#dontignorestageiv

[nohalfmeasuresamj]

Merry Christmas Eve from the Johnstons and these goofballs!! #bcsm #metastaticbreastcancer #boymom #mbcgrief #mbc #thisismbc #stage4cancer #stage4needsmore #dontignorestageiv (at Baldwin Park) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cmjusf0OBzP/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[instanetreviews]

Text MOBILE to 70550 to make a £5 single donation❤️❤️❤️ #cancer #cancersucks #cancermemes #cancersurvivor #cancerfree #breastcancer #breastcare #pinkribbon #nevergiveup #stoptober #breastcancerawareness #warrior #survivor #beatcancer #fightcancer #breastcancer #cancerdemama #chemo #medicine #oncology #health #chemotherapy #mastectomy #strength #mastectomytattoo #survivorsisters #flatandfabulous #dontignorestageiv #sexysurvivors

[witchyjezebel]

#Kissthis4MBC Ok, everyone. I need you. I would love to have your participation in this because it's kind of a big deal! Novartis will donate $10 each to METAvivor Research and Support Inc. and Metastatic Breast Cancer Network for every selfie posted on social media (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter) with the hashtag #Kissthis4MBC. More treatment options are desperately needed so that no one else has to die from MBC. These two organizations focus solely on metastatic breast cancer research. If you post a selfie on FB make sure the post is public or the hashtag won't count. So here's my #Kissthis4MBC selfie. Have fun with it! #dontignorestageiv #mbc #KissThis4MBC

[historic-eureka-inn]

Does anyone remember @bhy2186 or myself talking about the wonderful Serenity Project guests we hosted a few months ago? Well, @bethfairchild is back and she's bringing the Metavivor Machine to Jonesborough 💚 please join us for a donation based Sunrise Yoga class in our Courtyard on July 26th @6:30am 🙌🏼 ALL PROCEEDS GO TO METASTATIC BREAST CANCER RESEARCH #namaslay #dontignorestageiv #onlyinjonesborough #metastaticbreastcancer #cancersucks #unicornsarereal

[thatjokegavemecancer]

Mid-May Update

5/17/17 I hope the warmer days of spring find you all in good health. Our last update for YD was in December. YD had returned to chemotherapy. In January 2017, they began a 30-day intensive daily targeted radiation treatment for the cancer in combination with the chemo at Mass General Hospital. The new chemo regiment, as we mentioned last time,has less extreme cold sensitivity, but more intense nausea and malaise. The radiation has the added side effects of extreme fatigue and nausea. These symptoms were cumulative with each treatment, and worsened over the course of the treatment. By the end of treatment, he could barely keep his eyes open after work. Some of the chemotherapy treatments had to be repeatedly delayed due to low platelet or white blood cell counts, despite regular Neulasta treatments to increase white blood cell counts. YD was working full time throughout all of this, other than on chemo weekends, so it was exhausting and draining. He lost a lot of weight during that time and was pretty much always asleep outside of work. Needless to say, the CrossFit tapered off. Thank god for his wonderful family and friends who stepped up to come and take care of him every chemo weekend. The chemotherapy-radiation combination was very difficult, and had his body several times on the cusp of failure. The chemotherapy dose had to be reduced to half the recommended dosage, and spaced out further to allow him to recover more fully. The war of attrition between killing the fastest growing cancer cells and killing the host is brutal. YD started experiencing neuropathy in the form of weakness, numbness, and pain on the back of his legs. It was unknown whether it was a new growth or radiation damage to the spine. After the radiation, there was a follow-up scan for cancer growths in early April. The results were predominantly positive. No new growths were readily visible on the scan. The growth in the liver had shrunk to half the size, and was not showing up as metabolically more active than the rest of the cells. There were signs of scatter radiation damage to surrounding parts of the liver and spine. This accounted for the neuropathy in the back of the legs. Unfortunately, the radiation damage to the liver made any future liver surgery contraindicated. He is to severely limit ingesting anything that is metabolized in the liver to avoid further damage. Not every sign on the scan was positive, but there were many good indicators.

After this scan, there were surgical consults, but no promise of surgery anytime soon. The consensus seems to be that YD should finish his current chemo course and continue with “maintenance” chemo indefinitely. The reason being that this cancer hides or sleeps and avoids being targeted by chemotherapy or detected on scans. Also it is better to treat the patient as if they always have a small undetected active growth until they have stay cleared for five years.

Which brings us to today, 5/17/17. YD had a follow up scan on Friday, 5/12/17 and the physicians invited him to the hospital today to go over the results. The physicians sat him down, and very hesitantly told him that he had no new growths, metastasis, suspicious spots, or any other signs of active cancer. This is his second month now. The doctors told him that they have never seen this response before, and it is promising. With that said, we should all wait until the five year mark before celebrating. It’s a long road ahead of us.

