225: Chatting about Being a Cancer Survivor with Patricia Diaz

Pretty girls don’t get cancer,” the doctor assured M. Patricia Diaz over 30 years ago. At the age of just 16, Diaz was scared and uncomfortable. However, the doctor’s words were meant to reassure her — and at the time, they worked. Patricia had been bracing for bad news, and now she felt relieved. Two months later, she was diagnosed with stage IV terminal cancer. Pretty Girls Don’t Get Cancer is Diaz’s candid, compelling story of overcoming the medical odds and transforming herself — mind, body, and spirit — as a way of nurturing her ongoing healing process. Diaz experienced a year of social isolation (due to her compromised immune system at the time) during what should have been the most carefree, enjoyable time in her young life. Her journey toward authentic recovery would require spiritual growth and the kind of introspection that typically comes with maturity and hindsight. “Isolation, at first a burden, in time, turned into a precious gift,” Diaz reflects. “It gave me space and silence, and it shone the light into the corners of my soul that were comfortably dim. … I was alive — I was breathing, and that insight made all the difference for me to make the best of the time I had to spend with ‘me.’” Pretty Girls Don’t Get Cancer does not sugarcoat the agony of the tests and treatments that Diaz endured, but she keeps the narrative conversational and relatable, with Latin American nuances and sprinkles of adolescent humor. Part coming-of-age, part motivational memoir, her story is a testament to the power of a strong community, personal resiliency, and grains of faith in the face of a cancer diagnosis. Diaz shows readers how her illness affected her life, her family, and the community, and how restoring her physical health was only the first step toward healing.

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Helpful links:

• https://mpatriciadiaz.com/
• Author Profile: https://store.bookbaby.com/profile/MPatriciaDiaz
• Pretty Girls Don’t Get Cancer https://amzn.to/37ZADbf { affiliate link}