The sparkle in her eyes and the perpetual smile describe her. Drive, joy and passions motivate her. She was not knocked down by the sudden diagnosis, nor by the uncertainty.
Carla Llarena is a social psychologist, therapeutic companion and advanced student of the University Teaching Faculty in Spanish Dances.. Two years ago, she battled severe breast cancer. She underwent chemotherapy, mastectomy, breast reconstruction, radiotherapy and continues with immunotherapy until she is finally discharged.
October is awareness month for this disease and She started it as the youngest member of the civil association “Rosas del Valle”, a group of women with breast cancer who practice rowing to improve their quality of life.
Photo: Juan Thomes.
When he found out that I had 80% of a compromised breast, in March 2023, I was already studying at the Patagonian University Institute of the Arts (IUPA). But despite the difficult outlook and invasive treatments, she never left university.
There was one day when he thought about dropping out because he couldn’t attend classes due to immunosuppression, but the institution readjusted some classes so that she could continue. “I am grateful to the university, because I felt welcomed, understood,” she said.
Her passions keep her active y He does not decline even though he continues to receive treatment every 21 days for another year. The goal is clear: to recover definitively and make the wheel turn to support other women who now need her experience.
Your longing It is also being the mother that her little girl needs, for all these dark days in which she had to retreat from her upbringing. for being in chemotherapy. His short-term goal is to receive that degree that he longed for so much.
The diagnosis: a routine study saved her
“I felt strange, something was happening to me, I didn’t really know what it was, but I kind of sensed it, I felt it, then; as usual, When I started the year I always had checkups,” Carla said about how she detected the disease.
She is in favor of listening to the body. Although she had no symptoms, she went for a routine checkup and a breast ultrasound at age 38 revealed abnormalities. At first they believed it was a consequence of mastitis, because their baby had recently weaned off the breast. But his determination to continue investigating; It was the basis for the discovery of an invasive tumor in her left breast. On July 7, 2023, she finally confirmed that she had breast cancer.
Photo: Juan Thomes.
“I always associated cancer with death. And with a daughter who is barely two years old, I said to myself: What do I do now??”, she recapitulated about those days in which the impact of knowing she was in the middle of a serious illness overwhelmed her.
“When going through chemo, I was not available as a mother,” cHe was shocked and moved when he remembered everything it cost him not to be able to take care of his little girl. It took her a week to recover and she couldn’t be the mother the baby needed, she couldn’t lift her because she felt bad.
The last chemotherapy: a battle won
Their Chemotherapy sessions lasted six hours and her friends were always there to surround her. They even cut her hair at the same time as her, and helped her get cold helmets and gels so she wouldn’t lose her hair. “Everything I did was like a ritual,” he said, and not just personal, but collective.
“The last chemo was on December 26, after Christmas 2023,” the young woman recalled. She remembers that when she reached that point, “I was already clean and that was wonderful, it was the best news of my life,” she said.
After chemotherapy he had to face surgery. Nor they provided 100% coverage by social work, so she had to raise funds for breast reconstruction and sold raffles to reach the goal.
Carla had to overcome several obstacles regarding access to medication. “Always on the limit, it still costs a lot,” he revealed. He had delays of months to go from one treatment to another.
Today he has only three certainties: having waited to undergo studies could have been a time bomb, locking himself in was going to be very bad for him and without a support network he would not have been able to do so.. Her family, her friends and the professionals who guided her were essential in this process.
“While doing chemo I met many lonely women. And it also made me see life from another place. I don’t know what kills the most; whether the illness itself or loneliness”, he reflected.
“You can’t do it alone on an island, that’s why I was very aware at the time of my diagnosis that I had to return to that network, return to my community, to my tribe.”
Carla Llarena, breast cancer patient in Roca.
Art as a therapeutic tool
Carla always worked for the outside, for society from her professional profile and provided therapeutic support to third parties.but the time came for him to think about applying that knowledge to his own life. Thus he found a way out in art.
In the dance, he was able to dump his anxieties, uncertainties, it was his grounding cable. “Creation for me was like that door of catharsis,” He had, in addition to having psychological support for a long time.
The thing is She has been dancing since she was three years old. He had already been in the Spanish Ballet of the Patagonia Cultural Foundation And when he was older he began his university career, passing through the National Higher Institute of Arts (INSA) until reaching what is now IUPA. “Dance has always been my place in the world,” he said.
End of degree and projects
Thus, after a year and a half uphill, today he is finishing his teaching career in the teaching residency stage and hopes to finish at the end of the year. She focuses her final journey inspired by Rosas del Valle and thinks about new projects linking dance and health.
Study specific movements that help lymphatic drainage, such as brasing in Spanish dance and digitizing in castanets, a benefit for finger mobility. “Castanets work wonderfully with drainage,” he said.
Furthermore, together with his sister they undertook a circular fair of “cold helmets” to donate these devices that serve to prevent hair loss in chemotherapy.
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