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As Breast Cancer Awareness Month is winding down, one of my closest friends, Shawmeen Henderson, is on the cusp of a very special anniversary. Shawmeen works as a program quality specialist at the Huckleberry House in Columbus, a crisis center that helps troubled youth, and next year she will celebrate a decade of being cancer free.
Shawmeen has taken much of 2023 to reflect on the grace of God through her journey of being made whole. This faith journey to beat breast cancer began in May 2014 when she made an appointment to see her primary physician to discuss a hardened lump in her right breast.
MRI results led Shawmeen's doctor to schedule a breast biopsy, and when the results came back two weeks later, she was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. The news was tremendously overwhelming for Shawmeen, who was only 37 at the time. After receiving her diagnosis, the first thing she did, while in tears, was call our pastor, Overseer S.D. Carter, who strengthened her spirit with encouragement and prayer. Shawmeen then notified her parents, family members and our church congregation.
Shawmeen had her chemotherapy treatments at the Stefanie Spielman Comprehensive Breast Center, a world-class facility named in honor of the late wife of former All-American Ohio State linebacker Chris Spielman. Shawmeen scheduled double treatments of chemo every other week because she did not want to overburden her parents who were coming from Youngstown to Columbus to care for her.
Shawmeen's surgery to remove her right breast was performed in October 2014 at Ohio State University's James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, and while initially successful, it was discovered that the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes. Her second surgery to remove them took place in December. The final critical decision that Shawmeen had to make after her surgeries was whether to undergo radiation, which she immediately refused. She chose hormone therapy because she felt the odds against her cancer recurring after radiation were not low enough.
As Shawmeen has thought about how she persevered through that physical turmoil this month, she rejoiced in seeing her 47th birthday and in how by faith she is holding on to the promise of God through our pastor's prayers that she will remain whole and cancer free.
"I've often thought about why I'm still here," Shawmeen expressed, "so I know that I have a specific purpose that God wants me to fulfill, and I'm going to diligently seek Him for this direction through the Holy Spirit. I am here to bless and impact someone else's life, and I will never take this for granted."