By Chanda Temple
When Javacia Harris Bowser walked into her doctor’s office and saw a big box of tissues in January 2020, she knew what words would come next.
She had breast cancer.
The doctor was expecting Javacia to cry. She did not. In fact, it would be some time before Javacia shed a tear over the news of being diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer. Instead, Javacia, a Type A person with an award-winning writing background, pulled out a notepad and said, “Ok, what do we need to do?”
Shocked by Javacia’s response, the doctor laid out the options: have a lumpectomy to remove the tumor; have a mastectomy to remove the breast; or to have a double mastectomy.
Javacia, who was 38 at the time, opted for the lumpectomy, with plans to have radiation next, thinking that she’d be done. Things were scary, but an upbeat Javacia was still walking out her breast cancer journey like it was something to do, sort of like checking things off a grocery shopping list.
Her mood shifted once her pathology report came back following her February 2020 lumpectomy. It showed that her tumor was growing very rapidly and the cells were extremely abnormal.
“Because of those things, and … because I was under 40, my oncologist wanted me to have chemo,” Javacia recalled. “And that’s when I cried.”
Javacia resisted the thought. Chemo? Naw, she needed a second opinion. She ended up getting a test called the Oncotype, which showed how effective chemo would be. A month after taking the test, she got the results in April 2020 and it confirmed she needed chemo.
She had her port placement surgery for chemo in April 2020, and she started chemo by May 2020. By this time, the world was gripped by Covid, and rules were strict at the hospital. When she had her lumpectomy in February 2020, her husband, Edward Bowser, was able to hold her hand until she went under from the anesthesia. But hospital Covid protocols in April 2020 called for her husband to drop her off at the curb and she walked alone into the hospital.
“Even though I knew this would be a simple procedure, I was still very nervous,” Javacia recalled. “I felt so scared.”
Next up, was five months of chemo, where Javacia lost her long, curly hair and her eyebrows. Her nails turned black and black spots dotted her tongue. The pain tingling in her hands and feet, known as neuropathy, came and went. She was sick to her stomach for months.
At first, Javacia could eat what she wanted. But as the chemo treatments started to work their way into her body, things changed. Cookies tasted like sand. And beef tasted like metal.
A friend, whose mother had fought breast cancer, knew what Javacia was about to face and dropped off applesauce and a box of Minute Rice. Javacia was puzzled.
Javacia: “What’s this?”
Her friend: “Trust me. You’ll thank me later. Just keep this. You will know when you need to eat this.”
The friend was right.
There was the time when the smell of meat being warmed in the microwave made Javacia nauseous. That’s when she grabbed the applesauce. It was such a relief. On other days, Sargento cheese and crackers did the trick. For someone used to eating what she wanted, Javacia was learning to navigate this new scene.
On Sept. 17, 2020, Javacia completed chemo and rang the bell after treatment. Her doctor told Javacia that in three months, her taste buds should be back to normal and she should have one inch of hair on her head. That three-month mark would be in late December, and Javacia couldn’t wait to make New Year’s Eve, her favorite holiday, a day of celebration.
But before she could celebrate, she had to have 36 rounds of radiation. She started that in October 2020.
Even while going through radiation, which she completed on Dec. 3, Javacia kept thinking about Dec. 31.
“Get to New Year’s Eve. Get to New Year’s Eve. Get to New Year’s Eve,” was on repeat in her brain like her favorite Beyonce’ songs.
Then, finally, Dec. 31, 2020 arrived, and she couldn’t wait to dive into her Rotel dip, made with Velveeta cheese, a can of Mexican Rotel, a can of regular Rotel and ground turkey, and served with a side of restaurant-style tortilla chips. She could taste the cheese, meet and sauce. Her taste buds were back, and everything tasted like how she remembered.
“It felt like the first step to taking my life back,” said Javacia. “I know that sounds so weird because it was a bite of Rotel dip, but it was like, ‘Here is the first step.’ ”
There are more steps to come for Javacia, who is a writer; the founder of the Birmingham-based writing organization, See Jane Write; and the author of the book on her breast cancer journey, “Find Your Way Back: How to Write Your Way Through Anything.”
When she started fighting breast cancer in 2020, doctors told her she’d have to be on medication for 10 years. She still has five more years to go, along with continued visits to the doctor.
Today, at 44 years old, Javacia is not the same woman who walked into that doctor’s office. Cancer changed that.
“You’ll never be the same again after a cancer diagnosis, and it’s important to accept that and allow yourself time to mourn the person you used to be,” she said. “But also celebrate the new person you’ve become.”
“The new Javacia is so much stronger than Javacia B.C. (Javacia Before Cancer). She knows what matters most in lie and strives to live each day to the fullest.”
NOTE: In America, one in eight women will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer during their lifetime. In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I will be profiling one female breast cancer survivor each day in October 2025. The stories will also highlight a food from a Birmingham, AL restaurant or food vendor they liked at some point during their breast cancer journey or today. The series is called “SurviveHer at the Table: Food. Faith. Fight.”
Each story posted this month is the opinion of the survivor, with a goal to increase awareness about early detection and treatment for breast cancer. Readers should consult with their physician for medical and health advice and their nutritionist for healthy eating tips. Links to resources will be shared in future posts this month.
Chanda Temple is an award-winning writer living in Birmingham, Ala. She blogs at http://www.chandatemplewrites.com. If you have a food story idea, email her at chandatemple@gmail.com. Follow her on Instagram at @chandatemple.
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