SURVIVOR STORY
DR. TERESA VAN HOY

Breast cancer. It’s a frightening diagnosis. But fear thrives on darkness, and many survivors willingly shine a light to chase away the fear by sharing their stories of survival, hope and happiness. Dr. Teresa Van Hoy, a historian, professor, chair of Women’s Studies, breast cancer survivor and Latinas for a CureTM volunteer, shares her story with San Antonio Woman Magazine.

San Antonio Woman: I understand you are a breast cancer survivor. Can you please tell me about your diagnosis and how many years have passed since that diagnosis?

Dr. Van Hoy: On Feb. 19, 2002, at 11:30 am, I learned that I had breast cancer. It turned out that I had not one but two malignant tumors, so I pushed for the most aggressive response we could muster — cut, burn and poison (bilateral mastectomy, radiation and chemo).

San Antonio Woman: Why do you volunteer for Komen and the Latinas for a CureTM program?

Dr. Van Hoy: I began to volunteer in order to give back. But very quickly it became one of my favorite set of friends and colleagues — courageous folks, committed, visionary, funny and FUN.

San Antonio Woman: Would you describe your experience in having participated with the Race?

Dr. Van Hoy: Komen’s Race for the Cure® gives strength to all of us touched by cancer. Even my kids felt it. The energy and empathy of that beautiful crowd buoyed our spirits for weeks. The Race offers our community a moment of deep connection. The barriers of class, race, gender and generation fall, and we glimpse what we could do if we stood together all year long.

San Antonio Woman: What do you tell others who have been diagnosed?

Dr. Van Hoy: Above all, that they are not alone. We are many, already on this pilgrimage. We journey toward strength and understanding, savoring those sweet moments of life. And the beauty is that those of us living with cancer may have more of those moments than before, when we took precious things for granted.

San Antonio Woman: Tell us about the Business Honor Roll program.

Dr. Van Hoy: This is one of the great innovations sponsored by Latinas for a CureTM. This is the first initiative of its kind in the nation, perhaps the world.  It honors those employers who give their employees time off work without penalty to go to medical appointments for breast health. This promotes early detection, which saves lives (and money). Many of our Latinas and women of color cannot afford to miss work to go for a check-up. The employers on our Business Honor Roll care enough to support them, and we invite everyone to support, in turn, those visionary employers.

San Antonio Woman: Is there anything else you think is important that people know about you, the disease and your work?

Dr. Van Hoy: Can you be sexy without breasts? Absolutely! At first, I felt unattractive with my flat chest. That first week after surgery, I went shopping for prostheses, but ran out of the store in tears. It has been almost five years since that day, and I have felt beautiful ever since. I wear clingy silk blouses. I go biking in my sports bra. My students gave me a chili pepper rating. My kids have not been embarrassed by me, not even when I tutor their friends at their middle school. I get no curious or pitying stares. It is like the Japanese concept of “wabi,” that beauty is enhanced by the distinctive flaw, the crack in the pottery.


For information about the Business Honor Roll, Latinas for a CureTM or the 10th Annual Komen San Antonio Race for the Cure® on Saturday, March 31st at the Alamodome, call 210-222-9009 or go to www.komensanantonio.org.