Petra and David Mudrock are newcomers in town, recently relocating to North Potomac from Potomac in May 2022 with their five-year-old daughter Sophia. Potomac provided a better value for their family.

“It couldn’t get any cheaper,” she said. “You can get something bigger in Potomac for the same price you would get something smaller in Bethesda. Potomac is also less crowded, quieter, and it’s easier to find parking.”

Born and raised in Brazil, Petra moved to the U.S. to learn English in 2009. David grew up in Newark, Delaware. The two met at a live music venue in Dewey Beach, Delaware, on Labor Day in 2010.

“He moved here because of me,” she said. “He was still living in Newark, and then he moved down to Maryland after we met. I was here for one year. After we met, I didn’t go back home.”

The two married in May 2012. David works in finance, and Petra works for Montgomery County Public Schools. They welcomed Sophia to the world in May 2017.

As the family celebrated Sophia's birth, Petra began to suffer from unusual and severe, lingering back pain. Sophia was just seven weeks old as Petra went back and forth to the hospital, seeking relief and answers. Doctors insisted that her back pain was simply a symptom of childbirth and would taper off soon enough. They reported that her bloodwork was regular and repeatedly sent her home with the diagnosis of a “sprained back muscle.”

“It didn't matter what they gave me; the pain just wouldn't go away,” she said. “And I'm like, this is not normal. Nothing helped, even morphine.”

Petra wasn’t convinced of the diagnosis. Thankfully, there was no doctor who decided to perform an ultrasound to investigate further. The scan showed issues with her gallbladder, and her doctor suggested she find a surgeon to remove it. However, he was confident that more was going on and insisted on exploring further himself.

“The doctor is an angel in my life. When I got to his office, I found out he wasn’t in-network, and he overheard me telling his secretary I didn’t want to pay an extra $5,000 on top of my regular bills. He walked over and said, ‘You’re not going anywhere. You’re going to come into my office.’ He went out of his way to help me, and I’m forever grateful.”

Petra waited in the hospital for six days to get a full-body MRI before her gallbladder surgery. The scan revealed the cause of her pain — an eight-centimeter tumor on her rectum. At this point, it was necessary to remove her entire rectum.

Petra was diagnosed with Stage 3 colorectal cancer in May 2017. Doctors said she had no time to waste and needed surgery immediately, as the cancer could spread and reach Stage 4, lowering her chances of survival from 48 percent to five percent.

Petra was in treatment for nearly two years, undergoing seven surgeries, 40 sessions of chemotherapy, and 28 sessions of radiation. She also had to use an ileostomy bag for a year.

Luckily, Petra didn’t have to suffer alone. David stood by her, supporting her through the entire ordeal.

“He was an angel,” she said. “I’ve told many people that when I got diagnosed, I would never think if someone had told me that he would've done everything he'd done. He was awesome. He learned to change my ileostomy bag, so I never had to do it myself. He would help every day. I never woke up in the middle of the night with Sophia. He was always the one doing everything.”

Petra has been cancer-free since October 2017. She offers advice to help prevent others from experiencing a similar plight.

“If you experience what I did, don’t let it go,” she said. “I feel like a lot of women my age who have young kids decide to put off going to the doctor. I think one in every 20 people gets diagnosed. A growing percentage of them are people in their thirties. They call it ‘the silent killer’ because sometimes there are no symptoms. I would say for anybody over 45, do not skip your colonoscopy because you're afraid of it.”

The family now has more time to enjoy life. David loves surfing, skateboarding, and snowboarding when he's off the clock.

“He enjoys anything with a board,” Petra said. “There was a really nice skateboard shop in Bethesda where he used to get his boards, and then he got a board with light-up wheels for Sophia. She sometimes goes with him to a local skateboard park.”

Sophia, who recently started kindergarten, enjoys soccer and gymnastics and plans to begin lacrosse this year.