Maria Quiñones-Sánchez went public after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Now she begins the next chapter of her story. | Helen Ubiñas
The councilmember was surprised at how widely her experience resonated with readers after she shared the story of her diagnosis in October. She continues to spread the word about preventive options.
I questioned the wisdom of organizers not calling off a fund-raiser for Philadelphia City Councilmember Maria Quiñones-Sánchez more than a few times as icy rain pelted my car and gusts of wind whistled past my windows.
But while I slowly made my way to the event at a North Philadelphia restaurant Saturday morning — mumbling a few choice words under my breath — it occurred to me that there may not have actually been a better time for her community of supporters to come together.
After all, Quiñones-Sánchez, who was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, had just weathered her own storm. It was only fitting to begin the next chapter of her story during another.
In October, Quiñones-Sánchez, who’s 53, announced in an Inquirer op-ed that she was cancer-free following a successful mastectomy in August. She wrote then that she would also undergo preventive chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
Before she went public, Quiñones-Sánchez asked me if I would write about her cancer diagnosis, and as much as I wanted to, I told her that I thought it would be more powerful for her — the lone Latina on Council — and the mostly Latino and Black community she serves, if she told her own story in her own words.
In a poignant essay published during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Quiñones-Sánchez wrote about discovering she had breast cancer after her first mammogram in seven years — doctors recommend that women who are Quiñones-Sánchez’s age have a mammogram every year — and about keeping her diagnosis a secret for months with the help of a wig. She didn’t miss a single day of work. Quiñones-Sánchez was grateful to have access to a support system and a network of health-care providers that other women don’t always have, and she hoped that sharing her experience would encourage others to seek preventive care.
In the op-ed, Quiñones-Sánchez spoke directly to her “Black and Latina sisters.” She had been surprised to learn that Black women are almost 40% more likely than white women to die from the disease, while breast cancer is the most common form of cancer diagnosed among U.S. Latinas.
She made a promise to the women of Philadelphia that she would be “a strong advocate for wider screening options, more access to screening, and getting women of color more engaged in their health options.”
“It’s a promise I’m going to keep,” Quiñones-Sánchez told me last week.
Even Quiñones-Sánchez was surprised at how much her story resonated with readers. “Men reached out to tell me that my story motivated them to make sure their wives were up-to-date on their mammograms,” she recalled. Women who had gone through their own struggles with breast cancer shared their experiences and offered encouragement.
Many admitted they had put off their screenings and had been inspired by her story to get checked out, including her former chief of staff, Quetcy Lozada. “Her coming out, and seeing how concerned her family was, really made me realize, ‘Oh, God, I have to go,’” Lozada said.
And now, here was Quiñones-Sánchez, inside a second-floor dining room at the Tierra Colombiana restaurant on North Fifth Street on a stormy Saturday morning, sharing the tale of her recovery with a cluster of family, friends, and supporters during her second annual Chucks & Pearls Women’s Brunch. She asked attendees to wear old-school high-top Converse sneakers along with a strand of the jewelry — a nod to one of the styles favored by Vice President Kamala Harris.
It was a celebration. Just a week earlier, Quiñones-Sánchez had rung the bell — well, bells — to signal the last of her treatments, first inside Pennsylvania Hospital with her husband, Tomas Sánchez, by her side, and then outside with friends and staff who didn’t let COVID-19 restrictions keep them from celebrating the milestone with a second bell they’d purchased just for the occasion.
At the North Philadelphia restaurant, Quiñones-Sánchez, who will likely run for mayor next year, spoke about how the experience had changed her.
The cancer had put a lot in focus — about work, family, and working smarter to prioritize what matters most: her family and the city she cares about. She also admitted to being a little apprehensive about appearing in public for the first time without the wig that helped her keep her battle with cancer private until she was ready to share her story.
“So I guess this is my coming out,” she said, to a rousing round of applause.
Outside, it had just begun to snow. But the weather didn’t feel quite as raw, because inside had been a small reminder that soon enough this storm, too, would pass.