Beth Chapman Has Beaten Cancer, and These Photos Prove It

Beth Chapman, the wife of Dog The Bounty Hunter star Duane “Dog” Chapman, has survived throat cancer, and recent photos from her Instagram show just how great she is doing.

The 64-year-old Chapman was diagnosed with stage 2 throat cancer earlier this year, and Dog confirmed the news in a September Facebook post. Her fight was the subject of a two-hour TV special, Dog and Beth: Fight of Their Lives, in November. During that special, Dog received a phone call from a doctor, telling them that she is now cancer free.

Despite that news, Chapman is still coming to terms with her scars. She later returned to Instagram to give updates on the successful surgery. She does look better, but still wears a scarf or choker necklace to hide the scars.

Here’s a look at the latest photos of Chapman and her cancer scare.

Dog The Bounty Hunter Announced His Wife’s Cancer in September

Rumors about Chapman facing cancer started after a Radar Online report.

Dog the Bounty Hunter announced on Facebook in September that his wife was diagnosed with stage 2 throat cancer.

“Thank you for your healing prayers and love for Beth during this difficult time,” the 64-year-old wrote.

He included a link to Chapman’s statement to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser about her condition.

“To be certain, I’ve stared down the devil more than once in my life but I’ve never faced a real life or death decision,” Chapman said through a representative. “My life has never been easy, and I surely don’t expect it to start now. Still, I’ve never been a victim and I won’t let cancer beat me. I realize the road I am about to travel will be rocky, full of unexpected twists and turns. But I know one thing for sure. A bend in the road is not the end of the road.”

Chapman Was ‘Cancer Free’ Two Months Later

As PEOPLE notes, during the Dog and Beth special, Dog received a call from Chapman’s doctors with the pathology results. They showed Chapman was now cancer free.

“There is a God. This could be a miracle. This could be a healing,” Dog said to the camera. “[The doctor] said if I wasn’t such a good husband it wouldn’t have worked out that great. Oh, I can breathe. Beth Chapman, you did it.”

 

Chapman’s Recovery After the Surgery to Remove Her Tumor was Difficult

Chapman needed surgery to remove her throat tumor. The recovery was tough, but the couple was confident she could make it through.

“I knew I couldn’t let it take me over,” Chapman told PEOPLE. “I had to keep moving, every day, moving forward. That’s all you can do when you get a diagnosis like this. So I take it each day at a time. And I’ll fight it with all that I have.”

Chapman said she was not confident about her chances when she got the diagnosis. She said in the Dog and Beth special that her doctors gave her “50/50 chances.”

She told PEOPLE she did not want people to pity her.

“I don’t need to be pitied. I didn’t surround myself with people who pity the situation. I wanted to be around people who helped me move forward. My friend Shannon Tweed pushed me every minute of every day, but she didn’t pity me,” she said.

Chapman Is Still Coming to Terms With Her Scars

Chapman is still coming to terms with her new look. She now has scars on her neck, which she is slowly getting used to.

“Embracing the unembracable,” Chapman wrote on Instagram on Jan. 1, including a recent photo of herself. “Prior to my surgery I had no lines no wrinkles a perfect neck if you will. It has been very hard to look at this in the mirror, it serves as a constant reminder of something I’d love to forget. However some life lessons you should never forget only learn from them and learn to embrace them so today I reveal my worst battle scar and know that things will get better in 2018.”

Chapman Is Wearing a Black Choker Necklace to Hider Her Scar

In March, Chapman posted a throwback photo that did not show her scars. However, she also posted a photo for St. Patrick’s Day that was more recent. The photo clearly was more recent, and showed her wearing a black choker necklace around her neck to hide her scar.

 

For Easter, Chapman Had Fun With Daughter Cecily

On Easter, Chapman posted a photo with her daughter, 24-year-old Cecily. The photo showed her wearing a pearl necklace to hide her scars. “Fooling around with [Cecily] Happy Easter my mini fo sho,” Chapman wrote on April 2.

Chapman is Dog’s fifth wife. Dog has 12 children, including Bonnie Joanne and Garry with Chapman. Chapman also has two children from prior relationships, Cecily and Dominic Davis. Dog adopted Cecily.

The Couple Believes in the ‘Power of Prayer’

The Chapmans are religious, and said their faith has helped them get through the past few months.

“I totally believe in the power of prayer,” Chapman told PEOPLE in November. “I believe that what you confess with your mouth, you can make happen. You know, you can’t get a miracle unless you seek one.”

Chapman Was Healthy at the Time of the Diagnosis

Chapman was healthy at the time of her diagnosis, which is why it came to a surprise to the couple.

“The doctor said she was the most healthiest 49-year-old female he’d seen, so this stuff can attack the healthiest,” Dog said in the Dog and Beth special. “You don’t have to be sick to catch cancer. She was really healthy.”

Cecily Said Her ‘Depression Was at an All-Time High’ After Her Mother’s Diagnosis

In January, when Cecily said goodbye to 2017, she said the year was difficult for her, even though she graduated college. Two weeks later, she learned that her mother was diagnosed with cancer.

“My depression was at its all time high. Stress levels seemed to just keep raising, and even though I had only one exam; stress radiated off of everyone on campus,” she wrote on Instagram.

However, she learned valuable lessons throughout the year.

“From all this, I learned so much,” Cecily wrote. “I don’t regret anything, life is too short to regret things anyways. I was able to love myself, and gain confidence.”

Chapman Is Open to Reviving ‘Dog The Bounty Hunter,’ But Dog Will Need a New Job

Chapman has said she would be open to a revival of Dog The Bounty Hunter. But there will be one problem: after her cancer diagnosis, the couple left bounty hunting behind. A new show would need to follow Dog’s new career, whatever that may be.

“I don’t know that he’s looked for a job in the past 40 years, but we gotta change because we need longevity,” Beth told TooFab in November. “We have small children, we have people counting on us. It doesn’t mean that our stance on the criminal justice system has changed, it means that we may want to change.”