BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) - One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime, according to the American Cancer Society. However, many women ages 50 to 74 are not up-to-date on routine mammograms despite pleas from doctors, and it's not just cost and access to health care creating barriers. Federal researchers pinpoint other factors such as food insecurity, job loss, lack of transportation or feeling socially isolated. 53-year-old Tamoo Malaiika Menina can not relate to those reasons but admits skipping her mammogram in 2022. The Baton Rouge business owner became the caregiver for her father. "Fast forward, dad got really sick after doing very well. And during the time I was very stressed and I wasn't sure if it was my body shutting down because of all of the stress, because we ended up losing him in May," said Menina. Six months after her father's death, she still wasn't feeling well. "I was feeling so bad. My stomach was just doing all kinds of things and my husband said, schedule an appointment, go to the doctor," Menina said. In December 2023, Menina was diagnosed with breast cancer. She stated, "oh, my goodness. I felt like the walls were closing in on me as I sat there." Breast Surgical Oncologist Doctor Tran Ho with El Camino Health encourages women to not skip mammograms, especially as doctors are seeing more women being diagnosed with breast cancer under the age of 50. "Data supports that. And we've seen that, it's very, very important to make sure that we do risk assessment for young women so that we can screen them appropriately," expressed Dr. Ho. Breast cancer survivor joins new support group in Baton Rouge After Menina's diagnosis, she was determined to push forward and said, "I have a mission to fulfill. There are some things that I know that I'm assigned to do." She's now cancer-free and part of that assignment she said was creating the Pink on Purpose initiative, which provides resources not just to breast cancer survivors but women in business and more. Menina said, "it connected them to the people that are going to empower them, encourage them and mentor them from start to finish." Menina also shared an important reminder with them. "Just because the biopsy comes back that there's no cancer. You need to go back the following year and the next year and the next year to get checked," she said. Latest News Here's what to know about parking, dates for the Harvest Festival on False River Former Disney World employee accused of hacking menus to add profanity, alter allergen info Things to know before visiting Susan B. Anthony's grave on Election Day Big Game Bound: Payton picks the Week 9 winners Why this Yankees outfielder is a 2024 World Series champion, even though his team lost