The first breast cancer patient served by Alta Bates Summit’s Latina Breast Health Outreach, and now one of its tireless volunteers, Raquel Portugal works hard promoting early detection and treatment of the disease among Spanish-speaking women.
It’s been a challenging, yet enlightening journey that began with Portugal’s breast cancer diagnosis in 2002 and her initial encounters with Marta Bórbon-Ehling, R.N., the program’s coordinator. “I thought I was going to die because I didn’t have any information about the disease. But once Marta contacted me and started going with me to appointments, it really helped,” says Portugal, whose daughter, Maribel, acts as interpreter for this interview. “It made all the difference that Marta could speak Spanish and translate for me and the doctors. She could explain the treatment process and knew the system.”

Nowadays, Portugal returns the favor by counseling newly diagnosed women whom Bórbon-Ehling refers to her, hosting classes in homes in her community, appearing on Univision and more. Together with Bórbon-Ehling, she’s launching the East Bay’s first support group for Spanish-speaking women with breast cancer. “She’s decided that she’s going to do whatever she can to help others because she’s been helped,” says Bórbon-Ehling. “You can’t say breast cancer is a good thing, but you can say because of this she’s become a woman with a mission.”