Conchi was 43 years old when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was January 2020 and his visits to the hospital for the administration of chemotherapy coincided with the worst months of the pandemic. “My feeling was that I was going to die, but I didn’t know if it was from cancer or Covid,” this Madrid native tells Infobae Spain. Five years after the diagnosis, Conchi is completely free from disease.
It was she herself who, during a self-examination, noticed a lump in her chest. Her family doctor then referred her to Gynecology, where she was informed that the tumor was in stage II and the lymph nodes were already affected. After chemotherapy, radiotherapy and three operations, Conchi’s oncologist informed him of the availability of a new treatment that could prevent relapses.
Conchi’s breast cancer was luminala subtype that, in its variant A, represents around 70% of all cases. Despite its high frequency, it usually responds well to treatments, since tumor growth is slower. On the other hand, type B luminal breast cancer is more aggressive, larger and its recurrence is more commonalthough much less frequent.
Given the advice of her oncologist about this new therapy, Conchi did not hesitate to participate in the trial: “I have always trusted my doctor a lot. He has been my personal magician for me, he has treated me with great closeness and professionalism, almost as if he were a family member.” Thus, it became the first woman in Spain to receive this treatment in stage II. Behind her, many more came.
The medicine is the result of international research in which the participation of Spanish hospitals and patients stands out. This therapy offers new hope for millions of people like Conchi who, in addition to the disease, deal with uncertainty. From the laboratories of the Lilly R&D center in Alcobendas (Madrid), this medicine places Spain at the cutting edge of research in breast cancer.
At 48 years old and with a 21-year-old daughter, Conchi has been able to return to her sales job thanks also to the facilities that her company gave her. Now, he enjoys his free time traveling, hiking in the mountains or practicing meditation. “When they give you news that horrible and then you see that there is hope“Things change,” he says.
Research advances like this not only increase the life expectancy of the patients, but also their own hope as the disease passes. When patients know that there are drugs capable of protecting them from relapse for years, their way of approaching cancer changes radically. In fact, according to psycho-oncologist Marta de la Fuente, “one of the main fears when faced with a breast cancer diagnosis is going through the same thing again.”
This is precisely where the work of psycho-oncologists comes in, since the anxiety It works in the triple response system at a physical, cognitive and behavioral level: “It is important to work with patients on the process of thinking, worry, rumination, fear… so that it does not condition their daily behavior at the behavioral level,” he explains to Infobae Spain.
The availability of such a treatment reduces uncertaintyanticipatory anxiety and increases the feeling of tranquility and emotional stability. At the same time, it allows them to reconnect with other areas of their life, such as their family or work environment. As de la Fuente summarizes well, “continue having projects and dreams.”
De la Fuente recognizes that the function of psychologists specialized in oncology patients is not based on pretending that the person is not afraid of the disease or relapse, since it is essential to normalize these emotions and “work on relief, emotional support.” In the words of the expert, the focus is on “transmitting to them the message of the capacity that human beings have to adapt and come out stronger of this adverse situation.”
