Philanthropist April Love on why she ignored doctor’s calls after being diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer

April loveThe Atlanta, Georgia-based philanthropist, media enthusiast and A-listers brand strategist has been a breast cancer survivor for over a decade and has made it her life’s mission to encourage women, especially women of color, to care for their bodies with holistic, preventative practices and early detection.

Let’s return to Christmas Eve 2009. Love was informed by doctors of her diagnosis of stage three ductal breast cancer after easy check-ups with her doctor and the suggestion that she undergo a routine mammogram, considering she was 35 years old on the time.

Shocked by the news, Love continued to disclaim her diagnosis and ignored calls from her medical team to schedule chemotherapy. She found the inner strength to face her diagnosis by conducting breast care awareness activities that enabled women to receive proper education, appropriate support and financial assistance while undergoing various treatments.

Love achieved remission a yr after undergoing two months of chemotherapy, six weeks of radiation therapy and surgery. Today, she continues her philanthropic efforts as a creator, host and executive producer Pink awards. This annual charity event raises funds for breast cancer patients who’re unable to financially support their families during treatment. In 2022, the Charge Up Campaign presented April with a Community Impact Award in recognition of her efforts to extend breast care awareness amongst women of color.

Essence: Tell me about your experience with breast cancer.

April love: I’m 13 years old, thriving, as I wish to call it, because surviving sometimes sounds a bit like I’m just waiting for things to vary, but I just do not feel like that. I feel like I’ve had, you recognize, a journey with cancer that has fulfilled a purpose in my life and created a purpose for me.

I went for my annual check-up and she scheduled me for a radiology appointment, which I had never been to before. So I went. She wanted to examine my thyroid after which scheduled me for a mammogram. I used to be over 30 years old, so a mammogram wasn’t necessarily something I dreamed of. After the mammogram, the doctors said they wanted to look at me again. They then took me back to the radiologist, showed me the realm of ​​my breast they were concerned about, and suggested a biopsy. I received the biopsy results around Christmas Eve from the identical breast surgeon, who asked me if I used to be alone, which was disturbing. She continued: “Well, we were concerned that you did indeed have breast cancer, and quite advanced ones at that. This is stage three.”

The surgeon wanted me to are available the day after Christmas to start out my breast care plan. So I spent that vacation desirous about all the pieces from having a mastectomy as to if I desired to have children, which led to a mental breakdown. So the surgeon only heard from me in early 2010, after a health checkup. Once they got me on the phone, the surgeon asked me, “Do you want to live?”

The light bulb went off and I spotted, “Yes, I know.” On that day, weeks had passed because the diagnosis was confirmed, and so my journey began.

Has your primary care doctor noticed anything disturbing? Or possibly just, “Hey, you are a certain age. We think it’s best to get a mammogram. Or possibly you felt that something was improper?

I still do not know. She never said if she felt anything in my chest. I’m sure I did because I immediately felt a lump as soon as I saw the actual image and the issue area.

Diagnosing breast cancer in black women may be difficult because we have now lots of fatty tissue and plenty of lumps and lumps in our breasts. Have you experienced any discharge, nipple discoloration, or other symptoms?

NO! And for it to be stage three cancer, I had no symptoms. Nothing even gave me any idea what was going on. There was no leakage, local pain, or discoloration; it looked like a tumor the dimensions of a golf ball. So, surprisingly, I didn’t.

Can you talk in regards to the specific style of breast cancer you suffered from?

My breast cancer was estrogen receptor ductal carcinoma. It is essential to know the source of the cancer cell and the way it got there. My cancer is hormonal. It’s a slow process, but it surely’s a highly regarded process, for lack of a greater word, because as young women, you recognize, we, especially black women, have irregular periods. I used to be taking contraception to control my period. I consider my cancer was brought on by a rise in estrogen levels in my body. So this slow-growing tumor was probably about ten years old in my body. I can have a physician or anyone who denies what I say, but I attribute it to the contraception I took as a youngster.

So why did you initially ignore treatment recommendations and what was your turning point?

Honestly, it was, you recognize, just an old fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of the misunderstanding that individuals robotically associate a cancer diagnosis with inevitable death. I didn’t know if I wanted this, what I desired to do with my body. I do know I didn’t need to cut off each breasts. There were so many things and so many unknowns that I just did not have the strength to deal with it.

So once you choose on treatment, you go for chemotherapy, right? Can you persuade our readers to make this decision?

I used to be really interested by holistic medicine, alternative healing modalities, and other forms of healing. And yes, once I inform you, I 110% didn’t need to undergo any chemotherapy. But once I talked to the breast surgeon and realized what stage I used to be at and that I actually desired to live, I said that I’d just leave it in God’s hands and I assumed: I’ll just do it. do chemotherapy.

My process was non-traditional because they typically attempt to do the surgery immediately. They desired to remove the cancer from there, but they desired to shrink mine. I also had one lymph node, which was concerning because that may be a sign of metastatic cancer that’s moving throughout the body. So I knew I needed to act quickly.

So I had chemotherapy, first surgery, after which radiotherapy. But it was terrible. I even have been on Adriamycin, which is named “The Red Devil” in our community, and it’s by far the worst thing I even have probably experienced. I at all times said, “This is as close to death as I can get without being dead.” Because I’d should make decisions like: will I’m going to the toilet, will I’m going to the fridge to eat something? water?. Because I had no strength left. I felt sick. I lost 40 kilos. My nails turned black. I had lost my hair, so all the pieces from physical problems to the vanity of being that sick person within the mirror, chemotherapy just isn’t something I would need on my worst enemy, but I felt I needed to make this decision.

Now that you just are in remission, how do you’re feeling about beating breast cancer?

It was traumatic, painful, uncomfortable. But for me, it woke up something in me.

Can you tell me why you created the Pink Awards and decided to assist other women fighting breast cancer?

It form of got here about once I was organizing these pink parties. I even have at all times been a publicist and event organizer. I worked within the entertainment industry, so I used to be already social, and I used to be blessed to have such a community of individuals around me: family and friends. They brought me food. But I spotted that there have been so many discrepancies, a lot misinformation, and little support. If people were diagnosed, they weren’t even given the chance to decide on. There have been a number of support groups, but for probably the most part these organizations and I don’t take their work frivolously. They are associated with Big Pharma and their goal is to acquire a greater drug or support treatment. And I desired to create, not only through performance, to spotlight the very fact of disproportion in our community. Be alone, however the incontrovertible fact that it kills people day-after-day, this disease will affect you; even when it isn’t you directly, it’ll accomplish that not directly.

The show attracts attention and awareness, and the work reaches and informs people. That’s why I began this: to amplify the message about things that I personally know are deficient in our community.