In 2025, Mayra Mendoza got an unexpected diagnosis – breast and thyroid cancer. Thanks to regular mammograms, the cancer was detected despite the absence of any noticeable symptoms. She is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatment in Miami, Florida, where she lives with her family.

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Mayra Mendoza was born and raised in Managua, Nicaragua.

“I had a good childhood,” said Mendoza. “I hardly remember much from when I was very young but I know that I have many beautiful memories buried deep in my brain. A lot of those memories were spent with my three siblings and grandma while my parents worked. My father worked in construction and my mother, for the most part, worked by selling products in the street markets in which I would help her. I started working at 15 years old to help my parents. At 16 I started a vocational career in typing to work as a bank secretary and I would go to night school.”

For the last 10 years, Mendoza has worked taking care of a woman who had cancer. She took her to her appointments and assisted with routine care. But the most important thing to her has always been family.

“I took care of my family and my home,” said Mendoza. “I loved cooking every day so that my husband had food to take to work. When my kids were in town, I would always have a new dish cooked up for them.”

Mendoza often cares for her two grandchildren.

“All of this was very  important to me,” she said.

In addition to her vibrant family life, Mendoza has always liked taking care of her health, regularly attending Zumba and Pilates classes. With no symptoms, pain, or noticeable abnormalities, the diagnosis came as a shock.

“I always had my mammograms done at the same place, and nothing had ever been detected until 2025,” said Mendoza. “My mammogram came back abnormal, and my gynecologist suggested an ultrasound. That’s where they saw a malignant mass.”

Mendoza’s doctor recommended biopsies in both breasts and eventually they confirmed the worst – positive tests for cancer in both the left breast and the thyroid.

Just that word – cancer – scared Mendoza a lot.

“When I found out about the diagnosis, I felt very sad,” she said. “Every day that passed, I felt fragile and powerless. I knew that everything in my life and routine would change, and it has. The fear kept growing each day.”

Even with treatment underway, that fear remains. Mendoza is scared, in part because, like so many people, she knows first-hand the stories of others where cancer comes back or spreads further even after chemotherapy. She has had to look that fear in the eyes as she faces a complete unknown, saddled with the grim possibility of not overcoming this battle.

“Sometimes I feel positive though, it’s just hard,” Mendoza said. “I think the moment the oncologist tells me I am cancer-free, the fear will dissolve.”

The hardest part, Mendoza says, has been leaving her job and distancing herself from family and friends.

“There are days when I can’t even get out of bed, with many discomforts – nausea, not being able to eat, pain in the body,” Mendoza described. “I had to stop going to the gym and distance myself from family gatherings. In the beginning of this journey, I was not careful enough and I got very sick with the flu because of my compromised immune system.”

Throughout everything, Mendoza has been supported and uplifted by her family.

“My family – my children and my husband – have supported me emotionally, since the rest of my family is in Nicaragua,” said Mendoza. “They support in everything they can. They are with me when I need them, and that fills me with love and positivity.”

Before she started chemo, Mendoza’s son invited all the family friends to come visit.

“Some brought me flowers, and even just their presence filled me with hope and happiness,” she said. “My daughter requested off at her job as a nurse to accompany me on every single chemo session at the hospital.”

The whole process of diagnosis, shock, support from the family she’s spent her life supporting, and treatment, has reinforced Mendoza’s perspective on what is most important.

“Throughout this process, I’ve thought that if I get through this, I will try to change some aspects of my life – take better care of my health, improve my nutrition, care more for my family, be a better person. Because I believe in God and I know that it’s because of him that I am still standing.”