Survivor of Heart Surgery and Breast Cancer Shares Her Story and Message

After her double bypass heart surgery a decade ago and being diagnosed with breast cancer a year ago, Veronica Vicente has a lot of experience dealing with medical conditions and some sage advice for others in her situation. Namely, be persistent with your health care providers and persevere when faced with a myriad of medical treatments and long recoveries.

Veronica, a Hayward resident, is sharing her inspiring story to help other people in her community facing cancer or other major medical diagnoses. Her narrative is unique. Before her 2013 double bypass surgery to open two almost completely blocked coronary arteries and preceding her October 2023 breast cancer diagnosis, initial tests showed nothing was wrong with her. Persistence with her primary care physicians and referred specialists paid off, and she ultimately received the care she needed.

Veronica had been experiencing some intermittent symptoms with her right breast, but her mammogram results did not show anything suspicious, only dense breasts. She has a family history of breast cancer, and her sister, who is an obstetrician-gynecologist (OB-GYN) in the Philippines, encouraged her to stay vigilant and persistent with her doctors. After several months, she felt a lump during a self-exam. A resulting mammogram, ultrasound, and biopsy revealed she had a 2-centimeter malignant tumor.

Since her husband had worked at UCSF for 24 years, Veronica knew it was a good hospital and wanted to go there for her cancer care. But when she found out about the UCSF - Washington Hospital Cancer Center in Fremont, she was thrilled to learn she would not have to commute to her treatments. The affiliation between UCSF Health and Washington Hospital Healthcare System (WHHS) provides access to the highest quality cancer treatment, research, and technology close to home for Tri-City residents.

Veronica’s first of six chemotherapy sessions was scheduled for her 62nd birthday last October, so she postponed it by two days. Veronica also loves traveling and was slated to go to Europe with her family in November but sadly had to cancel to prioritize her therapy. Despite losing her hair and appetite, Veronica kept up a strong front. She wore a wig and only told her closest friends and family about her illness. Instead of taking a medical leave from her work as an office manager, she arranged to work remotely on a flexible schedule when she felt well enough.

Veronica chose to have a bilateral mastectomy and reconstructive surgery two months post-chemotherapy in March of this year. Her OB-GYN sister and her daughter, who works in a plastic surgery department locally, helped advise her on having both breasts removed to prevent a recurrence. Once recovered, she followed up with infusions of Herceptin, a targeted therapy anticancer drug to prevent the cancer from coming back. With this therapy, there were no side effects other than a headache, which resolved with Tylenol.

“I can recommend the UCSF - Washington Cancer Center to anyone because it was the right place for me. I feel so blessed and appreciative of my oncologist Dr. Tenold, surgeons Dr. Dugoni and Dr. Kilaru, and nurse navigator Christine Mikkelson, as well as the wonderful nurses at the infusion center,” said Veronica. “Everything here is so nice and all the facilities are very clean and accommodating. It is great to have the cancer center nearby and not have to drive to San Francisco for appointments.”

Despite a year of cancer treatments and surgeries, Veronica is feeling “positive, great, and blessed!” She is back to traveling and doing what she loves—spending time with family. While she did not want people to know she had cancer when she was fighting it, now she’s happy to share her story and words of encouragement with others facing a cancer diagnosis. “Stay aware of your health and how you are feeling. If you think something is wrong, be persistent and advocate for yourself. If you are diagnosed with cancer, rely on your support network at home and work, persevere, and you will get through it.”

To learn more about the UCSF - Washington Cancer Center, go to whhs.com/Cancer.