Simply when Krystal and Josh Galindo thought they had been placing 2020 and COVID-19 behind them as they entered 2021, their hopes was shortly dashed when the 34-year-old mother of 4 was identified with breast most cancers.
Now cancer-free with prognosis after ending chemotherapy in August, Krystal Galindo and her husband are utilizing their expertise to help different Las Vegas girls by most cancers by serving to them hold their hair intact.
Krystal Galindo was identified with stage 1B invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast with one lymph node affected. Her grandmother on her father’s facet had breast most cancers twice however didn’t suppose her breast most cancers was genetic. Galindo has discovered that the gene runs within the household on her paternal facet. Her father has the gene as does her dad’s sister. Krystal Galindo has a brother and a sister who additionally carry the gene.
Preventing most cancers was one factor. Telling her kids was one other. That was an possibility Krystal and Josh Galindo averted. However they knew it wouldn’t be straightforward as soon as Krystal Galindo began to lose her hair throughout her deliberate chemotherapy.
With kids ages 2, 3, 6 and eight, the couple didn’t need the children to fret or attempt to comprehend a most cancers analysis. That led the couple to chilly caps that protect hair throughout remedy.
Krystal Galindo was keen to provide it a strive in order that she minimized a change in look throughout remedy. She additionally had her eyebrows micro-bladed and eyelashes placed on to look the identical for her kids.
She completed her final remedy on Aug. 11 with a full head of hair.
It wasn’t straightforward, and a few docs thought it couldn’t be accomplished.
The method is labor-intensive, and the fee is about $500 per 30 days, so not each lady can afford it.
The Galindos had been able to take action because the house owners of the Galindo Group Actual Property brokerage, which has 50 brokers.
It began in June 2020 when Krystal Galindo felt a small lump solely to be informed it was solely a thyroid situation. She watched it, and it doubled in dimension. When she went in January to get examined once more, earlier than she even left the ability the place she obtained the mammogram, she was getting a name from her physician and informed to get a biopsy instantly.
“I had a biopsy the subsequent day on Thursday, and on Monday they known as me and informed me I had (breast most cancers),” she stated. “From there, we hit the bottom working.”
She went to the Complete Most cancers Facilities of Nevada for her surgical procedure and remedy. Her medical oncologist, Fadi Braiteh, wished to do an aggressive remedy plan, which she stated meant a 100% hair loss.
“We determined to not inform (the children) something, so it was actually essential to try to save my hair not just for their psychological well being however my very own so once I look within the mirror, I really feel wholesome,” Krystal Galindo stated. “If I don’t see something totally different, then I wouldn’t really feel sick.”
She underwent 16 rounds of chemotherapy over six months, which required going the route of chilly caps to protect her hair.
The $500-a-month price included 4 caps that needed to be rotated on the affected person’s head each 20 minutes, Josh Galindo stated. The chilly caps needed to be maintained at a minus 20- to 40-degree temperature and required fixed monitoring with dry ice. The 4 caps had been positioned between 60 kilos of dry ice, he added.
The primary 4 chemo therapies had been each three weeks, and the final 12 had been weekly. The entire course of concerned two hours earlier than remedy, three hours throughout remedy and 5 hours afterward for a complete of 10 hours of sporting caps, Josh Galindo stated.
When the chilly cap was positioned on Krystal Galindo’s head, it was an on the spot mind freeze. She additionally used chilly mittens and booties to assist stop neuropathy, which generally is a facet impact of remedy.
The idea is like coping with a swollen ankle that when you put one thing chilly on it, the blood circulation is restricted. That restriction stored the chemo away from the hair follicles, Josh Galindo defined.
“The bodily and psychological power it takes to endure that degree of chilly even after her head is totally numb is spectacular,” he stated.
The couple have launched a fundraising marketing campaign to assist different girls and fellow Complete Most cancers Facilities sufferers with kids save their hair by chilly caps. They’re doing it by their nonprofit Galindo Offers, which began with their actual property brokerage serving to valley households throughout the holidays. They plan to boost $5,000 to $10,000, simply to start out.
