stable – Life As I Know It

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While the statistics of how long you can live with MBC are outdated, 7 years is pretty notable.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

Busy September capped by radiation ☢️

October 11, 2025

September was a busy month for me in managing cancer.

Back in June I had a brain MRI, which includes the very top of your spine (cervical). At that time, it looked like there might be an active tumor in part of my C1 vertebrae. I also had a full body PET scan that showed “stable” cancer at the time (mainly my spine has been problematic).

The stable PET scan means that my treatment (Enhertu) is largely working. However, the tumor on my C1 made me nervous. Your C1 is directly at the back of your head at the height of your nose. If anything goes wrong there it can be complicated and in the words of my oncologist “catastrophic” 😳

After discussing with my oncologist in August, we decided to radiate it. It’s not uncommon with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) to consider radiating smaller tumors if everything else is stable or no evidence of disease (NED).

So, I decided to pack this in to September which was already busy.

After another MRI of my cervical spine I met with a radiation oncologist. He wanted to do Stereotactic external Beam Radiation Therapy (SBRT) – a concentrated radiation that would have been 2 sessions.

My insurance company disagreed with my radiation oncologist and wouldn’t cover it.

I could appeal it but that can take weeks and I didn’t want to give the tumor more time to get comfy and grow. So instead, I had to go for 10 sessions over two weeks.

You have to lay perfectly still for radiation so that the beam hits the intended target. At my planning session appointment they created a mask. A mesh of warm plastic was placed over my face and head and molded to my exact shape. The photo of the mask shows me with a big smile – not that I’m super happy to be doing this, I just naturally smile for photos.

A spanking new mold of my face and head.

Then I got out of town. Drove Maddy to Cal Poly and then back home. The next day I jumped on a plane to Providence for work. Glen flew out at the end of the week and we spent the weekend (our first as official “empty nesters”) with my cousin playing tourist.

Beautiful fall weather made a boat tour of light houses on Naragassent Bay just delightful!

We got home late on a Sunday and Monday morning at 9am I had my first radiation treatment.

The photo shows me right after they finished a treatment. The mask mostly feels like a heavy blanket with a lot of holes draped over your head.

The mask is literally snapped to the table. You can’t move your head at all. You can kind of see through the holes and of course you can breathe. The round equipment above my head rotated all the way around the table that I’m lying on.

I had 10 treatments (M-F) over two weeks. Within those 2 weeks I also had my Enhertu infusion and got my flu and COVID boosters.

As soon as I finished radiation I headed back to the east coast, Washington DC this time to advocate on the Hill for funding for cancer research.

It’s been a lot, however, I refuse to let cancer dictate my life. Most of those days I was in bed before 9pm. I’m grateful that my side effects are minimal and I can still do “all the things”.

The side effects of radiation to your head are not pleasant. This week I developed a wicked sore throat to the point that I couldn’t swallow. Food doesn’t taste like anything. My fatigue has been ridiculous.

October is a little more quiet but more travel for work and fun.

I hope you all are living your best life and doing the things that make you happy and matter to you, whatever that might be.

Onward!

Our last family dinner before Maddy left for college.

It’s Summer & I’m Feelin’ Fine ☀️

July 13, 2025

Hi all – it occurred to me I haven’t shared an update in a while so here we go.

It’s been a busy spring and summer. Maddy graduated in May and had dance commitments through June (she’s actually still dancing in July. Evelyn finished her junior year and started a summer research internship at University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (studying lobular breast cancer). Both the girls are studying engineering in college.

I’ve been trying to keep up with it all. In May I started doing Pilates regularly in addition to my daily walking. So far it’s been helpful with gaining back some strength, especially in my core.

Overall, I’ve been feeling quite good. I have some pain occasionally between my shoulder blades in my thoracic spine but that could be how I sit at my computer, or the Pilates, or the cancer, or something else. It’s manageable and isn’t persistent so I don’t give it much more thought.

I was having some vertigo on and off in May and so an MRI of my brain was ordered. (That’s the thing about metastatic cancer, any small thing could be something big – or not.) Fortunately the brain MRI came back clear – yay! (Note: previously I thought that there was new progression on my C1, however, my oncologist confirmed it’s not new, it’s been there or quite some time. This is good!)

I was due for my 3-month PET scan and had that in mid-June. (Read more about PET scans here and how they are used to monitor my disease.)

