She’s known for her glitz and glam, but what Real Housewives of Miami star Guerdy Abraira has endured these last months has been gutting and grueling.
Doctors called her in March with the results of a routine mammogram. She had breast cancer.
“Now, I’m the problem. That’s how I took it," Abraira told NBC6. "'OMG, I’m causing a problem, everyone is going to have to stop and help me,' and I’m not that person. I’m not a taker, I’m a giver, I’m a fixer, I’m the one that you come to when you got problems."
The 45-year-old mother of two boys and wife to her high school sweetheart has spent her life planning high-profile events and weddings — suddenly, here was a challenge she couldn’t control.
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Breast Cancer Awareness Month
“It’s been a whirlwind, it’s been a self-discovery of no ending because every time I thought it was going to be one thing, it’s going to be OK, ‘you won’t need chemo’, look at me I have chemo, no hair,” she told NBC6.
Abraira ended up taking matters into her own hands and shaved her own head.
“That was the only control I had, everything else you’re being told, OK, here you sit here, you do this, lay down, we have to do another biopsy, stand here, do this,” she said.
It’s the same empowerment, Abraira is asking from Real Housewives of Miami fans, not pity as her entire journey was taped for the show.
“Medically speaking, I was told you’re going to be OK, you’re going to get through this, so I said to myself, 'If I’m going to get through this and be OK and see the light, I have to show the dark too,'" Abraira recalled.
Now as she tries to regain her life, priorities and future, she’s trying to inspire other women along the way.
“Be aware of yourself and your body. Listen to your body. Make it a priority and make it proactive as well," she said. "You have to be selfish, just take care of yourself, if you’re not good enough to take care of others, what good are you?”
Abraira is currently finishing up radiation treatment. She encourages anyone going through a life-changing diagnosis or struggle to be honest with their families. She says it’s better your children hear it from you.
Season 6 of the Real Housewives of Miami debuts Nov. 1 on Bravo and Peacock.
