Coleen Marquez, a fighter. (Loreli Hassan/Borderzine.com)

Her struggle is a powerful tale of survival during breast cancer awareness month

EL PASO – A spider bite saved her life. After going for a walk, Coleen Marquez, 51, came home and suddenly felt a pain on her right breast and, saw later that it was a spider bite she had gotten while changing. It began to swell up and she immediately went to the doctor. She, was always meticulous about her breast self-exams and check-ups, but for some unexplained reason she had missed her appointments in February and March of 2004. “The doctor gave me antibiotics for the bite mark and sent me in for a mammogram,” said Marquez.