Karime Flores
Co-Survivor
When I was about 3 years old, my mother was diagnosed with Breast Cancer on her right breast. I didn’t really understand any of this, I was little. When she first felt all the symptoms of Breast Cancer, she immediately went to the hospital. Thankfully every time my mom feels some slight hint of pain she rushes to the hospital. When my mom was in surgery, I stayed with my sisters and my brother. They took care of me and told me everything is going to be okay and that my mom was just feeling a pain in her chest. I never knew what this meant but I just never asked what it meant. After my mom successfully was out of surgery, she was good again. About a couple of months later, cancer went to her left breast. They saw this because she went to her monthly checkups to make sure she was okay. Luckily, it wasn’t something bad, it was slight and easy to cure, and so they did. The other day, my niece who has Crohn’s Disease was laying in my bed. She was opening her emotions to me because she couldn’t hold them back anymore. She said “Sometimes I wish I was you. You’re so healthy and you don’t have to worry about taking freaking pills.” Her words hit me. I responded to you “Well, to be honest, I deal with things too. I worry about my mom every day, scared. Scared that one day she won’t be here with me. She has CANCER! I just started thinking about this a couple of months ago and I got anxiety and slight depression because I’m scared that one day my mom will pass away or she will end up in the hospital. My mom has had about 2 or 3 surgeries in 1 year. That’s too much for me to take in” She didn’t respond she just laid there slightly crying and wiping her tears. Being a daughter of a Breast Cancer Survivor makes me very happy. Not that my mother had Breast Cancer but because she survived and every time I look at her she is always smiling. If she ever feels down I always make her smile or laugh. She makes me happy. My niece and I decided to plan an event to fundraise money for Crohn’s Disease and Breast Cancer. Thank you all for reading.