Our bodies are always sending us signals, foreshadowing what is to come.

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15000 kms from home, Gabriela recognized the critical value of listening to her’s. 

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“Because of my family history, I was always very aware of my health, and I also have a very close relationship with my body, in a sense that I'm always paying attention to what's happening.” This proactive approach led her to discover a lump under her right armpit during a routine self-examination, two months before her diagnosis. Despite the initial ultrasound showing nothing of concern, Gabriela couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. She knew her body too well.

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Months later, on an Ayurveda retreat in India, Gabriela felt it again. This time, the lump was in her left breast, and it was different—swollen, tender, and pressing uncomfortably against her skin- like a “pimple”. “That's when I felt like…what's going on?” she recalled. She knew she immediately had to seek help. 

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So, in a foreign country, and all alone, Gabriela was thrust into a medical system she barely understood. Yet her resolve was unyielding. “When I went to the doctor, I did act on an instinctive way. I had a very high sense of urgency inside me because, maybe because it was a foreign country, maybe because I was feeling that this could be serious.” There is a slight note of amusement in her voice as she narrates the story in hindsight, “I think  everybody may know me in the hospital. Because when you see a foreigner crying in the middle of the corridor saying, 'Give me a mammogram!', you know, that’s probably an image that they’ll remember.”

 

Nevertheless, Gabriela’s sense of urgency paid off; the diagnosis came swiftly—stage one breast cancer. Alone in a doctor’s office, Gabriela found herself staring at a piece of paper that suddenly made her world tilt on its axis. A quick Google search of “carcinoma” had already filled her mind with the darkest possibilities. “I had to hold myself up with the counter, because I was… super, super, super scared.” Gabriela says, her voice catching slightly. 

 

But there was no time to succumb to fear, and the doctors didn’t let her. Quality medical advice and the reassurance she received from doctors was key to her remaining calm. “She (the oncologist) was assuring me, from the beginning, saying, 'You are the perfect patient, so everything will be okay. We want everybody to come to us like you, because this is stage one, so you are going to be fine.' This professionalism and the speed with which the doctors moved to surgery- within 3 days- was critical to providing Gabriela with a sense of relief, amidst the storm of uncertainty that her treatment held. 
 

The suggestion of genetic testing was something raised at multiple points of the journey. For one, long term management of hereditary cancer depends on the specific results of the genetic tests, making them crucial. Moreover, given her Ashkenazi Jewish background—where BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations are more prevalent—her doctors urged her to consider it. The idea of a hereditary predisposition to cancer was daunting. It wasn’t just about surviving this battle; it was about future wars she might have to wage against her own body.

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The statistics are stark: women with BRCA mutations face up to a 85% risk of developing breast cancer by age 70, compared to 12% in the general population. This knowledge was a double-edged sword for Gabriela. It gave her a roadmap for the future, allowed her to proceed with more rigorous surveillance. But at the same time, it opened a new front in an already exhausting battle. 

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‘It’s very new, and I'm still processing,’ she admits, ‘Right now I’m just focusing on the fact that there's a 10 to 30% that I have it (the other cancers), but 70 to 90% that I don't! I have to behave with awareness of the 10 to 30%, but I can think, my positive attitude, and holistic healthcare, I may just be between the 70 and the 90%.”

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Gabriela's journey was shaped not just by her diagnosis, but by the environment she found herself in. The efficiency and care she received in India were unexpected, a stark contrast to the chaotic emotions swirling inside her, “The doctors want the best for you. They want they're there to save you, to help you, to cure you. So you can just trust them, trust the medicine.”

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Now, as she continues to navigate the aftermath, Gabriela has become an advocate for self-awareness, emphasizing the importance of proactiveness with enthusiasm . “People feel scared of finding cancer, and I feel scared of ... not finding it. Because if you find it, then it's fine, you’re gonna take a medicine that has a little bit of a strong side effect that makes our hair fall, but that's it! I think many people see something, and they may postpone a visit to the doctor thinking, 'Oh my God. What if it's something?' And it's like, well, if it's something, then you need to go find help!” ​

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And if the mental taxation of cancer is what you fear, Gabriela insists, “Cancer is much scarier in media than in reality. It's going to pass. We are stronger than you think. We just go through it and that's it. And yeah, you are going to think things like ‘Oh my god, I’m going to die!’ . But don't go that way. Don't stay on that thinking. Have a simplistic and positive mindset.”

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So, if you think your body is saying something to you at this very moment, don’t be scared to listen. And even if it turns out to nothing, the best cure is mitigation. So remember to “Just give good things to your body. Regular checkups, treatment, relaxed environments, good food, good sleep, mindfulness!”