What happened, in summary

Sol had a family history of cancer and sought testing while her sister was undergoing treatment. She was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer after also noticing lumps in her breast. Feeling that she had not received enough information at first, she sought a second opinion. The diagnosis left her worried, powerless and grieving, but she researched her options and decided to proceed with mastectomy, chemotherapy, radiation therapy and hormone therapy. Severe treatment side effects later required an adjustment to her plan. Sol described becoming more hopeful, motivated and relieved after that change. Hair loss, hand-foot syndrome and lymphedema were among the side effects that affected her most, and she focused on improving her nutrition as part of coping with treatment. She is now in remission and continues hormone therapy. Family remains central to how she thinks about the future, and she hopes to travel with them. Looking back on the experience, Sol described maintaining faith and trying to live in the present rather than treating cancer as synonymous with death.