October is the month to support friends and family who have overcome or are battling breast cancer. Breast cancer is a disease in which abnormal breast cells grow out of control and form tumors. Undiagnosed and untreated, it can spread rapidly and become fatal. Breast cancer impacts the entire body; if breast cancer spreads, it is called secondary breast cancer. Most commonly, the cancer is known to spread to the liver, lungs, brain, and bones. 

The condition is severe and formidable, but there are survivors. Mrs. Alejandra Torres, the Del Rio High School science department head and teacher, has had breast cancer. She is the sponsor for the student council and the sophomore class.

Torres was motivated to become a teacher because she comes from a family of educators. However, she shared that family is not the only motivator for her to teach. “Getting that look from a kid that feels that they learned something and makes them proud,” makes her love teaching the most, Torres said.

Outside of the classroom, Torres is a mom of two: one boy and one girl. “Seeing them grow up [is my favorite thing about being a mom],” Torres said, “family is the most important thing to me.”

Breast cancer awareness month is crucial to her because she is a cancer survivor and knows women who have also been through this journey, so she has always supported the cause. At the age of 38, Torres was diagnosed with second-stage breast cancer–not only did she have cancer, but the cancerous cells had spread to other portions of her body. 

While battling breast cancer, Torres went through six chemotherapies, twenty-nine radiation treatments, and a double mastectomy with reconstruction. Due to the rigorous treatments, she lost all her hair and had to wear a wig for nine months. Despite this, Torres never missed a day of work besides her chemotherapy treatment days. “Teaching and working with StuCo was a big distraction for me. It helped me out so much. Students and staff were so supportive and understanding,” Torres said.

Battling any type of cancer is hard, especially if you are fighting it alone. During the month of October, we have the opportunity to be the support for those who have or are currently going through their breast cancer journey.

Finding out she had breast cancer was really difficult for Torres; fortunately, Torres always had the support of her family and friends team through her diagnosis and treatments, and she emphasized that her strong faith had helped her immensely. 

She was fully committed to achieving remission despite the difficult and intense treatments and procedures remission entailed. Giving up was never an option for Torres made this incredibly clear. She fought and pushed through everything for her kids. “I did not want my kids to lose their mom,” Torres concluded. 

She has now been cancer-free for fourteen years.