Georgetown woman encourages self-exams after receiving cancer diagnoses while pregnant

GEORGETOWN, Texas - A breast cancer diagnosis always comes at a bad time.

"Shocking news to find that out, 32 years old, had never had anything health-wise wrong with me," said Catalina Trivino, a breast cancer survivor.

After finding a lump during a self-test in 2022, Trivino was diagnosed with stage zero breast cancer.

"I believe that because I did self-tests, that we caught it early, that we caught it at stage 0, and we were able to act on it really quickly," said Trivino.

But the timing of it was unimaginable.

"Within 24 hours of getting that news, I then found out that I'm pregnant," said Trivino.

Catalina and her husband had been trying for years.

"I never thought this was going to happen at that moment that it did," said Trivino.

It wasn't the start of motherhood that she always imagined for herself. At 12 weeks pregnant, she had a mastectomy and reconstructive implant surgery at St. David's in Georgetown.

"It was thanks to this group of doctors who were so very interested in my case that I'm like sitting here right now telling you this story," said Trivino.

Then, she fought to regain her strength before her due date.

"The goal, the motivation was to get better for this little girl who was coming to be able to hold her, to be able to be the mom that I hope to be."

That day finally came in July 2023. At St. David’s, the same place she fought breast cancer, Cataline welcomed her little girl into the world.

"I look at her now, and I'm like, you are the strongest being I know," said Trivino. "She is my motivation throughout that whole journey and what continues to be this journey."

Both Catalina and her daughter are healthy.

Catalina celebrated becoming cancer-free last November.

As the two got ready to trick or treat this year, Catalina wanted to share her story. She hopes it will encourage other women to self-check for breast cancer, hopefully catching it just in time.

"The ultimate message is we're not invincible, know your body, and none of us are too young, you are your best advocate, so if you think you need to get checked, if something's off, advocate for yourself and get checked," said Trivino.

According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, about forty percent of all diagnosed breast cancers are because of self-exams.

Learn more about early detection and self-exams here.