SAN ANTONIO (October 1, 2014) – Julie La Fuente Louviere of San Antonio has fought — and survived — three bouts of breast cancer. She has also run a half-marathon, celebrated 25 years of marriage, turned 50, become a grandmother, and watched her oldest daughter graduate from law school.
Louviere is among the 16 local Latina survivors who will celebrate their stories of hope, triumph, and resiliency on Tuesday, Oct. 7, observing the 10th anniversary of Nuestras Historias: Mujeres Hispanas Sobreviviendo el Cáncer del Seno (Our Stories: Hispanic Women Surviving Breast Cancer).
Nuestras Historias, a 2004 booklet with English/Spanish essays by Louviere and other Latina cancer survivors, was produced by Redes En Acción, a national Latino cancer research network funded by the National Cancer Institute and based at the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio.
To celebrate this and mark National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the media is invited to meet and interview these 16 women on Tuesday, Oct. 7 at 1 p.m. on the 4th floor of the Grossman Building in the Cancer Therapy & Research Center, 7979 Wurzbach Rd., San Antonio.
You may also:
• View the 16 Nuestras Historias survivors’ “then and now” photos, stories, and videos.
• Join a #SaludTues Tweetchat on Latina breast cancer solutions at noon Tuesday, Oct. 7, hosted by the IHPR’s Latino health Twitter handle, @SaludToday, with co-hosts and experts from Susan G. Komen for the Cure (@SusanGKomen) and Kaiser Permanente (@KPVivaBien and @KPShare).
“We really want to share these Latinas’ incredible stories that breast cancer isn’t a death sentence; surviving is possible with awareness, screening, and early detection,” said IHPR director Amelie Ramirez, Dr.P.H., the Dielmann Chair in Health Disparities Research & Community Outreach and the Max and Minnie Tomerlin Voelcker Endowed Chair in Cancer Health Care Disparities at the Health Science Center.
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, one of the country’s leading health sciences universities, ranks in the top 3 percent of all institutions worldwide receiving National Institutes of Health funding. The university’s schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have produced more than 29,000 graduates. The $765.2 million operating budget supports eight campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. For more information on the many ways “We make lives better®,” visit www.uthscsa.edu.
The Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio investigates the causes and solutions to the unequal impact of cancer and chronic disease among certain populations, including Latinos, in San Antonio, South Texas and the nation. The IHPR, founded in 2006, uses evidence-guided research, training and community outreach to improve the health of those at a disadvantage due to race/ethnicity or social determinants, such as education or income. Visit the IHPR online at http://ihpr.uthscsa.edu or follow its blog at http://www.saludtoday.com/blog.