24 | spring 2017
with a mission to encourage people to eat well, exercise and
improve their work-life balance so their bodies and minds
are better able to face future health challenges.
“It’s not about prevention; it’s about preparedness,” she
says. “It’s about preparing your body and mind for the fight.”
A YEAR-LONG BATTLE
In January 2014, Hernandez-Aldama, who had previously
left Fox 7, was about to move from Texas to Virginia to
be with her husband, Cesar, who was already working in
the area. The couple had just bought a home in Ashburn,
Virginia, about 35 miles northwest of Washington, D.C., and
Hernandez-Aldama was hoping to get another broadcast-
ing job. She was also undergoing fertility treatment to have
a second child to join the couple’s then 20-month-old son,
Gabriel. On the day she was to have an embryo transfer, her
doctor decided to perform a precautionary blood test first.
The next day, he told her the test result had led him to believe
she had cancer.
To confirm the diagnosis, Hernandez-Aldama saw an
oncologist, who performed a bone marrow biopsy that
revealed she had AML, a fast-growing cancer that starts in
the bone marrow and can quickly move into the blood and
sometimes to other parts of the body. Hernandez-Aldama
was not a typical AML patient: The average age of patients
with AML is 67; she was 41 when she was diagnosed.
Hernandez-Aldama immediately turned her attention to
finding a doctor. Through his work, Cesar had a connection
Putting Her
Armor On
