• Celebrity
    • Of The Essence
    • Celebrity News
    • If Not For My Girls
    • The State Of R&B
    • Time Of Essence
  • Fashion
    • 2023 Best In Black Fashion Awards
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • Red Carpet
    • Fashion News
    • Accessories
  • Beauty
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
    • 2023 Best In Black Beauty
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Hair
  • Lifestyle
    • Love
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
    • Bridal Bliss
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
  • Entrepreneurship
    • Money & Career
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Shopping
  • Video
  • Events
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
  • Studios
  • Girls United

WHERE BLACK CULTURE, COMMUNITY AND CONSCIOUSNESS MEET

Sign up for ESSENCE Newsletters the keep the Black women at the forefront of conversation.

Your email is required.
Your email is in invalid format.
Confirm email is required.
Email did not match.
Select the newsletters you'd like to receive:
Please select at least one option.
By clicking Subscribe Now, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Skip to content
SUBSCRIBE
  • MAGAZINE
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Celebrity
    • Of The Essence
    • Celebrity News
    • If Not For My Girls
    • The State Of R&B
    • Time Of Essence
  • Fashion
    • 2023 Best In Black Fashion Awards
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • Red Carpet
    • Fashion News
    • Accessories
  • Beauty
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
    • 2023 Best In Black Beauty
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Hair
      • Hair News
      • Natural
      • Relaxed
      • Transitioning
      • Weave
      • 4C
  • Lifestyle
    • Love
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
    • Bridal Bliss
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
  • Entrepreneurship
    • Money & Career
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Shopping
  • Video
  • Events
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
  • Studios
  • Girls United
Home · Health & Wellness

Cancer Warriors

Learning you have cancer is devastating enough. But living through the treatment and its effects on body and spirit can be one of the greatest tests. Meet three inspiring women who have met these challenges with grit and grace, and for whom each day is a gift.
Cancer Warriors
By As told to Jeannine Amber · Updated October 27, 2020

Learning you have cancer is devastating enough. But living through the treatment and its effects on body and spirit can be one of the greatest tests. Meet three inspiring women who have met these challenges with grit and grace, and for whom each day is a gift.

Last year, Tony-and Grammy-nominated actor Valisia LeKae, 35, was shining bright, starring on Broadway as Diana Ross in Motown: The Musical. In November, a routine gynecological exam led to a diagnosis of ovarian cancer. After surgery and six rounds of chemo, LeKae says she feels “more beautiful than ever.”

“When my doctor called, I was sitting in a recliner, where I’d been sleeping for the past ten days recovering from the surgery I’d had to remove an ovarian cyst. It had been there for years, but a recent exam revealed it was growing, and my doctor wanted to remove it. There was no discussion of cancer. No one mentioned the word.

“My recovery was very painful. I could barely stand. But when my doctor informed me that the biopsy showed I had ovarian cancer, I immediately stood up. I told my man I didn’t want to spend another day in that chair griping and moaning. I wanted to live my life!

“I knew I wasn’t going to be able to do this by myself, so the first people I called were my prayer warriors: my parents, grandparents and best friends. They’re strong in their faith and they prayed for me continuously. That became my foundation.

“A month later I had surgery to remove my right ovary and fallopian tube. I was lucky they caught the cancer early, before it had spread. But I still needed to have six rounds of chemotherapy. On December 30, a few weeks after I’d found out that I’d been nominated for a Grammy [as part of the cast of Motown for Best Musical Theater Album], I was in the doctor’s office receiving my first round of chemotherapy.

“They tell you your hair will fall out about three weeks after you begin your treatment. I calculated that I would still have a head full of hair when the Grammys rolled around. Eleven days after I started chemo, my hair started to come out in clumps. I had a huge Afro I’d been growing for a year. For four days straight my hair fell out until I couldn’t take it anymore.

“I went to Brenda Braxton’s salon in Harlem to get my hair cut. She’d been a part of the Motown family. At the time, I shed a tear. Now I look at myself in the mirror, without all that hair, and I see traces of my parents. I see my father’s lips and my mother’s cheekbones. I see the people I’ve come from and grown up with, and the strength they’ve given me. I see what I have to live for, and I’ve never been happier in my life.”

To read the full feature “Cancer Warriors,” pick up the June 2014 issue of ESSENCE, on newsstands now.

COMPANY INFORMATION
  • Our Company
  • Customer Service
  • Essence Ventures
  • Change Your Address
  • Contact Us
  • Job Opportunities
  • Internships
  • Media Kit
  • tag
SUBSCRIBE
  • Newsletters
  • Give a Gift of ESSENCE
  • Magazine Tablet Edition
FOLLOW US
MORE ON ESSENCE
  • Home
  • Love
  • Celebrity
  • Beauty
  • Hair
  • Fashion
  • ESSENCE festival

ESSENCE.com is part of ESSENCE Communications, Inc.

Essence may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.

©2023 ESSENCE Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Essence.com Advertising Terms

Get The ESSENCE Newsletter and
Special Offers delivered to your inbox

By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Get The ESSENCE Magazine
by subscribing below
subscribe now