Rivera Shafer’s husband, Barry Shafer traveled the breast cancer journey with his first wife, Dana, who was diagnosed with the disease in 1999 and passed away in 2009.
Rivera Shafer, an international opera star originally from Los Angeles, met Barry about 18 months after Dana’s passing, when she was singing with the Cincinnati Opera. They were introduced to each other by a mutual friend. During the month Rivera Shafer was in town for the Cincinnati Opera in June of 2011, she and Barry found they had a special connection, but they didn’t really know what it was at first.
The couple had a whirlwind courtship and married on Barry’s 50th birthday on Sept. 13, 2011. Jessica and Barry have two children, Reade, 8 and Rachel, 7. The children attend Northstar Classical School in Middletown. The family attends The Oaks Community Church.
“I’m still actively singing. Of course, COVID-19 did a number on that for a while, but I’m back to singing.,” Rivera Shafer said.
She has a concert in California at the end of October, will be singing and recording with the National Symphony in November and has other performances, including with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in December.
Rivera Shafer also teaches voice at the collegiate level to performance and music education students at Miami University.
When it comes to her own cancer journey, Rivera Shafer said she started getting mammograms earlier than most, because there was a history of breast cancer in her family.
Dr. Mark Frazer sent Jessica to get a mammogram in December of 2017. After the mammogram, the doctor wanted her to get a biopsy at Kettering and that confirmed Stage 1 breast cancer. Then, she went to see a breast surgeon at Kettering and radiation oncologist there, and she was told what her medical options were. She had a conversation with the breast surgeon, and shared that she wanted to pursue a holistic approach and to use nutrition as part of the healing process.
Most people find out they have cancer, and they go to the oncologist, or the surgeon and they develop a plan to be treated with either one, or a combination of the three – surgery, radiation or chemotherapy, depending on their stage of cancer.
“I went to the doctor and went to an oncologist. Because I had Stage 1, chemo was never on the table for me, but they did recommend either a mastectomy, if I wasn’t wanting radiation, or a lumpectomy with radiation. And I felt very strongly that I wanted to pursue some holistic options before I went that route. It wasn’t a decision that I made lightly. It was a decision that was based on my personal, medical history and experience with having a health issue (recurring sinus infections), and finding out that after months and months of treatment that I wasn’t getting to the source of the problem,” Rivera Shafer said.
She eventually turned to a doctor who also had a nutrition degree and discovered she had food allergies.
Rivera Shafer said she made changes to her diet and started exercising more regularly, and amazingly, she did not get a sinus infection, or any other kind of infection for 10 months, and after having an infection every three months, she said “that was a huge victory.”
“That was a really important part of understanding my own body and understanding that I had choices that I could make that would benefit my body, or those that would not benefit my body from a health standpoint,” Rivera Shafer explained. “So, when I was diagnosed with breast cancer, because of my own personal medical history and experience, I knew that if I did right by my body, it would do right by me. So, I immediately started researching holistic options for helping to treat breast cancer and I had already done a lot of research on it, not just for breast cancer, but because my friend had been diagnosed with colon cancer. I had also been introduced to a documentary called ‘Forks Over Knives,’ and another one called ‘Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead,’ but because of my history of using food as my medicine, I was delighted to discover how you could use food as your medicine.”
So, she started making some lifestyle changes, and the majority of those things, she felt like she had control over and could adjust.
“And, when I did, I found that my body responded favorably, and in a way that restored my health,” Rivera Shafer said.
She said another thing that brought about an immense amount of healing was an emotional release therapy, which she underwent with Sandra Brock of Cincinnati.
“She also did myofascial release on my breast and that was extremely helpful, and there are many documented cases of therapy working to help release disease from tissues in the body,” Rivera Shafer said.
Other things she did was to read about other holistic cancer survivors and ate a raw vegan diet. In June of 2018, Rivera Shafer received an “all clear.”
While Rivera Shafer said she didn’t test positive for the BRCA Gene, she does have another gene mutation that does not suppress tumor growth.
Every six months since her initial diagnosis, Rivera Shafer has continued to alternate between a mammogram and a breast MRI, because her doctors have wanted to make sure the cancer is not coming back.
In December of 2021, Rivera Shafer had a mammogram that showed micro calcifications (on her other breast,) which was followed by a biopsy the same month. In January of 2022, she opted for a lumpectomy.
Making Strides of Greater Cincinnati 5K Walk
When: 8:30 a.m. timed chip 5K walk (Walk #1, registration required, $50 day of event). 9 a.m. Making Strides Walk (Walk #2, Free) Saturday, Oct. 22
Where: Yeatman’s Cove, 705 E Pete Rose Way, Cincinnati
Website: https://secure.acsevents.org/site/STR?pg=entry&fr_id=102858
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