October 21, 2025 • 37 mins
What happens when life forces you to stop — and truly see what matters most?
In this deeply moving episode of The Stellar Talk Show, host Stella Ram sits down with Raquel, a mother of four and breast cancer survivor, who turned pain into purpose and fear into fierce resilience.
Born in Toronto to immigrant parents from Colombia and Uruguay, Raquel spent 15 years in banking before life took a turn she never expected — an aggressive Stage 3 breast cancer diagnosis that changed everything.
💬 Together, we talk about:
✨ The day everything changed — from chaos to clarity
✨ What cancer taught her about motherhood, gratitude, and slowing down
✨ How she learned to advocate for herself when doctors said “it’s nothing”
✨ Her mission today to spread breast cancer awareness and empower women to never ignore their instincts
✨ The power of faith, community, and finding light in the darkest times
This is more than a story about illness — it’s about rebirth, mindset, and the kind of strength that inspires generations.
If you’ve ever faced fear, burnout, or felt lost in life’s storm — Raquel’s journey will remind you:
🌸 You can bend and still not break.
🌸 You can pause and still progress.
🌸 You can start over and still win.
🎙️ Tune in now — and don’t forget to hit Subscribe so you never miss an episode of Ontario’s #1 Talk Show for Real Stories, Real Strategy, and Real Success.
👇 Watch the full episode on YouTube and subscribe for more real stories, real strategy, real success.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker (00:02):
She thought she was too busy for cancer until life made
her slow down.
A powerful story of a mother,fighter, and a survivor who
turned pain into purpose.
This episode, let this be thereminder for all of us to check
in, slow down, and live withgratitude.
Hey everyone, it's your StellaReal to Stella and welcome to
(00:27):
the Stellar Talk Show, wherereal stories meet real strategy
and real success.
Sometimes life's hardestmoments break us open only to
rebuild us into who we werereally meant to be.
Today's guest Raquel is amother, a fighter, and a
survivor whose story of strengththrough stage three breast
cancer will move you, inspireyou, and remind you what really
(00:51):
matters in life.
This episode is just not forpeople battling cancer.
It's for anyone who has everbeen told they can't and decided
to rise it anyway.
Because sometimes the mostpowerful stories don't start
with success, they start withstruggle.
And today we are diving deepinto the journey of resilience,
motherhood, and the reminderthat even in the darkest chores,
(01:14):
the light within us neverfades.
Let's dive.
Hi Raquel, welcome to the show.
Hi Stella, thank you so muchfor having me.
It's a pleasure to have you.
Um, you told me when you toldme your story, uh Raquel, it
inspired me to the core that Ithought this is something that
we definitely need to share,especially in October where the
Cancer Awareness Month is.
Before everything changed yourlife into what happened, uh tell
(01:37):
us a little bit about your lifeas a mother before the storm
hits.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
The everyday life was running from one activity to
the next, taking them to school,preparing lunches, dinners, uh
trying to squeeze in a littlebit of exercise for myself, meal
preps, extracurricularactivities like kuma and dance.
It was just constant go, go, gorush of one thing to the next.
Speaker (02:05):
Exactly.
That's what motherhood is allabout, right?
When you have your kids, youhave four beautiful kids.
And I know they keep you onyour toes.
Have you ever felt like thatyou were on autopilot?
All the time.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
All the time.
All the time.
Speaker (02:17):
Yes.
Um, it definitely felt likethat.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Yeah.
Like everything was justblurred.
Speaker (02:22):
Blurred, yeah.
I know.
It's amazing, like, you know,to have that family that you
really wanted to have, but youknow, uh, when things happen,
you know, there's a reason forthat as well.
So tell me, like, when you hadthat first feeling was of
something was not right, youknow, when did that happen and
how you felt?
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Um roughly, it felt uh it's hard to sort of pinpoint
because it was I wassuppressing it, so I could feel
that my body was sending likeelectric currents, but it was
painful.
Okay.
Um, and I guess in a way at thesame time, I sort of felt like I
(03:01):
had a hard lump.
But um I kept saying, I'll getit checked out, I'll get it
checked out, and then that wasprobably around May, and then by
June is when I actually madethe appointment, went for the
appointment, and uh they told methat it was sort of
(03:23):
inconclusive, um, that if it wassomething serious, I wouldn't
be feeling pain or notice thatit was there, and that they
would monitor it.
Um, and what was your gutfeeling at that time?
At the time I knew it wassomething, but since I've heard
(03:47):
so many stories that it could bebenign, but just assist, that's
part of the reason I think asto why I kept sort of holding
off and pushing it and notthinking that it was something
worse.
Because I didn't feel anydifferent other than the odd
discomfort of electricity pain.
Um, I was just so busy andwrapped in the day-to-day of and
(04:09):
taking care of the kids andmaking sure that they were okay
that it's you know, you putyourself last.
Speaker (04:16):
Yeah.
Right?
Yeah.
Don't we all, as mothers,right?
We always don't prioritizeourselves.
We want to make sure we arethere in our best version for
our kids, for our family, uh,for our spouse.
Um, we always put ourselves atthe very bottom of the
priorities.
And you know, and when thingslike this happen, that's why
it's actually a struggle to getto where you need to be to get
(04:38):
things checked, right?
Uh, but I but I see that you itit took time, uh, but you had
the strength to still go get itchecked.
So tell me, no, when you whenyou actually got diagnosed and
heard that those three words,it's cancer, um, how did you
feel?
How did that happen?
Speaker 1 (04:58):
So uh still in disbelief, um, I'll start like
that, because even though I washolding off, holding off,
holding off, um, once it came tothe point that I did the
ultrasound, I did the mammogram,and they came back with the
results to say that they weregoing to uh review it and
(05:20):
monitor it, um, but couldn'tgive me any real concrete
answers as to how often, if itwas going to be three months,
six months, a year, um, I had tokeep advocating and saying that
I needed some answers, I neededa second opinion, so I was
referred to a specialist.
The specialist was the surgeon.
And when she saw the resultscompared to um what she was
(05:44):
feeling, she noticed that therewere discrepancies and that
obviously something was notright.
Um, and at the time I said,Well, whatever it is, get rid of
it.
If it's you know some sort ofsurgery or anything, just take
it out.
And of course, her uh she waslike, Well, I don't want to um
just open you up without knowingwhat it is.
(06:07):
Let's do a biopsy and so forth.
Um, so I went to go get theresults for the biopsy, and
again, thinking nothing of itthat it was gonna be benign,
assist, so forth.
Um, and so it was a busyregular day.
It was actually the first dayof school for the kids in
(06:27):
September 9th, 2021.
And they they were actuallywaiting outside for me, they
dropped me off at the hospital.
So I went in.
2021, that's COVID time.
During COVID, yes.
Yes.
