When 53-year-old photographer and single mom Pia Navales went to the Berkeley Outpatient Center for her annual mammogram in December 2021, she had no reason to suspect any problems. “I felt completely healthy. I’d lost weight. I had more energy than ever before,” Navales said. “Suddenly, my life changed on a dime.” The mammogram identified three masses on her left breast, which Navales would later refer to as her triplet Loch Ness monsters.
After a follow-up mammogram and ultrasound with UCSF Professor of Clinical Radiology Rita Freimanis, MD, Navales drove from Berkeley across the Bay Bridge to get a core biopsy and fine needle aspiration done at the UCSF Breast Imaging Clinic at Mission Bay. She arrived for the procedure feeling optimistic, but nervous. After filling out paperwork and changing into a gown, Medical Assistant Sandy Champa offered her a choice of lavender or…