Happy Wednesday,

JM

[tonyateel-blog]

Momma

Today, or tomorrow, it tended to change my mom would have been 69. My dad would have been 70. It's surreal thinking that at 33 I've gone full Batman. Having Nolan turn 6 yesterday was so hard. It was hard to think that at 6 he never knew my mom without cancer, she got diagnosed the first time when he was 10 months old, and never knew my dad at all.

[champagnejoy]

#Cancerland x @anaonointimates #nyfw #themagnificant16 @artheartsfashion @mirasorvino @manicpanic_official I GOT YOUR BACK!!!#soproud #sograteful #dreamsdocometrue #toosexyformyshirt #everymomentcounts #wewenthigh #glitterasyougo #nevermissaparty #weareanaono #neveralone #dontignorestageiv #stage5equalscure #metastaticbreastcancer #breastcancer #lifer (at Angel Orensanz Center)

[nohalfmeasuresamj]

@projectlifembc is a virtual wellness house and we are having a virtual open house!! If you are part of the #mbc community or care for or about someone in the #mbc community, come and learn more about the amazingness going on. #mbc #projectlife #metastaticbreastcancer #thisismbc #stageivneedsmore #dontignorestageiv #mentoring (at Baldwin Park) https://www.instagram.com/p/Ce8lcfJAfmm/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[gkpotentia]

I do not want to believe this to be true. And quite simply I often don't. I use a patchwork of denial as one of my many coping tools. . I was diagnosed straight out of the gates with #metastaticbreastcancer four years ago this month. I have been in constant treatment since then, chasing hope around the continent like it's an addiction. #metsmonday #stage4needsmore #dontignorestageIV #scantreatrepeat #metathriver

[leelsabeth]

Cancer update

I'm eventually going to start some other blog for this but life has been rough. 2 months after only turning 33 I was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer. I had the tumor removed and did treatment and then less than 2 years later (a month ago right after turning 35) I was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. It came back in the same breast but also spread to my bones. More specifically my spine and my left hip. It's a terminal illness. Again I'm only 35 and I have 3 kids. Some women live about 3 years with this, some live 20. My oncologist thinks I'll be around another 20 years. It's crazy to think how fortunate I'd be to live to be 55 when the alternative is not seeing my 40th birthday. 55 is still so young. I had my ovaries removed and I also take a daily pill to further suppress estrogen because my subtype feeds on hormones. This medicine unfortunately causes a lot of physical pain. I also take another pill that is a "chemo" pill technically only its not like typical chemo that makes you feel insanely sick and lose all your hair etc. This means that although my body is extremely fucking sick, I don't "look sick" (besides the fact that I'm down to 105 lbs because my medication completely zaps my appetite but I'm barely 5'3" so that's not TOO crazy) how MBC works is you're put on treatments and then you get PET scans every few months. If the tumors stay the same or shrink then they keep you on that line of treatment for as long as it works. Sometimes years. Eventually though the cancer outsmarts the medication and then you're moved to different meds and you do the same thing. There will unfortunately come a point for all of us with metastatic breast cancer where we've been through every line of treatment available and will have to just rely on doctors keeping us physically and mentally comfortable until the inevitable happens. And this brings me to the fucking pink ribbon bullshit...

It's going to be October soon. That means pink ribbons and pink bullshit everywhere you go. Wanna know what's sickening? Only about 5 percent of all the money made from "pink washing" goes towards research for metastatic breast cancer. ONE HUNDRED PERCENT of breast cancer deaths are from metastatic breast cancer it is the ONLY breast cancer that kills. How is this ok? Everyone knows what the pink ribbon means. Do you know what the MBC ribbon looks like? I didn't think so. This October I'm asking my friends, if you want to really help women someday find a cure and stop dying from breast cancer please ignore the pink and donate to:

Our lives depend on this. ♥ #thinkbeforeyoupink #DontignorestageIV #MoreforstageIV #metastaticbreastcancer #fuckcancer

[thestrapsaver]

Read about our day with all the feelings at the @metavivor 3rd Annual New York Fashion Week Fundraiser fashion show featuring @anaonointimates. thestrapsaver.com/feelings #breastcancerawareness #iamliving #stage4needsmore #thisismbc #dontignorestageiv #effyourbeautystandards https://ift.tt/2T1wJJB

[historic-eureka-inn]

Does anyone remember @bhy2186 or myself talking about the wonderful Serenity Project guests we hosted a few months ago? Well, @bethfairchild is back and she's bringing the Metavivor Machine to Jonesborough 💚 please join us for a donation based Sunrise Yoga class in our Courtyard on July 26th @6:30am 🙌🏼 ALL PROCEEDS GO TO METASTATIC BREAST CANCER RESEARCH #namaslay #dontignorestageiv #onlyinjonesborough #metastaticbreastcancer #cancersucks #unicornsarereal

[enzaime-blog]

DON’T FORGET BC METS!