So I went in by myself, um, andagain, just thinking that it
was gonna be a regular meetingof information of oh, you know,
(06:51):
these are the next steps, butminor.
And so when they actually, whenshe actually said that, you
know, it's breast cancer andadvanced aggressive stage three,
um, her two, I was extremelyjust shock and disbelief.
Um I was speechless.
(07:12):
There was nothing that I couldsay, like you just go numb,
everything sort of just blacksout, and everything stays still.
Like it you feel like you're inthose movies where they slow it
down for you.
Yeah.
So um I I I literally wasspeechless because at that point
then they're trying to informyou and give you all the
(07:33):
information, and you just youcan't absorb anything.
So they're just giving youpackages of information for you
to review at another time.
Um, and then when I got intothe car, Chris asked, you know,
are you okay?
Is everything good?
And I and I I couldn't evenanswer him.
I was just I sort of justlooked at him blank and he kind
(07:55):
of dismissed it because he knewsomething was up, and I was just
like, uh, we'll talk about itwhen we get home because all the
kids were there and we hadother activities and things to
happen that day that I didn'twant to all of a sudden, you
know, ruin the moment ofexpectations for the kids.
So yeah, it was uh it was a itwas a hard uh uh experience to
(08:21):
go live through or go through atthe time.
Um but at a different moment inthe evening when I actually sat
down to tell Chris that itwasn't good news that I had
received, um he also was veryshocked and speechless,
surprisingly.
(08:42):
Um but uh a huge, a hugesupport once he was actually
able to process everything.
Um he was a huge support toolum and partner with everything.
Speaker (08:55):
Wow.
I'm just trying to put myselfin that particular place with
you uh when you're describingthat.
That is, and you have to hearit on your own, with no one to
hold your hand in thatsituation.
That is that is strength.
And for you to come back and toyour family in the car and
still hold on to it because youdon't want to break it and spoil
(09:19):
the day for your kids, that's astrong mother figure that I'm
saying.
That's resilience.
Oh my god, you know, just justlistening to your journey there
itself gives a lot ofempowerment to have that
mindset, um, the way ofthinking, because you know,
those are words that nobodywants to hear uh from a
(09:40):
diagnosis perspective, becauseyou know it's a huge deal.
Um, and we have seen manyfamilies go through that, I you
know, as a family or sometimesyou know, individually, and it's
not easy.
So when it comes to comes downto hey, it's happening to me, as
you mentioned, it's like you'rein a movie, it's hard to
digest.
(10:01):
And you know, it's uh it tookyou know, I can imagine the
strength that it would havetaken you to sit down with Chris
and you know explain it to himbecause I know he's a very
strong person, you have a greatspouse, uh, but still it's a
huge journey ahead of you as afamily now.
So tell me what was the momentlike when you and uh Chris
(10:21):
decided to tell to your tellyour family, your kids.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Um so I think for the most part or the beginning part
of or the first couple of days,it was disbelief and not
allowing negativity sink in.
(10:46):
Um because if I would allowthat those thoughts to even try
to sneak in, I would getemotional and I'd start to cry.
Uh, an example would be thenext day when we had to take the
kids to school and we'redriving, and all of a sudden my
mind's racing, and I just think,oh my god, how would life be
(11:11):
like for them?
Right?
Uh without a mom.
And so, you know, from theminute that you have a child and
they're born, you know that youhave to protect them.
And uh sometimes you've gotlike sleepless nights and stuff,
(11:35):
and in that moment it was oneof those that it just hit, and
so I knew you that can't happen.
So they have been my push foreverything.
Um thankfully, we had uh acontact of uh a really good
(11:59):
friend of Chris's who's the wasthe top surgeon for breast
cancer research and um at NorthYork General.
And Chris called her andreached out and asked, let her
know what the diagnosis was andeverything, and she was able to
give us a lot of backinformation of these are the
(12:23):
statistics, these are thesituations and possible
outcomes.
And she was very blunt, so shebasically said that you've got
to fight whatever it is, if youchoose to be and do things
naturally without medication.
Sorry, but you still have to dothe medication, so you have to
(12:43):
take the chemo and so forth.
Um so in discussing and findingall this information from her,
Chris and I decided that weweren't actually going to tell
the kids.
So we didn't tell the kids.
They were, or at least Ithought at the time, too young
(13:04):
to understand and be able todeal with it.
So um, according to them, theyjust thought that mom was mom
and mom was, you know, busy, butum that everything was okay.
Basically, that mom was justspending time and going to
appointments, but mom was fine.
(13:25):
So it was a bit um challenging,but with the good support from
uh both sets of parents, we wereable to schedule my uh chemo
sessions on Fridays in themorning.
The kids would go to school,I'd say bye, they'd come home,
grab uh certain things beforeI'd get home, and uh spend the
(13:49):
weekends at their grandparents.
They'd come back home late atnight on Sundays, um say
goodnight to me, and then I'dsee them briefly first thing in
the morning on Mondays, and offto school they'd go.
So I had Friday, Saturday,Sunday, and Monday to recoup
from going under treatment.
Um, so then the times that theywould see me, I would start to
(14:14):
feel back to normal.
Um, where to them then mom wasmom.
So they never really got to seeme tired, exhausted.
Um, they did see me a littlebull a little irritable at times
because of the certainmedications that they had to
(14:36):
give me, they had to uh drain myestrogen, so that put me into
early menopause.
Um so that made me extremelyirritable.
So even if I didn't want tosnap at them, um just certain
things or the hormones or lackof thereof was very emotional
(14:57):
for me.
Um so I had to be aware of thatto make sure that I wasn't
taking it out on them because itwasn't something that I could
help.
It was just the changes of allof medication and again hormones
and things like that thatthey've removed.
(15:17):
Um but after everything, theone day, um, the way that
actually that the kids found outwas they had the run for Terry
Fox at school.
And in a way, while I wasdiagnosed, we had some other
(15:42):
family members that werediagnosed as well, but in other
areas of cancer.
So there were four of us goingthrough some sort of cancer at
the time.
Wow.
And the kids come home one dayand they're like, Oh mom,
they're so excited to tell me,Well, we ran, we did Terry Fox
today, and on the paper we saidthat we were running for this
(16:03):
uncle and this aunt and soforth.
And I said, Oh, that's amazing,you know.
Next year you can add mommy'slist to the mommy's name to the
list, and so then that opened upthe door for us to have that
communication and thatdiscussion with them to let them
know that mommy was sick, mommyhad cancer, this is everything
(16:26):
mommy had to do, but mommy'sfine now.
So they only found out afterthe fact that I had talked
through everything.
Speaker (16:34):
You gave me goosebumps there.
Wow, that's that's I don't knowhow I would hold back something
like that.
It's it's it's crazy, like youknow, like you see your kids
every day, and you are you aredoing it to protect them.
Um to protect them from thepain that m they may have to go
(16:55):
through and all the questionsthat will arise in these small
brains, right?
