At just 34 years old, Karla felt a lump that turned out to be breast cancer, first diagnosed as stage 2 and then as stage 3. Like many young women with breast cancer, Karla’s genetic testing results were negative, leaving her without an explanation for why she was diagnosed with an aggressive breast cancer at such a young age. Karla is an ambassador for the Cancer Treatment Centers of America and for the Stanford Cancer Institute Community Partnership Program, which aims to reduce breast cancer disparities among African American women.


Story Reference Points:

Writing her book and dealing with recurrence @ 2:35

Karla’s first referral to genetic counseling @ 8:40

Breast cancer in African American women @ 15:35

Karla’s long, slow path to initial diagnosis @ 22:00

Karla’s family history of cancer @ 28:15

Karla’s second referral to genetic counseling and the leaps in genetic testing @ 30:32

Karla’s perspective on breast cancer awareness and survivorship lingo @ 37:18

Breast cancer as more than one disease - with a wide range of prognoses @ 44:42

Karla’s care at CTCA and work as an ambassador for CTCA and the SCI Community Partnership Program @ 51:32

How the Affordable Care Act affected Karla personally and how insurance concerns continue to impact her life now @ 56:46

More on Karla’s book - which you can buy online! @ 1:02:30


Links and Resources
Karla’s website

Karla’s blog on Living!

Buy a signed copy of Karla’s book!

Karla on Twitter: @karlaliving

Karla on Facebook

Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) on Twitter: @CancerCenter

Stanford Cancer Institute Community Partnership Program


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