Breast cancer survivors urge early checkups

BROWNSVILLE - Planned Parenthood joined with Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos on Friday to commemorate Cameron and Willacy counties' 11th annual Wreath Day, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

"As Hispanic women, we take care of our children, our spouses and our friends, but who is taking care of you?" said Blanca Cavazos, CEO for Planned Parenthood of Cameron and Willacy Counties, during the ceremony in the lobby of the Cameron County Courthouse.

A wreath of pink flowers made by a breast cancer survivor will stand in the entranceway of the courthouse for the duration of the month.

Cavazos celebrated the declining rate of breast cancer-related deaths in Cameron and Willacy counties.

The increasingly common practices of self-examination and mammography since the annual awareness campaign began over a decade ago has been responsible for the decline, she said.

Aracely Garza, Valentina Villarreal and Maria Susana Perez recounted their survival stories at the event and urged women to use Planned Parenthood's Promesa Salud program if they cannot afford to pay for a mammography.

"The Promesa Salud program will not only cover your mammography, it will provide funding for everything until you have a diagnosis," Cavazos said. "After that, we will try to get you into the proper Medicare program, or find other sources of funding for women who are not legal residents."

Villarreal, who benefited from the Promesa Salud program, says local attitudes toward breast cancer have changed radically.

"There wasn't information available, and people felt uncomfortable talking about it," she said. "We have to teach women not to fear their own bodies, to know what to look for and take care of themselves."

The mammography that ultimately saved Villarreal's life was paid for by Planned Parenthood.

"For me, they're my angels," she said.