Valuable Advice About Living with MBC

The most valuable piece of advice I’ve gotten about living with metastatic breast cancer (mBC) is to focus on the positives!

This isn’t anything anyone actually told me, but something I gained with my original diagnosis and treatment 5 years prior to my mBC diagnosis.

A month after my 29th birthday, I was diagnosed with stage 3A breast cancer. I wasn’t sure where life was taking me, but this isn’t what I had planned. When breast cancer took away my breasts, my hair, my femininity, I had to look inside at who I was and realized I was focused on the wrong things in life.

Throughout my journey with mBC I learned there was so much to be grateful and thankful for everyday! The more I talked with friends and family about life and my diagnosis the more I felt uplifted, encouraged and wanted to be positive about a not so favorable situation.

In return, I became a stronger version of myself. One who loves harder, feels more deeply, and pushes the boundaries of my comfort zones. My life changed for the better. I received more love and support than I could have ever imagined from family and friends, new and old!

I got married to the man who stood by me and grew with me throughout the ins and outs of breast cancer. We have since had 2 children: our daughter a year and a half after we were married and our son 16 months after that.

About a month after my son was born, and about 5 years after my original diagnosis, I was told my cancer had returned and had spread to my liver, spine, and one of my hips. To say I was devastated and at a low would be an understatement.

When I met with my oncologist to understand what my options were, she reignited my spirit and hope, and I realized I have so much more [life] to live for than when I started this journey. That the road I’m on has only just begun, and that mBC possibly holds opportunities in life I’d never considered, but are opening up to me.

My son turned 1 a couple of months ago, and my daughter is now 2.5. I look forward to everyday I have with them both and my husband!