After having skipped 13 years of annual check-ups and mammograms, in September 2009 Odilia knew it was time to see a physician — she had found two lumps in her left breast through self-examination. Her search for medical care led her to Hope Clinic of Garland and enrollment in Project Access Dallas. She was diagnosed with breast cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy.

Growing up in the heat-soaked fields of south Texas, Odilia was no stranger to hard work or hardships. She shared a small home with five sisters and four brothers, all of whom toiled in the agricultural fields of the Rio Grande Valley. She eventually married and moved with her husband to Dallas County, where they remain while raising their three children.

For Odilia, enduring chemotherapy is nothing. She’s missed only a handful of hours at work since she began treatments and says she doesn’t plan to miss any in the future. Her large family plays a major role in her positive attitude. Upon losing her hair, one of her sisters shaved her head in solidarity. The school where Odilia has worked for several years has offered a tremendous amount of support.

“Before every treatment all the teachers and students write me cards and tell me I’ll be OK,” she says. “Every week the principal wears an article of pink clothing in my honor — everyone is so supportive.”
Aside from the support she receives from her family and co-workers, Odilia expressed how wonderful her physicians and other caregivers have been and how thankful she is for PAD.

“Without PAD I wouldn’t be able to do anything,” she says. “I’m treated the same as anyone else, just like if I had insurance. It’s been such a great help to me.”

For a woman who laughs easily and loves to tell jokes to anyone who will listen, she gets uncharacteristically quiet when asked for a final time if she’d like to thank anyone else for her treatments.

“Just … thank you,” she says. “There are no words.”

Odilia is confident that she will beat cancer, so much so that she hopes to walk in Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure events. She’s so confident in her battle that she just looks in the mirror and laughs every day. “You’re going to get over it,” she tells herself, and then adds, “Sometimes, you just have to laugh at stuff.”

And because of PAD, Odilia is sure to have many years of laughter ahead.