Shanice gets double mastectomy amid breast cancer diagnosis as she advocates mammograms to women
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Singer Shanice is sharing her health journey amid her recent breast cancer diagnosis.
The artist made an appearance on the ‘Good Morning America’ show and urged other women to learn from her difficult experience, and focused on the importance of early treatment.
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Shanice skipped mammogram for 8 years
More than ten years ago, during a health checkup, Shanice was told she had a cancerous lump in her breast, which turned out to be a cyst, reported People.
"Because of the fear that I had when they thought they saw something, I didn't go for eight years," she shared.
The 'I Love Your Smile' singer also found out that she has dense breasts which makes it harder to read mammograms as tissue and potential tumors both appear similar, per the American Cancer Society.
The 51-year-old went for her routine mammograms after eight years in March and was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Shanice went for a double mastectomy and had surgery in May.
"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."
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Shanice on her breast cancer diagnosis
Last month, Shanice shared a lengthy post on Instagram, detailing her health journey.
“This is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to face in my life, but I know God is with me and everything's gonna go well. I am healed and restored in Jesus name,” the R&B artist said.
Shanice further shared, "I just want to tell women how important it is to get your mammograms. If I would have gone sooner, I could have caught [my breast cancer diagnosis] when it was just at stage zero."
"Put that fear aside. If you get checked early, you can beat this thing. It's not a death sentence. If you can get there early, you'll live," she said.
Shanice also acknowledged everyone who stood by her in the difficult times, "Thank you to my friends and family for your support and prayers."
