Power Stories

In 2012, my husband was diagnosed with acute kidney disease w/renal failure. He was driving a truck at the time, making 10-day trips from Texas to New Mexico. We would go to his nephrologist each time we came in off the truck. On April 1, 2012, I started my period. …

I was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009. After a double mastectomy and many trips for chemotherapy, I was in remission for two years. Five years and five months later, the cancer came back behind my sternum. Radiation and chemo! Two years later, at my yearly scan, I am …

I am now a stage 3 ovarian cancer survivor since April 8, 2011. At age 50, I had never missed my yearly female exam. I complained to my doctor about a painful knot in my pelvic area and pain down my leg. They sent me to the hospital, where I …

I was never really open about expressing my thoughts and takeaways of my illness until recently, and I think it is important to share how I feel about it. I was born with really small kidneys which medically is referred to as renal dysplasia. Unfortunately, I did not find this …

In 2015 at the age of 45, I was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic adenocarcinoma of my colon. I was told as a woman this was unusual. The cancer, once it was finally diagnosed, was in its late stages having perforated my colon. Although I had a colostomy to save …

In 1991 at age 34, I was diagnosed with breast cancer, six months after my mom. She had a mastectomy, but no chemotherapy. Me: mastectomy, chemo, surgery. I survived, for 25 years. My mom passed on April 3, 2016. I had been going to doctors because I was not feeling …

I was diagnosed at age 42: triple negative breast cancer. I had a double mastectomy and four rounds of chemotherapy. Then 2011, I had reconstruction and a hysterectomy in a 10-hour surgery Nipple reconstruction failed four times and I even got MRSA. I gave up on nipple reconstruction or tattooing. Just …

At the age of 23, my life changed. I went into my OB-GYN for a normal yearly Pap smear. Two weeks later they called me to tell me I had abnormal cells. At that time, it was just abnormal; the doctor told me he wanted to re-test in three months. …

Back in 2001, my mom was going for her first annual mammogram and was a little nervous. Her aunt had passed away from the disease a few years earlier. I was 34 years old and had insurance, so my husband said I should go with her; like the buddy system. …

My name is Doris and I am 32 years old.  I am the mother of three boys and a wife to the most wonderful husband ever. My story started back in early 2017 when I felt a lump in my left breast while I was removing my bra. Truly speaking, …