GOSHEN COUNTY – Every year, breast cancer accounts for about 30% of all new cancer diagnoses in the United States and it is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women. It also occurs in less than 1% of men, according to statistics. Nobody ever thinks they will ever hear the words, “You have cancer,” but two courageous women were faced with the unknown when they were diagnosed with breast cancer.

Cancer changes you and it changes the way you see parts of your life and the world around you. 

“When I was going through it, my husband (Paul Martinez) was also had been going through cancer for six years,” Torrington resident, Wendy Martinez explained. “We kind of got to know a lot about cancer and treatment and just the toll it takes on your body…and how much you appreciate the little things in life. When you’re going through cancer and treatment and stuff you don’t know how it’s going to end, you just don’t take advantage of things quite as much afterward as you did before. It does. It kind of changes your view of how you look at things, your perspective.” 

“It absolutely does change you and then I lost my husband, actually a year ago today,” Martinez said. “I’ve become a little bit more compassionate. Not that I wasn’t before, but more compassionate because you don’t know what someone is going through on the inside or what is happening with their body or anything.”

Martinez who is also a type one diabetic expressed her disease made treating her cancer a bit harder on her body.

“It was extremely tough on me when I was going through treatments because they had to take steroids and the steroids would make my blood sugar sky-high for three days,” Martinez explained. “So, people didn’t realize what that did to me besides having the chemo and how toxic that is already, so I think I have become a little more compassionate toward what other people are going through and trying to understand other people’s outlook on life when they are battling their own disease or demons or whatever is going on in their life.”

Martinez expressed finding resources when she was diagnosed was not too big of a challenge since her husband had been diagnosed with cancer years prior. 

“I actually had people reach out to me. The club that used to the lady’s night out, they reached out to me,” Martinez explained. “That helped a lot.”

Martinez explained people within the community reached out in support, some even helping with transportation costs since Martinez traveled to Cheyenne for her cancer treatments. 

“Resources for me, when I was going through it in ’21, weren’t hard to find,” Martinez said. “I imagine it’s probably gotten a lot better in that sense.”

Martinez hasn’t had the opportunity to celebrate her cancer remission.

“My husband battled cancer, so it was an ongoing thing for us. When I went into remission, he started chemotherapy for the third time because his cancer had spread into his lungs. He did chemotherapy for a year, and he stopped in February of ’23 because it wasn’t working,” Martinez explained. “I really have not had time to celebrate my remission because we were still going through that. I couldn’t do that to him because he had been battling cancer for so long.” 

Martinez gave those who have been diagnosed some words of wisdom. 

“Don’t give up. There is always hope,” Martinez said. “I always told my husband, looking at him walking down the street nobody would ever have known that he battled cancer for as long as he did because he didn’t let anybody see that. Before I was diagnosed, I said, ‘Man, I don’t think I could handle it as well as you. I don’t know if I could get through that.’ The first few times he went through chemo, he never missed a day of work except the days he had chemo and maybe two days later when he was feeling the effects of it but other than that he worked. He worked until June of last year. He was the strongest man I knew so I always told him, ‘I don’t know if I could do that. I don’t think I can be as strong as you.’ But then when it happened to me, I realized that I could be. I could be that strong person because I had to for me. I have kids and grandkids and so I couldn’t give up. That would be my first thing, don’t give up.”

Martinez expressed having faith in medical treatments and personnel is another step in the right direction.

“Do what your doctors say. Do the treatments or however you want to handle it. Whatever route you take, pray about it,” Martinez said. “And don’t give up and get through it. It’s tough. It’s really tough but when you come out of it on the other side it is very rewarding to know that you made it through something like that.” 

Martinez explained her support system. 

“I had a great support system. My family. Wonderful friends. I had a great support system,” Martinez said. “Everybody cheering me on. It helps when you have a lot of great people cheering you on.”

“I didn’t really change anything about my life. We still did things. We still took the trip or went to the party,” Martinez said. “We still did things. The hardest part for me was losing my hair at first. After my first chemo treatment, we had a trip planned to go to Florida. That trip had been booked for a year and a half and I found out I had cancer. My first treatment was on May 7 and our trip was a week and a half later to be gone a week. We thought about canceling and we talked about it for probably a month. Maybe we shouldn’t go and finally, we sat down and decided to go. So, we took the trip and on the third day, my hair started falling out. That was kind of devastating to me.”

Shortly after returning from Florida, Martinez had her head shaved.

“We got home on Friday and on Sunday I went to my hairdresser and had her shave my head,” Martinez explained. “I figured I am going to lose it all anyway and I don’t want it falling in my food or shedding all over my clothes or pillow. I know it is all going to come out, so I had her shave my head,” Martinez continued. “After that, I felt it was kind of like, freeing. I was devastated to lose my hair but after I had it shaved off, it was freeing to me know that was one step closer to my recovery.”

Martinez explained keeping a positive attitude and having her husband as her biggest fan is what kept her going. 

