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Hispanic Heritage Month: Beyond the Taboo

Karla Chavez, Cervivor Ambassador & 2022 Cervivor Champion Award Recipient

In the months of September and October, we are celebrating our Hispanic heritage.

History supports our struggle and power to overcome difficulties. We are brave, passionate, and colorful people. We also come from many beliefs and cultures, some of which can be obstacles.

It is a reality that many Latinas die from a disease that can be prevented. The lack of education, the lack of specialization of our doctors, and the HPV taboo are our challenges to overcome in order to win the war against cervical cancer and other cancers caused by the Human Papillomavirus.

I was 34 years old when I was diagnosed and in a country where our sex education is given in science and biology classes, but discussed little outside the parameters of our classrooms. Being able to accept and share that my cancer was caused by HPV gave me freedom. I talked about it with my family, and I remember having the feeling of, “What are they going to think of me?“ They really didn’t care. Their only concern was my health.

Being diagnosed with a cancer caused by HPV carries with it a taboo in my culture. We often do not discuss this with anyone because we do not want them to judge us, much less reject us. Many times we struggle alone with feeling guilty. This stigma must be overcome. We must trust that we will find support, in our family, in our friends, and/or in faith. The way to overcome this issue is to talk about it without fear, so that the next time we hear about cervical cancer, it’s because it is being prevented. We want our communities getting vaccinated and that we don’t wait ages for our doctor appointments.

A doctor told me, “the vast majority of us will have an HPV infection at some point, what we need is to remove the stigma behind those three letters and attack it.” 

This resonated with me. It made me feel that even though I didn’t know much about what was happening to me, it wasn’t my fault. It is something that I had to go through, and I must overcome it.

Karla with her Madre & Abuela

Once I took away the power that guilt had over me, I began to fight. I have had the joy of having my family as my support team. We have fought with a lot of faith and love. Which is one of the characteristics of our Hispanic culture, keeping us together as a family no matter the situation.

I am also sure that my doctors were the answer to my prayers in my moments of fear. I received 8 chemotherapies and 35 internal radiation treatments. After a total hysterectomy and colostomy surgery, I have made it my mission to never shut up about what I went through. Because to someone out there, something in my story will resonate and they will act. Either getting vaccinated, scheduling their cancer screenings, or vaccinating their children.

I’m still here to celebrate life and the month of Hispanic heritage. I’m still here to tell you that cervical cancer can be prevented. That there is a vaccine that can save the lives of hundreds of thousands. I’m still here to talk to everyone about the vaccine and prevention.

When I was diagnosed, I wanted to fight and win. Now that I celebrate 5 years without evidence of disease, I want to fight and overcome the stigma, the lack of education about HPV, and its relationship with various types of cancer.

After attending Cervivor School I learned how to share my story, how to speak up, and be the voice that can resonate with someone else.

I have had the opportunity to participate in talks at universities, high schools, religious groups in my country, and in workplace meetings, and always that I can to each person that wants to listen.

I want everyone to get the HPV vaccine, to make their cancer screening appointments so that together we can dream of a Honduras and a world free of cervical cancer.

Fellow cervical cancer survivors/patients, I leave you with a mission: Share your story, because your story will resonate with someone.

Visit Cervivor.org to share your story with an easy-to-follow template!

Karla Chavez is from Honduras and she is a civil engineer and amigurumi enthusiast. Karla is a 5-year cervical and thyroid cancer survivor and a proud ostomate. She is a Cervivor Ambassador, a 2019 Cervivor School graduate, a Cervivor Champion Award recipient, and is a key support to our growing Cervivor Espanol community.

Transcending Passion Into Purpose

When my chemo and radiation treatments ended in July 2013, I struggled to return to my normal life, including my career in agricultural field research. Physically, I no longer had the stamina to work in a corn field for up to ten hours a day. Mentally, I began to question if I was even passionate about my job anymore. I had just survived cervical cancer, so I didn’t want to waste another minute in a job that wasn’t fulfilling. I felt lost and knew I needed to find a new career path that would give me a better sense of purpose. 

I thought hard about what I was passionate about and how I could turn that into a career. I knew I was passionate about cancer advocacy but didn’t know how to apply that to a job quite yet. I found the field of cancer registry interesting but knew little about it. I thought about cancer registry off and on over the next few years but kept dismissing the idea of becoming a cancer registrar because it would require two years of schooling to become certified. 

Cancer registries are important because they reduce the burden of cancer on the community by improving patient outcomes and ensuring funding for public health cancer prevention programs. A cancer registrar is responsible for collecting, maintaining, and reporting cancer data on all cancer types diagnosed and/or treated within a hospital or other medical facility. This data is entered into a cancer registry system, or database, that is then reported to state and national cancer registries. 

Cancer registry data is used by many, including oncologists and other doctors to compare cases for treatment plans, researchers for clinical trials, public health officials for evaluation of cancer prevention programs, policymakers to determine state and national funding of cancer control programs, and cancer organizations for statistics (like the American Cancer Society). 

In 2020, amid the pandemic and working from home, I decided to go for it and enrolled in an online program to become a certified cancer registrar. I am now one year into the program and am enjoying every class I take. I feel like I have a sense of purpose that was missing.

Someone once told me that cancer registrars impact cancer advocacy, policy, and research. This is so true! Knowing that my future job will impact cancer in these ways is exactly the fulfillment I am looking for in a career. It may have taken an unexpected cancer diagnosis, a lot of personal reflection, and seven years to figure out a new direction for my career path, but by the Spring of 2023, I’ll achieve my goal of becoming a certified cancer registrar. You too, can start achieving your goals in 2022, by focusing on your passions with a willingness to persevere. 

Emily is an eight-year cervical cancer survivor who was diagnosed with stage 2B cervical cancer at age 30. After cancer, Emily didn’t realize she even had an advocacy voice until she attended her first Cervivor School in 2016. Today, she is a patient advocate and Cervivor Ambassador who shares her cancer story to raise awareness for ending cervical cancer and to educate others on the importance of cervical cancer screenings and prevention. Emily is the recipient of the 2020 Cervivor Spark Award and the 2022 Cervivor Champion Award. She plans to graduate with her certification in cancer registry in spring 2023.