Silvia Lopez has spent nearly a decade helping students at Anita E. Villarreal Elementary School in Edinburg.

But in 2023, Lopez — a curriculum assistant — said she learned a lesson she'll never forget when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“I went for my regular routine checkup; every summer I go and get my checkups,” Lopez said, adding that she was diagnosed with Stage 2 ductal carcinoma.

“I was like, ‘OK, what’s next? What’s my treatment,’” Lopez said.

Lopez said her sister was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer in 2022, and said it led to her making a decision that brought her peace.

“[The doctor] asked, ‘Do you want to have both removed?’ I opted for that because I would have to be going through the medications if I had kept both. I was going to have to be going every three

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