People ask me sometimes why I stay so connected to the Stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC) Community; why I continue to do the work of advocacy amidst my own struggles. I never really know how to answer that question clearly because the answer feels stitched into me so tightly that it no longer feels … Continue reading Why I Continue to Advocate
I have never known quite what to do with the word brave. It shows up so quickly whenever people witness suffering, ready in their mouths like a ceremonial offering. You’re so brave. They say it softly, reverently, as though bravery is the natural companion to illness, grief, fear, survival. As though courage blooms automatically inside … Continue reading “You’re so Brave”
Accountability”—that tidy word Merriam-Webster offers up as an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility for one’s actions—has threaded itself through the past weeks, stitching tight seams through my days at a new infusion center, where I've spent time each week receiving my new line of treatment, Taxol. When I knew IV treatment would soon redraw … Continue reading Holding Healthcare Accountable as a Patient
Recently, in a support group I’ve been moderating with my Dad, a mental health therapist, since the long blur of COVID, I offered a small piece of homework—something I rarely do. But sometimes you can feel the shift before anyone names it, the quiet sag of spirits, the way the room grows heavier even through … Continue reading Finding Glimmers in the Weight of Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC)
It was the season of knowing and not knowing. The doctors said the word terminal, repeatedly, and then time began to move in three directions at once—forward toward progression, forward in all the ordinary days and also backward through memories of what life used to be. Each scan carries the question of how much had … Continue reading A tale of two lives
During the 2025 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), I had the privilege of participating in a panel discussion that was a collaboration between the Alamo Breast Cancer Foundation, the Metastatic Breast Cancer Alliance (MBCA), the American Association of Clinical Research (AACR) and the Advanced Breast Cancer Global Alliance (ABCGA). Dr Fatima Cordoso and Teri … Continue reading Clinical Trials, Part II: Informed Consent
During the 2025 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), I had the privilege of participating a panel discussion that was a collaboration between the Alamo Breast Cancer Foundation, the Metastatic Breast Cancer Alliance (MBCA), the American Association of Clinical Research (AACR) and the Advanced Breast Cancer Global Alliance (ABCGA). Dr Fatima Cordoso and Teri Pollastro … Continue reading Finding Clinical Trials: A Patient’s Guide
When we add up all of the chaos, only exacerbated by the perpetual news cycle, the burden of trying to find truth when no one gives us everything, it is entirely reasonable to feel paralyzed, to feel as though all hope is lost, to not know where to turn. Whenever I turn on the news, … Continue reading Navigating Life’s Turmoil: A Call for Connection and Action
Entering 2026, the author reminisces about words selected previously and announces her word for 2026.
Good morning! Picking up where I left off last week with Breast Cancer Awareness month educational tiles from Metavivor: In 2017, I was 38 and had never had a mammogram because I did not yet meet the criteria for screening. I received my first mammogram in the process of my de novo diagnosis and if … Continue reading MBC BCAM awareness #2
No Half Measures 