Um but it takes a lot ofcourage and a lot of uh strength
to keep it away from your lovedones and to battle in silence
and still be there in full formas a mom.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
Yeah.
Um I think the hardest partwhich I didn't like to relive
was always having to tellpeople, like close family and
friends, that that I wasdiagnosed that I was dealing
with this because I didn't wanttheir sympathy.
(17:37):
I didn't want them to changetheir behavior towards me.
Um so it was that's how it was,and it was more painful having
to tell them because of the waythat they would react, and right
away they would start to likecry and get quiet because
they're starting to process ortrying to process it, and it
(18:01):
would affect me and hurt me moreand make me more emotional
living and seeing theirreactions to hearing the news
than how it came across or melistening to the news, and so it
was a constant, like especiallywith my parents, it was telling
(18:24):
them you know, I will keep youup to date, I will let you know
when I have appointments, or thethe up-to-date and results that
they give me, but please don'tconstantly keep asking me, Are
you okay?
Do you need anything?
Um so they always would uheither go and ask Chris if there
(18:44):
was anything that we needed orhow what certain updates were
because they knew that theydidn't want to upset me by
asking me.
And even though certain timesit would escape, but again, I
understand that because they'reyou know, their parents they're
looking out for me or trying tolook out for me and make sure
(19:05):
that I'm okay just like I amdoing for my kids.
So it was it was an interestingsituation of of having to ex
explain and express thatsituation to certain family
friends.
Speaker (19:21):
Yeah.
What was your mindset at thattime, Raquel?
Like, you know, what was whatwas some things that you told
yourself to be resilient, is thewoman you are today?
Like, what did you tellyourself to keep in in line with
your plans to to tell yourselfthat you will get through this?
Speaker 1 (19:39):
That I need to be there for my kids.
I need it it's already said anddone.
I can't you can't turn backtime.
You can't there's nothing youcan do to erase what has already
happened, and because it wasalready advanced to stage three,
potentially even to the cusp ofstage four, um it was you've
(20:06):
gotta fight.
You've got to do whatever ittakes, however painful, however
uh awful experience, you justyou gotta do everything.
Yeah, yeah in order to like bethere for your kids and see your
kids get married, have theirkids of their own.
Speaker (20:21):
Yeah, you fought for yourself so you can be there for
your kids.
That's beautiful, that'sstrength.
Um, you went through chemo, youmentioned, yeah, and you went
through double massectomy, um,radiation, and all this happened
during COVID time.
So I believe most of them youhave to do it on your own
(20:42):
because a lot of the hospitalsthey were not allowing families
in.
Um tell me uh you know yourexperience there, like you know,
how you went through them.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
So Chris was able to come with me to the first
appointment that I had at thehospital, and then there was a
lot of cases that were coming uhabout with COVID that they
couldn't take the chances, um,especially because everybody's
immune system in that ward islow.
(21:12):
So they decided that wecouldn't have any visitors with
us.
Um and so at the same timethere were certain women that
were going through similar stepsof breast cancer and and having
(21:33):
to go through treatment at thesame time as me, that I was able
to build relationships withthose women.
And we noticed that, oh, one inparticular, that our sessions
were at the same day, at thesame time, and so we'd start to
chat and try and make light ofthe situation.
(21:55):
We we'd be watching similar TVshows, so you'd see us in the
corner always sitting besideeach other and actually
laughing, and you know, you'dthink it that's strange because
you know you have to be quietand everybody's there and going
through their treatments.
Um, that we f started to growand build a friendship and found
(22:18):
out that we actually livedclose together.
So we would take turnscarpooling and we would come to
our sessions, so we ended upbecoming one another's support.
That's amazing.
So um, you know, a good thingthat came out of that was a
beautiful relationship andfriendship.
(22:40):
So we're like breast friends.
Speaker (22:44):
That's a good term, yeah.
Like, are you still in touch?
Speaker 1 (22:47):
We are, yes.
That's amazing.
We actually participate in theuh CIBC run for the cure now,
every day, uh every year, and umwe're constantly in
communication, we get togetherconstantly.
Um it feels as if though I'veknown her my whole life.
(23:09):
It's very crazy.
Speaker (23:12):
Isn't it crazy that the darkest moment shows you the
perfect friends, the perfectcircles that you need to be,
right?
That's crazy, but but that'sabsolutely what you needed at
that time.
Someone that you can, you know,uh share your feelings who
who's going through the samejourney that you who sees
through you, right?
And you know, that flourishedinto a beautiful friendship that
(23:33):
you're cherishing today.
That's that's beautiful.
Yeah.
Um you were mentioning thatcancer gave you a gift.
Tell me a little bit about yourthoughts there.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
It gave me a gift because it gave me the
opportunity to realize that Ineeded to slow down.
Um, I need to make more time tobe there for the kids, but
genuine time, not just thechauffeur, the cook, the cleaner
(24:06):
for them.
Um spending one-on-one time,quality time, making time for my
family, friends, deeperrelationships.
Um, and it gave me theopportunity to again make a
great connection with someonethat was going through the same
(24:30):
thing as me, where we didn'thave to pretend to be someone or
something that we weren'tbecause of the fact that we were
experiencing that journeytogether.
Um almost identical, ourjourneys of the steps of what we
had to go through.
(24:50):
Um it gives me the opportunitynow to be there as a support for
those people that are beingaffected by breast cancer one
way or another, whether they'vebeen diagnosed or their family
members are experiencing this,have experienced this, and it
(25:12):
gives me the opportunity to beable to share my story and my
experience, and that there islight at the end of the tunnel,
right?
That even in your darkestmoments, beautiful things can
flourish from them.
Speaker (25:27):
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
That's beautiful how you put ittogether.
Um has the way that you umactually look at time, has that
changed after your experiencewith cancer and you know um your
priorities and your sense ofpurpose?
How does that feel after yourexperience there?
Speaker 1 (25:48):
Definitely we try to make more time with their
family, slow down, um, takevacations to create those
memories, those moments moreoften.
Um my purpose is still to makesure that my children are, you
(26:12):
know, properly let go into thesocieties where they can um have
strong foundational values, um,education, and um as well, it's
um there's just so many thingsthat are you know you just want
(26:39):
to express.
Um so just making sure that youknow the children are very well
prepared to be able to face theworld and the challenges ahead
of them.
And my priorities are my familyslowing down, um, taking
(27:04):
vacations, taking time not onlyfor myself but for them.
Um my purpose is to share myexperience and awareness of this
disease because another thingis I was I was young and I fall
(27:28):
under the scope of what wasexpected for breast cancer, and
nowadays it's getting orspreading and starting younger,
and so I being a mom of threedaughters and even my son can
potentially hered uh generate orbe hereditary to eventually
(27:53):
getting um breast cancer at somepoint in their life, and so now
I need to be on top of theirhealth and make sure that they
are getting checked earlier nowto if for whatever reason they
get diagnosed that we can nip itin the butt earlier rather than
later.
