Real Housewives of Atlanta’s Monyetta Shaw-Carter, 45, Reveals She Was Diagnosed with Breast Cancer (Exclusive)

Real Housewives of Atlanta’s Monyetta Shaw-Carter is opening up about a recent health challenge.

The reality star and former radio personality, 45, was diagnosed with breast cancer last year. “I had a biopsy about 10 years ago and it came back benign,” she tells PEOPLE exclusively. “Then last year in September I was doing a self-check because I felt this random sensation that I can’t really describe in my left boob. It was like nothing I’ve ever felt before. It was literally like my body was alerting me that something was wrong.”

One month later, at her routine mammogram, doctors found a lump. She was diagnosed with “slow-growing” stage 1 invasive ductal carcinoma in November. After a lumpectomy in January and 16 rounds of radiation, she rang the bell on May 2 to mark the end of her treatment.

“Because I caught the cancer early, I will be here for my kids,” she says. “There’s nothing more important than getting checked often and early to protect your future. Our health is irreplaceable. I can’t thank my exceptional doctors and nurses enough. They are our heroes!”

Recalling the moment she got the phone call from her doctor with her diagnosis, Shaw-Carter says while tearing up, “It was obviously one of the hardest and scariest moments of my life.”

“Everything around me stopped. My heart dropped. I was afraid. I was angry. I was just numb,” she adds.

Then it was time to come up with a plan.

“While doing all of the biopsies and MRIs I was first considering having a double mastectomy. But after my genetic testing came back favorable, and after sitting in my reality for some time, I decided on the lumpectomy.”

“It’s so important for me to share this story because I hope to inspire others not to dismiss their gut feeling,” Shaw-Carter tells PEOPLE exclusively. “Our body speaks to us and when it does we have to listen. It can be a matter of life or death.”

The Keep It Classy Nails CEO is so serious about cancer awareness that for her 45th birthday party on May 31, all guests are to wear pink (associated with breast cancer awareness) to celebrate her being cancer-free.  

After her diagnosis, she found strength in her husband Heath Carter. But she knew she also had to tell her ex-fiancé, singer NE-YO, whom she started dating in 2009 but split from in 2013, two months before their wedding.

The exes co-parent two children: daughter Madilyn “Maddie”, 14, and son, Mason, 13. (Shaw-Carter and Heath married in November 2021, and she is also stepmom to his two kids, Gigi and Brianna.)

“He was absolutely supportive,” Shaw-Carter says of the moment she revealed her diagnosis to her ex-husband and World of Dance judge.

“We actually told him when we were all there, my husband, and NE-YO, Maddie and Mason, and some of Maddie’s friends, were at a bowling alley, celebrating Maddie’s birthday.” 

“The kids were talking and playing and bowling. And we took him to the side and told NE-YO the news, and the shock that was on his face said it all,” she says. “He was just super supportive.

“NE-YO was just showing up for me in a major way and just always asking and making sure everything was okay. He was like, ‘Oh, you’re gonna beat this.'”

Shaw-Carter has also been getting major support from her fellow RHOA castmate, Kandi Burruss. 

“When I told Kandi she immediately was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, what can I do?’ She’s been so super supportive. She came by, sent, like, the biggest stuff, like her, and my other friends are in competition with who can send me the biggest flower arrangements.”

“Seriously, just being super supportive and just showing up, asking if I need anything. I also told Porsha (Williams), Cynthia (Bailey), and Shamea (Morton) a couple of weeks before my surgery and they have been super supportive,” she says.

“I was at a birthday dinner for a mutual friend of ours and I told Sheree (Whitfield), and she was super supportive,” Shaw-Carter says. 

“And she just gave me all kinds of like, ‘Oh, my gosh, girl, like, how? I couldn’t imagine! Okay, let me go and make sure I check mine.’ I’ve just received huge support from the girls,” she says. “I don’t think any of the other girls know, so they will be finding out and I know I will be getting phone calls very soon to that effect.”