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Do you know what to say to a friend or loved one when they tell you they have been diagnosed with cancer? Most people do not. “A lot of times, people try to make light of the situation by making a joke because they are uncomfortable, but it can be very inappropriate,” says Regina Johnson, a care navigator for the Lovelace Women’s Hospital Breast Care Center. “The best thing you can do is be there for them, offer to help and make yourself available if they need you. Always be genuine and say you are sorry, that will mean everything in the world.

When Sylvia Anaya was diagnosed with breast cancer in January of this year, she was in complete shock. “I was dumbfounded to tell the truth,” Sylvia shares. “I was sent for a follow-up appointment after my mammogram, which I do every year, and then sent for a biopsy and then was told it was cancer. I didn’t know which direction to go and all I could think about was that I would need have chemotherapy treatment.

After surgery in 2014, Beth Wagner, Lovelace Breast Care Center patient, was left with one major reaction. “My lumpectomy was nothing compared to my lymph node surgery, which left me with extreme numbness all over my arm,” Beth shares. “I would get out of the shower crying because I would reach with soap to my underarm and it would feel like it wasn’t even there.

When Melissa Young and her husband Jon decided to build an enormous bus for a fine dining mobile bistro, they did not realize how many obstacles they would face along the way. In July 2014, they bought the bus they intended to work on. The following October, Melissa visited her primary doctor, and discussed how strong her family history of breast cancer had been. “My mother and my two aunts on her side have all had cancer, along with my grandmother on my father’s side,” explains Melissa.