Yeah, um, because the lastthing I would want is for them
(28:16):
to have to experience what I'vehad to go through.
Speaker (28:19):
Yeah, yeah, that's that's absolutely right.
And um every word that you'resaying is um it echoes courage
in my ears because you know thattakes a lot of strength to plan
it that way, especially whenyou have experienced the pain
yourself and you're goingthrough the journey yourself.
Um you have been, as youmentioned, you've been
advocating for cancer ever sinceum you've been going for the
(28:42):
early uh CIBC runs uh to makeawareness.
Um why do you think that'simportant, uh Raquel?
Like, do you think that peopleneed to be more aware of what's
happening, the journeys and howthe journeys look like?
Speaker 1 (28:57):
Definitely.
Um because again, as Imentioned, it's something that
can happen and affect not onlyfemale but males.
And it is something cancer ingeneral is starting to affect
younger people.
So it's always better to checkyourself, advocate for yourself,
(29:23):
push for what you believe in.
Um, if something doesn't feelright, make sure you get it
checked out, make sure you get asecond opinion.
Um and there are steps, thereare ways, uh and so many changes
in this health field that isadvancing and where they're able
(29:45):
to find these things so muchearlier than what they were able
to before.
Speaker (29:52):
Yeah, no, that's absolutely right.
And um, I wanted to ask youthis uh this just jumped in my
head right now, but you know, inthe Past cancer was like a
taboo uh subject, like we don'twant to talk about cancer.
And I remember growing up, uh,you know, like I'm from Sri
Lanka, so when I was growing upin Sri Lanka, um, I remember
(30:12):
like when if if anything aboutcancer, there's like, oh, don't
talk about it, you know.
It's it's almost like uh it's acontagious disease, which it's
not.
Um, but you know, but with timethere has been more awareness.
Uh people talk more openlyabout the experience.
You know, it's great that youare doing this with me today
because that actually gives thestrength to another mother who's
(30:34):
just being diagnosed, or likewho's who's who is in fear of
getting their self checked, uhyou know, because of the fear of
this journey, right?
And what may be the outcome.
Um so it's we have come a longway, I believe, but I believe
there's more to be done tospread awareness, especially
like you know, countries likeCanada that we are in right now,
I know there's a lot ofawareness, but some countries
(30:56):
that is not as open todiscussing in open, they there
still need awareness to helpthose women, and as you
mentioned, men too, who may oryou know, who who are or who may
be going through this.
Absolutely.
So um tell me what was what wasyour mindset throughout the
journey, Raquel?
And you know, I I know you wentthrough your treatments with
(31:19):
strength, um, with positivity.
That was one of the key thingsthat you need to um you know
grasp when you're going throughhard hard battles, and you know,
your family has been the pillarfor you, especially Chris and
your parents with your kids.
Um, what what were the the mainthings that you were telling
yourself to get through thisjourney?
Just keep pushing.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
Just keep pushing.
Take one day at a time, and ascrazy as the schedules were, the
days were, um, the process, itwhen I think of it right now, it
flew by.
So as as cr as intense aseverything was, the steps and
(32:06):
the journey that it took, itit's a blur now.
Like it just it flew by.
Speaker (32:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
So and the one thing was always you gotta just take
it as it comes and and keepgoing.
Push.
Speaker (32:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
The best you can.
Speaker (32:21):
The best you can.
Give it to you all.
Yeah, that's exactly what youdid.
I want you to share somethingwith me.
So if someone listening rightnow who is in the fear of
getting diagnosed or who hasjust been diagnosed, what is the
one thing that you will tellthem?
Speaker 1 (32:38):
Keep fighting, do whatever it takes.
I mean, it is what it is, andall you've got to do is just
keep pushing now to fight to getto the other side.
Speaker (32:50):
Yeah, yeah, like now, don't let that diagnosis
discourage you from your goals.
Just keep at it, do your best,get do what needs to be done to
get through that, and you know,and I'm I'm absolutely like you
know, very pleased that you didthe exact same thing.
And you know, you're awonderful mother and a beautiful
uh woman, and you are heretoday speaking to me about your
(33:11):
journey, which with much courageand beauty.
So thank you.
Yeah, you're most welcome.
Raquel, after everything, whatdoes the word life mean for you?
Speaker 1 (33:25):
I know it's heavy, it's very heavy.
Um, it's just enjoy, like younever know what you're gonna be
dealt, right?
I mean, you plan your life andyou say, Okay, this is how you
know you're gonna raise yourkids, and once the kids are done
in high school or university,then you know, and they leave
(33:49):
the house, then we can start ourlife and start to travel.
But clearly, for myself, therewas other plans that took place
where if it wasn't for havingstrength to fight and want to
(34:10):
live and want to enjoy abeautiful life, um, you know, it
I there I would have given up,but because I wanted to be able
to live that dream of travelingand seeing the world and being
(34:31):
there and watching my kids getmarried and seeing and watching
them have the family of theirown, it's you just gotta push,
you just gotta want to live andbreathe and be able to have
experiences in order to havelife and live.
Speaker (34:52):
Exactly, exactly.
What I'm what I'm hearing fromyou is don't wait to live your
life, live life every day,right?
That's why I think that's whythey call it the present, right?
It is a present, so you we needto unwrap that every day and
enjoy what's in there.
So that's absolutely amazing.
Raquel, you you share a lot ofresilience, the power.
(35:13):
I I see you nervous sharingyour story, but you know, it
because it takes a lot ofcourage to come down and share
your pain points, right?
And how much strength that ittook to you know uplift yourself
during COVID times on your ownmostly in those therapy rooms,
right?
While going through chemo, andyou know, I can only imagine the
(35:35):
things that might be running inyour head, you know, thinking
about your kids, but it tookresilience and power and you
know a lot of uh courage for youto push through and be the
beautiful woman you are today,empowering everybody else who
are in this journey.
So, thank you very much,Raquel, for taking the time and
joining me in now to show today.
Thank you so much for having meagain, Stella.
You're welcome.
(35:56):
Raquel's story reminds us thatsometimes life doesn't just test
us, it transforms us.
What started as pain becamepurpose, what began as fear
became faith.
And through it all, she didn'tjust survive, she rose.
To every woman, every mother,and every warrior listening
right now, this is yourreminder.
(36:16):
You are not defined by whathappens to you, but by how you
rise from it.
Your scars are not yourweakness, they are your proof
that you fought, that youendured, and that you won.
So take a deep breath, holdyour head high and remember,
even the darkest nights end withsunrise.
Rocky chose to turn her paininto power, her journey into
(36:38):
purpose, and her fight into foolfor others.
And that's exactly what theStellar Talk Show is all about.
