Olga Cardona: Cancer Survivor Makes a Career of Helping Others with Cancer

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A wave of shock swept over Olga Cardona as she listened to her doctor.

“You have breast cancer.”

Cardona knew nothing about cancer. She thought it was a death sentence. She was scared. She worried more when her insurance wouldn’t cover all chemotherapy.

How could this be happening to me?

A patient navigator calmed her fears.

The navigator, a trained community health worker, taught Cardona what cancer is, got her in a breast cancer support group, and led her to resources to cover her treatment.

Cardona, years later, now is in remission—and she became a promotora to promote health at the San Ysidro Health Center in California, where she was first diagnosed.

“I wanted to pay it forward because I felt so grateful to everyone that had helped me through my battle,” Cardona said. “There are many other women like me, and they deserve to know that they can survive cancer, too.”

Cardona works with patients, provides education through focus groups and interviews, and implements study-based breast cancer risk reduction and nutrition curricula.

Cardona’s work is supported by the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, as part of its Redes project (supported by the National Cancer Institute) and studies funded by Susan G. Komen.

“My role is to educate people about breast cancer, early detection, risk factors, resources, etc.,” she said. “But most importantly, to teach that cancer is not a death sentence. Help is available.”

Cardona is happy to help others the same way her promotora helped her.

“When I run into people that I provided information to at community events or that participated in my classes, they tell me that they are making changes to improve their health and are now attending regular doctor visits that also include their family,” Cardona said. “This makes me feel like I am doing things right and continues to give me the motivation to do what I do.”