Cancer Surveillance Team

I was born and raised in Los Angeles in the early 70s and I have two older sisters and an older brother. My parents were also both born in Los Angeles. My father comes from a large family, he had 8 siblings.  After graduating high school, he joined the Army and traveled the world. When he finished his service, he studied at Trade Tech and went on to be a tradesman for the County of Los Angeles. My grandfather would train professional boxers in the downtown LA area and my dad would always help however he could. Some of my earliest memories are of going to the boxing gym with my dad. He would always treat me to the Shrimp Boat in downtown LA. If you lived in Los Angeles in the 70s you knew of this place. I really enjoyed the time and lunches I had with my dad. I unfortunately lost my pops in 2020. I still miss him daily; he was my very own Charlie Brown, but also taught me how to fight for what’s right. My mother grew up in a smaller family with three siblings. She grew up in Chavez Ravine and was one of the families displaced by the construction of Dodger Stadium. She studied to become a nurse and worked in the medical field for over 30 years. She is an avid runner, bike rider, walker, swimmer and gym enthusiast. She has run multiple marathons and even completed a 100-mile bike challenge. My mom and I spend our weekends walking the trails of Griffith Park.

39 years ago, I met my husband when we were in middle school and just recently celebrated our 32^nd wedding anniversary. He’s retired from teaching night school and works as an electrician for LA County and is assigned to LA General Hospital. We have two children; our son, Ralph, is a Massage Therapist and our daughter, Rikki, is a coffee barista & roaster. We have a seal point cat named Dulce de Leche and my husband says I’m on my way to become a crazy cat lady. We are grandparents to a bulldog named Chef.

 I’ve had many hobbies, but running has been my favorite. I even volunteered with Students Run Los Angeles (SRLA). I trained middle school students to run in the LA marathon and together we ran four marathons and countless half marathons. I’ve always said, “I come from a running family,” because my parents, kids and grandmother ran marathons as well. I continue to run, but I have hung up my marathon running shoes. I am a lifelong Snoopy fan. I mean after all; I was given a Snoopy on the day I was born. I root, root, root for the Dodgers, Chargers and Clippers too. I love live music and attend as many concerts as possible.

Following my mother’s footsteps, I pursued medical courses and started working at Orthopedic Hospital. After a few years I wanted to work closer to home. So, I thought I would  apply for USC. Luckily, I was hired by the Department of Gynecology Oncology in 1993 and managed an office with four physicians and a nurse at Kenneth Norris Hospital. I later accepted a position as an Administrative Assistant with Urology Oncology. But unfortunately, after two years, the doctor moved his practice to New York. He offered me a position in his new medical practice, but I surely wasn’t going to move to New York. I’m a LA girl after all! In 2001, I was hired by the Los Angeles Cancer Surveillance Program and worked with the MDF group. During my time with MDF, I traveled to physician’s offices and reported their cases. A couple of years after, I moved to Data Collections and enjoyed working on cancer studies, which included breast and prostate among other sites. As the studies came to an end, I took on other responsibilities, like traveling to self-reporting facilities to review pathology reports.  Those were the good old days of having to carry our own scanner and ream of paper to print pathology reports. I found great enjoyment in traveling to facilities and collaborating with their cancer registries, working with remarkable individuals, some of whom have become lifelong friends. These interactions have significantly enriched our department, fostering strong bonds that enhance our work.

My current responsibilities include facilities’ cancer reporting compliance, path resolution, create monthly reports, create shared follow-up files, manage our secure website, assist MDF with Death Clearance and any other fires that need to be put out. I truly enjoy working for the CSP family and helping out wherever I can to make us more successful.