Real stories, real strategy,and real success.
If this episode moved you,don't keep it to yourself.
Share it with someone who needsthe hope today.
Subscribe so you never missanother story that changes
(36:58):
lives.
And always remember your lightstill shines even after the
storm.
I'm your Stellar RealtorStella, and until next time,
stay strong, stay grateful, andstay good.
Thank you for spending yourtime with us on the Stellar Talk
Show.
We hope you found value intoday's episode and gained
insights to help elevate yourlifestyle.
(37:20):
If you enjoyed the discussion,please like, subscribe, and
share it with anyone who couldbenefit.
It means the world to us.
Until our next episode, stayinspired, and I'll see you soon
on our next Stellar Talk Show.
She thought she was too busy for cancer until life made
her slow down.
A powerful story of a mother,fighter, and a survivor who
turned pain into purpose.
This episode, let this be thereminder for all of us to check
in, slow down, and live withgratitude.
Hey everyone, it's your StellaReal to Stella and welcome to
(00:27):
the Stellar Talk Show, wherereal stories meet real strategy
and real success.
Sometimes life's hardestmoments break us open only to
rebuild us into who we werereally meant to be.
Today's guest Raquel is amother, a fighter, and a
survivor whose story of strengththrough stage three breast
cancer will move you, inspireyou, and remind you what really
(00:51):
matters in life.
This episode is just not forpeople battling cancer.
It's for anyone who has everbeen told they can't and decided
to rise it anyway.
Because sometimes the mostpowerful stories don't start
with success, they start withstruggle.
And today we are diving deepinto the journey of resilience,
motherhood, and the reminderthat even in the darkest chores,
(01:14):
the light within us neverfades.
Let's dive.
Hi Raquel, welcome to the show.
Hi Stella, thank you so muchfor having me.
It's a pleasure to have you.
Um, you told me when you toldme your story, uh Raquel, it
inspired me to the core that Ithought this is something that
we definitely need to share,especially in October where the
Cancer Awareness Month is.
Before everything changed yourlife into what happened, uh tell
(01:37):
us a little bit about your lifeas a mother before the storm
hits.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
The everyday life was running from one activity to
the next, taking them to school,preparing lunches, dinners, uh
trying to squeeze in a littlebit of exercise for myself, meal
preps, extracurricularactivities like kuma and dance.
It was just constant go, go, gorush of one thing to the next.
Speaker (02:05):
Exactly.
That's what motherhood is allabout, right?
When you have your kids, youhave four beautiful kids.
And I know they keep you onyour toes.
Have you ever felt like thatyou were on autopilot?
All the time.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
All the time.
All the time.
Speaker (02:17):
Yes.
Um, it definitely felt likethat.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Yeah.
Like everything was justblurred.
Speaker (02:22):
Blurred, yeah.
I know.
It's amazing, like, you know,to have that family that you
really wanted to have, but youknow, uh, when things happen,
you know, there's a reason forthat as well.
So tell me, like, when you hadthat first feeling was of
something was not right, youknow, when did that happen and
how you felt?
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Um roughly, it felt uh it's hard to sort of pinpoint
because it was I wassuppressing it, so I could feel
that my body was sending likeelectric currents, but it was
painful.
Okay.
Um, and I guess in a way at thesame time, I sort of felt like I
(03:01):
had a hard lump.
But um I kept saying, I'll getit checked out, I'll get it
checked out, and then that wasprobably around May, and then by
June is when I actually madethe appointment, went for the
appointment, and uh they told methat it was sort of
(03:23):
inconclusive, um, that if it wassomething serious, I wouldn't
be feeling pain or notice thatit was there, and that they
would monitor it.
Um, and what was your gutfeeling at that time?
At the time I knew it wassomething, but since I've heard
(03:47):
so many stories that it could bebenign, but just assist, that's
part of the reason I think asto why I kept sort of holding
off and pushing it and notthinking that it was something
worse.
Because I didn't feel anydifferent other than the odd
discomfort of electricity pain.
Um, I was just so busy andwrapped in the day-to-day of and
(04:09):
taking care of the kids andmaking sure that they were okay
that it's you know, you putyourself last.
Speaker (04:16):
Yeah.
Right?
Yeah.
Don't we all, as mothers,right?
We always don't prioritizeourselves.
We want to make sure we arethere in our best version for
our kids, for our family, uh,for our spouse.
Um, we always put ourselves atthe very bottom of the
priorities.
And you know, and when thingslike this happen, that's why
it's actually a struggle to getto where you need to be to get
(04:38):
things checked, right?
Uh, but I but I see that you itit took time, uh, but you had
the strength to still go get itchecked.
So tell me, no, when you whenyou actually got diagnosed and
heard that those three words,it's cancer, um, how did you
feel?
How did that happen?
Speaker 1 (04:58):
So uh still in disbelief, um, I'll start like
that, because even though I washolding off, holding off,
holding off, um, once it came tothe point that I did the
ultrasound, I did the mammogram,and they came back with the
results to say that they weregoing to uh review it and
(05:20):
monitor it, um, but couldn'tgive me any real concrete
answers as to how often, if itwas going to be three months,
six months, a year, um, I had tokeep advocating and saying that
I needed some answers, I neededa second opinion, so I was
referred to a specialist.
The specialist was the surgeon.
And when she saw the resultscompared to um what she was
(05:44):
feeling, she noticed that therewere discrepancies and that
obviously something was notright.
Um, and at the time I said,Well, whatever it is, get rid of
it.
If it's you know some sort ofsurgery or anything, just take
it out.
And of course, her uh she waslike, Well, I don't want to um
just open you up without knowingwhat it is.
(06:07):
Let's do a biopsy and so forth.
Um, so I went to go get theresults for the biopsy, and
again, thinking nothing of itthat it was gonna be benign,
assist, so forth.
Um, and so it was a busyregular day.
It was actually the first dayof school for the kids in
(06:27):
September 9th, 2021.
And they they were actuallywaiting outside for me, they
dropped me off at the hospital.
So I went in.
2021, that's COVID time.
During COVID, yes.
Yes.
So I went in by myself, um, andagain, just thinking that it
was gonna be a regular meetingof information of oh, you know,
(06:51):
these are the next steps, butminor.
And so when they actually, whenshe actually said that, you
know, it's breast cancer andadvanced aggressive stage three,
um, her two, I was extremelyjust shock and disbelief.
Um I was speechless.
(07:12):
There was nothing that I couldsay, like you just go numb,
everything sort of just blacksout, and everything stays still.
Like it you feel like you're inthose movies where they slow it
down for you.
Yeah.
So um I I I literally wasspeechless because at that point
then they're trying to informyou and give you all the
(07:33):
information, and you just youcan't absorb anything.
So they're just giving youpackages of information for you
to review at another time.
Um, and then when I got intothe car, Chris asked, you know,
are you okay?
