Getting breast cancer at 31 brought my world to a crashing halt and forced me to reevaluate my husband, my job, my life and what I wanted out of it.

I learned that life is too short and that my wish was to share, in an unconditional way, a life project with a person with whom I could be myself with — a partner, not a boss.

Sometimes I can’t help it and I wonder what went wrong in my marriage and if divorcing was inevitable, or if breast cancer had something to do with it. Breast cancer brought us together and distanced us at the same time.

It was a very difficult time and a challenging situation, but probably the most convincing thing for me was to think: “I didn’t survive to have an existence where I don’t feel like I am living at all.”

After my divorce in 2010, I promised myself that I would always think about myself first. This is how, what I called my pursuit of happiness, began.

Today, almost 14 years later, I don’t have my life figured out by any means, but all of this self-discovery led me to become a mom, the most rewarding experience of my life.

I never thought about writing about my personal experience with breast cancer, but I thought that my story could raise awareness and help other young women going through the same thing I went through in 2006.

This is how “Borrongonga” — my personal blog — was born. It is a blog that narrates my experience going through breast cancer, my recovery, my divorce, and becoming a mom 8 years after cancer.

About Ivania:
Borrongonga is what my dad used to call me when I was a little girl and the name of my personal blog to narrate my journey through breast cancer almost 14 years ago. Five years ago, my son and I moved to Colombia (where I am from), and since then, I’ve been writing about valuable life lessons, relationships, love, and the life I dream of.

By Ivania Romero