A Latina Cancer Survivor’s Story: ‘I’m Too Sexy for My Hair’

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Editor’s Note: To recognize National Cancer Survivor’s Day on June 2, 2013, SaludToday is telling the stories of Latino survivors through their own words.

By Julie La Fuente Louviere

At 29, I was living in Puerto Rico, and I was in the best shape of my life, training for a triathlon and weighing only 115 pounds of muscle.

I felt like I was in total control.

I found a knot near my collarbone, which I believed was nothing, but my husband made me get it checked out. The diagnosis was breast cancer. I was in shock. I thought cancer was something that only old people got. I learned the ugly side effects of chemotherapy, like losing hair and eyebrows, but I could give them up if I had to. If I had to lose a breast to survive, I was ready.

My motto became “Just do it.” If you want to live, you’ll do what you have to do. This thing called cancer was not going to take me down. I put temporary tattoos on my bald head and wore a T-shirt that my niece gave me that said “I’m Too Sexy for My Hair.”

After my treatment, there was no sign of cancer. More than four years later, I became pregnant again. But the cancer came back, now in my liver and bones. The doctors recommended termination of my pregnancy because they said it would be easier to treat. For me that was not an option. On Valentine’s Day, 1998, I gave birth to my second daughter, Alis Ami. I found out later that the doctors had given me two months to live. In a way, I believe it was my new daughter who saved my life.

I had faith before, but now I have a lot more. My prayers have been answered. I’m not as materialistic, and I’m not always in a rush. When you’ve had a close call like this, all the other stuff doesn’t matter. You know you have it together.

I enjoy each day to the fullest. If I want to stop and smell the flowers, I can. If I want to bake cookies with the girls, I do. Sometimes I get sad about the way I look, but I’m trying to fight for my life, not be a model.

I want to see my rosebuds bloom. I want to see my daughters graduate from college. All I can live with is hope. Tomorrow will be there. Today is today.

This story is taken from Nuestras Historias: Mujeres Hispanas Sobreviviendo el Cáncer del Seno, a bilingual booklet that tells of the cancer experience through the eyes of real life Latina survivors. The booklet was produced by Redes En Acción, a Latino cancer research network funded by the National Cancer Institute and led by the Institute for Health Promotion Research at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind SaludToday.