Is everything good?
And I and I I couldn't evenanswer him.
I was just I sort of justlooked at him blank and he kind
(07:55):
of dismissed it because he knewsomething was up, and I was just
like, uh, we'll talk about itwhen we get home because all the
kids were there and we hadother activities and things to
happen that day that I didn'twant to all of a sudden, you
know, ruin the moment ofexpectations for the kids.
So yeah, it was uh it was a itwas a hard uh uh experience to
(08:21):
go live through or go through atthe time.
Um but at a different moment inthe evening when I actually sat
down to tell Chris that itwasn't good news that I had
received, um he also was veryshocked and speechless,
surprisingly.
(08:42):
Um but uh a huge, a hugesupport once he was actually
able to process everything.
Um he was a huge support toolum and partner with everything.
Speaker (08:55):
Wow.
I'm just trying to put myselfin that particular place with
you uh when you're describingthat.
That is, and you have to hearit on your own, with no one to
hold your hand in thatsituation.
That is that is strength.
And for you to come back and toyour family in the car and
still hold on to it because youdon't want to break it and spoil
(09:19):
the day for your kids, that's astrong mother figure that I'm
saying.
That's resilience.
Oh my god, you know, just justlistening to your journey there
itself gives a lot ofempowerment to have that
mindset, um, the way ofthinking, because you know,
those are words that nobodywants to hear uh from a
(09:40):
diagnosis perspective, becauseyou know it's a huge deal.
Um, and we have seen manyfamilies go through that, I you
know, as a family or sometimesyou know, individually, and it's
not easy.
So when it comes to comes downto hey, it's happening to me, as
you mentioned, it's like you'rein a movie, it's hard to
digest.
(10:01):
And you know, it's uh it tookyou know, I can imagine the
strength that it would havetaken you to sit down with Chris
and you know explain it to himbecause I know he's a very
strong person, you have a greatspouse, uh, but still it's a
huge journey ahead of you as afamily now.
So tell me what was the momentlike when you and uh Chris
(10:21):
decided to tell to your tellyour family, your kids.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Um so I think for the most part or the beginning part
of or the first couple of days,it was disbelief and not
allowing negativity sink in.
(10:46):
Um because if I would allowthat those thoughts to even try
to sneak in, I would getemotional and I'd start to cry.
Uh, an example would be thenext day when we had to take the
kids to school and we'redriving, and all of a sudden my
mind's racing, and I just think,oh my god, how would life be
(11:11):
like for them?
Right?
Uh without a mom.
And so, you know, from theminute that you have a child and
they're born, you know that youhave to protect them.
And uh sometimes you've gotlike sleepless nights and stuff,
(11:35):
and in that moment it was oneof those that it just hit, and
so I knew you that can't happen.
So they have been my push foreverything.
Um thankfully, we had uh acontact of uh a really good
(11:59):
friend of Chris's who's the wasthe top surgeon for breast
cancer research and um at NorthYork General.
And Chris called her andreached out and asked, let her
know what the diagnosis was andeverything, and she was able to
give us a lot of backinformation of these are the
(12:23):
statistics, these are thesituations and possible
outcomes.
And she was very blunt, so shebasically said that you've got
to fight whatever it is, if youchoose to be and do things
naturally without medication.
Sorry, but you still have to dothe medication, so you have to
(12:43):
take the chemo and so forth.
Um so in discussing and findingall this information from her,
Chris and I decided that weweren't actually going to tell
the kids.
So we didn't tell the kids.
They were, or at least Ithought at the time, too young
(13:04):
to understand and be able todeal with it.
So um, according to them, theyjust thought that mom was mom
and mom was, you know, busy, butum that everything was okay.
Basically, that mom was justspending time and going to
appointments, but mom was fine.
(13:25):
So it was a bit um challenging,but with the good support from
uh both sets of parents, we wereable to schedule my uh chemo
sessions on Fridays in themorning.
The kids would go to school,I'd say bye, they'd come home,
grab uh certain things beforeI'd get home, and uh spend the
(13:49):
weekends at their grandparents.
They'd come back home late atnight on Sundays, um say
goodnight to me, and then I'dsee them briefly first thing in
the morning on Mondays, and offto school they'd go.
So I had Friday, Saturday,Sunday, and Monday to recoup
from going under treatment.
Um, so then the times that theywould see me, I would start to
(14:14):
feel back to normal.
Um, where to them then mom wasmom.
So they never really got to seeme tired, exhausted.
Um, they did see me a littlebull a little irritable at times
because of the certainmedications that they had to
(14:36):
give me, they had to uh drain myestrogen, so that put me into
early menopause.
Um so that made me extremelyirritable.
So even if I didn't want tosnap at them, um just certain
things or the hormones or lackof thereof was very emotional
(14:57):
for me.
Um so I had to be aware of thatto make sure that I wasn't
taking it out on them because itwasn't something that I could
help.
It was just the changes of allof medication and again hormones
and things like that thatthey've removed.
(15:17):
Um but after everything, theone day, um, the way that
actually that the kids found outwas they had the run for Terry
Fox at school.
And in a way, while I wasdiagnosed, we had some other
(15:42):
family members that werediagnosed as well, but in other
areas of cancer.
So there were four of us goingthrough some sort of cancer at
the time.
Wow.
And the kids come home one dayand they're like, Oh mom,
they're so excited to tell me,Well, we ran, we did Terry Fox
today, and on the paper we saidthat we were running for this
(16:03):
uncle and this aunt and soforth.
And I said, Oh, that's amazing,you know.
Next year you can add mommy'slist to the mommy's name to the
list, and so then that opened upthe door for us to have that
communication and thatdiscussion with them to let them
know that mommy was sick, mommyhad cancer, this is everything
(16:26):
mommy had to do, but mommy'sfine now.
So they only found out afterthe fact that I had talked
through everything.
Speaker (16:34):
You gave me goosebumps there.
Wow, that's that's I don't knowhow I would hold back something
like that.
It's it's it's crazy, like youknow, like you see your kids
every day, and you are you aredoing it to protect them.
Um to protect them from thepain that m they may have to go
(16:55):
through and all the questionsthat will arise in these small
brains, right?
Um but it takes a lot ofcourage and a lot of uh strength
to keep it away from your lovedones and to battle in silence
and still be there in full formas a mom.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
Yeah.
Um I think the hardest partwhich I didn't like to relive
was always having to tellpeople, like close family and
friends, that that I wasdiagnosed that I was dealing
with this because I didn't wanttheir sympathy.
(17:37):
I didn't want them to changetheir behavior towards me.
