It’s October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month. A few years ago, I did a story on my masseuse and her trials and tribulations. At that time, she had just battled breast cancer but was struggling with its aftermath. Later, I heard she had passed away. I didn’t even know she had gotten sick again.

It was only recently that I realized that so many other people that I love have been afflicted with this illness.

Rather than posting infantile Facebook status updates, I think that sharing survivor stories is a better way to raise awareness for breast cancer prevention and its early detection.

I know Leah Caringal from our days of hanging around the caf bench at the Ateneo, chain smoking between classes. (She was several years younger but carpooled with one of the girls I hung out with.) While I’ve remained a slacker, she is now a successful businesswoman. She runs her own public relations firm.

In June 2013, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Tell me about your lifestyle BC (Before Cancer).

I was fairly active. I would run a few times a week and, by the time I was diagnosed, I had completed two New York City Marathons, however very slowly.

Leah Caringal with Ani De Leon and Kaye Pascual at the Abotiiz Tri in Nasugbu, Batangas in April 2014.

I used to smoke in high school and in college – out of peer pressure! How dumb is that? I quit after I started working and realised how expensive it was to buy my own cigarettes. And, as I got more serious with running, I couldn’t continue to smoke and expect to run well.

Drinking was purely social but, having said that, I am not a hermit. I stick to wine though.

So you were pretty healthy. What were your eating habits like?

I ate well. Not too much read meat. I enjoyed vegetables, and did not overeat dessert. I preferred fish over meat, but would have the occasional guilty pleasure of KFC with lots of gravy and rice.

Describe your work. What were your stress levels like? Did you take holidays often?

I’m very intense when it comes to work. I’ve always been this way, so stress levels are constant and high. But when I do take off for a holiday, I take the time to let go just a wee bit. I am always in touch though, taking calls at 3AM wherever I am in the world.

H ow d id you learn that you had cancer? Prior to that, were you getting regular mammograms / breast ultrasounds? Did you suspect that there might be a problem? What clued you in on it?

Annual Executive Check-ups are a norm for me. It was a habit that I picked up from former business partners who had it done regularly. Because I didn’t want to be left behind at the office when my business partners had theirs done, I tagged along.

In one of those exams, the doctors found something suspicious. I was called in for a biopsy. I was screaming fucking murder, and was told that the results would be out a few days later.

**I was traveling to New York the day after the biopsy so I had requested the doctor to send me an email and to please “laymanize” the message.**An email arrived to say I had cancer. I did get what I asked for.

Do you have a history of cancer in the family?

My father died of lymphoma, and my maternal grandmother survived colon cancer but eventually died of complications. I’m the first to be diagnosed with breast cancer though.

What treatments were recommended? And what were the s ide effects?

I had a lumpectomy a few weeks after I found out. One month or two of rest then 33 sessions of radiation. And 10 years of medication.

Radiation literally sucked the life out of me. I lost a lot of weight, I lost my appetite, and just felt dreadful. Think sun-dried tomatoes. I still feel parched from it and can drink four liters of water a day!

It took me a while to get back to “fighting form”.

What changes have you made to your lifestyle since then? Any major lifestyle upheavals?

I’m more conscious of what I eat, counting calories, avoiding processed sugar… Except wine.

I’m back to getting fit. I’m not sure if I want to train for another marathon though. I don’t think I want that anymore.

I’m more forgiving of my body. When I’m tired, I just go home and rest.

What would you say to someone who has just been diagnosed with breast cancer?

Breast cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer. That’s a good thing as it is one of the most researched as well. It can be treated and life goes on.

At the ICanServe Fundraising show in October 2015. ICanServe is a foundation supporting early breast cancer detection.

This series is dedicated to Rose Capua, my masseuse, who passed away from breast cancer on January 21, 2014, and to all the brave women who are battling this illness now.