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I¡¯ve been helping people get around at MD Anderson since 2002. First, I drove the ground shuttles that travel between our buildings at the Texas Medical Center Campus. Then, I became a dispatch team leader. And in 2011, I started driving the shuttle carts that connect our buildings along the skybridge.

Over the years, I¡¯ve probably heard hundreds of our patients¡¯ cancer stories. I never thought I¡¯d have one to tell myself. But I was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer in October 2003, less than 12 months after I started working here. And it was a scary walk, but I feel like I¡¯ve finally found my purpose: giving hope to others.

My breast cancer diagnosis

I had a little lump in my left breast for years. But I¡¯m one of those people who thinks, ¡°If it ain¡¯t broke, don¡¯t fix it.¡± And it never bothered me, so I just left it alone. Then I started feeling sharp pains in my chest. They weren¡¯t very frequent, but they were striking. Sometimes they felt like labor contractions.

One day, the pain was so severe that it brought me to tears. I went to my doctor, and he ordered a mammogram. It showed a suspicious growth in my left breast. He ordered a biopsy. The results showed I had invasive ductal carcinoma, a type of breast cancer. The doctor said it was stage IV. So, I went to MD Anderson¡¯s Nellie B. Connally Breast Center.

My breast cancer treatment

At MD Anderson, I met with medical oncologist , radiation oncologist and surgical oncologist . They did their own scans and biopsies and discovered that my cancer was actually at stage III, rather than stage IV. I was overjoyed.

I said, ¡°OK. What do we do now?¡± They recommended a clinical trial under that would shrink the tumor with a new combination of chemotherapy (fluorouracil, epirubicin and cyclophosphamide, plus docetaxel and capecitabine) so it could be removed more easily with surgery. After that, I¡¯d have six weeks of radiation therapy.

Back then, I was still afraid I was going to die. So, I made up my mind that I was going to go out fighting. I¡¯d do every clinical trial my doctors wanted me to. I¡¯d try anything they thought might help.

I started chemotherapy just after my 39^th birthday in late November. By the time Dr. Feig performed the surgery on June 14, 2014, the lump had completely disappeared. As a precaution, he removed a small section of tissue where the tumor had been. But I was able to keep my breast. I finished my radiation treatments on Aug. 25, 2004. And thanks to God and my doctors at MD Anderson, I¡¯ve been cancer-free ever since.

My mission today: giving other patients hope

I¡¯ve shown no evidence of disease for 15 years now. But I don¡¯t just blurt it out. After a while, you get a sense of when people riding your cart are really scared or have just gotten bad news. So, I give out words of encouragement every day. If my story can be the thing that gives other people strength, then I want them to hear it. It¡¯s important to stay positive.

I feel like I have a lot to be happy about, just because I¡¯m a survivor. And I never have a bad day. My job gives me the opportunity to support other cancer patients, to let them know they¡¯re not fighting alone. And when they see living proof that there¡¯s a chance they could be alright, too, they feel better about what they¡¯re about to go through.

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