< Previous10 | The Daily News | Publication | October 2022 “Y ou’re too young for cancer.” That’s what Kristin Ozuna’s gynecologist told her when she went to him with a concern in October 2020. A newlywed with two toddlers, she had stopped breastfeeding two years prior, but there was liquid oozing from her left breast. “I could slap him right now,” Ozuna said of her gynecolo- gist in her then-hometown of Brownsville. Ozuna pushed for a mam- mogram, which came back normal. Still, she worried be- cause she has fibrous breasts that could camouflage a tumor. The nurse advised her to get annual mammograms. Fast forward to September 2021 when she and her hus- band were living in Seabrook and Ozuna found a lump in her left breast. She needed to get it checked out, but insur- ance and medical costs were a problem. That’s when she found UTMB Health and the mammogram — and biopsy that unearthed a tumor and identified it as stage 1 invasive ductal carcinoma. Ozuna’s first thought was to go to a different institution be- cause of its reputation as a top cancer treatment center. But even with the help of a patient advisor, she couldn’t secure a way to pay for her evaluation and treatment there. “I didn’t qualify because I wasn’t working at the time and they don’t do any of those spe- cial programs,” she said. “And I didn’t have the funds to pay out of pocket because one of the consultations, I believe she told me, was like $16,000.” “I didn’t know what to do,” she said, explaining that she broke down in the office and the patient advocate directed her to The Rose Breast Imag- ing Center, which helped her connect with a special Med- icaid program that covered breast cancer care. She then found her way back to UTMB. “From there, everything happened so fast,” Kristin said. “No time was wasted. “I want to say how much I adore the doctors and nurs- es there at UTMB,” she said. “Dr. Colleen Silva was very understanding and she told me — and this is why I fell in love with them — that cancer was not a death sentence and I’m so lucky that I found it by myself right away and that I trusted my body and they were going to do everything in their power to help me.” UTMB oncologist Dr. Nabiha Aziz recommended a highly aggressive form of chemother- apy to battle Ozuna’s highly aggressive form of cancer. After 16 rounds of chemo, her tumor had shrunk enough to allow for surgery — a dou- ble mastectomy. As of late Sep- tember 2022, she was due for four more months of chemo treatment as a precaution. From the start, Ozuna was afraid of the things most cancer patients fear — losing her hair, losing intimacy in her marriage, even frightening her children. But as grueling as her jour- ney was, cancer was “a bless- ing in disguise.” “It brought my family and friends and me much closer,” she said. “I had family and friends setting aside their own priorities just to come in and cater to me and my family. “I’m thankful for all of my blessings, including having fun with the wigs and being able to play dress-up with my kids,” she said. “They thought it was great. And I’m thankful for having the energy to do my mommy duties after under- going surgeries and chemo- therapy. And I’m honestly just thankful to UTMB that, you know, they saved my life.” Ozuna credits a strong devotion to her children as key motivation in her survival. That, and her faith. “My faith has gotten a lot deeper. I was just blessed with this inner strength; I knew I had to fight this fight,” she said. “This experience taught me about how brave I am and how strong I am. I didn’t know how strong I was until I had to be strong.” Ozuna is a big believer in women listening to their bod- ies and advocating for their health care when something doesn’t seem right. Whether it’s an initial concern or even during treatment, she said, get a second opinion. Or a third. If it means changing course mid- stream, so be it. “Don’t ever give up and don’t ever Google either. Trust your doctors but trust yourself and take charge of your own plan,” she said. “If you don’t believe that you’re on a right path, believe in yourself and go with your gut and have faith. Have faith.” ‘Trust yourself’ Kristin knew something wasn’t right. Her life depended on trusting her gut Story by Margaret Battistelli Gardner Photos courtesy of Kristin Ozuna “I’m thankful for all of my blessings, including having fun with the wigs and being able to play dress-up with my kids. KRISTIN OZUNAOctober 2022 | Think Pink | The Daily News | 11 C ancer took almost everything from Pamela French. Thankfully, she has a fighting spirit that kept it from taking away her life. French had her first mammogram in 2020 after noticing that her left breast was considerably larger than her right one. That realization started a long, painful journey from diagnosis and evaluations to operations and eventually, recovery. But along the way, things were rocky both inside and outside the hospital. A series of mammograms and ultra- sounds revealed a multitude of tumors. In-depth ultrasound-guided biopsies on her breast and lymph nodes were so painful, she said, that she needed help getting dressed afterwards. Eight days later, the news came that she had cancer but that it hadn’t spread to her