Many of you—our kind friends and family—have been asking, so here’s a quick update on what’s happening with me these days.
This past week I finished my third month of targeted chemo. My schedule is three weeks on and one week off to give a chance for my body to recover and then we start all over again. I met with my oncologist last week. The tumor marker blood test shows slight improvement, which is great news. We celebrate what we can. My oncologist is also battling my insurance provider to get approval on an FES PET Scan, newly FDA-approved. This diagnostic test will help us decide if I’m on the right treatment or not. Please wish us luck on that.
I was also approached by METAvivor.org to be featured in the month of October for their Patient Voices campaign.
This is what the organization is all about. METAvivor exists to sustain hope for those living with Stage 4 Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC). We are a volunteer-led, non-profit organization that funds vital research to help improve the longevity and quality of life for MBC patients. Passionately committed patients ourselves, we rally public attention to the urgent needs of the MBC community, help patients find strength through support and purpose, and make every dollar count as we work with researchers to extend and improve quality of life for MBC patients.
100% of breast cancer deaths occur because of metastasis, and almost 100% of the people whose breast cancer has metastasized will die from it. In the United States alone, this means that more than 40,000 vibrant lives are lost each year.
Despite these stark realities, the popular breast cancer fundraising movements give on average only 2-5% of their research funds to researching metastasis. Instead, their primary focus is on prevention, which does nothing to help those already diagnosed, and early detection, which does not impact those facing the ultimate death sentence of Stage 4 breast cancer. And while only 6% - 10% of initial breast cancer diagnoses are metastatic, 30% of the patients diagnosed with earlier stage breast cancer will eventually develop Stage 4 breast cancer and die.
This does not need to happen. Many metastasis researchers believe that metastatic breast cancer could become a chronic, rather than terminal, disease if only there were more money to do the research necessary to develop effective treatments.
Please visit www.Metavivor.org if you’d like to learn more, and I’ll make sure to share my video with you during the month of October.
A friend has been kind enough to set up a GoFundMe fundraiser.
Here is the link to that page.