Ever since actress and stand-up comic Katy Franco survived breast cancer, she has been on a mission to spread joy as well as educate about the life-threatening disease, including writing a bi-lingual book titled, “Chemorella.”
Franco co-wrote the bilingual illustrated book, a version of the Cinderella story (but with cancer), with her husband. She says, in an article at NBCLatino.com, it was her husband who nicknamed her Chemorella when she was battling cancer in 2005, and the story has a lot of similarities to her own life.
She still remembers the weakening effects of radiation and chemotherapy, calling it “the worst period of my life.” She says she really had to push herself when she did her first show in Spanish in Puerto Rico in 2006.
“I had ‘chemo brain’ — memory loss — so it was hard, but I did it,” says Franco, who has now dedicated her 100 percent of her career to speaking out about cancer. “I started educating women and giving public appearances to give back to the community. It was just a natural thing to do. I never planned to do it.”
