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Royal Palm Beach mother defeats kidney cancer

Cancer survivor defies odds, fights to find a cure
Posted at 9:20 AM, Mar 10, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-10 18:11:54-05

Cancer is a disease that touches everyone, and we all know someone affected by it.

Shea Hood of Royal Palm Beach is one of those people.  Every moment she spends with her son she is reminded how lucky she is.

Three years ago, Hood was diagnosed with stage-three metastatic kidney cancer.

After having a baby, it was her persistent nature that pushed doctors to go in with a microscopic camera and find 17 tumors.

“I was very angry, I was extremely angry,” Hood said.

Not only was Hood diagnosed with cancer, but so were her two sisters, Erika and Sandy.

“It got to a point that I was just walking, but I wasn’t a part of the world anymore," Hood added.

Doctors predicted Hood only had two to three years to live and that the rest of it would be spent undergoing treatment and fighting cancer.

While undergoing several rounds of chemotherapy, six surgeries and plenty of tears, both of Hood’s sisters died.

“My faith took a big hit," Hood said.

And her first instinct was that she was going to die too, "Cancer is so ugly."

Hood went into fight mode.

"When I was going through treatment, I promised myself that when I got past this, every day would matter,” said Hood.

Despite the odds, she beat cancer and continues to beat cancer by working out and eating healthy. Today she’s cancer free and giving back through the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life.

“You can never take anything for granted.  Life is precious, and we all have a purpose. I owe it to myself, and I owe it to everyone else, either on that journey or in that journey,” said Hood.

On Saturday, March 11 join Hood on the track at the South Florida Fairgrounds for the Relay For Life of Western Palm Beach County. The opening ceremony begins at 3 p.m. The event is a big celebration of life where survivors will be honored.

WPTV and its parent company Scripps are sponsors of the event. The Scripps-Howard Foundation believes in the fight against cancer and donated $1,250 to help the event reach its $85,000 goal, which the event reports it already surpassed.