Christina Sanchez Root is now on the pages of October's "O Magazine" celebrating her survival over triple negative breast cancer - a battle that was hard fought.
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"It was really traumatic," Sanchez Root said. "It's very surreal, and then I think I took a couple days where I really fell apart, and then I really went into research."
While the 35 rounds of radiation left behind burns, Sanchez Root said she wasn't going to let cancer drag her down. So, she facing the next 16 rounds of chemotherapy with laughter.
Now her photo is part of a spread of woman who underwent various breast cancer surgeries.
But she said her own surgery took an unexpected turn.
Sanchez Root said that during her mastectomy, doctors decided not to perform the reconstruction to avoid the chance of infection and get her into chemotherapy as soon as possible.
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"I was devastated," she said. "I did want to have a double mastectomy. I wanted (an) implant-based reconstruction and start that right at surgery, and he said no, and it was absolutely the right call."
So, she said yes to "O Magazine" to show others another perspective on strength and beauty - that she is proud of who she is.
"I wanted to show to women that come after me that it's going to be OK," Sanchez Root said. "You can still feel beautiful and confident and it's not something I think about all the time any longer."