(WSVN) - According to the American Cancer Society, one in eight women develop breast cancer.
Maria Velez, a South Florida local, survived the deadly disease.
Velez had been on top of her health since her sisters had been previously diagnosed with breast cancer. After a mammogram in 2022, she found out she had also developed cancer.
“Since I already knew my risk, it wasn’t extremely shocking, you know, nobody ever thinks that it’s going to be you,” said Velez.
She went through surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.
“You have uncertain thoughts of what the future is going to hold, ‘Will it come back? Am I going to be fine?'” said Velez.
With 17 years of experience as an ultrasound technician and her family’s history with breast cancer, she knew her biggest fight would be with fear.
“Once you’re diagnosed, you do have some type of fear of the unknown,” said Velez.
Her battle with cancer was occurring at the same time that she was about to become a grandmother. She said her family carried her through most of her difficult days.
“I had a very positive view of what I wanted and what I had to do to be able to see my grandchild, you know, grow up and have me around,” said Velez.
She said the diagnosis changed her life.
“Due to some complications that I had during my journey, a year after, I had to give up my trade of a sonographer. That, for me, was a tough one,” said Velez.
After her sister’s diagnosis, she made a commitment to help the American Cancer Society.
Her medical oncologist, Dr. Alejandra Perez, asked Velez if she could lead and be the one of the captains of her team. She said she took that gesture as a beautiful thing.
“People coming together, celebrating and being joyful that we’re there to walk along as a team and commemorate,” said Velez.
“We all know someone with breast cancer,” said Dr. Perez. “My mom had breast cancer two years ago. We all have someone affected by breast cancer in our family.”
There has been significant progress in helping those diagnosed with breast cancer, especially with improvement in early detection, experts said.
“In the last 20 years, we’re curing more women. Survival 20-25 years ago was 65%, 60-65%, now it’s more than 90%,” Dr. Perez said.
Community support is key to survival. With several factors, including lifestyle choices, women are able to influence and help efforts to treat breast cancer.
Doctors said it is important to catch the disease early and treat it right away.
“My message to women is to know the risk. It’s very important that every woman knows the risk, their lifetime risk, of developing this cancer,” Dr. Perez said. “We all need to help. We’re all in this together, and when we say it takes a village, it does.”
The American Cancer Society offers free transportation, lodging during treatment and cancer support all throughout its website.
WSVN is also a proud sponsor of the American Cancer Society, making strides against breast cancer.
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