October 30, 2026
October is winding down and fall is in full swing here in Colorado and from what I see on social media, most other places too.
It’s been a hard month. Not so much physically (although a little) but more mentally. Cancer is a lot. Metastatic cancer can be so overwhelming you have to compartmentalize it.
I’m asking for your help. I know the feeling of having someone you know struggle and want to do something but you don’t know what. The list at the end are my suggestions.
Living with MBC for over 7 years is a privilege thanks to science and a lot of luck. So many of the wonderful women (and men) I’ve met since my diagnosis have not been this fortunate. That is why I advocate.
Just this month:
- I learned that another friend with breast cancer was diagnosed with a second kind of cancer. That’s the fourth person I personally know dealing with multiple types of cancer.
- A good friend has been struggling with side effects and ineffective medication and had to spend time in the hospital to get things under control.
- A wonderful woman from our support group just shared that she entered hospice. A month ago she was doing fine and things took a turn. She is the same age as me. (Too often our brains go to someone senior passing from cancer.)
- We had an MBC booth at 2 cancer walks this month. Neither organization was planning to acknowledge MBC (Komen, ACS). Why do the patients need to make ourselves visible? So many women we talked to did not know that once they are “cured” they have a 30% chance of it coming back as stage IV and uncurable.
- Another MBC friend has had rapid progression now to her brain. Her prognosis is not good.
- A member of our support group is disabled from brain surgery to remove tumors. She has to continue to work for the health insurance. She can barely walk and after 2 hours her brain is literally tired and doesn’t work very well.
These are all people I cherish and want the best for. If you saw them on the street you would not know they have a terminal disease. Having bad things happen to friends on a regular basis is a heavy mental load to carry.
I share this not to make anyone feel bad. I share because I want you to get a tiny glimpse into our reality of living with MBC.
That sounds like a look of doom and gloom. It’s not pretty. However – hope should not be lost. There is a lot we can do collectively to lesson the burden of cancer and to change the landscape. Here are my suggestions for you:
- Talk about metastatic (stage IV) cancer. Most people don’t know what it means. The more people are informed, the more they can help.
- Before you give money to “breast cancer” orgs find out where it goes. Please consider supporting research for new treatments. Once we run out of treatments there are no other options. My Colorado support group is raising money for MBC research and all donations are tax deductible. Even $5 helps. Colorado MBC Thrivers donation page.
- Vote for pro-health candidates. Please! Cancer doesn’t care what your political affiliation is. If you think you won’t get cancer and need expensive health care, I have news for you! Vote for candidates who support health care reform and are dedicated to ensuring all Americans have affordable health care.
I’ve got a busy 2 months coming up and looking forward to every minute. I hope you have many things to look forward to as well.
