Anna Liza Ganeb thinks pink for newly diagnosed patients and medical professionals

It was in 2020 when Anna Liza Ganeb  was talking with her friend Rhea Domingo on the phone discussing yearly check-ups, when Ganeb admitted she lapsed

“She really instilled in me that you need to do it this week. You haven't done it in four years. Four years just went by..but mommy is so busy,” said Ganeb. 

Ganeb made the appointment and it was through a mammogram, they noticed a lump on her right breast.

“Thinking back now I should've realized something wrong it wasn't just a mammo, they had me come in immediately for an ultrasound, and then Dr. Berg came in, I think I was in denial maybe,” she said. 

After a biopsy, it was confirmed to be an early stage of breast cancer. She said when hearing the diagnosis, she felt shocking panic and desperation. Dr. Berg saw the look on her face.

“He reassured me and said, it will be hard because you do need treatment but can do it here,” she said. “It needed chemotherapy and when you hear that, everything after that, it's kind of like noise. You're not really comprehending anything.”

When she got home, she started to research her diagnosis. Her panic mode had now shifted into detective mode.

“What can I do to fix this? It was very disarming because I knew I couldn't fix it. Triple positive hormone breast cancer. After that I met with a surgeon. It was very fast,” she said.  

The days ahead included so many medical procedures that scared her even more: CAT scans, MRIs, a port insertion via surgery. 

Ganeb had six rounds of four  to five hour chemo treatments that were three weeks apart. Her hair fell off by the 2nd round of chem. Her tastebuds were shot for 10-14 days after chemo.

“When you hear something like that, you think to yourself, how am I going to continue working, taking care of my family...they reassured it was going to be fine.....but I also started to look to other survivors,” she said. 

Ganeb met and had long conversations with survivors who openly shared their stories- everything about their journey.

“Beside the issenant prayers with my family and myself, I wanted to hear their experience,” she said. 

Following the six cycles of chemo, she had surgery to remove the original tumor. Her lymph nodes were still clear. Margins were also clear, however, there were still millimeters of her tumor left. 

Ganeb then started radiation treatments and another 14 cycles of a shorter chemotherapy treatment.

And what got her through those rough days?

“My purpose. What’s our purpose in our life? Taking care of your family, our kids, wanting to live. Because you think to yourself, this can't be it for me,” she added. 

Today, Ganeb is a four-year triple positive, stage 2 breast cancer survivor.

And who does she think pink for?

“As a survivor I think how did I get to survive and not others..I think about them. I think about the newly diagnosed patients who are fearful.....I’m here to help them and comfort them. The medical professionals, we see it and we recognize them,” said Ganeb.