Tag Archives: news

Seven Years of MBC

July 18, 2026

I’ve been thinking about how to frame this update. The short version is that everything is fine at the moment. I changed medications in April and my scans and bloodwork show that the presence of cancer in my body has decreased.

For this I am extremely grateful.

I also know that I’ve been amazingly fortunate. This month marks 7 years since I receive my metastatic breast cancer (MBC) diagnosis. I’m quite certain I’ve had it longer than that – it was misdiagnosed for at least 9 months before that.

While the statistics of how long you can live with MBC are outdated, 7 years is pretty notable.

The longer I live with MBC and stay involved with MBC advocacy, the more people I meet from across the U.S. and around the world. The number of people I know who have died from MBC in the first half of 2026 alone is too many to count.

Why me? Why was I diagnosed with this? Who knows. Why am I still alive? Unclear. Why do I respond pretty well to most medications? No one has a good answer. Why can I tolerate medications better than almost anyone else I know with MBC? Unknown.

What I do know is that I am fortunate and yes I’m going to use the word privileged.

It’s a known fact that people with higher incomes have better insurance and get better health care treatment in the U.S.

It’s a known fact that more money is spent on breast cancer research than any other kind of cancer, resulting in better understanding and treatment options.

It’s a known fact that non-White individuals with MBC have poorer outcomes.

It’s a known fact that people who live in rural areas fare worse than those that live in urban areas.

I have a professional job that allows me to set my own schedule, work from home and take better care of myself than if I were an hourly employee working retail.

I am educated enough to understand how to read medical publications and understand the biology of this disease which helps inform my approach to living with it.

For all of these things I am grateful.

I will never be grateful for having cancer, I will never call it a “gift”.

Cancer is a thief. It robs you of your life. You are faced with creating a new one. If you are lucky enough you can create something like a new normal. Many people are not that lucky.

I plan my life in 3 month increments. At the same time, I have long term goals. I will be attending Maddy’s college graduation in 2029. I will be visiting Evelyn in whatever city she ends up working. I will celebrate my 60th birthday.

I have a positive attitude because I don’t see any other choice.

We are all dealt a hand of cards. Unfortunately, one of mine is cancer. It does not define me, but it shapes me. It shapes my family and impacts my friends.

For 7 years I’ve been providing updates on my situation. I realize that may seem odd and counter to the diagnosis and prognosis.

I live everyday knowing that today could be the day the cancer mutates and outsmarts the medication. That is a heavy load to carry.

In some ways I and my family have a terrible situation. In other ways, are living a life others can only wish for.

We all have one life and we choose everyday how we want to live it.

I choose to work to make the world a better place. I choose to help others understand what MBC is. I choose to support my MBC sisters and brothers by providing peer support. I choose to support science by being a research advocate. I choose to live life to the fullest and embrace each day as an opportunity.

I choose life.

How much life I have and how much life you have is not known. No one is guaranteed tomorrow, make the most of today.

Onward.

Please help end restrictions on National Institute of Health ❤️‍🩹

Hi everyone –

It’s been an interesting week, regardless of who you are and what you support. I’m writing because one of the Executive Orders this week puts a freeze on communications from many Federal agencies including Health and Human Services (HHS) and the National Institute of Health (NIH).

This is a serious situation as it is already putting cancer research at risk. I work closely with a breast cancer researcher at the University of Colorado (Dr. Matt Sikora) who conducts basic research through grants from NIH. Based on communications he received, it looks like his research lab may lose funding. This funding supports the basic cancer research that leads to new treatments. We all know how I feel about new treatments!

Well, that is a lot. What can I do as one individual?

I ask that you take 10-15 minutes to send an email to your elected members of Congress (you have 2 state Senators and 1 Representative). Believe it or not, staffers count the number of communications they get from constituents on a particular topic. While you might get a form letter response, don’t get discouraged. They will count your email! It will make a difference.

To help you, Dr. Sikora has drafted a sample email and provided links to find contact info for your elected reps as well as a link to where you can find the economic impact of cancer research in your state.

I’m happy to help anyone if you need it. Thanks for your consideration. Cancer has long been a non-partisan issue and should stay that way.

Onward!

Sample email text (you need to change things in bold)

Dear [congressperson]:

I am writing due to grave concerns with the freezing of communications at Federal agencies. Specifically, I am writing regarding HHS and the National Institutes of Health, including the indefinite suspension of council review meetings, review study sections, and travel. Suspension of these meetings and review sections jeopardizes biomedical research funding nationwide.

Currently, our state of Colorado receives nearly $600 million in funding for biomedical research from NIH, supporting over 7,000 highly skilled jobs and driving over $1.5 billion in economic activity. As a concerned constituent living in [Denver], and as a [patient living with cancer/research advocate/caregiver/etc], I urge you to make sure that money that has been allocated for NIH extramural funding, including all training and workforce development grants, remains committed. Loss of this funding would be disastrous for our local economy, and would drive major job loss including in highly trained university biomedical research personnel, including graduate students and postdoctoral trainees that make up the next generation of biomedical researchers.

NIH has always benefitted from robust bipartisan support, and I urge you to continue to commit Federal support to the NIH mission and extramural program, which ensures that our nation remains at the forefront of biomedical research innovations and advances in patient care.

Sincerely,

[name]

–Other state funding data can be found here: https://www.unitedformedicalresearch.org/nih-in-your-state

— Reps by address can be found here: https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member