Wall of Honor: Teofila Trujillo
By: Theresa TrujilloPosted: June 10, 2011
Teófila Trujillo touched the hearts, minds and souls of many. A mother, friend, and outstanding community member, Teófila’s legacy lives on with her family, and with her contributions to bilingual education. She was recognized by the New Mexico Association for Bilingual Education for her work in informing, involving, and deepening parents’ understanding of the importance of language, history and culture in education. As a result of her work, many parents got involved and provided needed resources in the classrooms; for teachers, for curriculums, and, of course, for their children’s education. Mrs. Trujillo died at the age of 54, after a long battle with breast cancer.
Over 35 years ago, Teófila began having pain from what she thought were muscle knots in her breasts. She did not think her pains were serious, so she did not see a doctor; instead, she went to a massage therapist hoping that massage would remove the pains and knots. The massages did not work, and her pain continued to worsen. Mrs. Trujillo waited to seek medical treatment until she could not stand the pain any longer, so by the time she finally saw a doctor the cancer was so advanced that the physician decided to operate the very next day. They had to remove her breast. “This was the type of cancer that just couldn’t wait,” said Mrs. Trujillo’s daughter. “If she had done something right away, she would probably still be here.”
After Teófila’s surgery, the aggressive cancer had spread to other areas of her body. She had to travel to Albuquerque to receive radiation therapy, which uses high-energy radiation to shrink tumors and kill cancer cells. The radiation was hard on Teófila and she soon became over- radiated, sustaining sores and burns all over her chest. As if this weren’t enough, her family simply couldn’t travel from Taos to Albuquerque to take her to all of her treatments; eventually, she had to move in with a niece in Albuquerque.
The surgery and radiation forced the cancer into remission. Mrs. Trujillo’s family was overjoyed to learn the news, and to have her return home to Taos. However, over time, the cysts and cancer came back. Once again she did not tell her family, and kept the news of her relapse a secret for as long as she could. Ultimately, Teófila battled the cancer for about 6 years; she passed away in 1982, just 54 years old.
Teófila did have insurance when she began the long and painful process, but after the initial years of cancer treatments and therapies, her insurance company finally dropped her. “Our mom was really playful and positive even throughout her battle with breast cancer,” said Theresa Trujillo. “After the insurance dropped her, friends and family would give her $20.00, or whatever money they could, and it would make her day! This money would help pay for prescriptions, gas, groceries, or whatever was really needed at the time. Twenty dollars might not seem like a lot of money to many people, but to a cancer patient it could mean the world.”
The Trujillo family would like to pass along the lesson they all learned from their mother’s illness: early detection can save your life. Talk to your family, and most importantly, talk to your doctor and have regular check-ups and mammograms.
We miss our Mom!
--Antonio & Elaine Trujillo & family; Theresa Trujillo, Manuel Medina & family; Francina Trujillo & family; Anna & Ray Ed Montoya & family; Lola & Shane Cunico & family