lymph nodes. Then, the journey to find a way to pay for her care led her to the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB Health). She met with a patient navigator who put her mind at ease and created a care team that included Dr. Colleen Sil- va, a professor and the medical direc- tor of Breast Health at UTMB Health, and Dr. Julie Park, a professor and the director of the UTMB Health Breast Reconstruction program. “I instantly loved them both,” French said. “They were both so helpful. Dr. Silva gave me the answers that I need- ed, but it wasn’t what I wanted to hear. She said that I either had a secondary cancer or I had a very rare type of ductal carcinoma because it was both inside and outside of my ducts.” Dr. Silva likened performing a biopsy on French to “taking a piece of paper and sprinkling salt on it and all those could either be a calcification or they could be cancer cells,” she said, adding that the recommendation was a full mastectomy. Pamela didn’t require chemotherapy after her surgery, so Dr. Park was able to begin breast reconstruction for Pamela. But between her diagnosis and what was to be her last surgery, French lost her job, her income, her home, her 12-year- old dog and her breast. She went through a divorce and also lost a close friend. “I was just destroyed when I had that surgery, which was supposed to be my last one,” she said. “I was supposed to be get- ting on with my life, and I was so happy.” But then she contracted a potentially deadly blood infection that required emergency surgeries to clean out the re- constructed breast tissue and start over. French’s last reconstructive surgery is scheduled for Oct. 14. With the bad news and rough patches behind her, she’s happy with where she is. “My body looks amazing,” she said. “You cannot tell that I have one breast that’s been reconstructed and the other one is mine. They told me from the beginning that I would look good in clothes but wouldn’t look as good na- ked. But I look good naked. My body looks great. I feel great. This process has been a long journey and I’m finally getting to where I have my life back.” A friend of French’s who was dealing with stubborn, recurring breast cancer told her that she refused to be “the sick girl” — a sentiment French took to heart. “I set my mind to it that I was not going to be the sick girl,” she said. “I was going to be healthy, and I was going to come out of this. With lots of prayer and lots of God’s grace, I did. French is a passionate advocate of getting mammograms even earlier than the recommended age of 50. Her advice to women going through the journey is to surround yourself with others who have gone through it. Those “pink sisters,” along with her mother and daughter, are what kept her going, French said. No two cancers are alike — even if they are the same kind of cancers — but survivors can tell you what to expect every step of the way and will be there for you, she said. “There were times that I would cry out to God, ‘Please just take me’ be- cause it was so painful,” she said. “The people I thought would have been there for me, like my husband and some people who were close to me, were not. But people I hardly knew stepped up. “Get with people who are walking the same path,” she said. “I got into some support groups and we get together, we have dinner. We go to games; we go do things just with the pink sisters. I don’t know that I could walk this path without them. It was the best thing I ever did.” ‘People I hardly knew stepped up’ Support groups and an outstanding care team helped Pamela through her breast cancer journey Story by Margaret Battistelli Gardner Photos courtesy of Pamela French and UTMB Dr. Julie Park “I set my mind to it that I was not going to be the sick girl. I was going to be healthy, and I was going to come out of this. With lots of prayer and lots of God’s grace, I did. PAMELA FRENCHScan QR code to register Clear Lake Campus Hospital Wednesday, October 19, 2022 from Noon - 1 p.m. 200 Blossom St, Webster, TX Hospital Lobby Lunch and breast health information will be provided Jennie Sealy Hospital in Galveston Wednesday, October 19, 2022 from 7:30 - 8:30 a.m. 712 Texas Ave, Galveston, TX 2nd floor (in front of Bistro 712) Breakfast and breast health information will be provided The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB Health) honors Breast Cancer Survivors for International Breast Reconstruction Awareness (BRA) Day BRA DAY Pretty in Pink Closing the loop on breast cancer League City Campus Wednesday, October 19, 2022 from 5 - 7 p.m. 2240 Gulf Freeway South, League City, TX 2nd Floor Sky Bridge Ladies Night Out: prizes, swag bags, shopping, light refreshments and breast health information 5 - 5:30 p.m. 5:30 - 6 p.m. 6 - 6:30 p.m. 6:30 - 7 p.m. Sign in and visit with vendors First 50 attendees wearing pink will receive a signature gift bag during the event. Mythbusters: Debunking common misconceptions about breast cancer diagnosis, treatment and reconstruction Patient testimonials BRA decorating contest AGENDA Register online athttps://utmb.us/74s by October 14 to attend the event at any location For more information about all events, contact Yvonne Rendon at (409) 772-1257Next >