Inspirational Breast Cancer Survivor Found Healing by Giving Back

Life was going well for Maria Dandan who had recently retired and moved from Hayward to a new lakeside community in Fairfield to be near her children and grandchildren. Unfortunately, things suddenly shifted when she was diagnosed with HER2-positive breast cancer. Maria began a difficult journey, complicated by serious side effects from treatments. But this story has a happy ending as Maria’s faith and a dream team of clinicians, family, and friends helped her through it. Surprisingly, a very special holiday wish also played a part in her recovery.

“I refer to my cancer journey as both the darkest and most blessed time of my life,” explained Maria. “I was filled with shock and confusion when my doctor, Vanessa Wilson, MD, first told me I had an aggressive form of breast cancer. Then during my long course of treatment, I experienced nausea, drug rashes, diarrhea, fatigue, muscle aches, peripheral neuropathy, and the loss of my hair. On the other hand, I received outstanding, compassionate medical care and an unconditional outpouring of love from my husband, four children, six grandchildren, in-laws, siblings and close friends.”

A Team of Support
Fairfield is a one- to two-hour drive to Fremont, but that did not deter Maria and her husband Danilo from choosing UCSF – Washington Cancer Center for her care. Afterall, Maria had retired a couple years earlier after a 17-year career in Washington Health’s Payroll and Human Resources Departments. Despite their move, the Dandans kept their primary care physicians in Fremont and had full confidence in the cancer clinicians and staff.

“I knew I was in good hands with nurse navigator Christine Mikkelsen who was so caring and helpful, educating me on the process, while scheduling all my appointments,” Maria explained. “My oncologist Dr. Tenold and his team were amazing. My family and I love him because of his vast experience, education, caring, and proactive approach. Dr. Dugoni, who installed my catheter port and performed my lumpectomy, is simply the best surgeon.”

Maria also had a full complement of support from her husband and children who organized and enacted a team-oriented plan to help out. This entailed a Google calendar to track Maria’s appointments and current condition, as well as each team member’s assigned tasks. These tasks included rotations of cooking, cleaning, and sleeping over to provide 24/7 care. Her daughters kept a daily progress journal to track things like Maria’s medication and food intake, side effects of chemotherapy, glucose levels and blood pressure readings, and daily activities. They also went to all doctor appointments to advocate for their mother as well as accompanied her during chemotherapy infusions and radiation therapy visits.

Maria had an especially difficult time taking in nutrition and liquids following chemotherapy. Her appetite was nonexistent and efforts to eat often led to vomiting. She lost 40 pounds and suffered dehydration and severe fatigue. “The love of my family and my faith in the Lord is what made me fight,” said Maria. “If it was just me, I can take the pain. But knowing my family was also suffering gave me the strength to try to eat and to get up off the bed.”

A Special Holiday Wish

Maria was diagnosed in September 2023 and by December 2024, she still had three rounds of biotherapy infusions to go before treatment was complete. Considering her ongoing ordeal, she asked for something quite unexpected for the holidays that year. Maria wanted her family to accompany her to the place she was born, the Philippines, to bring gifts to less fortunate children. So, instead of buying Christmas gifts for each other, 12 members of Maria’s family took this special holiday vacation with her. They purchased meals and brought toys and candy from home to present to 170 Filipino children on Christmas Eve! Maria has wonderful memories from this trip and believes sharing in this act of giving with her family helped renew her strength and drive.

Maria has some words of wisdom for others fighting cancer:

• Positive thinking, a good attitude and lots of prayers go a long way.
• Accept all the help you are offered and be grateful, no matter what your situation.
• Align yourself with an excellent medical team that you are confident in.
• And rely on the love of your family and friends to give you the strength to push and fight to win.

For more information on the UCSF – Washington Cancer Center, visit www.washingtonhealth.com/cancer or scan the QR code below. To schedule a mammogram, obtain a physician referral and call 510.818.7410.