Category: EQ Online

In September of 2019, Yvette Bell was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. The former Director of the New Mexico Office of African American Affairs and current official at Albuquerque Public Schools went through a life changing transformation in response to this traumatic experience. Now she is thriving as an author, leadership coach, small business owner of A Paradigm Shift Coaching, and ministry leader at Joylight Church.

Yvette is cancer free and just celebrated her birthday with the completion of her new book, Look Up and Live: Taking Dominion Over Diagnosis. Yvette shares her testimony and healing journey of how a life-threatening diagnosis reinvigorated her faith and forged her path toward healing. It’s available now for pre-order in honor of breast cancer awareness month. The print version will be released November 23rd. The eBook version will be ready by the 1st of November.

Pre-order link for Look Up and Live: https://www.aparadigmshiftcoaching.com/product-page/look-up-and-live-taking-dominion-over-diagnosis

Yvette has dedicated her life to empowering women who want to transition out of old paradigms. With her testimony, she hopes to help others who may be going through similar traumas to learn how to gain victory over the mental, physical and spiritual challenges that will arise. Her book is dedicated to all those who have been diagnosed with, or have lost loved ones to, any form of cancer or chronic disease.

I had the opportunity to talk to Yvette over Zoom about how she went about publishing her book, what life changes she had to make in order to heal, and her experience with the health care system. Scroll down to read my interview with Yvette!

Call for Stories

Have you or someone you know been impacted by breast cancer? Do you have a story that you’d like to share about that experience? Email info@nmblc.org and we’ll feature your story in a future post!

Interview with Yvette Bell, Author of Look Up and Live: Taking Dominion Over Diagnosis

Note: Answers have been condensed and edited for length and clarity.

Shannon Moreau: Publishing a book is a big deal! How did you come up with the idea and go about making it happen?

Yvette Bell: I love to write. So when I was diagnosed in September of 2019, it was part of my healing journey to keep a journal. Also, I just knew—I’m a spiritual person, I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and I have a relationship with God—I just knew in getting to heal, that I had to balance my emotions, to get to a place of prayer, that I gotta know, am I going to live? I knew, being led by the Lord that I was going to have to write about it one day. So I would just keep this journal and lessons I’ve learned along the way that could help someone else if ever they had to encounter a traumatic situation. That’s what led me to write the book. It happened to come out on my 48th birthday. I wrote it in seven days.

SM: Happy belated birthday! Did you have a process or team to help you get the book from manuscript to finished book?

YB: I worked with Legacy Driven Consulting and Publishing. It’s amazing how this all happened. I got an inbox from this publishing company based out of Springfield, Massachusetts. Black owned. The cover picture for the book was taken by a Black owned business [Claire’s Photography], the person that worked with me on my clothes and makeup, that’s a Black owned business [Elle Naturalle, Beaute’ On A Be’Jit]. Legacy inboxed me and said “I believe the Lord needs you to write a book.” So they worked with me. They brought their cost down for me, they worked with me on the design, the cover, posting it to Amazon. I’m self-publishing. I met them [Legacy] a year prior at a conference here in Albuquerque, before COVID. We had no interaction in between.  We weren’t networked or connected in any way, other than God telling her “she has a book she needs to get finished.” I said, “Let’s talk.” It was all in alignment with what God wanted, and I knew it. I would stay up till midnight, till two in the morning. I’m still up with this– I call it a baby. You have to birth it and bring it forth. It was a lot of long nights, cause I got off of work and went straight into it.

SM: You talk about a paradigm shift. What shift do you feel that you needed to make when you got your diagnosis?

YB: Mentally. Believing that I could conquer this. That it wasn’t a life-threatening diagnosis. Because of the imaging and messaging around cancer, the first thing we think is “death.” I did have some doctors that had me thinking that way, and I just had to switch doctors. I encourage people to align with the care team that’s going to empower you, and not make you feel like you don’t have a choice over your own health.

You have choices to be informed about the conditions, to do the research, to get two, three opinions from medical professionals. I went to see a nutritionist. They said go on your B vitamins, your D, your magnesium, antioxidants. Make sure you’re eating foods that are not inflammatory. Eat your fruits and veggies. I had to switch, and change that paradigm of all the cultural foods I love to eat. I had to change the way I look at food as for pleasure vs. to live. I eat to live now.

I also had to shift the way I thought about my life, I had to shift the way I receive messaging from other folks about who I was or who I was not. And just reaffirm who I was. Who am I? What do I love to do? What is it about Yvette that I can strengthen? What are the negative things I need to do away with? I had to change my environment. I had to surround myself with positive people who were not doubting that I could live. Folks that would encourage me to live, folks that spoke life into me. I feel like I am so different, I’m not the same Yvette I was pre-diagnosis. You look at your life and you have to reassess a lot of things. There were a lot of things I was engaged with, that I had to say, “Wait. Right now, the most important thing is that I live.” And if that means I can’t participate in the community which I love [tears up], which is my heart, and I miss my community, I really do. But I had to make a choice.

