Growing hope for cancer patients

Maria Elena Vazquez has battled colon cancer for more than two years and has remained positive through extensive hospital stays and a near overdose from excessive treatment of chemotherapy.

The 43-year-old mother of two, who was born in Glendale, will not let cancer overrun her life, she said.

“I have been active all of my life,” Vazquez said.

She was a flamenco dancer, had her own dance company and was able to go back to work when she was diagnosed. But this time, her body is too tired for dancing, she said.

“I will come back,” Vazquez said. “I will do it, and I will train as well as I did before.”

She began chemotherapy treatment Monday at Glendale Adventist Medical Center after she heard that its doctors offered excellent care in colon cancer.

Vazquez had a traumatic experience when she was diagnosed, and a tumor that blocked the descending part of her colon was removed at Cedar Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, she said.

After the surgery, she was treated with chemotherapy, put under an oncologist’s care and given an almost lethal dose of the chemicals because they didn’t test how her body metabolized the drugs, Vazquez said.

The near-death experience made Vazquez apprehensive about getting more chemotherapy treatments, but she opted to go Glendale Adventist, where her treatment for her cancer, which has spread, will be monitored, she said.

To give Vazquez more hope, the center gave her and other cancer patients Monday afternoon a bouquet of daffodils each, which the American Cancer Society donated in honor of its Daffodil Days campaign that is aimed at increasing cancer awareness and supporting research of the disease.

“The daffodil is the first flower of the spring and is the flower of hope, so all of our cancer survivors and all of our cancer patients that are fighting this disease will see this as a free gift,” said Teryl MacDougall, the center’s Positive Image coordinator

MacDougall handed Vazquez a bouquet, which was one of 200 flower arrangements given to patients.

“It’s making me feel very good,” Vazquez said. “This is definitely going to cheer up a lot of people.”

She told MacDougall that the daffodils represented her two favorite colors, which were green and yellow.

Though Vazquez will not be dancing in the coming months, she said she has found other avenues, such as writing music and painting, to stimulate her mind.

She wrote 10 songs during her last chemotherapy treatment experience, which she said has influenced her music lyrics.

“I want to make sure I am happy, whether I am able to stick around or I have to go and to be happy and to clear out any negative relationships,” Vazquez said. “That’s really been major.”

Los Angeles resident Dora Reyes, 33, has also tried to remain positive during her chemotherapy treatments for joint cancer, which she was diagnosed with a year and a half ago.

Reyes received a bouquet of daffodils, which she said was beautiful and will help her heal emotionally.

“It makes me feel special,” she said.

A doctor told her that there is no cure for her cancer, she said.

Her pain often makes it hard to get up every morning, but she said she pushes through her aches in order to be strong for her three sons, who are 16, 14, and 6 years old.

“I am taking one day at a time,” she said.

Reyes often goes to the medical center and gets counseling and massages. She knits and donates crochet hats for patients who lost their hair from chemotherapy.

For Reyes, every day is special.

“I am grateful to be alive today,” Reyes said.