Breast Cancer Survivor - Teresa Miriam Van Hoy
Updated April 28, 2015.
Teresa Miriam Van Hoy:
Dr. Van Hoy is an assistant professor of History, mother, wife, and breast cancer survivor. She is active in education at many levels, and is working to address the disparities of care and survival for minority women, with a focus on American Latinas, and Chinese women.
About Her Diagnosis:
- Age at diagnosis: 40.
- Type pf Breast Cancer: Stage 2, invasive breast cancer, two tumors including one 3 mm from the chest wall, no nodal involvement (though only two nodes were tested in the sentinel node biopsy).
Treatments Taken:
"Cut, Burn, and Poison" as they say. She learned that she had cancer on February 19, 2002, underwent a bilateral mastectomy on February 25, underwent chemotherapy from March 25 until mid-July, and then had daily radiation from August until October.
Personal Details:
- Van Hoy shares a household with three wild men: her husband, Roberto (26 years together!), and their teenagers, Alejandro and Andrés.
- She has been on faculty at the University of Houston-Clear Lake since 2000, and is grateful for the great support UHCL gave her during the many months of her cancer treatment.
- Her birthday is April 20, and she is proud to be middle-aged.
Advice for Women Facing Breast Cancer:
Van Hoy wrote that she experienced cancer at two levels -- the personal and the public. Read what she has to say to women who are facing breast cancer.
Current Interests:
- Cycling -- completed her first 100-mile Ride for the Roses (now LIVESTRONG Challenge) in October 2005 to raise money for cancer research, and trained for it again in 2006.
- Activism in the latina/latino community.
- Educational enrichment for Hispanic and low-income students.
Titles and Honors:
- Assistant Professor of History; Chair of Women’s Studies, University of Houston-Clear Lake.
- San Antonio Students Stand and Deliver, founder, director, and head instructor.
- Lanzate: Dandole Alas a tu Exito, grant selection committee member.
- Latinas for a Cure, speakers bureau member.
- Word Doctors on the Border, founder, director.
- Wife and mother of two boys.
- Breast cancer survivor.
Source:
Teresa Miriam Van Hoy, correspondence with Pam Stephan. September 17, 2006.