SM: Some of what you’ve talked about brings to mind a topic that is a big concern to everybody, particularly the African American community, and that’s available health care. Do you feel that the health care that was available to you supported you in your healing?

YB: I would say about 80%. There were times I felt like I didn’t have empowering physicians. There was even a time, in the radiation room, where I felt like this woman is really talking to me like I’m a little kid. Talking to you like you don’t own your body and your decisions. I did not appreciate that.

Through the years, my physicians knowing that cancer was on my mother’s side, they never sent me to hereditary testing. There’s an advocacy moment in that. Especially for communities of color. If I had known that this was a hereditary gene [BRCA gene], I could have done something much different earlier, and perhaps either put this off until many years later or avoided it altogether. As far as health insurance is concerned, that is an advocacy moment, when people tell you they have any kind of chronic disease that’s been in their family for generations, I think that we need to be go ahead and do the hereditary testing. That’s preventative health care.

The other thing I ran into: all these medicines. I had to continuously have the discussion with my physicians about not wanting all this medicine in my system. If there’s anything natural I can do, healthy eating, exercise, stress relief, whatever it is, that is what I want to do. That’s what I encourage the African American community, or any community of color—no matter what health insurance you have, don’t just accept the care that you’re given if you feel like it is not quality. Speak up. You have a right to speak up for yourself. You have a right to have an advocate with you in the room. I took my sister-in-law with me, my husband with me. I felt like I needed another pair of ears to hear what was being said so I could make the right assessments. I went and did my own research.

At a point I felt like they [some physicians] were trying to force me to make a decision, and I just wouldn’t be forced. This is my body. For me, it was hanging out on the positive side of the statistics. They kept quoting statistics to me: “One in eight women will get breast cancer. For Black women the breast density makes it hard to find it early. 15% chance the cancer will come back in either breast. 1% percent chance it will get in your lymphatic system.” So I told them, it’s a 99% chance that it won’t get in my lymphatic system, and an 85% chance it won’t come back in either breast. So I’m going to hang out on the positive side. In the book I talk about taking dominion over diagnosis. Dominion means to legislate and govern. So you can govern your health care,  your decisions, how it impacts you mentally, physically, spiritually. Emotionally. Relationally. You can make those decisions for yourself if you’re empowered to do so. 

SM: How do you balance everything? Author, life coach, ministry leader, and school official?

YB: I really don’t know. [Laughs.] Coming out of the diagnosis, and now there’s no cancer cells in my body, I’m so excited about this healing journey and I get to rebuild the body. I try to just schedule everything out. I’m working [from home] during the day, the ministry, the book, the life coaching, I have to schedule those things. I plan my schedule out well in advance. And scheduling plenty of personal time, plenty of rest time, and my own hobbies. Knowing how to have that balance of everything. Not having everything in its own container, because you’re all of it. I’m a career woman, author, minister, a mother, a wife, and, most of all, I’m a woman. And I’m a Black woman. You have to balance all of that out. I enjoy it all. I’m learning to live my life in every way possible.

SM: What are you looking forward to now? Any projects on the horizon?

YB: Well, we gotta launch the book, we have a virtual launch on November 23rd. A book signing in Clovis, my home town. Going to see my daughter for Christmas. Virtual book signings for North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Georgia, California. God called me to do Kingdom Women Speak #HerStory #GodsGlory on Facebook Live every Saturday morning at 10AM. These are women giving testimonials of how they came out of traumatic situations into the marketplace and the resources available to others who are going through the same thing.

I’m also launching another book at the beginning of 2021. 

Order the Book

Help Yvette reach her goal of 100 preorders of Look Up and Live: Taking Dominion Over Diagnosis by October 31st. Order your copy here today:  https://www.aparadigmshiftcoaching.com/product-page/look-up-and-live-taking-dominion-over-diagnosis

Support Black Owned Businesses

The Black owned businesses that helped Yvette manifest her vision:

Elle Naturalle – https://www.ellenaturalle.com/

Beaute’ On A Be’Jit – https://www.beauteonabejit.com/

Claire’s Photography  – https://www.facebook.com/clairemayphotographyabq/

Legacy Driven Consulting and Publishing – https://www.legacydrivenconsulting.com/

Were you inspired by Yvette’s story? Let us know how her testimony personally spoke to you and we might feature your response in a future post! Email us at info@nmblc.org.

Welcome to the New Mexico Black Leadership Council’s EQ Online. Check our blog weekly to stay up-to-date on arts, culture, issues, people, places, and things happening in the Black community in New Mexico.

