Monica

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"I wake up everyday and say to myself if I feel good enough to go out and do something I do it because tomorrow I may not be able to."

I was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer 18 months ago, at 49 years old. As my oncologist said, I did everything right but I still ended up with stage 4 breast cancer out of the gate. Fortunately, targeted therapy is working for me and enables me to live a somewhat normal life.

Funding needs to go to research. We need research that develops targeted therapies for all the different types of breast cancer out there and enables MBC patients to live longer.

There are so many of us working so hard to be “thrivers”. We have had a crash course in living in the present. Time is our most special gift. I wake up everyday and say to myself if I feel good enough to go out and do something I do it because tomorrow I may not be able to.

 
 
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Renne
Renne
Mamie
Metathriver
Illinois
Mamie
Metathriver
Illinois

I have been in treatment since 2013. In 2012, I had cervical cancer and had a total Hysterectomy. I was misdiagnosed and told the lump in my breast was calcium and the size of a pea. In 2013, it was taken out. It was the size of a baseball - stage 3.

Metathriver
Illinois
Elka
Metathriver
Illinois
Elka
Metathriver
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I was diagnosed with stage IV metastatic transitional cell collecting duct cancer (renal) in 2013. I have been forced to continue working for employers with adverse cultures and aspirations to my own as a result of the fear of being left without continued choice of treatment which comes with insurance only offered by group plans, and being able to seek treatment at the facilities of my choosing.

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Danielle
Metathriver
Wisconsin
Danielle
Metathriver
Wisconsin

Life isn't easy by any means. I used to be a girl that would run constantly, have so much energy, but that has changed!

Metathriver
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Maura .jpg
Metathriver
Nevada
Maura
Metathriver
Nevada

It's so strange how time can go so slowly and fly by at the same time. I got my metastatic breast cancer diagnosis in December of 2009, almost 12 years ago. I have had no evidence of disease for ten years.

Metathriver
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Rebecca
Metathriver, Cancer Survivor
California
Rebecca
Metathriver, Cancer Survivor
California

The word metastatic first came into my vernacular June 18, 2013. Well actually, I was told at that moment I would be lucky if it wasn't at least stage two. A month later I found out after scans it was stage 4 from the very beginning.

Metathriver, Cancer Survivor
California
Noelia
Loved One
California
Noelia
Loved One
California

My husband was diagnosed with colon cancer initially in 2019, had surgery in January 2020, went through chemo and was in remission. Then, when he had a routine CAT scan, they told us he had a spot in his liver. He had the PET scan and it showed stage 4 liver cancer.

Loved One
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Frank
Metathriver
Alabama
Frank
Metathriver
Alabama

For me, it has taken a team of amazing doctors, each with different specialties. Primary Physician (Internal Medicine) who detected my elevated PSA at 141.

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Jerry
Metathriver, Loved One
Washington
Jerry
Metathriver, Loved One
Washington

In 2020, my warrior husband, Jerry Kester, was diagnosed with Small Cell Lung Cancer.

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Rachel
Metathriver
Indiana
Rachel
Metathriver
Indiana

At the age of 28 in 2018, I was given the unthinkable news.

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MetathriverGary RickeCalifornia