Hey Friends,

I am posting today with a mixture of emotions, and I wanted to share some personal news that will inevitably impact our professional relationship. Recently, I have been diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer.

This news has come as a shock, and I, along with my partner and family, are navigating through a range of emotions. However, I am determined to face this challenge with strength and a positive outlook. I believe in the power of mindset and the support of loved ones, which includes valued clients like yourself.

I feel that I have made a personal connection with all of my clients and yall are honestly my friends. I didn't want to share any information until I had more knowledge on what’s going on. Now that I know what is happening and what to expect, I felt I needed to share this so that you also know what to expect in the next year.

If I have not reached out to you personally about your wedding or event, that’s because nothing has changed, heck you will actually end up with me and a second photographer :)

If you have any questions or concerns about our ongoing projects or if there's anything specific you'd like to discuss, please feel free to reach out. Your understanding and flexibility during this challenging time are immensely valuable to me.

Thank you for your continued partnership and trust. I look forward to kicking this thing's ass and returning to our work together.

Now THE TEA

If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s rumors. So you’re going to hear it directly from me. Please reference this page when my name comes up in coversation. Feel free to leave a comment :) I really do hope this can help anyone that is going through the same situation. The comments are open for a reason, if you have questions, please leave a comment or message me directly. I’ve learned so much in the past few weeks and I would love to help anyone that wants it .

(9/9) THE LUMP A few weeks back, I got done shooting a wedding and went to get in the shower. When I was taking my bra off, I felt a weird firmness on the outside of my left breast. I spent a good 30 mins feeling myself up in the restroom until I thought I was crazy. I then had to ask my partner Philip to feel it and make sure I wasn't just sleep deprived and absolutely losing my sh*t. Sure enough, he agreed, I needed to see a Dr.

(9/11) INSURANCE (nobody tells you that when you're fighting cancer, you're also fighting the health care system)

At this time, I didn't have insurance, so NOBODY wanted to see me, even when I said I would pay out of pocket. So LUCKILY Planned Parenthood had an appointment on the other side of town for 8am Monday morning, and ya girl snatched it up. I went in Monday, paid $150, got felt up by a Dr. and was given a referral for an ultrasound and genetic testing. Nobody talks about how great Planned Parenthood is, so I’m going to. The Dr. got straight to the point and didn't play any games. She gave me a great refferal to STRIC for my imaging and let me know that they offer payment plans and reduced rates for anyone that doesnt have insurance.

(9/15) IMAGING (mammograms are not fun, but I highly recommend you get one!)

I went to STRIC for my ultrasound referral. They have you fill out paperwork, call you to the back, have you undress from the waist up and put on a light pink gown. I was the only patient younger than 50… and we were all sitting in this back waiting room, watching Dr Phil, wearing pink robes, letting our boobies hang free haha I found it funny. They finally called my name and we got started with the ultrasound. The nurse was absolutely amazing and made me feel very comfortable. She asked me about my hobbies and we talked like we had known each other for years. She had me lay on the table, on my right side. She put my head above my head, squirted some jelly on my breast and used the “probe” to take images of the tissue. It was honestly fascinating to see. After the ultrasounds, she had me sit in the bra-less waiting room for about 10 mins.

I didn't know it then, but my images were being reviewed and they didn't want me to leave in case I needed a mammogram. When the nurse came back, she told me “We would like to do a mammogram. The mass is deep in your tissue and we want to make sure we get the best image of it. If you have the time, we can do it today. I already called your Dr. and got the referral.” Talk about saving me all the time in the world, I love efficiency & urgency in a health care provider. SLAY QUEEN!

Directly from there, I walked into a second room that had this weird machine with clean plastic plates… MY BOOBS WERE ABOUT TO BE SQUISHED IN THERE!?!?! SORRY WHAT!?!? Yeah, that happened… But in all honesty, the nurse was so great. She guided me through the entire thing and was super quick, it didn't even hurt. I was done in less than 15 mins.

I then got the okay to get dressed, and sat in the no-bra zone for about 20 mins with these women I can only picture as The Golden Girls. The radiologist came back and got me then took me to a room with a computer where my images were up on the screen. She said “You have a pretty large mass, it's not a cyst because it's firm and solid. I’m almost 98% SURE IT ISN'T CANCER because of the size and your age. However, we would like to do a biopsy just to make sure. It will give us more information on why it's growing and if it will need to be removed.” Here are the deets, this mass was 3.2cm big and I was just a month shy of 29, in other words, this tumor was the size of a strawberry and I was just a baby! And at this point, I have no sense of urgency because 1) i dont have insurance… you know what biopsy means, MONEY… You know what surgery means, MONEY… Plus she just said it's likely not cancer, so I decided I’d deal with it when I deal with it.

