Friday Forecaster: Cancer Survivor Marlena Ortiz

Marlena Ortiz is a 27-year-old woman, a Brooklyn native, a marketing professional and a cancer survivor. In 2007, Marlena discovered a small lump in her breast. For two years her doctors assured her that it was nothing serious, citing her age and family history as reasons not to be concerned. However, the lump continued to grow, and in May 2009 Marlena received the shock of her life: she had stage 2-breast cancer. Suddenly, at the age of only 25, life as she knew it came to a screeching halt.

Today, Marlena has made a full recovery from breast cancer, but continues to fight back against the disease. She is entering her second year as a Team Leader with the American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer in Prospect Park. She walks to raise awareness of the fact that this disease does not discriminate based on age or family history, and she fundraises so that one day there can be a cure.

There are a number of American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer events happening in New York City, Westchester, Long Island and New Jersey on October 17th and 24th.

For all the details log onto http://makingstrides.acsevents.org/centralpark or http://www.cancer.org/stridesonline.