Jimena Pérez 'La Choco' Raising Awareness on Breast Cancer and Autism: Her Harrowing Journey to Survival

2023-11-20 23:45:18

Jimena Pérez ‘La Choco’ is a voice to raise awareness about breast cancer and autism. (Photo by Adrián Monroy/Medios y Media/Getty Images) (Medios y Media via Getty Images)

After facing breast cancer away from the spotlight, host Jimena Pérez ‘Choco’ shared on social networks that on November 10 she underwent the last chemotherapy of the treatment she carried out to combat the disease. which he detected in time to act immediately and eradicate it from his body.

Through two published videos (one chronological to show how the entire medical process was and another to tell his experience out loud), ‘Choco’ is honest when commenting that he did not want to reveal anything before about his health due to fear and uncertainty. What cancer instills in those who suffer from it: “I decided not to make this public because I didn’t know what was going to happen to my body, I didn’t know what was going to happen to me.”

The initial fear that arose from hearing the word “cancer” was gradually counteracted thanks to her faith, since she is a believing woman, but mainly to her family, especially her children Iker and Iñaki, who were his main motivation to cling to life and stop thinking about the possibility of a discouraging outlook.

Among the initial actions he took to strengthen emotional ties with his children was to speak to them with the truth, but disguise the seriousness of the evil. She told them that she was going to get treated, that she was going to be fine. Iñaki, the youngest, did not immediately understand the situation due to the autism spectrum disorder that he has, however, he processed it later. Iker, the eldest, only asked him one thing: that he please not die. Jimena herself confessed in Windowing That was the key and painful point to promise herself that she was going to fight this battle.

“If I have to take away whatever I have to take away in life, I’m going to take it off. If I have to do whatever it takes to spend more time with my children and to be healthy, and enjoy them and see them grow…” It expresses with that love of a mother who is determined to do anything to see her children grow up. And “whatever” means a double mastectomy, a decision she made with the goal of preventing cancer cells from spreading to both breasts.

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Now that she claims to be healthy and free of the disease, as she recovers physically and emotionally, The host was sincere with the general public to raise awareness among the population about the importance of getting to work as soon as a lump or abnormality is detected in the breast. He calls for frequent mammograms.

“I believe that my testimony can serve many purposes. Breast cancer, when it is really detected in time, can be saved. “It is important to create awareness that it can happen to all of us,” They are his words. She wanted to wait until now to do it because she wanted to be sure that the cancer was no longer invading her being.

Chemotherapy, hair loss, exhaustion, diarrhea and dizziness were part of their daily lives from May to November 2023. For her, it has been a journey of many shed tears that today she wants to transform into a good attitude. to accompany women who have been or are victims of breast cancer and are affected in different ways.

Against discrimination and ignorance about autism, the other battle

At a social level, this is not the first time that Jimena Pérez has become a voice and image of issues that must remain on the table to raise awareness about them. As a mother of a son with autism spectrum disorder, ‘Choco’ has had to deal with people’s ignorance, discrimination and intolerance.

Together with her husband, the driver and musician Rafael Sarmiento, Jimena has been in charge of communicating and informing what neurodevelopmental disorder is and what autism is. On the one hand, they do it to accompany parents who have an autistic child. On the other hand, to demand respect for these children and not violate their rights by acting differently from others.

They also work to promote respect and tolerance in public spaces, places where conflicts or disagreements usually occur as a consequence of the lack of knowledge that exists about different developmental conditions in infants.

One of the actions they have promoted and why they have asked restaurants to raise awareness about it has to do with the acceptance of assistance dogs in their facilities, since they are necessary companions for children with autism. As a family they have been denied access to food establishments, which is why they make constant calls to promote awareness workshops.

Personally, ‘Choco’ spreads and weaves networks with parents and families who suffer abuse and social prejudice for having an autistic member. “It’s about forming a tribe, about meeting more people who have gone through the same thing as you. I think that is very important, making a tribe, that people know that they are not alone, that this is not a tragedy. In the end, each dad assimilates it differently,” he commented in an interview with the magazine ¡Hola! in April of this year.

For this reason, Jimena is open to interacting with parents who require tips, advice, feedback and information. Likewise, just as she did in her testimonial video about breast cancer, in which Iñaki is heard making noise, she brings her relationship with her son closer to the public as part of raising awareness.