The results of the PET scans were mixed. Some of the lesions in my spine showed healing, others showed active cancer.

So, what do we do with that?

Since I’ve been feeling fine and I have a very good quality of life on Enhertu, we stay the course. I’ll continue taking Enhertu until we get solid evidence of significant progression.

My (very reliable) blood work tumor marker numbers are climbing high. For now we will just keep an eye on things since it’s not clear the cancer is significantly active.

It’s counterintuitive that the treatment is working in some areas and not in others. You’d think it would be one or the other – but that is what makes metastatic breast cancer treatment a bit of an art. The oncologist has to weigh all these different factors and decide what the smartest path forward is.

My plans for the rest of the summer (besides work) will mainly be going for walks, doing Pilates, water color, some crocheting, maybe some gardening and trying to connect with friends for lunch.

I hope you are soaking up all the hours of daylight we have this season and are living the hell out of life!

Onward!

Knowledge is Power 🧐 💪

May 4, 2024

Hello everyone and happy May! I feel like I can’t pass on saying May the Fourth Be with You, even though I’m not big into Star Wars.

I do feel like this is a good news post. I have information from both a PET/CT scan of my entire body and an MRI scan of my lower back.

I have a fracture in my hip that was not caused by a fall or any kind of trauma. It just developed because my bones are weak. The fracture is right in the ball of the hip joint (the acetabulum) where the femur connects. Every time I stand up the femur pushes on the acetabulum where the fracture is, causing pain.

So, my cranky hip is not progression from cancer. Yay!

My tumor marker numbers look good. Last month was 94, last week it was 102. I’ll take it, it’s much lower than the 800 I had in January! 38 and lower means no active cancer. For now, I’d like lower but will be patient!

All smiles because the cancer is under control, for now!

Now the longer version. Stop reading here if you only wanted the basics.

My main oncologist is calling the orthopedic oncologist that did my hip stabilization procedure back in December 2022 to ask if there might be anything he can do. Still waiting on that.

I had my 5th infusion of Enhertu, which is an IV chemo. At this point my side effects are mild and manageable with a combination of my being kind to myself and medication. I don’t have major hair loss, just some shedding. I have some numbness in my fingers now and again (neuropathy). I get the hiccups a lot. Sometimes so loud and violently that they wake me up; sometimes Glen has to go sleep elsewhere because they just don’t stop. The biggest issue has been nausea and vomiting. I think I have that managed by medications, we shall see.

I am feeling very, very grateful as many people do not tolerate these drugs as well as I have.

Back to my hip. I’ll be mainly working with my physical therapist now to get me stronger and get some cardio going. He explained today that unless we can do something with the hip fracture, I probably need to accept that an assistive walking device, like my cane, is a part of my future.

I’ve got a home exercise plan for weight training and other exercises to improve my balance and all that fun stuff. I need to get cardio into the mix so I’ll start with our home treadmill. Ultimately, I’d like to get to the pool to do some walking and other exercises in a non-stress environment.

My goal is to be able to walk outside on the trails by July. I’ll need more strength and stamina and I’m really excited about working to reach this goal. I’ve really missed getting out of the house.

I’m still on a ton of pain medication, including the fentanyl patch. It helps tremendously and I don’t notice any impairment from it, yet I’ve avoided driving as much as possible. That makes life rather difficult but not impossible.

In non-cancer updates – Evelyn is finishing up her semester exams of her sophomore year at CU Boulder. She will live at home this summer because she got an internship (in mechanical engineering) at a company across the street from our neighborhood!

Maddy is wrapping up Junior year and some IB (International Baccalaureate) testing. She just had her last dance competition of this year, now auditions for next year and the spring recital. If you are local and want to join me at any of her recitals let me know.

Glen is busy with work and enjoying the warmer weather. He’s back to running in the foothills, especially on the weekend. He is currently outside working on the gardens. Glen and Maddy did some campus tours in the LA region earlier this spring.

I’m keeping myself busy with work and working on strengthening the local MBC network that I started. Overall I’m feeling better so it’s been a blessing and a curse that I want to do more and need to not overdo it, which I have a tendency to do.

I’m hoping to make a trip to Wisconsin in the early part of summer and of course would love to connect with many of you. I’ll share plans once they are made.

Be well my friends. Get out there and live every day as if it were your last.

Onward!