SAN ANTONIO — A San Antonio doctor is answering the call. Dr. Lorimar Ramirez knows first-hand of the fight her patients are going through.
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and the physician at Methodist Children's Hospital reflected on her story.
"I never thought about dying," Ramirez said. "That never came to mind. I was like, 'I am going to survive this.'"
When she was 12-years-old, Ramirez was diagnosed with leukemia.
"I was diagnosed in 1992, survival rate for leukemia or really any pediatric cancer was not that high," she said.
While living in Puerto Rico, she underwent treatment for three years. It was a fight that forever changed her life.
"It was a blessing in disguise, I would say, because of that moment on I knew exactly what I wanted to do," she said.
Now, Dr. Ramirez is with Pediatric Specialists of Texas and at Methodist Children's Hospital. She specializes in cancer and blood disorders in children.
"I went through treatments," she said. "I went through side effects. I made it, and I became a physician."
Her patients' pain is a pain she knows all too well.
"When I tell them I went through it, I survived and more than likely you will too," she said.
The doctor is determined to treat her patients with care and give them and their family something else.
"Giving hope," she said. "Not only for the patients if they are older, but to the parents."
"It is fulfilling," she said. "It is very fulfilling to me. There is nothing better than doing what I do, like I was meant to do this."
Dr. Ramirez said pediatric cancer is the number one cause of non-accidental deaths in children.
"Yes, we have had advances," she said. "And through research, we have increased that survival rate. We still need that research."
She and a few of her other colleagues were recently recognized for their efforts in helping not just Latino, but other minority communities. She said the goal is to make sure every family gets the care they need.