So Paola, who lives in Virginia with her husband and 9-year-old daughter, reached out to Nueva Vida, a non-profit organization that is committed to helping medically under-served Hispanic families. Because of their partnership with Avon’s Breast Cancer Patient Navigator Program, the organization was able to help get her the care she needed. Paola was paired with an advocate who made the right phone calls and fought for her to get appointments. (Heal your whole body with Rodale’s 12-day power plan for better health.)
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Almost a year after finding that breast lump, Paola got a free mammogram, ultrasound, and breast biopsy through Project Wish, in Washington, D.C. Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and operating under the D.C. Department of Health, this program funds cervical and breast cancer screenings for eligible women.
“They gave me a biopsy in February 2016, and then everything changed,” she says. The doctor called Paola with the news afterwards: She had stage 2 invasive carcinoma. “That was my news at 8:30 in the morning,” says Paola. “And after that, I don’t really know what they said to me.” Paola was overwhelmed with information on how she needed to proceed—which is why she was glad to have an advocate guiding her through the process.
In March, Paola had a lumpectomy, and the surgeons removed some lymph nodes as well. Then she started 30 sessions of radiation. After that, she will take medication and injections until 2026. She had her surgery and radiation through Inova Hospital Charity Care, which is generally available for those who don’t have insurance or government assistance for medical costs. She receives her medication for free through Pfizer RxPathways, a program that connects eligible patients with a variety of programs that offer medications for free or at a discount.
Unfortunately, not all Hispanic women get they care they need when they’re diagnosed with breast cancer. According to a new study from the Sinai Urban Health Institute (funded by the Avon Foundation), breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths and the most commonly diagnosed cancer among Hispanic women in the U.S. And when Hispanic women get breast cancer, certain subgroups among them—Puerto Ricans and Mexicans, specifically—are more likely to die than others.
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Why are Hispanic women dying while so many other women are able to fight the disease? One solid theory is that there is a long list of obstacles standing in the way of the necessary healthcare. Namely: insurance, immigration issues, language barriers, and cultural differences.
Paola is one of the fortunate ones, because she didn’t back down. Luckily, Paola, who moved to the U.S. from Uruguay 15 years ago, speaks English well, which helped her navigate the system more easily. She says her age (which is below the age doctors recommend women start getting regular mammograms) was her biggest barrier to treatment. Still, she says it’s important for Hispanic women to take care of themselves, knowing that there are factors that could make it harder for them to be treated for breast cancer.
“You don’t realize how many of us Hispanic women have it, until you have it,” says Paola. “And then you start talking with someone and they tell you, ‘My daughter, my wife, my sister has breast cancer, too.’ Even when I was living in Uruguay, I never really heard about a lot of women having breast cancer. A lot of women don’t really realize how important it is to take care of themselves. I have a lot of friends and they are like, ‘No, I don’t want to go and check. What happens if they find something?’ But that’s the point. You have to live for yourself and for your family. I have to fight for my daughter. If I don’t do it, who’s going to do it?”