It’s not supposed to happen to a busy, young mom with three kids. But breast cancer doesn’t discriminate.
Shayna Whiteside and her husband, Darius, noticed a lump in her breast in January and she got her diagnosis as the governor shut down nonessential businesses due to COVID-19, including her thriving metro Detroit salon, Amora Luxe.
“I almost didn’t believe it,” she says about the diagnosis. “I figured it would be like a little cyst and I can get it fixed and it was nothing.”
Whiteside’s advice to other moms: “Definitely do a self-examination.” Luckily her doctor had taught her the proper way to do a self-exam six months before she found the lump at age 36.
She says she’s found staying positive and not being stressed or worried is key. Plus, she’s kept the diagnosis to only close family and friends – not on her social media channels where everyone could chime in with opinions, something she’d also suggest other young moms consider.
With chemo, Whiteside says she’s been more tired than normal, but she’s been determined to go about her life and keep her business thriving. She’s set for surgery this month, followed by radiation.
“I’m not going to sit and sulk in it. I have a lot of things I need to achieve, a lot of goals I need to check off the list, and I’m not going to let this stop me,” Whiteside says.
One of those goals is taking her Amora Luxe products and high-end custom wigs and extensions national, particularly for the hair loss community, and show women they can have beautiful hair no matter what’s going on inside. “To me, hair is the best crown to have on,” she says.
That’s a bit of irony for her. “Who would have known I would need my own services?”
