Anaelvys Espinoza-Ruiz was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2005. Thanks to advances in robot-assisted surgery and the early detection of her cancer, Espinoza-Ruiz went on to have a healthy pregnancy, followed by another healthy pregnancy and now is the mother of a son and a daughter.
[Transcript]
[Pictures of Anealvys and her family]
[Anaelvys Espinoza-Ruiz, Cervical Cancer Patient]
I'm Anaelvys Espinoza-Ruiz. I'm 37 year old. I had cervical cancer and now I have two beautiful children. In December 2005, we got engaged. My husband gave me the ring December 31, and two days after, I received a phone call from the doctor's office saying that they need to see me. My fiance, at the moment, went with me and the doctor came in and the bad news that I had cervical cancer. I was 29 years old. What I thought in that moment, it was like, "I want to be a mom," that was the first thing. My husband has a daughter and I even say, "You don't have to marry me. You want more kids, I know you want more kids."
[Doctors performing surgery]
[Anaelvys Espinoza-Ruiz]
I went to see Dr. Ricardo Estape the same day. He said, "No, we're not going to do a hysterectomy yet. We want to try a few things before that." The next day he did the first surgery, it was a cone biopsy. It remove part of the cancer, but it wasn't enough, so 25 days after, he did another surgery and he removed the cervix, trying to preserve my maternity because I didn't have any kids at the moment. When he did the second surgery, he said, "You can have baby, but you need to go to a fertility doctor." We were planning to get married in September the same year, 2006. We continue with the plans and taking care of myself. Every three months, I was doing the CT scan and pap, and whatever he said, I will follow the instructions.
[Pictures of Anaelvy’s children]
[Anaelvys Espinoza-Ruiz]
September 8, we got married, 2006. In December the same year, I was pregnant. My husband was there with me, with a C-section. Everything came out so good. He was a healthy baby. That day, I couldn't see him anymore. They was checking on him, his lung. The next morning I knew it was him when he was on the way. When he cried, I said, "This is Justin." It was very emotional, very emotional for both of us. He had a daughter, but this is the first boy. It is my first son, it was very special. He's such a great boy, he's a blessing.
[Anaelvys Espinoza-Ruiz]
After Mother's Day, 2011, I found out I was pregnant. Melanie was born December 23, 2011. She's very attached to Mommy. She loves Justin, she loves me, and she loves Daddy. It's like she's such a sweet girl, but she has strong character. I'm the happiest person in the world, just because I have able to have my kids. I take care of myself for them. I want them to enjoy their life, and Mommy and Daddy.
[Baptist Health South Florida]
[End Transcript]
