By Erika Zamarripa
San Antonio Cancer Survivor There is that "C" word again. Cancer can be defined as a "disease caused by an uncontrolled division of abnormal cells in a part of the body." Or it also can be defined as a "practice or phenomenon perceived to be evil or destructive and hard to contain or eradicate." Whatever you want to call it, it sucks. I was diagnosed with Stage 2 ER positive breast cancer at the age of 32 on Dec. 18, 2013. My twin boys were only 9 years old at the time and I was working at H-E-B Pharmacy. I remember one day taking a shower and I felt a lump on my breast. This lump hurt when I touched it and the longer, I felt it, the more I started to worry. I called my gynecologist and made an appointment. He felt it and sent me for a mammogram and an ...
By Yvette Pavon
San Antonio Cancer Survivor At the age of 42, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was found after my very first mammogram. Never did I think that a check up that I had scheduled only because it was something that women did when they got older, would discover I had cancer. I had no symptoms. When my gynecologist shared the news with me in her office, I think I was in complete denial. I mean I went for this mammogram on my own free will, not because of my doctor's concern. I remember going to dinner that night with my father, stepmother, and newly boyfriend. I wasn't scared when talking about it. I knew letting my mind run wild would not help, so I talked to God that night. "God, please give me the strength and courage that I need to get through ...
By Amy Perez
San Antonio Cancer Survivor Just after my 22nd birthday while putting on tanning lotion, I noticed a hard lump in my chest that I hadn’t noticed before. My mom works at MD Anderson in Houston, so I told her about the lump as soon as I noticed it, and she helped me get an appointment to get the lump checked out. My cancer was far enough along to where there was no waiting for results. They told me before I left the hospital that day that I had cancer. I began chemo right away but my body was resistant to it. At the end of 6 months of chemo my tumor was 10x larger than when I had started. My doctors told me that I was inoperable, which is pretty hard news at just 22. As if having cancer and struggling with treatment wasn’t hard enough, I also had an ...
By Maria Teresa Guzman
San Antonio Cancer Survivor Sometimes it seems like it was yesterday that I first heard the word "Breast Cancer." But the reality is it has already been 3 years since I was all alone spending a Valentine’s Day in the midst of needles and nurses. You see, at 38 years old I started with a sudden stabbing pain in my breast that would not go away. I had it for a month, not really wanting to pay attention to the signals my body was giving me until I felt a lump. It would have been easy to let fear win, but I took the hardest road and picked up the phone to call my doctor. Within two days I had an exam, and a biopsy it was at that moment that the doctor said, “It is Valentine’s Day and I’m sorry you have to spend your day here in pain but I ...
By Jill Folkman
San Antonio Cancer Survivor I was diagnosed with Stage One ER+/PR+ Her2 Negative DCIS in September of 2016. I was devastated, scared and had no idea what I was in for. I thought my life was going to be short lived and was talking to God the whole time to give me strength. My oncologist at the time recommended a bilateral mastectomy and because of the placement of the tumor I had to have the left nipple removed. I opted for a skin sparing, with both nipples removed, bilateral mastectomy with expanders so that I could get reconstruction after chemo. Good news was, the pathology showed my lymph nodes came back clear. Once I was healed from the surgery I had 4 rounds of chemo and no radiation. I lost all of my hair and all the fun stuff that goes along with chemo. ...
By Sally Diaz
San Antonio Cancer Survivor On May 5, 2014, just 6 days before Mother’s Day, my world came crashing down. I was diagnosed with Stage 3 Triple Negative Invasive Ductal Carcinoma. I noticed my lump on accident while waking up from bed and stretching. I was 42, married, and a mother of a 10-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy. I tested negative for genetic testing and I had no history of breast cancer in my family. Within two weeks of my diagnosis my roller coaster ride had begun and I was admitted into the hospital so that a medi-port could be implanted in my chest for chemotherapy. My life has never been the same. As a mother diagnosed with cancer, the first thought that comes to your mind is your children and the fear that you will not be there for ...
Interactive videos featuring real Latina cancer survivors talking about clinical trials can help Latina breast cancer patients consider trials as a treatment option, according to a new pilot study led by Dr. Amelie Ramirez of UT Health San Antonio. The study, published in Translation Behavioral Medicine, tested the videos with 77 Latina breast cancer patients at Mays Cancer Center. Researchers randomly assigned 39 Latinas to a control group and 38 to a test group. Then test group received "Choices," a 30-minute interactive educational video program in English or Spanish about clinical trials and common barriers (delivered on a computer in the clinic). "Choices" also included a bilingual booklet and access to a patient navigator for care coordination. Control participants received ...
Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, a top cancer health disparities researcher and director of Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio, today was named one of 12 new "Komen Scholars" by Susan G. Komen, the world’s largest non-profit funder of breast cancer research. Komen Scholars are an advisory group of distinguished leaders in breast cancer research and advocacy. Each scholar—chosen for their knowledge, leadership, and contributions to breast cancer research—will help guide Komen’s $956 million research program, present at national meetings, and serve as experts and advocates for Komen’s nationwide network of affiliates and in communities around the globe. Ramirez, as part of being named a Komen Scholar, will receive $600,000 over three years to study Latina breast cancer. She ...
Breast cancer is the No. 1 killer of Latinas in the United States. This is a fact many organizations are working to change. One such group, Living Beyond Breast Cancer, has begun accepting applications for its 2017 Hear My Voice: Metastatic Breast Cancer Outreach Volunteer Program. The Hear My Voice program offers tools and training to help volunteer advocates reach out people living with metastatic breast cancer, hoping to make a positive impact on individuals' lives in both their “physical and digital communities.” To reach out to all women, Living Beyond Breast Cancer is looking to recruit a diverse group of volunteers for the program. They are especially looking for Latino and Latina applicants. This year’s Hear My Voice training will be held April 28-30, 2017, at ...
