3 Lessons from a Breast Cancer Survivor

3 Lessons from a Breast Cancer Survivor

Tired Moms Podcast: Breast Cancer Survivor

Luida: …He said you have the aggressive cancer cell so you have her2 positive breast cancer. Reality hit. So I broke down and cried. I said in my prayer that if it was my time to go, that I would accept it. 

Bernie Rosquites: Hello, welcome to the Faith and Family podcast hosted by the tired but inspired moms. We are Christians from the Church of Christ, Iglesia Ni Cristo. I’m Bernie Rosquites, and joining me on this podcast is my good friend, Miss Emirick Haro.

Emirick Haro: Hey, Bernie, hello, hello, everybody. It’s October, which means it’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month. We celebrate those who are battling it– the friends and family members who are in the trenches with them, and those who have survived it.

Bernie: Yes. And we were also helping to spread awareness with our guest today, Luida Florendo. She was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer in 2014. The treatment was so tough on her, she cried herself to sleep, but with the support of her husband, friends, and God, she has managed through it. So she’s experienced a lot, and we are going to learn a very important lesson from her. She is with us right now. Hi, Luida. Thank you for joining us today.

Luida: Hi, Bernie. Hi, Emirick. Hello. Glad to be here in this podcast show.

Emirick: Thank you for joining us. Yes. Tell us how you found out that something was wrong.

Luida: Let’s see started back in April 2014. I had my first mammogram at the age of 42. I was turning 43 in a couple months. When the results came back from the mammogram, the doctor said that I had some calcifications or white spots in my mammogram. So they said we need to check if you have any cancer cells. So they said let’s do a biopsy. So I did a biopsy and he said it came up negative. But he said just to make sure let’s do a lumpectomy, which is a surgery to get some breast tissue sample. 

Bernie: Okay. 

Luida: And after that first lumpectomy, they found a speck of cancer cells and was like in the milligram. It was super tiny, but they caught it early. So I was thankful for that. And then they said you know what, let’s do a second lumpectomy just to make sure that it hasn’t gone to the lymph nodes. So the results came back and it was negative. So that was good. But we said the next step is we need to take it to the tumor board to see if you have the aggressive cancer cell. So when it came back he said you have the aggressive cancer cell so you have her2 positive breast cancer. So that was in August 2014 and he said you need to do chemotherapy next week

Bernie: so when you got the mammogram it came out negative right. And then they said let’s just double check.  Is that– they didn’t –Is that how it went?

Luida: Actually when they looked at the results of the mammogram they saw white spots

Bernie: okay to the tiny okay,

Luida: Right and then because I never had any mammogram before that 

Bernie: This was your first one?

Luida: very first one so they had nothing to compare it to. So they said we need to check it out.

Emirick: Wow. So it’s really important to have a mammogram, right? 

Bernie: Yes, yes, 

Luida: Early detection is key. Yes, man.

Emirick: And and when do they recommend starting it? At what age?

Luida: I was at the time I turned 43