Um so it was that's how it was,and it was more painful having
to tell them because of the waythat they would react, and right
away they would start to likecry and get quiet because
they're starting to process ortrying to process it, and it
(18:01):
would affect me and hurt me moreand make me more emotional
living and seeing theirreactions to hearing the news
than how it came across or melistening to the news, and so it
was a constant, like especiallywith my parents, it was telling
(18:24):
them you know, I will keep youup to date, I will let you know
when I have appointments, or thethe up-to-date and results that
they give me, but please don'tconstantly keep asking me, Are
you okay?
Do you need anything?
Um so they always would uheither go and ask Chris if there
(18:44):
was anything that we needed orhow what certain updates were
because they knew that theydidn't want to upset me by
asking me.
And even though certain timesit would escape, but again, I
understand that because they'reyou know, their parents they're
looking out for me or trying tolook out for me and make sure
(19:05):
that I'm okay just like I amdoing for my kids.
So it was it was an interestingsituation of of having to ex
explain and express thatsituation to certain family
friends.
Speaker (19:21):
Yeah.
What was your mindset at thattime, Raquel?
Like, you know, what was whatwas some things that you told
yourself to be resilient, is thewoman you are today?
Like, what did you tellyourself to keep in in line with
your plans to to tell yourselfthat you will get through this?
Speaker 1 (19:39):
That I need to be there for my kids.
I need it it's already said anddone.
I can't you can't turn backtime.
You can't there's nothing youcan do to erase what has already
happened, and because it wasalready advanced to stage three,
potentially even to the cusp ofstage four, um it was you've
(20:06):
gotta fight.
You've got to do whatever ittakes, however painful, however
uh awful experience, you justyou gotta do everything.
Yeah, yeah in order to like bethere for your kids and see your
kids get married, have theirkids of their own.
Speaker (20:21):
Yeah, you fought for yourself so you can be there for
your kids.
That's beautiful, that'sstrength.
Um, you went through chemo, youmentioned, yeah, and you went
through double massectomy, um,radiation, and all this happened
during COVID time.
So I believe most of them youhave to do it on your own
(20:42):
because a lot of the hospitalsthey were not allowing families
in.
Um tell me uh you know yourexperience there, like you know,
how you went through them.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
So Chris was able to come with me to the first
appointment that I had at thehospital, and then there was a
lot of cases that were coming uhabout with COVID that they
couldn't take the chances, um,especially because everybody's
immune system in that ward islow.
(21:12):
So they decided that wecouldn't have any visitors with
us.
Um and so at the same timethere were certain women that
were going through similar stepsof breast cancer and and having
(21:33):
to go through treatment at thesame time as me, that I was able
to build relationships withthose women.
And we noticed that, oh, one inparticular, that our sessions
were at the same day, at thesame time, and so we'd start to
chat and try and make light ofthe situation.
(21:55):
We we'd be watching similar TVshows, so you'd see us in the
corner always sitting besideeach other and actually
laughing, and you know, you'dthink it that's strange because
you know you have to be quietand everybody's there and going
through their treatments.
Um, that we f started to growand build a friendship and found
(22:18):
out that we actually livedclose together.
So we would take turnscarpooling and we would come to
our sessions, so we ended upbecoming one another's support.
That's amazing.
So um, you know, a good thingthat came out of that was a
beautiful relationship andfriendship.
(22:40):
So we're like breast friends.
Speaker (22:44):
That's a good term, yeah.
Like, are you still in touch?
Speaker 1 (22:47):
We are, yes.
That's amazing.
We actually participate in theuh CIBC run for the cure now,
every day, uh every year, and umwe're constantly in
communication, we get togetherconstantly.
Um it feels as if though I'veknown her my whole life.
(23:09):
It's very crazy.
Speaker (23:12):
Isn't it crazy that the darkest moment shows you the
perfect friends, the perfectcircles that you need to be,
right?
That's crazy, but but that'sabsolutely what you needed at
that time.
Someone that you can, you know,uh share your feelings who
who's going through the samejourney that you who sees
through you, right?
And you know, that flourishedinto a beautiful friendship that
(23:33):
you're cherishing today.
That's that's beautiful.
Yeah.
Um you were mentioning thatcancer gave you a gift.
Tell me a little bit about yourthoughts there.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
It gave me a gift because it gave me the
opportunity to realize that Ineeded to slow down.
Um, I need to make more time tobe there for the kids, but
genuine time, not just thechauffeur, the cook, the cleaner
(24:06):
for them.
Um spending one-on-one time,quality time, making time for my
family, friends, deeperrelationships.
Um, and it gave me theopportunity to again make a
great connection with someonethat was going through the same
(24:30):
thing as me, where we didn'thave to pretend to be someone or
something that we weren'tbecause of the fact that we were
experiencing that journeytogether.
Um almost identical, ourjourneys of the steps of what we
had to go through.
(24:50):
Um it gives me the opportunitynow to be there as a support for
those people that are beingaffected by breast cancer one
way or another, whether they'vebeen diagnosed or their family
members are experiencing this,have experienced this, and it
(25:12):
gives me the opportunity to beable to share my story and my
experience, and that there islight at the end of the tunnel,
right?
That even in your darkestmoments, beautiful things can
flourish from them.
Speaker (25:27):
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
That's beautiful how you put ittogether.
Um has the way that you umactually look at time, has that
changed after your experiencewith cancer and you know um your
priorities and your sense ofpurpose?
How does that feel after yourexperience there?
Speaker 1 (25:48):
Definitely we try to make more time with their
family, slow down, um, takevacations to create those
memories, those moments moreoften.
Um my purpose is still to makesure that my children are, you
(26:12):
know, properly let go into thesocieties where they can um have
strong foundational values, um,education, and um as well, it's
um there's just so many thingsthat are you know you just want
(26:39):
to express.
Um so just making sure that youknow the children are very well
prepared to be able to face theworld and the challenges ahead
of them.
And my priorities are my familyslowing down, um, taking
(27:04):
vacations, taking time not onlyfor myself but for them.
Um my purpose is to share myexperience and awareness of this
disease because another thingis I was I was young and I fall
(27:28):
under the scope of what wasexpected for breast cancer, and
nowadays it's getting orspreading and starting younger,
and so I being a mom of threedaughters and even my son can
potentially hered uh generate orbe hereditary to eventually
(27:53):
getting um breast cancer at somepoint in their life, and so now
I need to be on top of theirhealth and make sure that they
are getting checked earlier nowto if for whatever reason they
get diagnosed that we can nip itin the butt earlier rather than
later.
Yeah, um, because the lastthing I would want is for them
(28:16):
to have to experience what I'vehad to go through.
Speaker (28:19):
Yeah, yeah, that's that's absolutely right.
And um every word that you'resaying is um it echoes courage
in my ears because you know thattakes a lot of strength to plan
it that way, especially whenyou have experienced the pain
yourself and you're goingthrough the journey yourself.
Um you have been, as youmentioned, you've been
advocating for cancer ever sinceum you've been going for the
(28:42):
early uh CIBC runs uh to makeawareness.