Today’s blog post comes from guest contributor Duane Ross, M.D. Dr. Ross is a member of the New Mexico Black Leadership Council’s Physical Health subcommittee, and he is passionate about the committee’s goal to increase knowledge about the health concerns affecting the African American community. The focus area of this piece is colorectal cancer, otherwise known as colon cancer. The recent death of Chadwick Boseman makes raising awareness of colon cancer prevention more timely than ever. Read on to learn the important facts about colon cancer, how it affects members of the Black community, and the most effective methods of colon cancer prevention and treatment.

Colon cancer kills African Americans at a higher rate than other racial groups in the U.S. Here’s what you need to know.

By Duane Ross, M.D.

Like many, I was saddened to hear that Chadwick Boseman, a rising talent with so much left undone, had died. Another Black life gone too soon, not from violence or drugs, but another cruel inequity. Colon cancer, which took him from us, affects African Americans at a rate 20% higher than other racial groups in this country and kills us at a rate 40% higher. To be clear, African Americans have worse outcomes from many health issues, from hypertension to stroke to diabetes. While it is true that Blacks in this country often do not have the same access to healthcare as others it is also true that the care we do receive is often lower in quality. But much remains in our control if we know what to do.

There are risk factors for colon cancer that we cannot change and risk factors we can. We cannot do anything about getting older, our family history, or our race; but there are so many other risk factors that we can modify. Risk factors that can be changed include smoking, being overweight, not being physically active, and having a diet high in red and processed meats. Changing these risk factors may not be easy, but they are within our control and any progress in those areas may reduce our risk of developing colon cancer. But doing all the right things does not mean you have eliminated any chance of getting colon cancer; that is why screening is so important.

Colon cancer usually starts out as a polyp (like a fleshy bump) in the lining of the large intestine. At this stage, there are typically no symptoms; the polyp is not big enough to be an obstruction and it usually does not bleed enough to be obvious. Over time (10 to 15 years), the polyp continues to change and grow until it becomes an actual cancer. At this stage, there may be symptoms such as a change in the stool, blood, weight loss, fatigue, even pain. The cancer may also have spread to other parts of the body. The chances for survival are greatest when doctors can find polyps through screening and remove them before they become cancer. In fact, the rate of colon cancer in people 55 years of age and older has declined largely due to screening. It is an uncomfortable topic, but colon cancer screening saves lives.

Colonoscopy is the gold standard for colon cancer screening. It is the only option that allows for removal of any polyps at the same time as the screening. If no polyps are found during your colonoscopy, you do not have to have another one for ten years. Unfortunately, this test requires a couple of days of preparation and the procedure involves anesthesia; you will need to be driven home afterwards and this will mean a day out of work.

There are other tests that look for blood or other markers of cancer in the stool and some of these can even be done at home and mailed to the lab. These tests do not require any preparation and you can continue normal activities before and after the test. If these tests are normal you will need to repeat them every 3 to 5 years (depending on which test you choose). If any of these tests comes back positive, you will still need a colonoscopy since that is the only way to remove any polyps that might be there.

As we continue to work towards progress in the areas of justice reform, poverty, education, drugs, we must not neglect our health. With so many outside forces seemingly stacked against us, it is important that we take control wherever we can. Modify your risk factors, talk to your doctor about choosing a test that is right for you, and get screened.

Colon Cancer: What You Need to Know

• Excluding skin cancers, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosed in both men and women
• Also third leading cause of cancer death
• Rates have dropped in people 55 years of age or older due to screening
• Rates have risen in people younger than 55
• Risk factors you can change
  • Being overweight
  • Not being physically active
  • A diet high in red meats and processed meats
  • Smoking
  • Moderate to heavy alcohol intake
• Risk factors you cannot change
  • Age
  • Family history of polyps or cancer
  • Personal history of polyps or cancer
  • Inflammatory bowel disease
  • Having an inherited syndrome
  • Type 2 diabetes
  • Your race
    • African Americans have the highest incidence (20% higher chance of developing) and mortality (40% more likely to die) of all racial groups in the US

Prevention – it takes a polyp 10 to 15 years to develop into cancer. Removing polyps can prevent progression to cancer. Screening may also catch cancer early when it can be treated more successfully.

About the Author

Dr. Duane Ross a New Mexico resident originally from East Harlem in New York City. He received his undergraduate degree in English Literature at Cornell University and his medical degree from Howard University College of Medicine. He practiced primary care, urgent care, and hospitalist care for several years before switching to an administrative role with Managed Medicaid. He is retired as the Medical Director at True Health New Mexico. He has served on the boards of Bosque School, the American Lung Association of NM, and Oasis. He is on the Physical Health subcommittee for the New Mexico Black Leadership Council.