Early detection is very important in the fight against breast cancer, says a survivor from Arizona

TUCSON, Arizona – In Arizona this year alone, approximately 5,700 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 850 will die of it. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women, just behind lung cancer.

Liliana Ahumada is a breast cancer survivor who can not stress enough the importance of early detection.
Ahumada, only 33, mother of two and wife, felt a lump on her left breast.

"When I first felt it, I was not too worried because I always had a dense mass, I always had bumps on both sides." But then I realized that this one was different because she was not on the other side, "Ahumada said.

She entered for a check-up. The day of his daughters 11 years old, she received the call.

"It was difficult, my children were crossing my mind, she was very young and she had just turned 11. I had a 7 year old at that time," Ahumada said.

In the absence of a family history of breast cancer, Ahumada was diagnosed with stage 2, level 3 invasive ductal carcinoma. In women under 40, less than 5% of breast cancers diagnosed in the United States are diagnosed.

Ahumada underwent a double mastectomy and 18 weeks of chemotherapy.

"I was very fortunate to have a wonderful support group – my mother, my sisters, my husband, my job and my children – but I became recluse, I did not want to go anywhere anymore." said Ahumada.

Today, one year after his diagnosis, Ahumada no longer has cancer and has a new perspective on life.

"Cancer has opened my eyes to this new perspective, and I no longer take things for granted," Ahumada said. "I look at things differently – before I let things go – fast paced, work, and now I'm going to take time for family, kids and for myself."