“Cancer research is important because of what early detection can mean for someone’s chance of survival.”

“Better research means faster, more accurate detection, which means people get the treatments they need in time.”

In 2021, Marta Camilo began experiencing chest and back pain, despite being healthy and active. “I assumed I simply pulled something,” she explains. “It wasn’t until I coughed up blood that I knew something was seriously wrong.” Through imaging, her doctors discovered a tumor on her lung. After four separate biopsies came back inconclusive and her symptoms worsened, the decision was made for Marta to undergo a left lung lobectomy.

“That surgery changed my life forever,” Marta says. In addition to losing part of her lung, the surgery also affected her diaphragm and vocal cords, which has left her with breathing and swallowing problems. Two weeks after surgery and one year after she began experiencing symptoms, she finally got a diagnosis: stage 2 Hodgkin lymphoma. “I often think about how different things could have been if my cancer had been caught earlier,” she says, adding that perhaps the surgery might have been avoided. “But I try to focus on the positives,” she explains. Although her cancer didn’t respond to her initial treatment, a more “aggressive regimen ultimately saved my life,” she says. “I’m grateful to say I’m now three years in remission.”

This summer, Marta is excited to join the Up2Us event with the Stand Up Builders, a group of LEGO® builders and other crafters who over four years have collectively raised over $325,000 for Stand Up To Cancer. Since joining the Stand Up Builders, she shares, “they’ve shown me that raising awareness for something this heavy doesn’t have to feel heavy all the time. They’ve reminded me that building a new life after cancer is possible and so is having fun along the way!”

A big part of her journey from those initial symptoms to her eventual diagnosis was always being a strong advocate for herself. “It’s often still ‘Up2Us’ to speak up, push for answers, and make sure our voices are heard,” she says.

Marta stands up for other cancer patients who fought to be heard, and for the family members and friends she’s lost to this disease. “I stand up for the chance that, one day, cancer will be a thing of the past.”

ABOUT SU2C:
For over 15 years, Stand Up To Cancer® (SU2C) has been accelerating groundbreaking cancer research to get new therapies to patients quickly to save lives. We bring together the best and the brightest in the cancer community to help new therapies move from lab to patient faster.