New Story has been published on https://enzaime.com/dont-forget-bc-mets/

DON’T FORGET BC METS!

I was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer in 1990. I was 35 and my only child was in kindergarten. I wanted to see her grow up – go to proms, graduate from high school and college, meet the love of her life and dance at her wedding. In 2009, out of nowhere and totally unexpected, an x-ray for a back injury revealed the breast cancer had metastasized to my bones. In the time it took for my PCP to call me with the news, one part of my journey ended while another began. As part of my coming to terms with this new chapter in my life, I started this blog. While my intentions were good, my last entry was made in 2012 – shortly before my daughter’s wedding at which, of course, I danced, danced and danced some more – the last on my original wish list of things I wanted to live long enough to see or do.

Although I let the blog fall by the wayside, the fact I’ve continued paying to keep the Web site supports my theory that subconsciously, I knew I would resurrect it someday. That day is here. My daughter and son-in-law became parents in October and I’m now the nonni of my precious grandson, Brandon, Jr. I take great joy in my belief that life really is like a circle and I am part of a circle that now has another piece. The fact that part of me will live on in my daughter and in my grandson gives me great comfort and peace as I walk this journey with metastatic breast cancer. I like to think we become stars in the sky – shining forever through those we leave behind.

I’ve done a lot of thinking in the past 5 ½ years – not only about having stage 4 breast cancer, but of how I can best advocate for and teach others about the disease. I was as ignorant as many others thinking all those walks and buying everything from yogurt to cars for the “cure” surely meant there was a cure. The reality is the dirty little secret of all that pink and fundraising is that shockingly little of the money raised actually goes to research to cure stage 4 breast cancer and that despite over 25 years of “pinktobers,” there are still more than 40,000 women and men dying from breast cancer in the U.S. every year. That number has not changed considerably since breast cancer became the cause du jour.

I belong to an on-line support group for women and men (although no men post) with stage 4 breast cancer. I can’t even count how many women have died since I joined the group in 2010. Women of all ages – young and old, many with small children, many with adult children and grandchildren, many married, many single. Metastatic breast cancer does not discriminate. As sad as many of the posts are, the truly heartbreaking ones are those written by women who are saying goodbye to the group. They are at the end of their journeys and write one last post – usually to thank the group for its virtual support and to say goodbye. Some believe in heaven or some sort of after-life and tell us they will see us on the other side. Some don’t believe there is more and their good-byes are achingly sad and so, so final. In the end, many are simply done with the job of working at staying ahead of the demon we cannot catch, let alone beat. They fought the good fight and are done – in a way, freeing themselves to let go. I think the shock of knowing there is nothing else to try comes as a relief to some who cannot imagine having to try one more treatment – complete with side effects that are often worse than they ever imagined. They are not giving up. They are just giving in to the reality of metastatic breast cancer – the fate that is inescapable.

Recently, tweets such as #MetsMonday and #DontIgnoreStageIV have been tweeted to help get the word out to the Twittosphere that metastatic breast cancer is real, is terminal and still affects up to 30% of women and men originally diagnosed at an earlier stage. It needs to be addressed with awareness and most importantly – funding for research. I am new to the world of Twitter, but I’ve come up with another tweet, #DontForgetBCMets, so on Mondays, I will tweet #DontForgetBCMets. Please help me spread the word, remember my metsisters and brothers for whom the journey has ended and honor those who walk each day like it’s the best day of their life – regardless of what may come tomorrow.

[thinkingthroughpink]

I believe you're at peace my sister @diannekellyrn somewhere over the rainbow. I know you wanted to stay & keep fighting for your boys 😔🙁😢 It's bittersweet because I'm happy you're no longer suffering. You're the true definition of Survivor!! I'm so happy I knew you 😚 #SurvivorStatus #SetonSisters #ESHS2002 #METAvivor #DontIgnoreStageIV #DMK 🎗���💓💕💞💗💚💙 (at Largo, Maryland)

[champagnejoy]

#Cancerland x @anaonointimates #nyfw #themagnificant16 @artheartsfashion @mirasorvino @bethfairchild #soproud #sograteful #dreamsdocometrue #toosexyformyshirt #everymomentcounts #wewenthigh #glitterasyougo #nevermissaparty #weareanaono #neveralone #dontignorestageiv #stage5equalscure #metastaticbreastcancer #breastcancer #lifer (at Angel Orensanz Center)

[nohalfmeasuresamj]

Just some gems from this weekend’s trip to #Orlando where we are moving in a little over a week. Moving during #chemo hasn’t been easy and we’re looking forward to seeing the end of boxes. Never been more aware of the low energy caused by chemo and probably the lingering affects of five years of #mbc treatment. It’s a hard thing to be a human under these circumstances. #stageivneedsmore #mbc #thisismbc #dontignorestageiv #thoughtsofametastaticmom #mbcgrief (at Miami, Florida) https://www.instagram.com/p/CeUohqCMzLd/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=