cervivor

This Too Shall Pass

This week is observed as National Minority Cancer Awareness Week and we’ll be highlighting Cervivor community members that identify within this population. Cervical cancer survivor and patient advocate, Tiera Wade shares the inspiration behind her journey with her small business.

“Traditionally, waist beads have been worn in West African culture for various reasons. Some of those reasons are adornment, accountability, spirituality, and honoring the power our wombs hold.

My reasons started to be intentional with expanding my family in hopes of having another child. As a small business owner, I started to incorporate this intentional art of making waist beads into my business. In that process, I connected with other women looking for healing, grounding, mindfulness, and acceptance.

When I found out I had cervical cancer all of the love, time, and intent, I soon felt betrayed. This womb that I was honoring and loving was now trying to kill me. I cut off every single one of those 28 strands and prepared for treatment.

Shortly after starting treatment, I received a package in the mail, and this package contained a strand from another maker across the country. My waist bead sister sent a note with her handmade strand, “This too shall pass.”

A few days later, I would receive another one and another. This continued throughout my treatments. When I was declared NED (no evidence of disease). I took those waist beads that were created in and with love and tied them on my waist. Each strand as gentle reminders that I’m loved and thanking my womb for a job well done, and she could rest.

Today, as a survivor, I use waist beads now to educate others. I share my why and Cervivors message. Telling them to prioritize themselves, love their bodies in the journey, and their health.”

Tiera Wade is a cervical cancer survivor and thriver turned patient advocate. She resides in the great state of Ohio and she is a small business owner and artisan designer of Set Trendz where she encourages others to be bold and be different.

22 Years and Counting

Today, we’re raising a toast to our Founder and Chief Visionary, Tamika Felder. It’s been 22 years since Tamika Felder heard those devastating words, “You have cervical cancer.”

It was a moment that changed her life forever. Tamika was 25 years old and budding in her fast-paced career as a Washington D.C. news producer. She wasn’t expecting a slowdown, more importantly, a cancer diagnosis.

Tamika endured a hysterectomy followed by chemotherapy and radiation that ultimately stripped her of her fertility. After experiencing frustration, pain, and grief, she spent countless hours researching the human papillomavirus (HPV). What she found was how common the virus was and that there was a necessity for others to talk about it. She sought others who have walked the same journey but what she found was the shame, stigma, and isolation that cervical cancer brought with it. Tamika wanted to change the narrative and empower others to tell their stories so created what she didn’t have.

In 2005, Tamika and Friends, Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to cervical cancer survivors and their friends and family was born. Support became an all-encompassing demand and she found the more she told her story, the more it reached other women. Several house parties were hosted to have real-time conversations about cervical health, cervical cancer, and how to protect yourself. Eventually, that idea became an official program of the organization we now know as Cervivor, Inc.

Tamika understood there was a calling of living her life beyond a cervical cancer diagnosis and over the years, she has continued to transform the lives of each person impacted by a cervical cancer diagnosis. She not only empowers them to use their voice, but she teaches them that their pain can have a purpose and that they have the power to create real change.

Tamika has been a visionary and a trailblazer not only in the cervical cancer space but to open up the dialogue to talk about women’s health, sexual health, health disparities, and what it means to strive for better access to and care for all – and now, the path to parenthood for those facing infertility.

We are in awe of everything she has endured, built, and nurtured, and can’t wait to see what else blossoms in her lifetime. We couldn’t be more grateful for her resilience and leadership to create the community we now know as Cervivor. Thank you, Tamika!

Join us in celebrating Tamika today by scheduling your routine cancer screenings and vaccination appointments, sharing this blog and her story with your networks, and by donating $22 to Cervivor!