My cancer journey: Navigating the thorns, cultivating roses and relinquishing these treacherous titties in the journey of healing

Recently diagnosed with invasive breast cancer and undergoing a double mastectomy this past fall, Badillo’s campaign focuses on associated diseases like breast cancer and focusing on the health disparities that impact survival rates of Black women and women of color as well as the impact COVID-19 had on the delay of diagnosis, care, and treatment. The objective is to shed light and discuss these health disparities as well as the stigma, lack and lag of resources, misdiagnosis, and the psychological impact of being diagnosed with breast cancer as a woman of color. Through multimedia platforms, the campaign helps to inform targeted California Healthy Places Index communities of cancer risks, the need for mammograms, and advocating for more preventive care. The first phase of the campaign focuses on documenting the artist’s cancer journey through the creation of personal art making. Within this process, the documentation and research of art therapy interventions for cancer patients, as well as other methods of alleviating symptoms of depression and anxiety, include meditation, biofeedback, guided imagery, and journaling. A Tik Tock channel will document topics that include psychological reactions and processes of having breast cancer, encouraging discussions, and providing resources from a lived experience. It will also follow Badillo’s work on a mural for Chicano Park. A critical component of the campaign will highlight the impact of the pandemic on delayed cancer diagnosis through interviews with cancer influencers, survivors, and health workers and the discrepancies that COVID-19-19 has exasperated with people of color in regards to not detecting cancer earlier.