Healing and hope through my Breast Cancer journey

I have a very different post today, I have a life update that I want to share in the hopes that it will help someone else. You can also watch the video on my YouTube channel here.

Last October, I heard the words no woman wants to hear…you have Breast Cancer. This still feels surreal to say out loud because how can I be talking about myself?!

March 9, 2026 was my last chemo treatment and I’m sooo happy that part of it this is over, and I’ve just been healing getting my strength back. I will be having surgery very soon, likely in a couple of phases, I may have had phase 1 by the time this is posted. So, I’m not sure what my social media channels will look like. I may not post for days at a time or I may be sitting there bored out of my mind with nothing to do BUT post I just don’t know yet 🤷‍♀️ 

There are 4 things (of course there are more) that have sustained me through this time:

1. My faith. Nothing but God has brought me through this and continuing to bring me through. I would not be here without God and my support system. My mom who is a Breast Cancer survivor, my best friend also a Breast Cancer survivor, friends, family, and my church.
2. Reading books and posting content on my TikTok and genuinely connecting with the Booktok community is something that I liked to do before this and. It’s very important that you have something positive to look forward to while going through this. Someone may ask how did you keep up with it?
   • Bulk recording on my off treatment weeks
   • Scheduling out my content was huge
   • Creating content that didn’t always require me to be on camera
3. Giving myself grace. It’s very hard to see yourself changing…skin, nails, scars, hair… I did something called a Cold Cap Therapy to reduce hair loss, but I’ve still lost locks. That was something very important to me to try and something I will document with the company, Dignicap, to help Black women be aware that with our various hair textures and types, you have options if you’re going through something like this.
   • It’s difficult to look in a mirror and see a version of yourself that’s not quite yourself. So repeating to myself that this is temporary and it’s okay to be a mess if I needed to was important.
   • So, me letting go of things I couldn’t control was important.
   • Aside from the physical, there was the mental and financial stress and strain of being out on disability, and the State of New Jersey can really count their days. There was an administrative, human, error that delayed my disability form from being logged in time and that put me on a 4-month delay of getting my full income. That didn’t stop bills, and new medical expenses, from being due. Thankfully, my job was still paying me, albeit it was only the difference what the state was supposed to pay as the primary distributor of my salary because of NJ Disability laws. Make sure you research your state’s laws/policies thoroughly. God is so faithful because in 2024 while selecting my health insurance benefits, I randomly signed up for a Critical Illness Benefit…not knowing I would need that money to supplement my income while I was not getting paid from the state. Oh, but God knew! I completely forgot about it until signing up for my benefits in November 2025 and saw the election on my current benefits. I said, “what is this?” and immediately started thanking God AND filling out my claim!
4. And then journaling my experience. My mind is already really bad at remembering so it was important to write things down or record videos of myself because I wanted to remember certain things and I knew I wouldn’t recall later.

The biggest thing I will leave you with is…check your boobs! Stay on top of your mammograms and give yourself self-exams—if something feels or looks weird go get it checked immediately. You know your body better than anyone else. Don’t ignore it, don’t get distracted with life, like me. Early detection is key.

If anyone has any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’m happy to answer what I can.