In an instant, I went from living the life to fighting for my life.
In 2014, what I thought was just “overdoing it” at the gym turned out to be AML Leukemia, a blood cancer. There was no stage. It was everywhere.
To be possible, I had to do the impossible – leave my 18-month-old son and relocate to Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center for a year of treatment. There I uncovered the biggest story of my career: The Power of PREhab.
Successful cancer treatment depends on how healthy a patient is from the start. A strong healthy body can handle aggressive medicines, but underlying issues like diabetes, heart disease, and obesity complicate treatment, especially among brown and black people.
We empower people everywhere to be their own hero by staying as healthy as possible and showing up fit for the fight.
1 in 3 women and 1 in 2 men will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime.
Will you be one of them? Or someone you love?
of people will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime
of newly diagnosed cancer is potentially avoidable
of cancers require toxic chemotherapy
of patient outcomes are due to socioeconomic factors
Embrace the Fab Five to build your resilience and strength, including clean eating, regular exercise and quality sleep, mindfulness, spirituality, financial planning, and wellness screenings.
Rather than asking people to beat the odds, it's time to change the odds!
Brown and black communities need critical attention to address the health inequities and co-morbidities that are taking their lives at alarming rates.
Because no one should have to go it alone.
Let an ArmorUp for Life Patient Navigator accompany you through your entire patient journey and into survivorship. Tap into their expertise and connections to get the support you need, and create your own pit crew.
Escape on a retreat with a team of experts to master essential survival skills and become and ArmorUp for Life Ambassador in your community.
Finding ways to ease the financial (and accompanying emotional) burdens on cancer patients and their families benefit cancer care for patients at every stage. Imagine if patients could worry less about affording their medications, and more about remembering to take them.
When it comes to undergoing radiation for breast cancer the trick is to minimizing skin irritation to the areas of the chest that receive radiation. Too much skin desquamation (peeling) can interrupt or shorten treatment, so it’s important to stay ahead of the game to preserve and protect the
You know your child better than anyone, and it’s up to you to decide when, how, and what to tell your child based on their developmental level. Just keep lines of communication open and listen to your child’s concerns. Let them know it’s okay to talk and ask questions
Headed to my speech 🎤 at Rice University with both my loves ❤️ at my side.
Gabriel has been asked to speak as well and then introduce me. What an honor. I’m so excited for this opportunity for him.
The event “Understanding Cancer” is for med school students, researchers and clinicians and will also be part of the university’s coursera.
Gabriel worked on his speech as a writing assignment for school with his amazing teacher.
Can’t wait to hear it live !
Forgot to get a picture with my love today on our lunch date!!
But happy Valentine’s boo. Love you! Cesar Osvaldo Aldama
Thank you for the beautiful flowers 🌺 too. Xo 😘
Gabriel’s class picture for Valentine’s Day. They had a little too much fun!!
Last year in elementary 🥲
Next year —middle school.
Woke up this morning to this surprise from Gabriel. ❤️
He says “Mommmmm! I have a special surprise for you for breakfast! !!”
Then he delivers these with a smile.
Homemade chocolate dipped strawberry 🍓 covered with coconut flakes 💕💕💕💕
He melted chocolate in the microwave, chopped up my coconut flakes in the Vitamix and dipped the strawberries 🍓 and rolled them in coconut.
Love this kid and his heart ❤️
He made more but we ate them. Haha.
Gabriel and Cesar picked these out yesterday at the store. I think Dot needs to go back to the kitchen and make a cleaner version with ingredients we can pronounce.
Today is World Cancer Day.
In 2022, almost 2 million people were diagnosed with cancer in the United States and a large percentage of those cases impacted the black and latino communities disproportionately.
How can I just “FORGET” that I had cancer and not amplify the patient voice to make the path better for others?
That was the suggestion to me from an oncologist during my appointment this week as I fought Back tears when addressing my fears of recurrence and my cancer related PTSD/depression post AML leukemia and breast cancer.
NO. We can’t “forget” when we have so much work to do for those too tired to speak and those no longer with us.
NO. We can’t “forget” when we have care gaps, access issues and health literacy problems.
So on this World Cancer Day, we honor every single person affected by cancer.
We honor entire families impacted by the ugly disease.
Let’s remember —Cancer is NEVER canceled.
EVERY DAY is World Cancer Day.
And while we are honoring — we must pause, recognize, reflect, and honor the global work being done from researchers and oncology teams around the clock and around the world to improve patient outcomes and save lives. So all of you, my family says THANK YOU!!.
#NeverForget
#CancerIsNeverCancelled
#ArmorUpForLife
#Healthequity
#PRehabiltationNation
Here’s a pic from one of our celebrations for my 🎉 my transplant.
Rehearsal time for Novartis “GO” event for sales teams around the country.
Exciting day ahead.
#ArmorUpforLife
#Novartis
#keynotespeaker
#Go
#prehabilitationnation
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