. I got a homegirl that died of breast cancer, after refusing to get exams for years. Your diet of alkaline water, wheat grass, and carrots is not a substitute for actual routine health screenings.
Mammograms are radiation. Does this make sense? They can actually give you cancer. Ultrasounds are better. Overseas they are more advanced on this...because healthcare is free and they actually want you healthy!
The S In Shanice Stands For SKIPPING 🙌🏿
Ask Her Last Landlords 💅🏿
@8:46 your it even remotely funny.
I'm glad that she has a support system.
I'm happy Shanice got her smile back. She's a sista in need of encouraging words. Calling a survivor an "arrogant heffa" and criticizing her decision to not opt for an ultrasound is the opposite of that. Hopefully you two and the unfunny jokester in here don't need comfort in similar circumstances.
I get it. I heard mammograms are as pleasant as Pap smears, use a small amount of radiation, but can also be inaccurate. I am glad she caught it early.
All that hair perm/weave and cosmetics. Yall sistas gonna learn. Just be yourself. I’ll still smash.
@8:30 you are misinformed, the radiation from X rays and mammograms can't give you cancer ask your doctor.
First, there's radiation everywhere. We live in a society where we are constantly poisoned, even microplastics are a threat. I'd rather risk intentional radiation, with the intention of searching for early signs of cancer, than play blind, deaf, and dumb, and find out about stage IV cancer, that should have been detected early.
Clearly her fear is understandable because her providers kept misdiagnosing her.
Yes, her fear is understandable, but fear or not, the threat of cancer still exists. I'm glad that we, as a society, now center our mental health, but I'm so sick of grown-ups being afraid of their own shadows. Too many people now default to burying their heads in the sand, then going "why me?" and waving flags of "use me as your lesson!"
@ 8:11 AM she doesn't seem arrogant, she said she skipped screenings for 8 yrs because she was afraid of another misdiagnosis. Please show grace to people! We all need it. Peace.
We as Black ppl can't bury are heads in the sand and think bad things will go away. Men too. They don't want to get Colonoscopy. Cancer will eat your @$$ up. Don't wait till it's too late. Get your check up and stop living in fear.
She has a beautiful voice. It's a shame she has not been able to get a hit song/work.
I ALWAYS LIKED HER ENERGY.
PRAYERS SENT UP FOR STRENGTH, FAITH OF HEALING, HOPE FOR A CURE THIS LIFETIME, PEACE OF MIND, & LOTS OF LOVE.
Too many Black people think "it won't be me" then get the surprise Pikachu face when the Sky Daddy doesn't magically prevent them from getting sick or injured. Sometimes you just gotta put on your big girl drawers and stand on business. She FAFOed.
@9:24am They don't get Dolled-Up for the Mens. They do it for Narcissistic reasons.
I DON'T WANNA JUDGE HER, BUT IF YOU'RE A NATURAL WOMAN/FEMALE YOU CANNOT SKIP 8 YEARS OF MAMMOGRAMS.
IT'S PLAYING GAMES WITH YOUR HEALTH & FUTURE IN THIS WORLD.
I had a lump and it turned out to be a cyst. I was 43 years old. I worried it was the Big C. Turned out that I had dense breast tissue. I had clips put in both breast and I get pain every time my bras aren’t tight enough. I go for another mammogram this December. I promise you, I will get them both removed if I get another lump. Cancer doesn’t run in my family and we haven’t had any deaths from it except my Auntie who got it from Baby powder. I’m a hypochondriac by nature and obsess over my health. I pray Shanice heals and meets old age into her Elder years.
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