20-year breast cancer survivor: It’s never too late to volunteer at UT MD Anderson
August 14, 2026
Story highlights
- Naomi Arbel-Brodd vowed to volunteer at UT MD Anderson while undergoing treatment for breast cancer here back in 2006.
- That decision took longer to accomplish than expected, as she raised her children.
- With her kids now grown, the time finally felt right. She began volunteering in 2026.
When I was going through breast cancer treatment in 2006, I remember a volunteer coming into my room while I was receiving chemotherapy at UT MD Anderson.
She was a breast cancer survivor, someone who had already been through what I was going through. So, I wanted to be her — cancer-free, looking great and past all the treatments.
“One day,” I said to myself, “I will come back here and be a volunteer, too.”
It took me a while, but I finally started volunteering at UT MD Anderson this year. It was worth the wait.
Parenting takes precedence
One reason it took me so long to start volunteering was I was raising kids. I was 26 weeks pregnant with my younger son when I was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer in May 2006.
I remember having a lot of concerns at the time, like, “What’s going to happen to my child?” And, “Am I going to make it?”
Once I was on a treatment plan, though, the uncertainty got much better. Breast medical oncologist Dr. Richard Theriault (now retired), specialized in treating pregnant women. So, I was confident I was in the very best hands.
My breast cancer treatment
Until my diagnosis, though, I hadn’t even been aware it was possible to receive chemotherapy while pregnant. It turns out, it was safe for me because I was already in the third trimester and it doesn’t pass through the placenta.
I had three rounds of doxorubicin every three weeks until close to my due date. Then, I took a break, and my obstetrician induced labor a month early. My son was born totally healthy on July 25.
After that, I had several more rounds of chemotherapy, followed by a lumpectomy under Dr. Isabelle Bedrosian and six weeks of radiation therapy under Dr. George Perkins.
I’ve been cancer-free since 2007.
The time was right
I wanted to start volunteering at UT MD Anderson much sooner than this. But for a long time, my experience as a patient here still felt too raw.
I was so busy with my toddler before my second son was born that I didn’t have time to process anything while it going on. Only afterward did it all kind of sink in. And then, I was like, “What just happened?”
But both of my boys are grown now. I’ve had 20 years to work through all of those feelings. And, that volunteer gave me so much more than anyone else could have given me that day. So, it finally felt like the time was right.
Now, I do exactly what that other volunteer did for me back in 2006. Once a week, I chat with other women in Mays Clinic, letting them know what I went through and that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. It always brings a smile to their faces and gives them hope.
I am so happy to be able to do this. Better late than never.
It was worth the wait.
Naomi Arbel-Brodd
Survivor & Volunteer