CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — We continue our Positively Pink: Survivor Series with a true go-getter defying the odds of her breast cancer diagnosis while helping others. Amanda Medina hopes her experiences guide others on a similar path... but has one big wish.
If you are looking for someone full of personality straight out of South Texas, you have come to the right place! Born in Richmond south of Houston, Medina got to Taft, Texas as fast as she could!
"This is my little town right here. And I can afford to live here" she laughed.
Sassy, determined, and full of drive, you would never know just by looking at her today that she has stage four breast cancer.
"This is going to sound funny, but I'm so grateful that God just said 'Here Bam! You're Stage 4,' because I don't think I could have handled being stage 1,2,3, beat it and then it come back again."
Medina was 33-years-old back in 2018 when she was told she had De Novo metastatic breast cancer and it was terminal. She was given two to five-years to live.
"The medications I'm on now after going through 10 rounds of chemo...it was told [to me] that it would fail after six-months. I'm going on two-years. Thank you Baby Jesus for that."
She has four or five other treatment options before considering experimental, clinical trials but this 37-year-old crusader is keenly aware - there is no cure.
"Right now, I'm just trying to live."
And right now she is winning. Medina, a former dental assistant, keeps busy speaking to doctors and pharmaceutical companies across the nation searching for a cure while still making time to help others battling this disease in South Texas.
"If they have cancer or they had it, or they are going through it...this is the group they want to be in."
She started a private Facebook group that currently has 70 members and counting; all sharing their stories and resources with Medina who neatly organizes them into albums.
"So if your triple negative, I put you in an album. If you're ERPR positive I put you here. Two reached out to me. 'I have no insurance'. 'Girl, I got you', because I've been there, done that. 'This is what you're going to do'."
If you can't tell by now, Medina does not sit still for long. She just pulled off organizing the inaugural 'Light up Metastatic Breast Cancer 5K Color Run' at Cole park. Medina says by her count there are only six other women with her type of diagnosis in the Coastal Bend.
And she is not naive. Medina is fully aware there is an end to her breast cancer journey. She makes plenty of time for her 19-year-old son, Samuel and boyfriend of 13-years Joel.
Medina does has one final wish.
"Hopefully, and my family is so big that it's hard to get everybody on the same page, but that is my ultimate dream...is to get a family photo. That is why these walls are bare. I'm waiting for the perfect photo to put up there. That was my thing when I got diagnosed. I told God: 'I surrender to you. I'm ready but please give me a chance to be here'. I think he's not done with me. I'm still here. So..."
Medina is all about giving back as you can clearly tell. Through this series, 3NEWS is making it easier to give back to First Friday who helps provide free mammograms to women with limited to no insurance. You can connect with them here to learn more.
Be sure to tune in every Tuesday and Thursday for more 'Positively Pink' stories of women battling breast cancer and how they are inspiring others.
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