"I'm gonna make sure you get charged when we find him. Because you're lying. You know who was in this house."
In this exclusive “Dog’s Most Wanted” clip shared with SurvivorNet, Beth Chapman is seen with one hand on a gun in a holster around her waist. Her shiny blonde hair cascades over her shoulders as she tells off a woman who has been aiding and abetting a fugitive in her home. Her voice is steady as she yells at the woman, addressing her one-on-one as Beth's husband, Duane "Dog the Bounty Hunter" Chapman searches the house behind Beth, looking for the criminal.
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In an interview with SurvivorNet, Beth and Dog Chapman’s youngest daughter, Bonnie Chapman, shared that it was the side effects of the chemotherapy that ultimately led to her mother’s decision.
The chemotherapy left Beth essentially unable to get out of bed, her daughter shared. "She had complained about every single joint in her body starting to ache… about her not being able to get up by herself to use the bathroom. It was hell to her."
Beth's experience with chemotherapy ultimately led her to a decision, which she shared publicly in a speech she made at the Source Church in Bradenton, Florida on Mother's Day. "Chemotherapy is not my bag, people. Sorry, that's not for me."
"She completely despised it," Bonnie said of the treatment. "She despised who she was after that one session. And she had tried [the chemo] because so many people had been telling her, 'please, at least try.' And she didn't want to disappoint people by not trying it at all, but at the end of the day, she did not want to lose her hair, her teeth…. She didn't want to feel like she was falling apart. She wanted to remain as much ‘Beth’ as possible. Even though when she did pass, she had lost the majority of her hair, she was really happy to still have her smile and still look like Beth… She did not want to lose her quality of life. She wanted quality over quantity."
SurvivorNet recently spoke to Dog Chapman, too, who confirmed what Bonnie had said: that after she stopped the chemo, Beth’s quality of life returned (with the help of medical marijuana as well). She began eating again, and she was able to keep “doing Beth” until her final days.
The sad reality, of course, was that without treatment, Beth’s Cancer continued to grow, and she tragically died after the cancer blocked her ability to breathe.
Now, Beth Chapman’s thousands of devoted fans are watching the new WGN America series, “Dog’s Most Wanted,” each week, experiencing Beth’s cancer journey with a level of raw transparency that is groundbreaking for reality television.
Members of the SurvivorNet community have stressed to us what a difference it can make to keep on working — and doing whatever it is that brings them joy — during a cancer journey. Of course, every cancer is different, and in many cases, physical symptoms and side effects can limit the type of work someone can maintain. But the mental aspect the feeling of maintaining a routine and focusing on something other than cancer cannot be discounted.
Breast cancer survivor Tiffany Dyba, for instance, who created "hip hop chemo," posting videos of herself dancing during treatment, told SurvivorNet, "There's such a stigma around cancer, to where many people just think that I'm bald and sick and cowering in a corner and throwing up. I sort of want to bust through those stereotypes and that stigma and say, I'm out here dancing because I feel good. And again, I'm not going to act sick if I don't feel sick."
RELATED: "Hip Hop Chemo" Breast Cancer Survivor's Moves to Stop the Stigma
Sarah Stapleton, a clinical social worker at the Montefiore Medical Center, previously told SurvivorNet, "We encourage always people to continue to work if they're able to. I think it creates a sense of normalcy… And you're not at home, wondering and worrying about exactly what's going to happen with your treatment."
The new episode containing this clip will air Wednesday, September 25 at 9 PM.
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