PLUS, I had an interview for a full time Photo/ Video position with San Antonio Stockshow and Rodeo @ 2:30… cancer was the last thing on my mind.

(10.2) BIOPSY (this sh*t hurts, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.)

The day of the biopsy, I drove myself back to STRIC. Sat in the no-bra zone for a few minutes, then got taken back to the same room I had the ultrasound in. The new Dr. came in and introduced himself, and I also had the same nurse as I did with the images. They had me lay on my side with my arm up again, and I was given 2 injections of lidocaine. From there, I was told to breathe normally, and that I would feel some pressure and hear a few loud pops. The procedure was called a core biopsy guided by ultrasound. So they pretty much used the ultrasound to make sure they were taking parts of the tumor and not my breast. There was no pain at all, but the pop was a bit scary. When they were done, they let me see the tissue that was taken out and it was seriously so cool! It looked like pink floating bubbles in a test tube. I was told I’d be sore. I was told I’d be uncomfortable. I was even told it would take a couple of days to get back to normal. What I was not told was that I would not be able to sleep on my side or back, the tumor would swell to double the size and be hard as a rock, it would take 3 weeks to feel normal again, oh and my breast would look like I got hit with a baseball bat. On top of that, any time I didn't wear a bra, the pain was horrible.

(10.18) 1ST RODEO

WELL I GOT THE JOB!! Youre reading the words of the new photo/ video coordinator for San Antonio Stockshow and Rodeo :) 10.18 was my first day. I legit did a 30 min onboarding at 9am and was on the road heading to College Station by 9:30am. It was such an amazing first day. I got to shoot interviews for scholarship recipients and met some pretty fun animals. At one point I was sitting in the middle of an arena shooting some team roping of the A&M Rodeo team, talk about a dream job!

(10.19) TRIPLE NEGATIVE BREAST CANCER (INVASIVE DUCTAL CARCINOMA)

Second day in the new office and I’m stoked!! I’ve started to clean and organize. I’ve met some new faces and this afternoon we are shooting a commercial downtown. It’s going to be a good day!

NOT.

At 11:30 I got a call. I was expecting a call from a genetics Dr. that wanted some family history so that they could fulfill that genetic testing referral I got from Planned Parenthood, well.. It wasn't them. The call went like…

DR.: “Hi this is DR. blank from UT Health Science Center. Is this Martina Castillo?”

ME: Yes

DR: “Oh good, do you have some time to come in today? We have your results from the biopsy and would like to talk them over with you.”

ME: No, I actually just started a new job and can't leave early today. Can you just tell me over the phone?

DR: “Of course. Are you sitting down? Do you have a support system around you?”

ME: I am sitting down, and I’m at work, so yes, I’d think so.

DR: “Okay then. We have your biopsy results and the tumor tissue shows that you have an invasive ductal carcinoma. *womp womp womp womp* TRIPLE NEGATIVE BREAST CANCER *womp womp womp womp womp* WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE YOU AS SOON AS POSSIBLE *womp womp womp womp* FAST GROWING AND SPREADING *womp womp womp*

ME: Wait, so I have cancer?

DR: “Yes, and it's a very aggressive form of cancer… Your tumor scored a 94% out of 100%. It’s very urgent we see you as soon as possible.”

When I say I didn't hear half of what she told me, I mean it. It was in one ear out the other. My whole world was flipped upside down & my only thought was “I’m going to die, and I have to tell Philip.” Needless to say, I left work early that day…

Thankfully Philip is very logical. I was spiraling, and he was planning. Before I could get out of the “worst case scenario” mindset, he had already come up with a list financial options to look into so that I could get seen by a good Dr. without going to in debt (remember, I still didn't have insurance, and cancer isn't cheap) I applied for over 10 options and was denied by all of them. I made too much to be accepted, so I would have to wait for open enrollment to get marketplace insurance.

HOLY MIRACLE (i'm not religious, but if there was ever an act of god, this was it)

Remember that new little job I got, well turns out, they not only offer full benefits, but they offer pretty dang good coverage, but the kicker, the insurance was activated ON MY START DATE ! ! ! So now, not only am I not going into debt for the rest of my life, but I can actually see some of the top Oncologists IN THE NATION. & That’s what I did.

