There was frightening talk of amputation, but prison had taught her to persevere.

If she could turn her life around after prison, she could turn her life around after cancer.

Felicia Pollard, a cosmetologist in Charlotte, North Carolina, was about to fly to Jamaica in 2020 to teach a class in the beauty industry when her husband noticed a lump on the back of her left leg.

“The lump was a concern because if it was a blood clot, I shouldn’t be flying,” said Pollard, who was 51.

Initially, the lump was diagnosed as lipoma, a fatty lump of tissue that grows under the skin and is usually harmless. So Pollard kept up with her fast-paced mix of jobs: teaching cosmetology (everything from cut to color) and working and traveling with Dudley Beauty Corp. as well as serving cosmetology clients, dancing a blend of modern and ballet in various shows, working as a radio personality on her own show, Global Change, and serving as a community health and peer support worker in the mental health and homeless space.

Six months later, the lump had grown to 9 inches and Pollard was in so much agony that all of her jobs were jeopardized.

“I was doing as much as I could and it was super painful,” she said. “I couldn’t stand, I couldn’t walk a lot, I had to take a lot of breaks. I ended up having to wear my husband’s clothes because I could no longer fit in my clothes.”

After one doctor talked about the possibility of amputating her leg, Pollard spoke to a Novant Health general surgeon. The surgeon referred her to a Novant Health surgical oncologist due to the large size of the mass and a suspicion of cancer.

Testing followed, and Pollard received a diagnosis: sarcoma, a rare form of cancer that comprises less than 1 percent of cancers. The tumor was complex, wrapped around her sciatic nerve.

“I was terrified,” she said. “I had emotionally checked out and I was afraid no one would love me anymore. I didn’t think I could work anymore. I thought my life was over.”

Not her first battle

Pollard had been dancing since she was 3. “I knew a long time ago that it was peace for me,” she said. “Around age 19 I was drawn to cosmetology because I was an artist. Although I was labeled as a person with a learning and reading disability, visual and performing arts came easier for me. I danced and worked in cosmetology, but got caught up with the wrong people around age 25.”

Around 1995, Pollard went into a spiral with drugs and forgery, which sent her to prison in North Carolina. “I think it was my insecurities,” Pollard said. “I was trying to be whoever people approved of or allowed me to be. It wasn’t my character.”

During her two-and-a-half years of incarceration, Pollard turned her life around. Once again, she found peace through her artistic pursuits. She danced with the prison church and taught cosmetology to her peers. “I wrote out what I wanted for my life and then I created it," she said. "From the day I walked out I’ve been running for my life doing as much as I can to live and to be the best that I can be.”

Around 1998, Pollard resumed teaching, working in cosmetology and dancing in the outside world. She published a self-help book: From Prison to Power to Peace: Turning My Setbacks into Comebacks. For more than 20 years, she was making up for lost time after prison – until the lump. Until the diagnosis.

Doctors take a team approach

“Surgery is the only treatment to achieve a cure of these tumors,” said Dr. Nicholas Latchana, Novant Health surgical oncologist who specializes in conditions like sarcoma. He’s based in Charlotte at the Novant Health Cancer Institute - Elizabeth. “Felicia Pollard’s case was discussed at our Novant Health multidisciplinary conference, which consists of a team of multiple different types of doctors to help get at the best treatment.”

The conference led to a multi-level approach: radiation therapy to kill some of the tumor, followed by surgery to remove the tumor, then a skin graft to help with healing. The collaboration is a good example of how Novant Health’s focus on a multidisciplinary approach to treating cancer – calling on the skills of several different specialists – can often lead to the best outcomes.

Pollard underwent surgery in January 2021 at Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center.

In order to remove all of the tumor, Latchana had to remove part of the nearby leg muscles. Through his diligence, he was able to get the tumor off the sciatic nerve and preserve it. Pollard has since made a remarkable recovery from the complex surgery, but it wasn’t easy.

A new turnaround

Not only did Pollard go through cancer treatments during the pandemic, but she faced almost two years of physical therapy and self-discovery during recovery from surgery. She also had to give up her jobs, her business, and learn to lean on the support of her family while she went through it all.

“I set my mindset to be as positive as I could be because I learned the negative state of mind will be the mind that kills you,” said Pollard, now 54. “So I stayed positive and I trusted God and I trusted the process and I trusted the person who was made to help me – Dr. Latchana – and the entire care team.”

Pollard is cancer-free. She’s back to being busy, but taking things just a bit slower. She’s dancing again and teaching beauty school two days a week at Empire Beauty School while starting to rebuild her cosmetology client base. She’s working as a community health and peer support worker with Veterans Services of the Carolinas. She’s studying to finally complete her degree in psychology – she’s been working toward this since 1986. She’s two years from getting her doctorate degree in cosmetology. And she’s writing her next book: Overcomer: Changing from a Negative to a Positive with Resilience.

“My No. 1 intention is to be a positive example of moving through and keeping up the ambition to change,” Pollard said. “I can't help others if I can't be that example of turning negative into positive.”