Araceli Vargas
Survivor
Blessed to See Another Day of Life
Hello my name is Araceli Vargas and was diagnosed with breast cancer at 27 years old. My diagnosis was invasive ductal carcinoma, estrogen and progesterone positive. I was diagnosed October of 2022, I underwent a double mastectomy and found that I also had 5/13 positive lymph nodes, my tumor was 9.5cm! I had 6 months of chemotherapy and 28 rounds of radiation. It wasn’t easy but with the help of God, I have over come fear, have been given an unexplainable amount of strength and my faith has grown immensely. I would like to share my story to give others hope. To encourage others to not give up and to not fear. One of my favorite verses is Isaiah 41:10 “Do not fear for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand”. It has been a very long journey, but my husband and son have been my motivation and have pushed me to keep fighting. I do believe there is a purpose for everything. I have found beauty in such a difficult time in my life. Staying positive is such an important part of this journey.
I never thought I would ever go through something like this in life. I have no family history and have always been very healthy. It all started by finding a lump in my left breast, my primary Dr sent me for an ultrasound, that same day I started having nipple discharge but thought maybe a cyst or something burst. I got tested and it came out being bacteria. Antibiotics actually shrunk the lump and the results from ultrasound was that it was “benign” and called fiberadenoma. The nipple discharge came back after antibiotics. Tested again and was a different type of bacteria. I finally questioned why it was only happening on one breast and where this bacteria was coming from and 2 different types? I asked to be referred to a breast specialist. The breast specialist also thought my ultrasound was normal, she said I was young and healthy, no family history and asked me to come back in 6 months for another sonogram. I said well if I don’t have an infection anymore and this is not cancerous, my husband and I would like to start planning to have a baby, because “life is short”. The specialist then said well what if we do an MRI just to make sure we’re not missing anything behind the nipple that the ultrasound is not picking up. I said no it’s fine, you’re saying the scans look normal. She sent the MRI and let me have the choice to think about it and have it done “if I wanted to”. My sister is in the medical field and called me 3 weeks later and told me to get the MRI done just to have peace of mind that everything was fine. I finally did and result was that there was a very large area that showed to be malignant. I got scheduled for a biopsy and sure enough received the worst phone call of my life. The nurse said “ the biopsy was positive for cancer” “I’m sorry”. It felt as if I was stabbed right in my heart. I cried. I thought my life was over and was so devastated to think that my son would not have a mother. God had other plans, a year later today marks one year that I was diagnosed! I will be undergoing the diep flap reconstruction surgery in December. Our faith has grown and we have God at the center of our lives. “The mountain that is impossible for man to move is possible for God” my pastor said these words at service one day and they stuck to me. God is always good. God bless you all! Don’t lose hope and keep fighting!!!