In honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Travel Agent magazine features a profile on a member of the travel industry who has endured and triumphed over the challenge of breast cancer. For our seventh year of presenting this feature, we profile Margo Portillo, vice president of Tramex Travel in Austin, TX, who tells her tale of having been diagnosed last December and going through a whirlwind phase of surgery and radiation treatment.
Portillo considers herself to be extremely fortunate; she had early detection and a great network of physicians who operated within the same group, making her transition from one phase of treatment to the next seamless. She also feels extremely lucky to have found a new general practitioner just months before her diagnosis. This GP was very thorough and gave her great insight on how to proceed through getting a biopsy and choosing a surgeon.
“I think everyone needs to find a phenomenal general practitioner because they are the basis of everything,” says Margo. She benefitted greatly from having a network of physicians who communicated well with her and with each other, she says.
Another plus? She found a support group in Austin, which is a rapidly growing city whose medical and social facilities are always in expansion mode. The Breast Cancer Resource Center, whose motto is “No One Should Face Breast Cancer Alone,” proactively got in touch with Margo and there she found people who helped her through the emotional side of dealing with her diagnosis.
As in the past seven years, Travel Agent magazine is donating a portion of the proceeds from the dedicated “pink” ads in our “Pink Issue” to a cause of our “Pink Lady’s” choice. Margo has requested the funds this year go to the Breast Cancer Resource Center. To read more about them, and to hear more about Margo’s story, see pages 34-37.
We salute Margo for being so candid with her story. Her insight will help others in the same situation and for that we are most grateful. We also gratefully acknowledge those who have shared their journeys in the previous years. You will see their covers below. To read their stories, click on each cover image below.
