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This was back in 2004.
I was coming from work and I was on my way on the freeway.
And no traffic, and all of a sudden this car just came
and hit me from the back, and I hit the car in front of me.
And my chest hit the steering wheel.
And when it hit, I just -- I mean, I was in so much pain.
You know, we pulled over.
The ambulance came,
and that's where they found a big tumor in my medial steinem.
And he said you need to go see an oncologist right away.
The doctor told me when they gave me the PET scan
the cancer was already coming up to here.
It was really --
it was aggressive so they started me on chemo.
It was in 2004.
2005 I started working at Kaiser.
And four years after that, I started getting again
chest pain, shortness of breath.
And I went to see Dr. Bernstein-Singer.
I began following her just to see if there would be
any evidence of recurrence.
And in 2008 there was noted some very small abnormalities
in the lung, too small to biopsy or to characterize.
And so I followed her very closely with frequent CT scans
as well as PET scans as needed.
I keep going to see her every month.
And when she did the PET scan, it came out that the tumor
was growing in my lung.
So luckily I was what, a Stage I or II?
So I was able -- I went to see Dr. Chang and he --
I had surgery in my lung.
They did a left lobectomy and it was cancer.
She was treated with standard chemotherapy.
And this was followed by maintenance treatment.
I continued to follow her. And she's doing extremely well.
And it's been a real pleasure to take care of her.
If she didn't follow up on those tumors, six months, seven months
could you imagine where I'd be?
I probably wouldn't even be here.
All the nurses there in the department in oncology,
they're wonderful.
You know, especially when you're going through your chemo
and you're lying down and you're throwing up.
You know, you're just sick.
And they're always there, always there to help you.
You don't feel alone, you know?
You have the comfort and the care there, which is wonderful.
Dr. Bernstein was just so caring with me 'cause she knew
I was a single mom, and I would cry.
I'd say I'm scared I'm going to die.
I'm going to leave my children.
She always gave me the best advice.
She's a very good listener.
I'm happy that I made it, you know?
I'm able to be here for my children and...
I'm very thankful.