Breast Cancer: Loriana's Survivor Story

What happened, in summary

Loriana Hernandez-Aldama was an Emmy Award-winning broadcast anchor and trying to have a second baby when symptoms she had dismissed led to an acute myeloid leukemia diagnosis. She says she was misdiagnosed twice before connections helped her get to Johns Hopkins, where she spent about 1 year fighting AML. Treatment included intensive chemotherapy, full-body radiation, and a bone marrow transplant. Because she did not have another registry match as a Latina patient, her sister became her donor. Loriana later learned that the transplant also came with complicated genetic information, including a CHIP marker, and she was told the treatment may have given her “the gift of time” rather than a simple cure. Five years to the day after her bone marrow transplant, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Breast cancer stage, biomarkers, and treatment details were not provided. Loriana’s story in this episode focuses heavily on what helped her survive emotionally and practically: building a “pit crew” of support, asking directly for help, counseling for depression and PTSD, and founding ArmorUp for LIFE. As of December 2022, she was a 2-time cancer survivor using advocacy to improve access to support, prehabilitation, and better treatment options for underserved patients.