EMS Director Begins Next Step in Cancer Fight with Hope, Resilience

Sheila Elliott had weathered devastating health diagnoses before.

When she was pregnant with her twin boys, she found out one of them had a severe congenital heart defect. He underwent his fifth open-heart surgery at 2 ½ years old.

But Elliott, emergency medical services director for the award-winning University Emergency Medical Response (UEMR) team at The University of Texas at Dallas, never expected to be a patient.

A routine mammogram caught a potentially cancerous tumor in her breast. An ultrasound and biopsy confirmed the cancer diagnosis on Dec. 6, 2024.

“You hear the ‘C’ word and automatically think, ‘This is how I’m going to die,’” said Elliott, 52, who teaches emergency medical technicians and paramedics at UT Dallas. “It’s like a death sentence.”

Treatment options — lumpectomy, chemotherapy, radiation — were rolled out. Elliott underwent surgery twice to remove the quickly spreading tumor.

Though the cancer was aggressive, it hadn’t spread to her lymph nodes yet. Still, radiation and 16 rounds of chemo awaited.

“Other than going through my son’s five open-heart surgeries — the emotional ups and downs — this is definitely one of the hardest things I’ve had to go through,” Elliott said.

To preserve her long, wavy hair and a sense of normalcy, Elliott opted for cold capping, or scalp cooling, wearing a special cap that circulated cold liquids so her hair wouldn’t fall out with treatment. To endure hourslong chemo sessions, Elliott bought silly hats to wear atop her “cold cap.”

On Sept. 4 — Elliott’s last day of treatment — at Methodist Richardson Cancer Center, she brought in her hats so nurses could pick their favorites and help her celebrate.

She rang a bell, and the UT Dallas mascot showed up to mark the occasion.

“That was just so cool, seeing Temoc there,” she said.

Though Elliott has completed chemotherapy, her fight isn’t over.

“Ringing the bell, I wish it meant this is the end — I’m done,” she said. “But for me it just meant moving on to the next phase.”

Elliott will need to take one medication for three years and a second one for a decade.

She plans to participate in the 2025 Komen Dallas North Texas Race for the Cure at UT Dallas on Saturday, Oct. 18, where she and her fellow UEMR first responders will wear pink shirts that they designed.

“To be able to have that race so close to home — really, my second home — that meant a lot,” she said.

Her advice to others dealing with a cancer diagnosis?

“Sometimes you just have to go with the flow and look for the blessings that happen in bad situations. From what I’m told, especially with breast cancer, it’s your attitude and being positive that is half the battle, and your success will be better,” she said. “I’ve got too much to live for. I don’t see myself dying in my 50s from breast cancer.

“I want to do everything I can to make sure it doesn’t come back.”