“I was diagnosed in February ’21 with stage one, thank goodness, Triple Negative Breast Cancer, which at the time, my doctor told me at the time was the worst one you could have because it spreads really fast,” Martinez explained. “I had gone in for my mammogram in January and I got a call saying, ‘Everything looks good, we will see you in six months.’ Then the next week, Jennifer up there at the hospital in radiology, she called me and said we want you to come back in and do another mammogram. The radiologist saw something, and we just wanted to double-check.”

Biopsies confirmed Martinez’s cancer and she began treatments in Cheyenne promptly. 

“My oncologist in Cheyenne told me if they had not called me back and told me to come back and have another scan and biopsy, by the time June came around it would have been too far advanced for them to do anything,” Martinez explained. “If I would have waited those six months for another mammogram. She said triple negative is a very fast-spreading cancer and in six months it would have been bad.” 

Martinez expressed she was unaware of the cancer growing in her body and the routine mammogram saved her life. Martinez did four rounds of chemo treatment and 35 days of radiation and now she visits her oncologist once every six months. She further explained, her remission is going well. 

Rita GGriggs, another Torrington resident, expressed cancer changed her in many ways.

“When I was first diagnosed and got that diagnosis, I really thought my life was going to be over and soon,” Giggs explained. “I wanted to do everything and keep my kids really close and stay home and enjoy my house and all of that. Once I kind of got over the initial thing, you kind of realized what is important in life and again, it’s your family. Your friends. Friends were a huge part of my survival. I live life. I enjoy it more.”

“I just want to do it all. I enjoy people and I have so much more compassion and understanding for people because everybody is going through stuff. It may not be cancer,” Griggs explained.

Griggs noted cancer is a hard subject to discuss openly although she shares her personal story to help others. 

“It is a hard subject. The hard part of it, for me, is knowing not everybody gets to survive,” Griggs said. “I do struggle with that but it is a higher beings choice.”

Griggs expressed finding resources to help with her treatment costs was difficult. 

“When I first went to the doctor, I had a lump in my breast. I thought it was an infection because I used to run all of the time,” Griggs said. “So, I did go up here and she thought it could be like mastitis and put me on an antibiotic. Well, it wasn’t. So, she said you need to have a biopsy.”

Coming to terms with her diagnosis wasn’t easy Griggs explained.

“I was still in denial. I mean I was healthy, ate good, exercised, didn’t smoke,” Griggs said. “So, she said we are going to send you to Scottsbluff for the biopsy and I am like numb. I came home and something inside me just said, don’t go to Scottsbluff.”

Griggs, like Martinez went to Cheyenne for cancer treatments.

“At that time, I didn’t have insurance at all so I was crying to my doctor, and she looked at me and said I am going to take care of you, but I know places you can go,” Griggs explained. “My friend and I drove all over Cheyenne that day looking for places. One was like the department of health where there was a breast and cervical cancer program. It was just before closing time when we walked into that office.”

Griggs was able to receive assistance through the program.

“I was very lucky because that program lasted maybe three years,” Griggs explained. “I had a lot of good things happen right along the way. I was fortunate. All the drives over, all the chemos and then I had to do radiation and the surgery and then I had to do another treatment for a year every three weeks. Those little things added up to be a lot. It was 14 years ago and maybe the last two years I am kind of feeling like I recovered from that financially.”

Griggs celebrates her remission.

“Every Thanksgiving is a celebration and I used to like go put it out there and tell the world and now it is a little more private,” Griggs said. “I celebrate by every night I come outdoors, and I look at the sky, the stars and the moon and I tell God, ‘Thank you.’ I go on trips. I just went to Hawaii in March. I have two grandkids which I didn’t have before, and I take part in those moments that really matter. I take more care for me also. I have decided I am important too and I need to take care of me. If I don’t, I am not going to be around as long as I could be.”

Griggs offered a bit of advice to others who have been diagnosed. 

“I have gone through, with serval friends, through a diagnosis,” Griggs said. “When I was diagnosed, I wanted to just be done. I didn’t see there was a chance to keep living and have a life and get back to normalcy. But you can. You may not get 14 years but take what you get and live it. Don’t dwell on that,” Griggs explained. “I spent a few years having a pity party and feeling sorry for myself and then one day I just got up and said enough is enough. Started exercising and doing more.” 

“I would say, one of the things I try to tell people is to pick a doctor that you feel comfortable with and trust them,” Griggs said. “They are trained.”

Griggs was surrounded by family, friends and her special work family during her cancer battle. She found comfort in teaching her preschool class, which kept her going, and her supportive work family’s encouragement.

“You learn who your close true friends are,” Griggs said. “I had one friend, every Friday night when I got home from chemo, there was a hot meal waiting. I never asked. She just did it. A husband of a friend grabbed my hand and said, ‘You can’t do this alone,’ and I have had to learn to accept help. I am pretty independent.” 

Griggs was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer.

“There is not always a lump, but your breast becomes red and hot and swollen,” Griggs said. “It’s very, very aggressive and I had like a 20% chance of living two years, but I didn’t know that at the time.”

“No symptom is too dumb, get it checked. Rather be safe than sorry. It is not the end of the world,” Griggs said. “You can do treatment. It can be done and count on your people.”