When cancer hits close to home

She is one of my best friends, and she has breast cancer.

Not the early kind where surgery and radiation might be enough, but the kind that has already spread. The kind that requires chemotherapy, multiple lines of treatment, and the constant recalibration of what hope looks like.

She had ignored the lump at first. There was no time. She had work to finish, errands to run, a child to raise. But her story is not unique. Many women delay seeing a doctor because they are too busy, or because they are afraid. Some tell themselves it’s probably nothing. Some simply hope it will go away.

As a physician, I speak to patients often about self-care — how it’s not selfish, but essential. But when the people we love delay seeking help, it’s a painful reminder of how deeply ingrained it is in women to put themselves last.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, both globally and here in the Philippines. And yet, so many women still skip their mammograms. So many still believe that it won’t happen to them.

But it can. And it does.

Early detection makes a difference. When caught early, breast cancer is highly treatable. Screening with regular mammograms — especially for women over 40, or younger women with strong family histories — can catch tumors before they spread.

Breast self-awareness is also key. Self-breast exams should be done a few days after your period ends, when breasts are least tender and swollen. If you don’t get periods, choose a consistent day each month. If something doesn’t feel right, don’t wait. Don’t second-guess yourself. Get it checked, even if you’re younger than 40. If you’re not sure where to start, ask your doctor.

If you ever feel uncertain about a diagnosis or a treatment plan, it doesn’t hurt to seek a second opinion. In my friend’s case, it was that second consult that opened the door to a new treatment option, when we had thought that all was lost.

The treatments are not without side effects, but thankfully she is responding. The treatment is working. The disease is not gone, but it is quieter now. And in this quiet, she is able to hope again.

There is so much reason to hope. In recent years, cancer treatment has entered a new era. Advances in immunotherapy, targeted therapies and precision medicine are changing the prognosis for many patients. What used to be a short timeline has stretched for some into years of meaningful life — work, laughter, family dinners, celebrations. Some patients even reach remission.

Of course, every cancer story is different. No doctor can promise a cure. But we can promise to walk with our patients, to advocate for them, and to give them the best that modern medicine has to offer. And we can promise to speak up, again and again, about the importance of screening and early diagnosis.

To anyone reading this: Please, make time for your mammogram, and a breast ultrasound if you are younger. Remind the women in your life to get theirs. Know your body. And if something feels wrong, again, don’t wait. Because medicine cannot heal what it does not see. And sometimes, the best chance we have is the one we take early.

I see my friend now — fighting to live fully, not just to survive. Watching her is a study in quiet resilience. It’s easy to forget, in the midst of her strength, just how much she is carrying. I am also reminded that hope is not something abstract. It’s found in every treatment that works, in every scan that shows stability, and in every tomorrow that still comes.