From remission--to the runway.

At age 29, Melissa Anaiz is a two-time breast cancer survivor.

"Cancer patients aren't just one type of person," said Anaiz.

She's also now a professional model.

"I don't see myself as this beautiful person on the outside, I just see myself as someone who is trying to just survive," said Anaiz.

The Corpus Christi native now living in Austin, was first diagnosed at 23-years-old.

"Because of my young age they did not do any further screening, and it wasn't in my family history," said Anaiz. "As time went by, the cancer grew, and by the time they found out I was almost terminally ill."

She survived and went into remission.

However, last May, the cancer came back.

"My life got flipped...turned upside-down...again," she said. "Luckily, the tumor was on top so I could feel it."

After doctors determined the tumor was cancerous, they investigated further, and Anaiz tested positive for the BRCA2 gene mutation.

She went through such intense radiation and treatment, she says she almost gave up.

"I told my mom and dad, 'please, let me just peacefully go, I'm done fighting,'" she said.

However, Anaiz said her parents begged her to continue to fight, if not for herself, then for them.

She did, and now she's in remission, again.

"Even though I'm right now technically in remission, I'm still struggling because my health is still on the line, and my cancer could come back at any time," said Anaiz. "If you do beat it, those affects don't just stop the day you go into remission, you live with that trauma," said Anaiz.

To deal with her trauma, Anaiz made the decision to turn her situation into something positive.

"I used to say I wasted my 20s on cancer, on just trying to survive, now I'm chasing dreams that, during all those years of depression and anxiety that it would come back, I put on hold because I was just too scared," she said.

No longer holding back, In early 2019, Anaiz pursued her dream of becoming a fashion model.

"I just don't want to be a victim, I want to be a fighter, a survivor, and I want to accomplish my dreams and that all starts with putting myself out there," she said.

Already this year, she's walked for designer Natacha Van at New York Fashion Week, been an extra in the Robert Rodriguez movie "Alita: Battle Angel," and signed with a modeling agency in Waco.

"Her story on Facebook really, really, really touched me," said Tim Prefume, CEO/Owner of the Modelemi Agency. "The biggest message I want to send is--you can work through this, there is light at the end of the tunnel, you just gotta hang in there."

Grateful that she 'hung in there' and didn't give up, Anaiz is now using her modeling platform--often times wearing platforms, literally-- to spread awareness about the disease that nearly killed her

"I'm speaking on behalf, not only of survivors, but also their families," said Anaiz. "It can happen to anybody, and you never know what people are going through."

With dreams beyond catwalks and cameras, Anaiz hopes to inspire other survivors to design their own dreams, create their own destiny.

"I just want to be the voice--finally, because I can--for those women who still can't find their voice because it's really hard to come back from that (cancer) and try to also figure out who you are afterwards and where your life is going to go from there," she said. "Cancer eats you from the inside out, and it just doesn't effect you physically, it affects you mentally."

Advocating beyond breast cancer, in July in Austin, Anaiz is not only walking, but talking at Modelemi's "The Stigma Free Fashion Show" to try to help break the stigma surrounding mental health issues.