EL PASO, Texas -- For most people, battling breast cancer once is tough enough, but imagine fighting it twice and still being here to talk about it. One El Paso woman shares her story.

"I see the faith that I had," said Ema Lucero.

Lucero's home is filled with angels, a reminder of what got her through her fight with breast cancer.

"I’m going on five years as a survivor," she said.

She was first diagnosed in 1996, then again in 2004, and she told us the treatments weren't easy.

"When you're going through treatment there's more bad days than good days,” Lucero said. “But I think the secret to that is to keep busy. For myself, I never stopped working."

And with the help of friends, family, and faith, she never stopped fighting, either.

"We all of us have to have faith and that hope that everybody will be with you through all your sickness through all the hard times," she said.

These days, she wears a set of pearls and a pink ribbon pin to remind her what she's been through.

"I know that I'm here for a purpose,” she said. “And when my time comes, it'll come."

To celebrate her victory, Lucero takes part in the Race for the Cure.

"It's like a big old party,” she recalled. “A big old celebration, especially for the survivors."

And this year she'll add another pink hat to her ever-growing pile of hats from races past, each one representing a step closer to finding a cure.

"It would be beyond me to think it would be happening, but I know it will and I hope I get to see it, because it's something that you wouldn't like anyone to go trhough,” she said. “So if we could cure this and eliminate it and not even worry about our children to go through all this, it would be wonderful, just fabulous, it's beyond words"

This year's race will be Feb. 22 at Cohen Stadium. You can find a link to sign up by clicking under the health tab at the top of this page.