McALLEN — A surgical oncologist and a breast cancer survivor shared their journey as doctor and patient Friday to raise awareness in the Rio Grande Valley.
Through October, DHR Health will be offering discounted mammograms of $99 to reach the patients that otherwise would not be able to afford them.
Those interested will need an order from their primary doctor, OBGYN or can call the DHR Imaging Center at (956) 362-8600 to schedule an appointment for a mammogram.
ERIKA’S STORY
Erika Galan, a Weslaco native and mother of two, began her battle on July 14, 2020, when she was diagnosed with stage two triple negative breast cancer.
After putting off a pain in her breast for six months Galan was finally convinced by her boss at DHR to get screened.
“It wasn’t until I was at work and my boss Veronica Villareal, chief ambulatory officer at DHR, she actually encouraged me to go see Dr. Chapa because I kept telling her, ‘I’m in so much pain,’” she said.
Galan said the reason that she put off getting examined for so long was because she was experiencing pain and had heard that cancer is not painful.
However, in her case, her tumor was growing inside of a pocket which was causing her discomfort.
“For me cancer did hurt, which is actually a blessing in disguise because if not, I would have never discovered that that was actually a mass,” Galan said.
She was treated by Dr. Lisa Chapa, a breast surgical oncologist for DHR Health, who said she immediately performed an ultrasound and discovered the tumor. She later ordered a mammogram and biopsy for Galan to confirm her type of breast cancer.
“I was in shock of course because at the time I was 33 years old and you never think that that can happen to you at such a young age or that it can happen to you at all,” Galan said.
After aggressive chemotherapy and a double mastectomy, Galan was declared cancer free on Feb 1.
“Even though it was such a short time, to most people, it definitely felt like a lifetime to me,” she said.
Galan attributed her survival against breast cancer to her parents and two daughters, Arabella, 8, and Viviana, 3, for giving her the strength to fight.
“I wanted them to know that mommy is a fighter and mommy isn’t going anywhere,” she said.
She said she fought for them to continue to be in their lives and make sure they knew she fought the entire way. Galan is also thankful to her mother for being present on the tougher days when she needed a helping hand.
AWARENESS
Galan said she chose to speak up about her experience because she wanted to advocate to her age group.
“I wanted to show women and people that cancer does not discriminate,” she said.
Chapa said her advice to women is to be familiar with their bodies and know their breasts.
“Know your body, because you’re gonna know when something is wrong,” she said. “If you feel a new lump or bump in your breasts or maybe you feel a lump that’s been there before but is growing, those need to be checked out. Go see your primary care doctor, your OBGYN, whoever handles your breasts, tell them and have them do an exam.”
Chapa recommends women start self-examining their breasts once a month after turning 18. Women who are at an average risk for breast cancer should be getting mammograms every year beginning at age 40.
However, women who have a strong family history of breast cancer or a genetic mutation should start their breast cancer screenings as early as in their 20s and 30s, depending on a doctor’s recommendation.
“If you come from a family where your mom has breast cancer, your sister has breast cancer, your cousins have breast cancer, your aunts have breast cancer, then you are on very high risk,” Chapa said. “So, you need to be on high alert even more so.”
The biggest misconception about breast cancer in the Valley, according to Chapa, is that women believe it is a terminal disease.
“Breast cancer care has made so many advancements in the last couple of decades,” she said. “It’s a completely different disease than the disease of our grandmothers or the generation before. And if we can catch it early it is extremely treatable and curable.”
Chapa said a lot of women in the Valley are afraid to get their mammograms because they do not want to know if they have cancer. However, this trend of staying in the dark is the very thing that is making women’s fears become reality.
“Women, especially minority women are more likely to die of breast cancer, or any cancer, at a higher rate than Caucasian women and I think it’s multifactorial,” she said. “I think sometimes it can be lack of access to care, sometimes it can be that those women have more aggressive cancers, sometimes it can be that those women are afraid to go see doctors. … If we catch it early enough we could cure you. So, you know, breast cancer doesn’t have to be the devastating cancer that takes your life that everyone thinks it is. It really can be curable; we just have to catch it early.”
Another misconception that is especially relevant in Galan’s case is that oftentimes women do not go to doctors because they are misinformed about the warning signs.
“Let a professional tell you because we can go by hearsay and the longer you wait the more you don’t know what might be,” she said. “So I would definitely say go to your doctor if you feel any type of discomfort, any redness or anything like that.”
According to the Cancer Treatment Center of America, some common symptoms are breast lumps, which may be located anywhere along the chest wall to under the armpit; nipple bleeding or discharge, as well as related pain; redness and/or swelling in any area of the breast or in one breast and not the other; and a caved or flatter nipple.
