Diagnosed at 44 years old with stage-1 breast cancer on January 27, 2022, Raquel worried breast cancer treatment would be like when her mother Providencia went through treatment, and when her good friend passed from it.<\/p>\n
Unbeknownst to Raquel, treatments, and medicine have changed remarkably from those days. Bittersweetly, her worries would soon turn to Survivor’s Guilt for evading the suffering her mother experienced, her friend, and the many other women who had it.<\/p>\n
I’ve seen the side effects of what my mom went through… and my friend, so I had a lot of survivor’s guilt… it’s not that I didn’t suffer, but I didn’t suffer as I imagined I would have.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
Best Kept Secret: The Margie Petersen Breast Center<\/h3>\n
“90 percent of breast cancer is not gene-related; it is age or environmentally related causes” remarks Dr. Janie Grumley<\/a>, Breast Surgical Oncologist and Program Director of the Margie Petersen Breast Center<\/a> at Providence, Saint John’s Health Center. Due to research, there are many tools to determine the right amount of treatment for each individual. The objective is “sizing” the treatment to fit the person.<\/p>\n
\nCancer isn’t a version of each individual disease; Cancer is a version of you.” <\/em><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
– Dr. Grumley<\/i><\/p>\n
<\/div>\nThe goal is for more women to experience Raquel’s “luck”, or rather, advances in medicine, from early screenings.<\/b><\/p>\n
When Raquel found out she had breast cancer, she was set on a full mastectomy.<\/em><\/p>\n
Listen to Raquel Recount Her Time and Experience at the Margie Petersen Breast Center<\/h3>\n