ROSEMARY SANTIAGO
BREAST CANCER OVERCOMER
My name is Rosemary Santiago and I a mother of 2 children with 2 grandchildren. My daughter is Jacklyn Vasquez and my son is Andres Rolon. They both have one child each. I currently live in Camden, NJ and I work as a bilingual probation officer and a court coordinator at the Camden County Hall of Justice, Family Division. I enjoy singing and praise dancing. I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in July 2007. At the time I was 43 years old. It was my very first mammogram and ultrasound. I had absolutely no family history of cancer. Nothing was detected at the time. I was simply told that all women over 40 should have a mammogram. My doctor wrote a prescription and the rest followed. I was initially diagnosed with stage one from what was seen on the mammogram and ultrasound. They informed me that once the lump was removed, no additional treatment was needed such as chemotherapy and radiation. It wasn’t until I had my surgery that they saw it was bigger than previously thought and the diagnosis went from Stage 1 to Stage 3. At the time I was grieving for my mother who had passed away less than 9 months before; but my faith was strong. When the doctor called me in to go see her, I was sitting at my desk at my job. I just couldn’t wait for the appointment, so I was able to convince her to tell me over the phone. There was disbelief but no fear. It is simply hard to explain. I lifted my hand in the air and said … “I am yours.” My focus was on my children and how I would tell them. I checked on my mother’s side of the family back to my great grandmother to see if any of her sisters had any type of cancer. There was nothing at all. This was also confirmed with genetic testing.
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My family was very supportive. I had family members
making
sure
my
children
had
something to eat. Some would come to clean up the house, especially on the days of treatment. My daughter drove me to all my chemotherapy appointments. I truly cannot complain. I also did a commercial for the American Cancer Society. When I was tested for the chemotherapy that I was to receive, I had a very bad allergic reaction to it.
