Let’s celebrate life! (¡Celebremos la vida!)

¡Celebremos la vida! breast and cervical cancer program translates to “Let’s Celebrate Life!” Through this program, the Prevent Cancer Foundation is proud to be able to offer free comprehensive education and screening in a setting that is culturally appropriate and nurturing to women in need. Cancer survival stories like Silvia’s* are the reason that we do this work.

For some time, Silvia felt a lump in her right breast. She was afraid to get it checked because she didn’t have health insurance and didn’t know that some clinics offered free or reduced fee services for care. One day last year, she mentioned the lump to a friend at her church, who immediately brought her to one of our Celebremos clinic sites where a large hard mass was found in her right breast. Like many women, Silvia never had the opportunity to get a screening mammogram.

Through the help of the patient navigator at our clinic, Silvia was sent for a diagnostic mammogram, followed by biopsies, which led quickly to a late-stage breast cancer diagnosis. She was approved for the state breast cancer program for treatment and then was referred to a local surgeon, underwent several tests and rigorous chemotherapy and radiation therapies.

Although Silvia’s cancer has recently metastasized, and she is experiencing some other symptoms as a result of chemotherapy, she continues to receive the care she needs and she relies on her faith and a monthly support group to get through tough days.

Prevent Cancer would like to express its appreciation to Susan G. Komen^®, Amgen and Novartis Oncology for their generous support of the ¡Celebremos la vida! program.

*Silvia is a pseudonym for privacy protection.