When Alma Ramos first noticed a lump in her breast, she didn’t have health insurance. Although she had the chance to get insurance through her work as a licensed vocational nurse at a memory care facility, she thought she could get by without it. She was 27 and healthy.

“I had never gone to the hospital, I never broke a bone, I never got sick, so I never felt the need to seek health insurance because I never really needed it,” Ramos said.

She took her symptoms seriously and sought out an appointment with a gynecologist at Lone Star Circle of Care. She was able to access the appointment through Central Health’s Medical Access Program, which provides health coverage to low-income Travis County residents who lack insurance and do not qualify for Medicare or Medicaid.

After her appointment, there was more testing, and within a couple of weeks, a diagnosis came. Ramos had Stage 3 breast cancer. 

Her treatment plan included chemotherapy, a mastectomy — and a wedding that helped her get the right insurance. 

Now, she wants to share what she’s learned about breast cancer with other women, especially those who, like her, may not realize they’re at risk.

At the end of Colorado Street on the north bank of Lady Bird Lake stands a six-story brick tower.

If you stand behind the tower, it looks small against the modern residential and commercial buildings across the street. Stand in front of the tower, and it soars over the running and biking trails that circle the lake.

“I pass it every day on the way to work,” said Shelly Reynolds, a tech recruiter who works at Civitas Learning across the street from the tower. So she asked about it for our ATXplained series.

The approximately 70-foot tower, officially called the Buford Tower, has stood in downtown Austin since 1930. During the tower’s tenure it has served many purposes — to many people.

A drill tower

In 1916, the City of Austin established its first fleet of paid firefighters. With a legitimate fire department, the city now needed a drill tower to practice firefighting.

“[The city needed] a structure that allowed the firefighters to do a number of things, not only practice fighting fires in the actual structure itself,” said Kim McKnight, the environmental conservation program manager with the Austin Parks and Recreation Department. “But they would also be equipped with different fire hydrants so they could test out hoses and really train new firefighters.”

The Austin Fire Department used the drill tower until it was decommissioned in 1974. Then it became a memorial for a firefighter who drowned in the line of duty, and then a performer of Christmas carols.

More on the history on our website.