"When Pereda was first diagnosed with stage 1B cervical cancer almost a decade ago - shortly after immigrating from Mexico City - the grueling treatment taught her a lesson about self-love and health. Then the cancer's metastatic recurrence in 2021, which spread to her lungs and fractured her spine, dealt a blow of chemotherapy and immunotherapy that she barely survived."
""I was pissed - like, 'Come on, it's not fair - I did what I was supposed to do,'" said Pereda, now in her early 50s. "But I need to move on, because if you get stuck, it's even more painful. I'm trying to make the best of it." Fear had largely replaced that anger the Sunday afternoon before she was scheduled for brain surgery at Kaiser in Santa Clara,"
Gilma Pereda, a three-time cancer patient and immigrant from Mexico City, discovered an egg-sized brain cyst a few weeks before Halloween after difficulty quieting her mind. Her medical history includes stage 1B cervical cancer nearly a decade ago and a metastatic recurrence in 2021 that spread to her lungs and fractured her spine. She faced another life-threatening prognosis and underwent scheduled brain surgery at Kaiser in Santa Clara. Pereda experienced anger and fear but sought calm through weekly qigong, yoga, and meditation sessions. She relies on Cancer CAREpoint for nutrition classes, massage therapy, and social support to cope during treatment and quarantine.
Read at The Mercury News
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