Group of people in matching pink breast cancer awareness shirts

Early Detection Saved My Life: Adrianna’s Journey Through Breast Cancer
Story 180

“They worked together closely, and so compassionately, to make sure I received the very best treatment.”

It has been more than a year since Adrianna Hernandez’s whole world changed. After a routine mammogram, she received a call from imaging the next day, asking her to come back in for a biopsy. On Oct. 1, 2024, Adrianna was told, “you have breast cancer.”

Adrianna was diagnosed with two kinds of breast cancer, invasive ductal carcinoma and ductal carcinoma in situ. Her right breast was covered with macroscopic cancer, and it had already spread to one lymph node. “At 42 years old, with no family history of breast cancer, I never imagined this would happen to me,” Adrianna said.

Adrianna has served at Adventist Health for more than 16 years and currently serves as a facility system coordinator for Plant Operations at Adventist Health. She’s sharing her story and her lifesaving message to women. “Get checked. Do your mammograms,” she said. “Pay attention to your body and speak up if something doesn’t feel right, even if it seems small.”

She is providing her detailed medical information because 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime, according to the American Cancer Society. “And here’s the thing. I never felt a lump. There was no pain. No obvious warning signs,” she shared. “What I did have was progressive itching, right where the cancer was. It didn’t seem like a big deal at the time. But now, I know better.”

Over the next few months, everything moved quickly. Her care team at the AIS Cancer Center at Adventist Health Bakerfield became her lifeline. “They worked together closely, and so compassionately, to make sure I received the very best treatment,” said Adrianna.

She has had five surgeries in the past nine months with one more to go. She will be on medication for the next four years, but she is grateful. “In March of 2025, I was told I was cancer free. In that moment, those words were everything,” she said.

Adrianna is also hoping these words will make a difference during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. “Get your mammogram, because early detection saved my life. And it can save yours or someone you love.”