Margarita's Journey with Breast Cancer скачать в хорошем качестве

Margarita's Journey with Breast Cancer

Margarita Figueroa came to UVA for a second opinion on her breast cancer diagnosis. Her ability to advocate for her self and ask questions changed the course of her treatment. Not only did she discover new channels of support while at UVA, she found a new way to support others. MARGARITA MARTINEZ FIGUEROA: I went to get my first mammogram at the urging of my gynecologist. She was very insistent that I had a baseline mammogram and that's how I discovered other things after that. MAYA FIGUEROA: She had done a test and it had come up that she has breast cancer. It was the first stage breast cancer. NATHAN SWAMI: We were told that she may need to do surgery and so I next thought it would be more of a lumpectomy. But the doctor at that time gave us a lot of mixed signals. PATRICK DILLON: Margarita is a patient who chose to have a second opinion at the University of Virginia. ANNEKE SCHROEN: In Margarita's case, I believe the second opinion really changed the course of her treatment and how that was approached. In her case, based on what was happening in the breast, the best choice was a mastectomy. This was then combined with one of our plastic surgeons who performed an immediate flap reconstruction using some of her own tissue. When she went to the operating room, we were already able to perform a surgery directed at treating breast cancer as opposed to a surgery that could only help diagnose a breast cancer. MARGARITA MARTINEZ FIGUEROA: I had a mastectomy and reconstruction on the same day. PATRICK DILLON: So I think Margarita has a great attribute of being willing to ask questions. She's not afraid to ask what's going on and why are you recommending this treatment? And she was also willing to share some of her struggles, and so being willing to share what's going on both with your treatment and with your personal life I think improves the chances that we're going to be able to help you through a cancer journey. MARGARITA MARTINEZ FIGUEROA: Physically, the lowest point was when I came back from surgery and I couldn't do very much. But mentally, the lowest point was in the middle of radiation. Everything seemed to be just piling up, so it just felt too much. My body was already so tired and then all these things just kept piling up. MAYA FIGUEROA: So we would try to spend time with her, but at the same time we were also really worried about what would happen. J. KIM PENBERTHY: When I was working with Margarita, it became clear that she had a lot of anxiety about her symptoms and what might happen in the future. So we worked on strategies to help her reduce her anxiety. MARGARITA MARTINEZ FIGUEROA: Having techniques for when things are becoming too much, being overwhelmed, having ways to cope with that and not feeling down by everything that's happening. When I was first diagnosed, I looked for answers and support also from other friends who are survivors of breast cancer or other types of cancer just to have ideas on what things were going to be. And when I saw the opportunity on one of my appointments to Dr. Dillon to become a peer partner, I jumped into that right away because it felt like a natural way of volunteering. NATHAN SWAMI: I'm very proud of her doing this work, talking to cancer patients and having an opportunity to in some ways be the listener, be a counselor. The two things we always wanted to do and especially her, we all want to have an impact. And two, we always want to learn. She's learning through the experience of others. MAYA FIGUEROA: After the whole thing that happened with my mom, I've started to love her even more and really feel closer to her than ever. MARGARITA MARTINEZ FIGUEROA: Having cancer changes the way you see everything.