I’m creating this fundraiser to help my sister Anna (35 years old) and her family (Husband and two boys, Jayden-12 and Adrian-5) while she is starting her fight against Stage IIIB Invasive Ductal Carcinoma Breast Cancer. It was originally staged at IV but since is it is ER/PR+ and HER2 negative, it was downgraded to Stage IIIB. All funds raised will help with medical expenses (both expected and unexpected), despite having insurance, these expenses will soon be mounting as she is no longer working while being on a short term disability where her pay will drop to 70% in September, and then again to 50% in January. While we can't cure cancer, we can help put a dent in their financial burden.

Anna had always performed her breast self examinations, from what I could remember and always telling me and our younger sister to be sure to do the same. Well, in the beginning of summer 2019, with continuous massaging after her breast augmentation of Dec 2018, Anna felt a lump on the outer side of her left breast.  Towards the end of summer it was still there and she said it started to feel bigger. She made an appointment with her primary Dr. to get it checked our and her Dr. placed a referral with Mammography. In October, she was able to get her appointment and had a mammogram with an additional ultra sound. The radiologist that performed the ultrasound and review said that it didn't look too worrisome, and set her up to have a followup appointment in 6 months.  

Six months rolls around, which is the same time that COVID-19 caused things to shut down and have everything pushed back. By this time her lump had grown and caused her worry and discomfort. She was finally able to get an appointment at the end of May (8 months after her original mammogram). A mammogram on her left breast was done again, along with a mammogram of a swollen lymph node that she had gotten when her allergies were really severe in San Antonio, it went away but came back with two more swollen nodes. Her radiologist performed another ultrasound on her breast and lymph nodes, and was worried about the size of both the lump and lymph nodes and highly suggested to have a biopsy completed. She agreed and had it done right then and there. After redressing and gathering her thoughts, the radiologist came back to discuss the next steps. This conversation, from what Anna said, confirmed she had cancer in her breast without saying the physical words. She shared that the biopsy will be completed and that she’ll receive a call within a couple of days with the results. Why was it going take this long, well, Anna was going to surprise our parents in Tucson by visiting for the weekend as a Mother’s day gift from her husband Stephen. So we figure the the radiologist didn’t want to ruin a happy weekend with bad news, because on June 3, the day after Anna would have returned home, she got the call with the results that both the biopsied lump and lymph node tested positive for cancer. This call also includes the next steps on what Anna should expect, that she would be contacted later by the general surgery department for her cancer treatment plan.

The following day, she received a call from the Breast Cancer Navigator from the Brook Armed Medical Center with her Newcomer appointment from the following Monday, June 8th. This appointment included her and Stephen meeting with an Oncology Surgeon and her Oncology Radiation doctor. They spoke with the oncology surgeon who explained her cancer stage, type of cancer and the treatment plan. This is where she broke down with him and Stephen, someone who doesn’t really cry much for her self but does for others. In her words, she couldn’t believe this was real. The three main treatments included surgery for the tumor and lymph nodes, radiation to reduce tumor recurrence, and chemotherapy with hormone treatment to reduce recurrence, along with reconstructive breast surgery. The order of treatments provided was two options: 1 - mastectomy with axillary dissection of the lymph nodes, chemotherapy, and then radiation; or 2 - chemo first to reduce the size of the tumor and affected lymph nodes, then surgery to remove all remaining cancerous tumors (breast and lymph nodes), followed by radiation.  After speaking to him, they met with the oncologist radiation doctor and where he comes in to action, which is at the end of surgery and chemo. Later in the day, she had a phone consult with her Oncologist on what the chemo treatment plan would look like: 4 bi-weekly aggressive chemo infusions followed by 12 weekly chemo infusions, a total of 16 weeks of chemotherapy. Decisions weren’t needed right then and there, but by that Friday, they had decided to do the mastectomy first, then chemo followed by radiation.


With this decision made, her and Stephen had an appointment to meet with the plastic surgeon on what options she would have. After a good conversation, she decided have a tissue expander placed after her unilateral mastectomy to keep the skin stretched, and then discussed the reconstruction on her right breast for symmetry to her left smaller breast (this will be after everything is complete for annihilating all the cancer). Before radiation occurs, her plastic surgeon wants to complete reconstruction on her left breast because radiation will give her a crazy and intense sunburn and will shrink/tighten the skin (think shrink wrap) and could compromise healing if it were to be done after. 

On June 23rd, she had her mastectomy. The surgery ended up being more extensive than the surgeon originally planned from. The tumor was more spread out like a pancake than anticipated, which required removal of her areola and nipple, to include portions of her major pectoralis to increase her margins of non-cancerous tissue. She also ended up having 40 of 44 lymph nodes removed from her left arm and 3 of 7 lymph nodes removed from her upper left clavicle area, which was more than they thought of the original 20 to be removed in all. With this extensive surgery and removal, she will be forever at risk for lymphedema, which is irreversible if she does get it. Because of this extensive removal of the lymph nodes and muscle removal, she will need to wear compression sleeves every day for the rest of her life and she’ll needing to go to rehab for the next 4-5 months to regain flexibility and movement on her left side and arm. She has started her rehab, and her rehab facility has referred her for a FlexiTouch machine that will stimulate the lymphatic system and reduce swelling for preventative measures and to help if/when she does start swelling. 


She started her first chemo infusion on July 17th and her second infusion was yesterday July 31st. She’s handling this really well, trying to stay awake and be active at home to keep her body moving, to not be bed ridden, and keep some form of normalcy at home for her kids and her husband. Her hair loss has already occurred four days before her second chemo infusion, it’s not all gone, but she’s waiting for the day where it is. She’s planning on a hair ceremony that will include her two boys (Jayden -12 and Adrian - 5) so they can cut her hair and know that they helped her get rid of it and not be too scared of anxious of what is going on with mom.


She has so much going on for her and her family, anything from his fundraiser will help ease the stress, anxiety, burden that this unexpected Breast Cancer journey has brought to their lives. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read her story and has decided to donate anything, small or large, it makes a difference.


Much love,

Veronica Ramirez


#TeamAnna #AnnaStrong