Blanca (00:00):
I grew up feeling like I had a target on the back of my back, just, just waiting for something to happen.

My name is Blanca Montanes and this whole journey started when I was pretty much 18 years old at a very young age. One of my older sisters was first diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 25. Her doctor suggested that we all get a DNA test, which we all did and all but one of the sisters was BRC two positive. So there was times when my mother was in the hospital with two of her daughters being treated at the same time.

So at a very young age, my gynecologist got me into a preventative treatment where every six months I was coming in, I was having blood work, I was being put in a tube. I was having this that all done. Every six months shoot, I began having mammograms by the age of 20, which was incredibly unheard of.

I’ve had my breasts done three times and I’ve had, uh, a complete hysterectomy done as well. The first time I had my breasts removed and then I had implants put in. A few months later, my body rejected the implants. So they had to go back in, take them out, scrape everything inside again, and put in a different implant.

Crazy enough, a few years down the road, I get this letter from the manufacturer saying, Hey, those implants have a recall and they’re causing a different type of cancer. And at that time, I made the decision that I’d get this taken care of because I didn’t want my girls to go through what I was going through.

We started off in June of 2024 and I had my breast redone again. Only at this time they took all the implant out and they did a flap and reconstructed my breasts, which quite honestly, I don’t know why I didn’t do it earlier or why true. You know, you don’t know what you don’t know. And if I would’ve known back then they could have reconstructed my breast with my own body tissue, I would’ve done it in a heartbeat.

There’s no comparison at all. No comparison. And here we are. Here we are, just what, two months out? And I feel amazing. I feel like I have got rid of that chip on my shoulder. I don’t feel like I have target on my back anymore. I feel like I can actually start living.

For me, just knowing that I’ve reduced my possibilities of being diagnosed with cancer, even, it’s just been a life changing because now I can’t focus on caring for my children, giving them the right education when it comes to cancer and just putting everything else behind me.

We have to start with ourselves. You know, we have to be okay for everyone around us to be okay. And that’s one of the things we as women forget.

We are taught. No, you have to put others first. You gotta think of your family, you gotta think of your kids, but they’re never gonna be okay if you are not okay at the end of the day.

And Dr. Wright has given me that has opened my eyes to that as well. You know, her guidance, her comfort. You just can’t put a price on anything like that. You can’t. I was in God’s hands because I was in their hands this whole time and they saw me through it.

They got me through it all, and I’m very grateful for that. And I will eternally be grateful for it.