We Remember

Each October, Our MBC Life marks Breast Cancer Awareness month with a special episode dedicated to all those who died from metastatic breast cancer over the past year. 

To live with your own diagnosis or to be a loved one, caregiver, or friend of someone with MBC is to inhabit a community of loss. Every day, we confront the reality of mortality and struggle to balance fear with hope, and sorrow with joy. “We Remember” is OMBCL’s opportunity to give voice to the profound grief we share and to honor and celebrate each person we’ve lost. It’s a chance to express our gratitude for the extraordinary and unique ways they made our lives richer and our often collective grief over their loss.    

We invite you to bear witness with us to this outpouring of love for those lost to MBC over the last year.  Above all, may you find the space and tools to tend to your grief as you continue to love and honor those lost.  

Episode Notes

Living with Grief 

• Candle Ritual for remembering friends   written by Sherry L. Williams; modified for MBC by Karen Whitehead, LCSW  

• MBC Grieving Together – Facebook page dedicated to sharing our grief over lost friends

• Finding a grief therapist

Psychology Today has a therapist search engine where you search first by zip code and then use  filters to narrow your search by insurance, the type of therapy you are interested in (and “grief” and “chronic illness” are selections you can check), along with many other options.   Pro tip:  you are looking for grief to be a top focus – be wary of therapists who have a laundry list of topics they “specialize” in. 

We remember:

Frida Pineda Alvear

• Baddie 2 Baddie: Love and Legacy: Carlo & Frida Alvear (For the Breast of Us, 2024)

• In memory of Frida Alvear  (Lion-ess Retreat, 2024) 

Kim Angell

• Ladysmith cancer fighter urges more support for terminal patients (chek news, 2023)

• I am the fight  (Vancouver Island Free Daily, 2019)

Angela ‘Jersi’ Baker

• Interview with Jersi  (mbcbrainmets.org, 2024)

• Jersi’s story (Tigerlily Foundation)

• Women of color with breast cancer advocate for a change (video, Patient Power, 2020)

Michelle Barett Gower

• Michelle talks cancer 

• Living with Metastatic Breast Cancer with Michelle Barrett Gower (The Care Project podcast, 2023)

Gina Bertin

Denise Bolster

• Breast cancer survivor Denise Bolster says life and relationships are the most important things in our journey (Texarkana Gazette, 2021)

MJ Borelli

• Shelf Life, MJ’s collection of poetry 

• Getting “science-driven” care for metastatic breast cancer (LBBC, 2023)

Laura Bowers 

• In Memoriam: Laura Bowers, Passionate Researcher & MBC Advocate (MBC Alliance, 2024)

• Laura Bowers: Cancer Disruptor (The Scientist, 2019)

Pamela Byrd

Ann Camden

• Blog:  Down. Not Out 

• Faith from a Flower

• Ask Me   Ann’s meditation on friends who died of MBC 

• Final Affairs (Brevity Magazine, Fall 2023)

Dr Laverne Janice Carlson

Peggy Cohen

Ciara Collins

Shannen Dohtery

• Shannen Doherty Health Update: Everything To Know About Her Breast Cancer Journey (Women’s Health, 2024)

• Shannen Doherty’s Final Act Was a Podcast That Put It All Out There (NY Times, 2024)

Ann Fonfa 

• Unforgettable SurThrivor®: Remembering Ann Fonfa (The Pink Fund, 2024)

• The Annie Appleseed Project 

• Remembering Ann 

Erika Guerrero

• Diagnosed at age 29 with triple negative breast cancer (TikTok, 2022)

• Talks about metastatic diagnosis at age 30 (TikTok, 2023)

Natalia Green 

• Senior producer and host of Our MBC Life podcast

• MBC & Latinx Issues (Our MBC Life, 2022) 

Beth Harvey 

• Living Alone with MBC (Our MBC Life podcast, Spring 2023) 

• Marietta ‘one-stop-shop’ serves breast cancer survivors from wigs to bras (video, Atlanta News First, 2023)

Nancy Herard-Marshall

• In Memoriam: Nancy Herard-Marshall, a Vibrant Voice for Equity & Healing (MBC Alliance, 2024) 

• Gaya Healing Arts

• Nancy Herard-Marshall, Patient Advocate; Dance/Movement Therapist (LBBC, 2024)

Lori Holmes

Sheila Marie Johnson

• God’s Grace: The Sheila Johnson Story (film)

• To stream

• Learn more 

• A Survivor's Lens: A Metastatic Breast Cancer Survivor’s Focus on Faith and God’s Word  (memoir) 

• Wildfire Magazine, In honor of Sheila Marie Johnson

Brooke Jones

• ‘Living angels’ Brooke Jones and Jill Levine feed front-line workers

• Brooke was a supporter of World of Pink Foundation

Kathy Kennedy

Elizabeth (Beth) Greco Kulow

Robin Levine

Maureen Levy

Aracelli Lopez

Rachael Lillis

• Rachael Lillis, Who Voiced Popular ‘Pokémon’ Characters, Dies at 55 (New York Times, 2024)

• Rachael Lillis, ‘Pokémon’ Star Who Voiced Misty and Jessie, Dies at 55 (Variety, 2024)

Anna Maddox

Deborah Maffe O’Leary

• Hope for the future: Clinical trials moving breast cancer treatment forward

Gwen Manchion

• Video on Gwen’s brain mets story and advocacy (mbcbrainmets.org, 2023)

• Understanding the Role of Diagnostic Imaging in Breast Care (Susan G. Komen Real Pink, 2023) 

• International symposium focuses on lobular breast cancer (Fred Hutch Cancer Center, 2023)

Sara Mandel

• Sarah Mandel, Therapist Who Told Her ‘Trauma Narrative,’ Dies at 42 (New York Times, 2024)

• https://sarahmandelauthor.com

• Little Earthquakes: Interview with Sarah Mandel (Our MBC Life podcast, 2023)

Stephanie Marsh

Kim McIntyre-Rathur

Libby Lew Miller

Marlena Murphy

• Remembering & Celebrating Marlena Murphy (The Light Collective, 2024)

• Mending the mind after cancer (Cure Magazine, 2024)

• The Path to Purpose: Marlena Murphy Finds Meaning in the Challenges (National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, 2023)

• Marlena’s Breast Cancer Story: Strengthening Family Ties and Pursuing Her Purpose (Winship Cancer Institute, 2022)

Leila Saxby Ross

Cathy Sbarbaro

Katie Thielens

• In honor of Katie Thielens

Eboney Thompson

• Cancer Helped Me Encourage Others to Advocate for Their Health (bezzy bc, 2022)

• For the Breast of Us Ambassador Inspires Women of Color Battling Cancer (LA Sentinel, 2022)