‘I did not want cancer to define me.’ Fort Worth mom earns degree during treatment

Ariella Scott isn’t sure how much life she has left, but whatever it is, she’s going through it with a college degree.

Scott, a 26-year-old single parent from Fort Worth, has stage 4 breast cancer, something she was diagnosed with in 2020. The cancer has spread throughout her body, so she is living with the original cancer and 20 brain tumors.

In late September she walked across the stage at Keiser University’s campus in Pembroke Pines, Florida, to receive an associate degree in medical administrative billing and coding.

“My family inspires me because they believe in me, always supporting me and telling me I can do whatever I put my mind to. I went on with my degree because I did not want cancer to define me,” Scott said. “I wanted to show my daughter (Alleira, her mom’s named spelled backwards) that if mommy can do it, she can do it too.

“It was scary to think about me having to find someone that would take my place when I am gone, or even writing a will. I have always been interested in the health care field, but my daughter now is the reason I am fighting so hard.”

Scott, who moved to Fort Worth from New York in 2013, is a graduate of Saginaw High School.

“We are so proud of Ariella,” said Arthur Keiser, chancellor of Keiser University.

Discovery of cancer

Scott learned she had breast cancer after she stopped breastfeeding her daughter. She begun to feel chest pains, struggled with breathing and had a lump in her breast.

“It took me about a year to actually get checked out because the cancer — that I did not know about at the time — was causing me to get pneumonia,” She said. “I was also misdiagnosed with COVID.”

Then, she said one doctor took a closer look at her signs and symptoms and referred her to get a mammogram. It revealed her worst nightmare — but one that she already had on her radar.

“I wasn’t really that shocked because I did diagnose myself before the doctors actually confirmed it. It just felt unreal to me, like, ‘How did I get here?’” she said. “That is when I learned that cancer ran on my grandfather’s side.”

According to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, only about 4% of women under the age of 40 develop breast cancer. However, the American Cancer Society reports late-stage breast cancer diagnosis in young women has been climbing about 3% each year.

Scott takes comfort in not being alone in her fight.

“I get a lot of support and prayers from family, friends, and sometimes people that I do not know,” she said.

Getting into medicine

After her first chemotherapy treatment, Scott got really sick and had to be admitted into the hospital. During her time there, she discovered she wanted to learn more about the human body. Nurses advised her to go to school and to even work for them at the hospital.

“I enrolled in school to be a medical assistant. Unfortunately, I had to change my course to medical billing and coding because I could not successfully complete the externship (shadowing professionals) that was mandatory with becoming a medical assistant,” she said.

Before enrolling in school, Scott worked full-time as a security guard for the Charles Schwab Corporation. She recalled being at work and experiencing chest pain, being out of breath, not being able to lean forward or even sit a certain way.

“My asthma was bothering me. I was always wheezing and coughing,” she said. “I kept getting pneumonia.”

When she was diagnosed with cancer, the first person she told was her mom.

“She was so in disbelief, she responded, ‘Arie, what? Stop playing. Are you joking right now?’” Scott said. “And I was like, ‘No Ma, why would I joke like that?’”

Treatment

Scott undergoes chemotherapy treatment every three weeks to contain the spread of the cancer, along with her regular doctor appointments

“Being that the chemo is controlling the cancer, my treatments are everlasting until God says it is no more,” she said. “I was able to continue school and be a great mom, daughter, sister, and friend by the grace of God.”

Scott said she just did what she had to do, given her situation. Failure, she said, was not an option. However, there have been times when she has struggled, during which she would turn to worship and reading her Bible.

“I get into prayer and talk to God, asking him for strength and more patience,” she said.

Going forward

Scott is open to talking to anyone and answering any questions they may have about cancer — particularly others, like herself, who have it.

“I know I was lost too,” she said. “I just knew something was not right about what I was feeling.”

She said she is working on a book to tell more about her story.

“So stay tuned for that,” she said with a smile. “I believe that my God has brought me this far and through him anything is possible. So, yes, I do believe I can beat this cancer.”

And see Alleira walk across the stage for her diploma years from now.