The presenter’s journey with difficult-to-treat cancer – 05/16/2023 – Equilíbrio

The life of famous Chilean TV presenter Claudia Conserva changed dramatically on June 17, 2022.

That day, the 49-year-old presenter had a mammogram, as was routine every year.

However, this time, the doctors told her that she had triple negative breast cancer – one of the most aggressive and difficult to treat cancers.

In the so-called triple negative, cancer cells do not have estrogen or progesterone receptors and do not produce the HER2 protein. This tumor is considered aggressive because it “grows quickly, is more likely to spread at the time of diagnosis, and is more likely to recur after treatment than other types of breast cancer,” according to the Oncoguia Institute.

Since the diagnosis, Conserva has been undergoing treatment, which includes several rounds of chemotherapy. Part of that journey is portrayed in a documentary called “Brava” – which premiered on the Televisión Nacional de Chile (TVN) channel and is available in Spanish on Youtube –, with images taken by Claudia Conserva herself with her cell phone, either from home or from the private clinic where she is treated.

The presenter says that the purpose of publishing this material is to raise awareness about the importance of routine exams to detect breast cancer in time.

“I wanted to share this intimate experience because this message seems urgent to me. angry shows that a timely diagnosis can help save your life”, she says at the beginning of the documentary, which is not available in Brazil.

The program has caused all kinds of reactions in Chile, including some criticism for not reflecting how the disease is treated in the country’s public network. There were also those who accused Claudia Conserva of allegedly “profiting” from her illness.

The presenter joins other personalities who wanted to make their cancer treatment visible.

One of them was BBC presenter Deborah James, who, after being diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2016, became an activist against the disease – raising money for scientific research and awareness campaigns. James died in June last year.

Diagnosis

Claudia Conserva started her television career in Chile in 1990, when she was just 16 years old.

Since then, he has conducted several television programs, from morning shows to successful reality shows, in addition to participating in several soap operas. These last 30 years on screen have made her a well-known and loved personality in the country.

So when she publicly disclosed her breast cancer diagnosis via Instagram, there was a huge stir.

The presenter decided to put her television career on hold and, since June, has not appeared on her show, entitled “Milf”, or on any other.

“I understood that I had to dedicate myself exclusively to healing. And that I had to leave my old life behind”, she explains in the documentary, referring to her overwork and the cigarettes she smoked daily.

His recovery process has been especially complex due to the coronavirus pandemic. Without being able to leave the house or see friends and relatives, especially at the beginning of the treatment, Claudia Conserva says that recording herself was like “therapy”.

“I felt like it was good for me,” she says in the documentary.

After being diagnosed for the first time, the presenter had to undergo several tests, including a biopsy to know the aggressiveness of her cancer and a CT scan known as PET to determine the extent of the disease in the body.

This last scan showed that the tumor affected only the right breast, but the biopsy confirmed that her cancer was especially aggressive. Conserva says “all hell broke loose” in that minute.

“Even knowing that there was no metastasis, I knew it was an aggressive cancer and I went crazy. I disappeared. I died in life”, recalls the presenter in the documentary, visibly moved.

For her, one of the most difficult things in this process is seeing her family accompanying her in sadness.

“The pain of seeing your children suffering for you is heartbreaking. The pain of seeing your husband helpless…”, she says in the documentary.

Her husband, Juan Carlos Valdivia, also a well-known Chilean presenter, accompanied her throughout the treatment, as did her sister Francisca.

She thanked them in a post last October on Instagram.

“How important are emotional support, empathy, trust, patience, company, affection… Cancer is a drama that affects all of us (…) A tight hug to the patients and their families. This disease it’s not easy… We all suffer, the environment is affected.”

Chemotherapy

Since July 2022, the presenter has undergone several chemotherapy sessions, which she recorded in detail on her cell phone. In angryshe is seen being cared for at the clinic, surrounded by the venous catheter and specialists, or being taken from one place to another on a stretcher.

“This is the first battle of this war in which I will give absolutely everything to kill the enemy”, he says in one of the scenes.

“There is an American writer named Anne Boyer who, in her book “Destroy”, says that accepting chemotherapy is like choosing to jump off a building when someone is pointing a gun at your head. exit.”

After the first chemotherapy, Claudia Conserva says she felt happy and relieved to know that she was treating the disease.

“I’m happy,” she repeats several times in the footage.

Later, however, the picture changed when she began to feel the effects of the treatment.

“Now I feel sick. I’m nauseous. It’s disabling. I couldn’t drive,” she says. “I’m glad it was me. I couldn’t bear to see a child go through that. I’m glad it was me and not them.”

shaved hair

During the treatment, one of the most difficult processes for the presenter was the hair loss and, mainly, the moment when she had to shave it.

“I never thought that being completely bald would affect me so much. And yes, something happened to me”, she acknowledges in the documentary.

“I’ve been more emotionally unstable… the fact that I’ve lost my hair… you can’t deny you’re sick anymore.”

The presenter vents that she no longer has motivation and is sad and tired. “I’m exhausted, tired of having cancer,” she says.

Although her evolution has been good, Claudia Conserva is still recovering and away from the screen.

Among the few public statements she has made in recent months, in March she reinforced that she has no plans to return to television.

This text was published here