When senior Katering Chavez find out her mother had breast cancer, she was shocked and also worried about her mother’s health.

“I felt like the world was falling apart; I was scared of losing her,” senior Katering Chavez said. Her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.

According to the American Cancer Association (ACA), Breast cancer is a tumor that is form most commonly in the breast tissue of women and in some rare cases even in men.

What causes the tumor still remains unknown although some of the common factors that might explain why women get breast cancer are the DNA genes found in some member of the family that is passed down to the next member.

Chavez’s mom was diagnosed with stage one breast cancer after her mom started to feel some abnormality in one of her breasts and she decided to go to the doctor so she could be tested.

“She was about to go to sleep when suddenly she felt a small lump in her breast, Chavez said,  She just felt like a little lump but she did not pay much attention to it.”

Chavez’s mom decided to go the hospital so the doctors could take a mammography, an x-ray scan that locates the tumors found in women’s breasts.

“The lump was getting bigger and bigger, so my mom got really worried about it and she decided to make an appointment and once she was there they did the mammography,” Chavez said.

Chavez along her mom and family had to wait three days for the doctor to call them so they could go and see what the results were.

“After three days the doctor called us and that’s when when they told her about her breast cancer,” Chavez said.

According to the WebMD site, breast cancer is ranked as the second greatest cause of death among women, just behind lung cancer. As of today, one out of eight women are likely to get breast cancer in their lifetime.

Chavez and her family never thought that one of their family members would be one of the eight women out of millions to get breast cancer since she looked really healthy and was still not presenting any symptoms.

“We [my family and I] had no words when the doctor told us that my mom had  breast cancer stage one,” Chavez said, “It was unbelievable because she looked so healthy.”

Symptoms such as nipple tenderness, lumps in the breast area, unusual change in the breast skin and enlargement of pores are symptoms of breast cancer that women should be aware of.

According to the WebMD site, women who prevent themselves from obesity and do not drink alcohol or eat too much red meat  are most likely to decrease  their chances of getting breast cancer in their lifetime.

Even though breast cancer is most commonly seen in 40 years old women and over, breast cancer can hit any women at any age according to reports of the WebMD site.

Risks that can increase the chances of women developing breast cancer can be: genetic defect, history of radiation therapy to the chest and a personal history of breast cancer or other breast cancer disease are some of the risk that young women should consider to be aware of.

Today, many support groups help women get the courage and emotional support they need in order to fight the long and painful battle. Even then, the best support someone can receive is from their own family members and spending time with them according to Chavez.

“At the time my family was not here, the only people taking care of her were my dad and I,” Chavez said, “We tried everything we could possibly do so she could stay positive through that journey.”

Besides having to fight the disease, the treatment also is an overwhelming process that not only requires physical strength but also emotional. 

“We spent all the time with her so she would not feel lonely. At first she was depressed but we tried to cheer her up so she could continue with the treatment,” Chavez said.

Chavez shares what it was like to have her mom with  breast cancer and how they pulled through.

“The situation was very sad for all of us in our family because it was not just any other member, it was about my mom,” Chavez said.  “Despite the hard moments, we learned to look forward.”

Here at AHS, sport teams such as cheer, volleyball, field hockey and football support breast cancer awareness by wearing pink.

“I really like the events that our school organizes to raise money for breast cancer,” Chavez said.”

“I think that is a great idea because there are so many people who do not have the resources and the money to pay their treatment, and that’s also a reason why so many people die.” Chavez said.”

Money, good doctors and expensive treatment are important but the main support is the love of your family and knowing how to move forward according to Katering.

“”Supporting your family is really important and I think that no matter how the situation gets, the best thing is just to keep going,” Chavez said.