Addison dance instructor turns cancer battle into a mission of movement and hope

As the late '70s disco hit Stayin' Alive fills the Addison dance studio, instructor Maya Apodaca glides across the floor. She knows it is more than a soundtrack. On Aug. 23, 2023, it became her mission.

"I was teaching, and I get a phone call, and I'm like, 'This is my doctor, I need to take it,'" she said. "And that's what she told me, that I indeed have inflammatory breast cancer. And it's stage 3C. I broke down, and I started to cry."

Even now, the tears flow fresh.

"It happened so fast. I found the lump in July," she said. "By the middle of September, my tumor had grown to the size of a very angry apple. It was heavy. It was so painful. And it really was an aggressive form of cancer."

Dance as a lifeline through treatment

Over the weeks and months that followed, Maya says dance kept her on her toes – through several major surgeries and radiation. She even wore a chemotherapy pack on her hip. And still, she kept dancing.

"It was what I needed," she said. "It forced me to get up out of bed. It forced me to take a shower, make myself look presentable. To keep going."

Even when she was too weak to walk, she wanted to dance – especially with husband Cody by her side. Still, when asked how she was doing?

"So, a lot of the time it's 'I'm fine. I'm fine today," she said. 

And yet, Maya admits that often she was just putting on that brave face.

"I didn't want to put the burden on them," she said. "And it's an everyday thing. Is it going to come back? I'm in pain. I don't feel well, but you still have to just push through, and people who don't have cancer don't understand."

A place to shed the brave face

There is a place, though, where she and other cancer patients can shed the brave face.

"No one should have to go through cancer alone," said Mirchelle Louis, CEO of Cancer Support Community North Texas (CSCNT).

The nonprofit has been supporting cancer patients and their families for decades – at no cost.

"And what cancer support community does is we look at the whole person and say, 'What do you want to do? Here's what we can offer you,'" Louis said. "We can offer you support groups, individual counseling, an art class, a nutrition class, something that's going to put you in the position to walk out the door and say, 'Hey, I did something today.' And this one: 'I actually feel better today.' So that's who we are. That's what we do."

And now they're celebrating the grand opening of a new 5,600‑square‑foot clubhouse space – complete with the iconic red door – to support those services. There's even a space for kids.

"The pressing need for cancer support is only increasing," said Louis, "and we're here to meet that need."

Finding strength - and hope - in community

Maya says the center has been critical in her ongoing recovery. And she's calling on the community to continue to work to increase education, awareness, and support.

"Without the center, I don't know how I would have been able to get where I'm at," said Maya. "I know that it's going to continue to improve, and ultimately there's going to be a time when I can go, like, I'm really okay!"