From here, everything started rolling super quickly. I went over the pathology report with my oncologist. This consisted of learning that I have a very aggressive cancer that doesn't respond to hormones. This cancer requires chemo, surgery, then possibly more chemo and or radiation. So for the next year, that's what I’ll be doing. Chemo once a week for 12 weeks, chemo once every 3 weeks for 4 visits, surgery, then depending on the findings after surgery, possibly more chemo and or radiation.

I met my nurse navigator that was assigned through Sara Cannon at no-charge. My nurse navigator is absolutely amazing! She is an RN and has been working with breast cancer patients for over a decade. She has brought me peace of mind in a way I didn't know I needed. She has sat in on Dr. visits to take notes for me, she then explains everything I missed to make sure I know everything I need to know. I honestly wouldn't have even known where to begin with the next steps of treatment had I not had her.

If there's one thing I have learned throughout his whole process, it's that you need to be your own biggest advocate & I CAN’T STRESS THAT ENOUGH. I was told that I wouldn't start chemo for 3-4 weeks… But yall know me, I’m hard headed and not settling for the minimum.

Within 2 weeks of meeting my treatment oncologist, I had

a chest port installed

Met my radiology oncologist

Met my treatment oncologists assistant to go ver chemo treatment

Had a ct scan (found that the cancer has not spread to my organs or lymph nodes)

Had a heart echo (found that it's totally normal)

Started my first cycle of chemo

Met with a surgical oncologist (that I will not be staying with)

This all happened so fast, because I called each office myself and made the earliest appointment they had. On top of that, I called back every day to see if they had any cancellations. Philip & my Dr. made it very apparent to me, that cancer is all about time. I have a very fast growing cancer (about 1% growth / day) so waiting was not an option. It was eating at me that I was sitting around not able to do anything. So I got pissed. I got so angry, angry at the cancer, angry at the world, angry at literally everything, and I used that, and my customer service voice, to get what I wanted.

Yesterday, I underwent my 4th round of chemo, and thus far have not had any severe symptoms or reactions. I’m mostly dealing with fatigue, mild dehydration, and hair loss. (I’ll be rocking ball caps and some pretty snazzy wigs for the next year or so, so get ready for some fun looks) My diet has also changed a bit. I’m no longer eating processed foods, have zero caffeine intake, no alcohol, and no undercooked meats. The no undercooked meats have been the hardest, yall know I love a medium rare steak. I’m also taking a list of daily vitamins to keep me somewhat strong while on chemo. I am avoiding vitamin C so that my cells continue to die and kill the cancer. I have to wear sunscreen everyday and avoid the sun (WHICH IS KILLING ME) Oh and every Monday, I sit with my hands and feet wrapped in ice packs while being pumped with chemicals for an hour so that I don't develop neuropathy, but I get to eat popsicles and get a free sandwich so there's that lol :)

In light of this, I want to be transparent about the changes that you may notice in the coming months. While I am committed to maintaining the high standards of service you have come to expect, I anticipate that I will need to scale back on my workload temporarily which may also mean, I’ll up my prices a little. This decision has not been made lightly, as your satisfaction and the success of our projects remain a top priority for me. And if you know me, I hate to half-a$$ anything. My white blood cells will be dropping in the next few weeks, so this means I will be putting my health at risk when shooting. If I get sick, I can’t do chemo & I’m not letting that happen.

I understand the importance of clear communication, and I want to assure you that I am taking steps to ensure a smooth transition during this period. I will do my best to minimize any disruptions and keep you informed of any changes to our project timelines. If I have not reached out to you personally about your wedding or event, that’s because nothing has changed, heck you’re actually going to end up with me and a second photographer. His name is Jim and he’s phenomenal! I just know I may need the extra help and well, better safe than sorry :)

I deeply appreciate the support and understanding that you may offer during this time. Your encouragement means a lot to me, and I am grateful to have clients like you who appreciate the human side of professional relationships. I’m also grateful to have such a force of a support system when it comes to my family and friends.

If you have any questions or concerns about our ongoing projects or if there's anything specific you'd like to discuss, please feel free to reach out. Your understanding and flexibility during this challenging time are immensely valuable to me.

Thank you for your continued partnership and trust. I look forward to kicking this thing's ass and returning to our work together.

-Martina