Channeling Her Passion to Spread Awareness About TNBC: LaToya's Journey
Originally published by Gilead Sciences
From the age of four, LaToya Bolds-Johnson knew she wanted to be a healer. For more than ten years she’s been fulfilling that mission by working as an ER physician assistant in Maryland. But the script suddenly flipped the day she found out she had triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).
“I just could not believe that I was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer at the age of 36,” says LaToya.
The fears she felt in that moment – the thought of potentially leaving her husband behind and missing out on seeing her children grow up – were transformed into her passion to help others. She vowed to spread awareness of TNBC – the most aggressive form of breast cancer – which disproportionately affects younger women and is more prevalent in Black women.
“I told myself, ‘You have three daughters who may develop breast cancer,’” recalls LaToya. “‘What can you do now to help them and to help other women?’”
LaToya uses her personal social media channels to reach women around the world, to inspire them to learn more about TNBC, and to raise awareness of the critical need for earlier detection.
“My goal in life is to make sure that I can help other women not have to go through what I'm going through,” says LaToya. “That's exactly what I'm going to do.”
Watch the video above to see more and view LaToya’s full story.
About Gilead Sciences
Gilead Sciences, Inc. is a research-based biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and commercializes innovative medicines in areas of unmet medical need. The company strives to transform and simplify care for people with life-threatening illnesses around the world. Gilead has operations in more than 35 countries worldwide, with headquarters in Foster City, California.
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