Um why do you think that'simportant, uh Raquel?
Like, do you think that peopleneed to be more aware of what's
happening, the journeys and howthe journeys look like?
Speaker 1 (28:57):
Definitely.
Um because again, as Imentioned, it's something that
can happen and affect not onlyfemale but males.
And it is something cancer ingeneral is starting to affect
younger people.
So it's always better to checkyourself, advocate for yourself,
(29:23):
push for what you believe in.
Um, if something doesn't feelright, make sure you get it
checked out, make sure you get asecond opinion.
Um and there are steps, thereare ways, uh and so many changes
in this health field that isadvancing and where they're able
(29:45):
to find these things so muchearlier than what they were able
to before.
Speaker (29:52):
Yeah, no, that's absolutely right.
And um, I wanted to ask youthis uh this just jumped in my
head right now, but you know, inthe Past cancer was like a
taboo uh subject, like we don'twant to talk about cancer.
And I remember growing up, uh,you know, like I'm from Sri
Lanka, so when I was growing upin Sri Lanka, um, I remember
(30:12):
like when if if anything aboutcancer, there's like, oh, don't
talk about it, you know.
It's it's almost like uh it's acontagious disease, which it's
not.
Um, but you know, but with timethere has been more awareness.
Uh people talk more openlyabout the experience.
You know, it's great that youare doing this with me today
because that actually gives thestrength to another mother who's
(30:34):
just being diagnosed, or likewho's who's who is in fear of
getting their self checked, uhyou know, because of the fear of
this journey, right?
And what may be the outcome.
Um so it's we have come a longway, I believe, but I believe
there's more to be done tospread awareness, especially
like you know, countries likeCanada that we are in right now,
I know there's a lot ofawareness, but some countries
(30:56):
that is not as open todiscussing in open, they there
still need awareness to helpthose women, and as you
mentioned, men too, who may oryou know, who who are or who may
be going through this.
Absolutely.
So um tell me what was what wasyour mindset throughout the
journey, Raquel?
And you know, I I know you wentthrough your treatments with
(31:19):
strength, um, with positivity.
That was one of the key thingsthat you need to um you know
grasp when you're going throughhard hard battles, and you know,
your family has been the pillarfor you, especially Chris and
your parents with your kids.
Um, what what were the the mainthings that you were telling
yourself to get through thisjourney?
Just keep pushing.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
Just keep pushing.
Take one day at a time, and ascrazy as the schedules were, the
days were, um, the process, itwhen I think of it right now, it
flew by.
So as as cr as intense aseverything was, the steps and
(32:06):
the journey that it took, itit's a blur now.
Like it just it flew by.
Speaker (32:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
So and the one thing was always you gotta just take
it as it comes and and keepgoing.
Push.
Speaker (32:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
The best you can.
Speaker (32:21):
The best you can.
Give it to you all.
Yeah, that's exactly what youdid.
I want you to share somethingwith me.
So if someone listening rightnow who is in the fear of
getting diagnosed or who hasjust been diagnosed, what is the
one thing that you will tellthem?
Speaker 1 (32:38):
Keep fighting, do whatever it takes.
I mean, it is what it is, andall you've got to do is just
keep pushing now to fight to getto the other side.
Speaker (32:50):
Yeah, yeah, like now, don't let that diagnosis
discourage you from your goals.
Just keep at it, do your best,get do what needs to be done to
get through that, and you know,and I'm I'm absolutely like you
know, very pleased that you didthe exact same thing.
And you know, you're awonderful mother and a beautiful
uh woman, and you are heretoday speaking to me about your
(33:11):
journey, which with much courageand beauty.
So thank you.
Yeah, you're most welcome.
Raquel, after everything, whatdoes the word life mean for you?
Speaker 1 (33:25):
I know it's heavy, it's very heavy.
Um, it's just enjoy, like younever know what you're gonna be
dealt, right?
I mean, you plan your life andyou say, Okay, this is how you
know you're gonna raise yourkids, and once the kids are done
in high school or university,then you know, and they leave
(33:49):
the house, then we can start ourlife and start to travel.
But clearly, for myself, therewas other plans that took place
where if it wasn't for havingstrength to fight and want to
(34:10):
live and want to enjoy abeautiful life, um, you know, it
I there I would have given up,but because I wanted to be able
to live that dream of travelingand seeing the world and being
(34:31):
there and watching my kids getmarried and seeing and watching
them have the family of theirown, it's you just gotta push,
you just gotta want to live andbreathe and be able to have
experiences in order to havelife and live.
Speaker (34:52):
Exactly, exactly.
What I'm what I'm hearing fromyou is don't wait to live your
life, live life every day,right?
That's why I think that's whythey call it the present, right?
It is a present, so you we needto unwrap that every day and
enjoy what's in there.
So that's absolutely amazing.
Raquel, you you share a lot ofresilience, the power.
(35:13):
I I see you nervous sharingyour story, but you know, it
because it takes a lot ofcourage to come down and share
your pain points, right?
And how much strength that ittook to you know uplift yourself
during COVID times on your ownmostly in those therapy rooms,
right?
While going through chemo, andyou know, I can only imagine the
(35:35):
things that might be running inyour head, you know, thinking
about your kids, but it tookresilience and power and you
know a lot of uh courage for youto push through and be the
beautiful woman you are today,empowering everybody else who
are in this journey.
So, thank you very much,Raquel, for taking the time and
joining me in now to show today.
Thank you so much for having meagain, Stella.
You're welcome.
(35:56):
Raquel's story reminds us thatsometimes life doesn't just test
us, it transforms us.
What started as pain becamepurpose, what began as fear
became faith.
And through it all, she didn'tjust survive, she rose.
To every woman, every mother,and every warrior listening
right now, this is yourreminder.
(36:16):
You are not defined by whathappens to you, but by how you
rise from it.
Your scars are not yourweakness, they are your proof
that you fought, that youendured, and that you won.
So take a deep breath, holdyour head high and remember,
even the darkest nights end withsunrise.
Rocky chose to turn her paininto power, her journey into
(36:38):
purpose, and her fight into foolfor others.
And that's exactly what theStellar Talk Show is all about.
Real stories, real strategy,and real success.
If this episode moved you,don't keep it to yourself.
Share it with someone who needsthe hope today.
Subscribe so you never missanother story that changes
(36:58):
lives.
And always remember your lightstill shines even after the
storm.
I'm your Stellar RealtorStella, and until next time,
stay strong, stay grateful, andstay good.
Thank you for spending yourtime with us on the Stellar Talk
Show.
We hope you found value intoday's episode and gained
insights to help elevate yourlifestyle.
(37:20):
If you enjoyed the discussion,please like, subscribe, and
share it with anyone who couldbenefit.
It means the world to us.
Until our next episode, stayinspired, and I'll see you soon
on our next Stellar Talk Show.
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