Fourteen years ago, a doctor told Shantell Cox-Hutchinson that her disease had progressed with little hope for survival. However, God had other plans. She’s still with us today.
In August 2005, while taking a shower, Shantell discovered a lump in her right breast. At the urging of her sister Cassandra, she went to her primary care physician to have the lump checked. The biopsy came back positive for infiltrating ductal carcinoma – cancer. Rather than have a mastectomy, Shantell opted to have a lumpectomy which included removal of the lump, surrounding breast tissue and a few lymph nodes. Based on the size of the lump and number of infected lymph nodes, she was initially categorized as a stage 2 breast cancer patient.
Six weeks after surgery, while undergoing a bone scan, it was revealed that the cancer had spread to Shantell’s bones; more specifically, her right shoulder was infected.
“Based on the results of the bone scan, my cancer staging diagnosis went from stage 2 to stage 4. I was a metastatic breast cancer patient; metastatic cancer diagnosis has a 20% survival rate in the first five years after diagnosis. I had never dreamed that at the age of 34, I would be facing the battle of a lifetime, hearing a physician say to me, “We cannot cure you; we can make you comfortable as this disease progresses,’” she remembered.
“I am the last girl child in an immediate family of three girls; my two older sisters at the time were ages 44 and 38. How could cancer have skipped them and hit me? I truly had a heart to heart with God on the fairness of it all, but a voice said to me ‘Why not you?’ I then understood that if someone in the family had to travel this tough road, then I was the stronger candidate,” said the forthright last child of Robert and Clara Cox.
Treatment for Shantell began in November of 2005 with six rounds of chemotherapy, scheduled every 21 days, followed by 28 days of radiation. In November 2006, after a follow-up bone scan, she was advised that the cancer was still “active” in her bones; there were areas of concern not only in her shoulder, but also in her spine. She had another heart-to-heart talk with God.
There was a second round of chemotherapy in January 2007, which was her worst experience during this battle, having to deal with nerve damage in her right hand and feet, resulting in difficulty holding items and writing. She couldn’t remember simple things, her fingernails and toenails fell off, her skin appeared as if it was burnt, she lost all of her hair, eyebrows and eyelashes, gained weight due to the steroids and she could not stand the smell of perfume. The quality of life for Shantell was deteriorating due to treatments. On March 7th, 2007, she took her last chemotherapy and on July 30th, 2007 was her last dose of the supplemental drug Herceptin.
But that wasn’t the last of the battle for Shantell. In 2014, during a routine annual exam, Shantell’s gynecologist indicated that she needed to take an ultra sound. The doctor could not locate her right ovary; there was a mass in place. At that very moment, Shantell made the decision to have a hysterectomy. In 2015, she underwent a double mastectomy with reconstruction. In 2016, she underwent nipple reconstruction.
And how did she get through it all, besides God? Shantell said she has an “amazing village,” from her mother, whom she considers to be her “Shero,” her 10 siblings who “spoil” her and her eight-year-old son Ethan Matthew, who she said is her “heart outside my body,” to her sister-friends and sorority sisters.
“When I look at my village, how it has grown over the years and the support they give me in everything, I realize that the fight was worth it…every day I continue to fight and live and love with all that I am. God has walked with me through this journey and he has assured me that he will never leave me nor forsake me. He takes care of his children always. I am a breast cancer survivor and I hope you are a survivor too,” said Shantell.
ASince her diagnosis, the Senior Manager in the Information Technology department at the Bahamas Telecommunication Co. Ltd. has since dedicated her life to bringing awareness to herself and others about the disease through speaking engagements as a member of the Sister Sister Breast Cancer Support Group.
“We encourage women to conduct monthly self breast examinations (BSE) as it is one of the first steps to catching this disease early, get yearly examinations and , and when you go for their annual exams, tell your doctor to feel up: the tatas, bubbies, breasts, the girl – whatever you want to call them. Just make sure you have them examined,” said the realist.