Every day 117 people in the U.S. die of metastatic breast cancer (MBC), also known as Stage 4, where the breast cancer has spread to other parts of the body. Funding MBC research is the only way to find a cure!
ABOUT ME
Still Standing: My Battle with Metastatic Breast Cancer
Prologue: The Life Before
Before cancer, I was that mom.
I ran school auctions, sat on the nursery school board, and managed the program that turned children’s art into blankets, coffee mugs, and little keepsakes families could treasure. I knew every teacher’s name and every parent in the pickup line. I baked for fundraisers, donated art supplies, and attended every school event, no matter how small.
I was deeply in it. Active. Engaged. A mom who made things happen.
Then everything changed.
Chapter One: The First Battle
March 2, 2018 was my first foray into the world of breast cancer. I was diagnosed with Stage 2 invasive ductal carcinoma and had a double mastectomy within weeks. There was no time to process or fall apart—only time to fight.
From April through May I underwent four rounds of TC chemotherapy. My husband cold-capped me—twenty times—carefully freezing my scalp to protect my hair. It worked. In a world where everything was slipping out of my control, that small victory, his act of love and constancy, mattered more than words can express.
By September I was walking in a breast-cancer fundraiser, tying a bow on the whole ordeal. I thought it was over. I was in remission for more than three and a half years. I was pretty cavalier, never looking back. I thought I was through the storm.
Chapter Two: The Return
Then, in November 2021, came the gut punch.
A diagnosis of papillary thyroid cancer—and a recurrence of breast cancer in my lymph nodes. Back I went for more chemo: sixteen rounds this time, more cold-capping, and then surgery in June 2022 to remove my thyroid and more than forty axillary lymph nodes.
The surgery damaged my laryngeal nerve and permanently changed my voice. Still, I spoke. And I lived loudly.
Twenty-five radiation cycles followed under my left arm, then fourteen cycles of Kadcyla. The first one ended with me vomiting and passing out in a fancy restaurant—a reminder that dignity sometimes leaves the room when cancer walks in. But I stayed standing.
Chapter Three: Into the Brain
During those follow-up Kadcyla and radiation treatments, I listened to my gut and switched medical teams. That decision led to my first brain MRI, which unfortunately revealed five brain metastases. I truly believe that move is one major reason I’m still here.
The next two years were filled with multiple gamma-knife radiation procedures and three open craniotomies to remove the tumors that kept showing up. In fact, I might hold the record for the most successful gamma-knife radiation procedures in Froedtert Hospital’s history.
In September 2023, while driving on the highway with my teenage daughter, I suddenly lost all spatial awareness. I didn’t know where I was. She got me to pull over, and I fell out of the car into a ditch. Police cars, an ambulance, and my husband soon arrived, trying to make sense of it all as my daughter sat in the back of a squad car.
Two days later, doctors told me my brain was swelling and that I would die without immediate intervention. That led to my first open craniotomy. Then more gamma knife. Then more tumors—in the brain and the liver. In January 2024, I had a seizure that led to a second craniotomy.
In August 2024, during what was supposed to be a family vacation, I lost control of the right side of my body. I thought I was having a stroke. At New York Presbyterian, I underwent my third craniotomy. I had to call a family member to fly in and take my kids home. Another reminder: even in your weakest moments, you’re still a mother.
Chapter Four: The Cost
There are numbers—chemo cycles, radiation sessions, surgeries—but what they don’t count are the missed school events and the days I had to sleep through my family’s lives because my body couldn’t get up.
One treatment caused the skin on my hands and feet to peel so badly I could barely walk. Neuropathy stole the feeling in my fingers. I drop things. I can’t open jars and wrappers.
I grieve the mom I used to be—the organizer, the planner, the one who remembered every costume day and made holiday magic. And I ask myself: what is my purpose now, if I can’t be her anymore?
Chapter Five: Redefining Motherhood
My girls’ childhood has been defined by my cancer diagnosis and its recurrence. I hope my journey has taught them what it means to keep going when everything in you says stop.
They have watched me fight, fall, and get back up more times than I can count. I hope, more than anything, that they’ve also learned what it means to live—deliberately and with grace.
I used to define motherhood by my ability to do, to give, to show up everywhere. Now I define it by presence. By the love I show in stillness. By the example I set in endurance.
Strength isn’t about health or hustle. Sometimes strength is letting your kids see you cry. Sometimes it’s learning to say I can’t—and knowing that’s okay.
Epilogue: Still Here
2025. Recurrences in my liver. A brain met in the pineal gland. A scalp and femur metastases treated with more radiation.
And yet—I am still here.
I don’t know what comes next. But I know who I am.
I am still their mother.
I am still his wife.
I am still a woman.
I am still standing.
WHAT IS #LightUpMBC ?
The #LightUpMBC campaign is a global initiative aimed at raising awareness and funds for metastatic breast cancer (MBC) research to benefit METAvivor. Held annually in October, the campaign partners with hundreds of iconic landmarks around the world to illuminate in the symbolic MBC awareness colors of green, teal, and pink. By uniting patients, families, and supporters, #LightUpMBC shines a spotlight on the urgent need for more research and resources to improve outcomes for MBC patients.
#LightUpMBC Live is a dynamic virtual event that serves as the centerpiece of the #LightUpMBC campaign, bringing together the metastatic breast cancer (MBC) community and its supporters for an evening of storytelling, inspiration, and impact. Hosted annually on October 13 on Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day, this live-streamed program features powerful stories from MBC patients and their families, musical performances, and appearances by special guests who amplify the mission of raising awareness and funds for MBC research. #LightUpMBC Live provides a platform for education and advocacy, highlighting the urgency of funding scientific breakthroughs for the most advanced stage of breast cancer. For more info on how to watch, get involved, or view the list of participating landmarks, please visit www.LightUpMBC.org
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