I SURVIVED
THE WILL TO LIVE
By Lauren Myers
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Shelia Hilton knows about doing things
on her own. As the founder and owner
of Hilton and Co. Dress Shop in Baton
Rouge, she is her own boss. But on Sept.
18, 2010, she received some news that
she knew she wouldn’t be able to handle
alone: she had breast cancer.
According to the National Cancer Society, from 2006-2010,
almost 3,000 women were diagnosed with breast cancer in
Louisiana. Almost 10 percent of those women affected lived in
East Baton Rouge Parish.
Hilton feels blessed, as her cancer was in the zero to one stage.
Admitting that she was “ignorant” about what that meant before
the diagnosis, she was excited to learn that because of the cancer’s
early stage, chemotherapy was not necessary, only surgery was
needed to remove the tumors.
Hilton’s doctor credited her diagnosis to early detection, but
Hilton gives credit to her daughter Shantrice, who set up the
mammogram appointment for her initially.
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A NEW
CONCEPT
IN CARE
DAILY TRANSPORTATION
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areas that have become diminished over time due to sun, wind, time,
gravity and genetics.
Each course of action depends on skin type, age, history of
scarring from acne or skin cancer, and the desires of the patient.
All of these measures are geared to the individual needs of the
patient. I want my patients to feel significant and satisfied in their
skin. No one should ever feel invisible. BRH&F
“I had determined in my mind, no more cutting on me and calling
me saying ‘It’s just calcifications. You’re fine,’” she says of her view
on mammograms before the diagnosis.
Now, Hilton is adamant about the importance of a yearly
mammogram. “Don’t be the silly Shelia that I started to be with
skipping a year because a year… can be the difference in your
living and your dying,” she said, “something that could be so
simple could turn out very serious.”
Now, three years in remission, Hilton knows that if it were not for
her faith or her family, coping with her diagnosis would have been
much harder. She explained that her daughter Cherish took her to
her doctor’s appointments while her other daughter Charity cared
for her during recovery. She also credits countless other family
members with supporting her along the way.
Now Hilton doesn’t take a single day for granted. She uses her
experience to provide the same support to women going through
similar trials and she encourages others to do the same.
“Each day that we have, it is a day that God has given us,” she
said, “[We have] to take full responsibility for [our lives]. See
where there’s a need and be there even if it’s just a word of
encouragement for that day.” BRH&F
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