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Caring for our community at Lovelace Medical Center

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, J.B. shared her breast cancer story with us. Now read her recollection of meeting her surgeon and a piece she wrote that was inspired by the Netflix series, “The Queen’s Gambit”.

My Surgeon

Listen in as one of the Lovelace UNM Rehabilitation Occupational Therapy Assistants talks about the PWR! Program used to treat Parkinson's Disease.

Art Lucero has been active his entire life, staying in shape playing tennis and volleyball and swimming. He lived with a sore right knee from a old basketball injury, but that didn’t stop him from riding his bike to work for 15 years. While he has had some aches and pains along the way, wrapping a bandage on his knee for a couple of days would typically take care of the pain.

However, things started to change when he turned 64. The pain seemed to last longer after each activity. Some days he would walk out to the garage, tinker around a bit and feel the pain mounting again.

Often when we think of exercise during pregnancy, we think of cardio or maybe a low impact perinatal fitness class. Cardio during pregnancy can be healthy when approved by your OB or midwife; however, cardio is not the only exercise regimen that provides health and wellness. During the very first few days of pregnancy a hormone called relaxin is released. This hormone helps hip joints to have more flexibility and to help the pelvis expand and grow during pregnancy. Relaxin can cause hip joints to be sore sometimes.

Bernadette G. was never a fan of doctor’s offices or annual check-ups and vowed to avoid them whenever she could. But, when a close friend was diagnosed with breast cancer, she began to prioritize her health, taking proactive steps by regularly performing breast self-exams at home. Shortly after getting into this new routine, Bernadette became anxious as she noticed a small, marble-like lump on the lower part of her left breast.

J.B. shares, first-hand, her breast cancer journey.