Advanced Breast Cancer Survivor

Jeni Paz-Rodriguez was diagnosed with de novo advanced breast cancer at 27 years old. Raised to always take the glass half-full approach, she continues to look for the bright side of life. Surrounded by an army of love, she is rolling with the changes that go with a metastatic breast cancer diagnosis.

When I’m at the gym, I tend to push myself, but in March 2019, my hip was bothering me during a workout and then I heard a crack. My primary care physician prescribed an anti-inflammatory and said to call in a week if the pain wasn’t better. It wasn’t. In fact, it got so bad that I went to my local hospital where I had a scan. It showed a mass on the head of my femur. The hospital was much more comfortable transferring me to a larger hospital about two hours away. My mom went with me, and I had scans all night long. The results showed something in my breast and a mass on my hip that was so large it cracked my femur. Things moved quickly, and I had a partial hip replacement the next day. The surgeon thought the mass appeared to be breast tissue, but he wouldn’t know until he saw the biopsy results. A week later he confirmed it. I had Stage IV breast cancer.

I was 27, newly engaged and worked as a pharmacy technician. At my age – at any age, really – it was a lot to take in, and I was very scared.

I reached out to a friend who had breast cancer, and she connected me with her oncologist at a well-known cancer center not far away. My doctor is amazing. Before I got there, she had reviewed my records with the tumor team and already had a plan. First was testing for gene mutations (none showed up, and I had no family history), and I learned the cancer is ER+/PR- and HER2+. I started on two targeted therapy drugs that are considered the standard first-line therapy. I didn’t react well to the meds and had to stop after two rounds. Scan results were mixed. At diagnosis, I had mets in my bones and liver. The liver mets had shrunk, the bone mets were stable and the breast cancer had grown.

The new plan consisted of a different targeted therapy for 20 rounds. It worked great. There was a lot of tumor shrinking and no new disease. I didn’t have a ton of side effects, really just fatigue.

Our wedding was planned for March 21, 2020, but was cancelled the week before due to COVID-19. I was heartbroken, but a close family friend told me this: “You have one helluva love story. Between COVID and cancer, it’s one that people will never forget.” So I stopped crying, planned a wedding in two days and, with just our families there, married the man I love in our backyard on our original wedding date. Five months later, I had my dream wedding.

About a month after that, I had a seizure, and we discovered a few dozen small tumors in my brain. The doctors were encouraging, though, saying they’d rather see small tumors than large ones. Our new plan was 10 rounds of full brain radiation followed by IV and oral therapies.

I lost my hair, but that’s okay. Anything I need to do to keep fighting.

The knowledge I have as a pharmacy technician has really helped in terms of understanding medications and side effects. My body apparently doesn’t like to try new drugs at full strength, so my doctor is adjusting my meds to help them work better for me with fewer side effects.

For me, the bottom line is that I am super positive and not about to let cancer take over my life. I’m working almost full time with a flexible schedule, and I have so much support. My husband and family, friends and new cancer-related friends I’ve met on social media have rallied behind me. They’ve loved on me, hugged on me and sent good vibes. A new friend traveled cross country just to hang out with me, and I’ve even had a drive-by parade with signs that say “Jeni strong.”

My mom is one of my biggest cheerleaders. Eight months after I was diagnosed, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, too. Hers was ER+/PR+ and HER2-. Fortunately, she’s doing fine.

I do have days where I just need to process what’s going on, and I’ve given myself permission to cry. So, how do I come down from a bad day? My husband takes me for ice cream and Disney Days. Disney World is my happy place.

Find a doctor who communicates with you and keeps you in the loop. Look for honesty. My doctor is another big cheerleader for me. I’m not just a number with her. Pre-COVID, we started every appointment with a hug. Now it’s an elbow bump. When I feel down, she is the first person to encourage me to fight. She’s never brought up a prognosis, and I don’t want one. I won’t give up until this cancer is out of me.