I am from Costa Mesa, California. I like to spend most of my free time with my dog, Coco, and swimming at the pool. I also enjoy going on walks in the canyon.

2. What inspires you? Makes you smile daily?

I am inspired by my drive to be a better person, every single day. The love and support of my husband and my daughter keep me smiling.

When I was first diagnosed with breast cancer I was scared, depressed, and angry. I coped with the news by talking about it with my family and friends, who offered me great support. I wanted to find out more about my diagnosis, so I kept up with all my doctors’ appointments and the more I went, the more I discovered. With this new knowledge, the fear that I had in the beginning began to lessen.

4. Any advice you would give to those who are scared and going through cancer treatment for the first time?

I know that it’s scary and there is a lot that is unknown. My advice would be to trust in the process and know that you are going to be OK. Ask lots of questions and reach out to friends and family. Don’t be afraid to communicate with them and share what is going on. I was really scared to go through chemo because of all the horrible things that I had heard about it, but as I started to go through it, I realized it wasn’t so bad. After my first and second appointment I found that the nausea and pain weren’t as bad as I expected it to be. The most important thing about this process is to keep a very positive attitude and know that you’re going to get through this.

5. How did you first hear about Breast Cancer Angels and in what ways has Breast Cancer Angels helped you through this time?

I heard about Breast Cancer Angels through a friend. I want to thank Breast Cancer Angels for giving me the support that I needed in this rough time in my life. They offered me gift cards to help with groceries and shopping needs and also helped me pay my auto insurance. Thank you so much for lifting a great weight off my shoulders during this hard time in my life.

6. If you were to reflect on everything from the beginning to this point in time, how would you describe your experience? What have you learned about yourself?

This experience has not been easy by any means. I would say that it has definitely been very emotional; from losing my hair to thinking about a possible mastectomy to the doctors’ appointments and everything I had to do to fight the cancer. I will tell you that I am internally strong, and I have faith that everything will work out.

7. It's often thought that breast cancer is something you don't have to worry about until you get a little older. What advice can you share with young women, who have not been screened for breast cancer yet?

I would highly suggest screening for breast cancer at an early age. I am 39 and never thought I would have cancer. It doesn’t run in my family genes. It is safer to know than not to!!

8. Okay now for some fun questions. What are your favorite things you do as a family?

My favorite things to do as a family are take our dog on walks, have movie nights, and go out to eat at restaurants. I am really looking forward to Christmas.

I recently celebrated my 60^th birthday. I’m a native Californian and I was born at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica. When I was young we lived in Pasadena and then my family moved to Palo Alto, in Northern California, where I spent most of my years growing up. I found my way back to Los Angeles when I went to college at UCLA. I joined the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, also known as Theta. I mention this group of women because they helped shape my life during college, before I got married, and then became my biggest support group during my cancer treatment. I currently live in Newport Beach and have three children; two boys, 31 and 27 and one daughter, 28. 

What makes me smile? The fact that I wake up. I’m just happy to be here another day. I consider being here such a blessing. What inspires me is when I can inspire others. I ask myself, “How can I improve someone else’s day?” I do this by sending inspiring notes to my children and friends. That makes me feel good, to know that I have touched someone else’s day in a good way. Having something on my calendar every week also gives me something to look forward to.

It was in 2007. I was a single mom with 3 kids and that’s when I found out that I had a lump on my right breast. Thankfully, it had not spread to any other place in my body. I decided to have a double mastectomy to be on the safe side. I considered the situation to be a blip on the radar, a speed bump. I said to myself, “I’m going to beat this.” That’s when the support of my sorority sisters and children came in. They were all there to help me get through this. I only had 4 months of chemo treatment and every time I had my treatment, I looked at it as my little warriors traveling through my body like soldiers fighting the cancer. Bring those soldiers on; I wasn’t afraid of it.

The advice I would give would be to take care of yourself. Treat yourself like you are your own best friend. Think good nutrition, body and mind, and you will come out of this. Don’t let any negatives into your life. Everything needs to be positive and your spirit and body will make it through. I also read a book that helped me through my treatments. It was called Radical Remissions by Kelly Turner. I would recommend this book to everyone, even if you are not going through treatment. It teaches you how to live a healthy lifestyle in order to prevent something like this.

I heard about Breast Cancer Angels through a friend in the real estate office that I worked at. She was also diagnosed with cancer and she referred them to me. They are the best resource for grants and funds to handle things when people are going through this tough diagnosis. They also provide you with a list of vendors that offer discounted rates on services that people need in their home such as plumbing, electrical, etc. They are all so amazing. I can’t thank them enough.

In 2017, I was diagnosed with stage 4 metabolic breast cancer. This is a different path than I had in 2007. Once again, I embraced a healthy lifestyle to help my body every way I could. This cancer has been more challenging than the first time because I will be living with the breast cancer instead of curing it. I learned that I need to be more open to letting people help me. I was always so independent, but now I have to rely on others to help me. And that’s okay.

The only person that is going to be the best advocate for your body is you. Listen to your body and always get a second opinion. Women with dense breast tissue should ask their doctor for ultra-sounds or alternatives to mammograms. 

I look forward to our family traditions during the holidays. Every Thanksgiving, the tradition is that every recipe needs to be a new recipe. It’s really a lot of fun and we’ve even had a couple of bombs, but I love this time because we are together and I’m thankful for that.

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Meet Santricia.