By CARA HUNT
Tribune Features Writer
cbrennen@tribunemedia.net
Zia Scantlebury-Wallace was in the shower during the Covid-19 pandemic when she first discovered a lump in her armpit.
However, she waited until November 2021 to have it biopsied. By then, she had also experienced unexplained weight loss. The results of the biopsy confirmed Stage 3 breast cancer and cancer in her armpit classified as Stage 2, despite having felt relatively well and experiencing no obvious symptoms.
The diagnosis was the beginning of a journey that brought anxiety, sleepless nights and questions about what her future would hold.
In March 2022, she underwent a single mastectomy of her left breast. Twenty lymph nodes were removed, two of which tested positive for cancer. Chemotherapy followed in July, bringing low blood counts, hair loss, mouth sores, diarrhoea, peripheral neuropathy and “chemo brain.” After chemotherapy, she learned that her cancer was HER2-positive and received targeted therapy with Herceptin.
Today, she takes anastrozole, which she expects to remain on for ten years to reduce the risk of recurrence. She continues to experience some lasting effects, including bone density loss and low energy, a reminder that completing treatment does not necessarily mean a survivor’s journey is over.
She says her cancer journey has changed the way she lives. She adopted healthier eating habits, moved towards a more plant-based diet, incorporated exercise and became more intentional about understanding her body and nutrition.
“It has taught me to appreciate life more deeply and revealed a strength I did not know I possessed,”she says.
“But I am here. I am still standing,” she said. “Cancer changed me, but it did not define me.”
She also came to understand that courage does not require the absence of fear.
“Fear and faith can exist at the same time — and even when I was afraid, I could keep moving forward,” she said.
Zia is happy to share her story, especially during breast cancer awareness month in October. She hopes it can give women already diagnosed hope for the future and encourage other women to schedule their annunal mammograms.
“My journey has not been easy, but it is my story of survival. I am a breast cancer survivor. And I am still writing my story.”