Tyler woman battles cancer, enjoys blessings of motherhood
Published 11:27 pm Saturday, March 7, 2015
On Feb. 13, La Shunda Bowie-Minix and her husband, Roderick, received their sweetest gift during a tough fight against cancer when they welcomed a 4.2-pound baby boy into the world. The couple named their first baby Denim Dior Minix .
“The day he was born, it was just a blessing and a relief,” Minix, 38, said. “He came out healthy.”
Last October, Mrs. Minix, 33, learned she had a cancerous growth forming around her heart and lungs.
“We were both in shock,” her husband said. “It never crossed our mind that it could be cancer.”
Diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, she traveled often to The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston for chemotherapy treatments while also awaiting the arrival of her unborn son.
It was a total life change for not only Mrs. Minix, but also her husband and mother, who both traveled to Houston and took her to other doctors’ appointments.
Throughout it all, she kept an optimistic attitude, wearing T-shirts declaring her victory against cancer and smiling through it.
“What got me through is my faith,” she said.
Before doctors induced labor, Mrs. Minix was worried about what could go wrong. This was her first baby and she had high blood pressure.
“I went in very scared,” she said.
Although Mrs. Minix’s pregnancy was marred by a cancer diagnosis, her labor and delivery went much smoother.
In labor for only about four or five hours, Mrs. Minix said she dilated quickly.
She was released from the hospital two days later, and Denim was released two weeks after birth.
“That wasn’t hard at all,” she said. “God really blessed me. It went well.”
She added, “My mother started shouting in the delivery room, thanking God because it went that smoothly. Based on my history, what I went through, how can I go through it that smoothly?”
Mrs. Minix estimates about 15 to 20 doctors and other personnel were in the room in case they needed to perform a cesarean section or take the baby straight to neonatal intensive care unit.
“Everyone was lined up in case something went wrong,” she said.
At birth, Denim was breathing fast and unable to take a bottle, but he’s now feeding on his own and gaining weight.
She’s settling into the role as a new mom, losing sleep because she constantly watches over him at night. She also is an anxious mother, noting she took Denim to the emergency room when he screamed and then went limp.
“They said we’re going to diagnose it as a concerned parent with a beautiful healthy boy,” she recalled. “It was so embarrassing.”
Meanwhile, she prepares for the final stretch of her cancer treatment.
“She’s about to start radiation so we’re getting to the end,” her husband said. “And we got a bundle of joy out of it.”
Mrs. Minix begins radiation in two weeks, which will last a month. She’ll stay in Houston much of the month while her husband and the baby come for visits.
She’s still grateful for how everything turned out.
“I just can’t thank God enough,” she said.
CLOSER LOOK
A fundraising campaign has been set up to help the family with expenses as La Shunda Bowie-Minix prepares to live in Houston for radiation treatments. To learn more, go to http://www.gofundme.com/lsdtvs .