“The chilly capping is the place I believe consciousness must be shined,” Josh Galindo stated. “Each physician we requested about them stated they don’t work. They do work.”
He continued, “We had been dedicated to normalcy. That comes throughout as useless, however when one thing this large interrupts your life, you’re craving and greedy for any normalcy you could find or something you possibly can management as a result of all the pieces feels so uncontrolled. After we discovered these existed, it was the one factor we might management and one factor that we might expertise and keep a degree of normalcy. We latched onto it.”
Josh Galindo stated he was shocked that insurance coverage didn’t pay for it. They did their analysis and located an organization in London that makes the caps because it’s a standard method utilized in Europe, he stated.
Krystal Galindo underwent a double mastectomy on the finish of September, and pathology experiences say there’s no proof of most cancers. She stated she will likely be at excessive danger for the remainder of her life and should monitor it however is doing effectively.
“It’s nonetheless form of surreal,” Krystal stated of what she has gone by. “I all the time say it’s 90 p.c psychological and 10 p.c bodily as a result of I nonetheless really feel completely wholesome. Throughout our remedy, I didn’t eat any meat or drink any alcohol and did a variety of inexperienced drinks simply to ensure I used to be utterly wholesome. I needed to hold reminding myself it’s a must to do that. I do know you’re feeling effective, however this can be a actuality.”
Josh Galindo stated what they each discovered from COVID-19 is that they didn’t need to lose a 12 months of their lives and had been dedicated to dwelling on daily basis and having fun with their kids.
“When this hit, we thought 2021 was going to be popping out of COVID could be lot’s of enjoyable, however this hit and we needed to double down on that thought course of,” Josh Galindo stated. “I do know, for me, I compartmentalized issues. You don’t get to really feel. You’ll be able to’t sit in your sofa and take into consideration most cancers and your spouse and your 4 children and what it’s going to appear like if this doesn’t go your method.
“You simply get again on the horse and compartmentalize that element of your life and sort out each job that it brings to you and get again to the remainder of your life. We did a fairly good job at that. We made positive to go on holidays quite a bit, and we grew the enterprise, we liked one another and socialized.”
Krystal Galindo stated it was essential to maintain all the pieces the identical. The youngsters continued in sports activities. She didn’t take any day without work work, aside from remedy days. It was good to have normalcy and the distraction, she stated.
“I couldn’t sit and sulk in it,” she stated.
An enormous purpose why they need to do the fundraiser with the chilly caps is that “I need to discover my why. I don’t know my why, but when I believe I can discover goal in altering different individuals’s lives from it, that’s my why,” Krystal Galindo stated.
She knew what it meant to her and wished to make a distinction with others.
“I believe it’s so essential for moms to maintain normalcy as a result of in case your children are feeling regular, you then placed on a courageous face for them,” Krystal Galindo stated. “If we had been to boost cash for the individuals who can’t afford the caps, that might be fulfilling and provides me my goal and provides me my why.”
As for her future, she stated she is going to wait till her kids are older earlier than she tells them however she hasn’t mapped that out but.
“I’m by no means going to throw out the phrase most cancers till they’re a bit bit older to course of it and perceive it’s not a demise sentence,” Krystal Galindo stated. “In the event that they had been to go to highschool and inform somebody ‘my mother has most cancers,’ one among their pals will likely be like ‘my grandpa died of that or so-and-so died from that.’”
They might somewhat deal with what good they’ll do going ahead.
Josh Galindo stated even when they’re solely capable of assist three girls with the chilly caps and it really works for them, they may inform others and it’ll unfold to others within the U.S. somewhat than simply in Europe.
“I do know it sounds loopy,” he stated. “That individuals don’t learn about it,” Krystal Galindo added.
That phrase is already getting out.
Krystal Galindo had a video of her final chilly cap removing shot by a pal who posted it on TikTok. It now has 25 million views. Folks journal posted her video, and “The Ellen DeGeneres Present” and networks have reached out to her. Test it out at http://bit.ly/3p7H19U.
“We predict this may get large,” Josh Galindo stated.
To donate to the fund, individuals can go to Krystal Galindo’s Instagram web page, Krystal M. Galindo, or galindogrouprealestate.com