MBC & Parenting: The Parents Are Hanging In
Remember all those birth and parenting books we poured over as newly minted parents? Well, I bet if we checked there would be nothing on how to parent while living with MBC. This episode is one of three in our series of “MBC & Parenting” where we will address all things related to being a parent living with a metastatic breast cancer diagnosis. In later episodes we’ll share some viewpoints of their children, along with information from a panel of experts that will provide some insight into tackling some of the hard subjects we tend to shy away from. First up, Senior hosts and producers Lisa Laudico and Natalia Green, sit down with Martha Carlson, Ashley Fernandez, and Lynda Weatherby as they discuss what they feel worked (and what didn’t) for them as they learned to marry living with MBC while raising their families.
Lisa Laudico @l11chan
Lisa is the creator and Host of the Our MBC Life Podcast from SHARE Cancer Support. When she was diagnosed de novo MBC with ER+HER2- in August 2017, Lisa became the 4th generation in her family to be diagnosed with breast cancer but the only one to be diagnosed at Stage 4 from the beginning (de novo). She is currently on her sixth line of treatment and has participated in two clinical trials.
Since her diagnosis, Lisa has worked to use her skills in assisting others living with this disease through fundraising initiatives with The Cancer Couch Foundation, along with support groups and webinars with SHARE Cancer Support. In 2019, Lisa joined the Metastatic Breast Cancer Alliance (MBCA) and is now the Co-Chair of the MBCA Awareness Task Force working on the Here All Year awareness campaign. In July 2020, Lisa created the Our MBC Life Podcast at the height of the global pandemic to provide a platform for people living with MBC to tell their stories and to amplify the issues that we all still face with the experts who help make our lives better. In its fourth season, the podcast has released over 86 episodes and has developed a strong audience with over 10,000 downloads. The podcast covers all the issues impacting individuals living with MBC including racial disparities in treatment, brain mets, parenting and working with MBC, research and funding, male breast cancer, palliative care, clinical trials, policy, legislation, mental health, and many other issues impacting our community. She is proud that the Our MBC Life podcast is run by a diverse and talented group of people living with MBC. It is truly a podcast for us, by us.
Lisa lives in CT with her husband of 26 years and their dog, Kita. They enjoy seeing their two young adult sons when they aren’t working or in school and connecting with family who live in Canada.
Natalia Green @la_vida_natalia
Natalia is a 37 years old with metastatic breast cancer, currently living in a suburb outside of Salt Lake City, UT. She is a mother of a 4 and 6 year old. She was diagnosed with early stage breast cancer in 2017 and metastatic breast cancer in 2019.
Before breast cancer, Natalia graduated with a Master of Public Administration from ASU and has a passion for public service and activism. Currently Natalia is a host and senior producer for Our MBC Life podcast. Natalia advocates for breast cancer awareness and education, primarily in the latinx community and for people of color.
Outside of her activism, Natalia enjoys the outdoors, traveling (when possible), cooking, and spending time with her family.
Martha Carlson @mbcarls
Martha lives near Chicago and was diagnosed with De Novo MBC in late 2014. At the time, her children were 12, 15, and 17 years old. Her positive response to treatment has meant she’s been able experience much of their lives that many miss. She devotes much of her time trying to improve the lives of people living with MBC. Martha is an experienced writer and editor, and currently writes regularly for Cure magazine.
Ashley Fernandez @awsum_ash
Ashley Fernandez was diagnosed with Denovo Metastatic breast Cancer at the age of 31 in April 2018. She is a fierce thriver who has been living with MBC while being a full time mom to her daughter Davyn and wife to her husband Carlos. Carlos is Active Duty Air Force, they are currently stationed in Ohio. Ashley is also a powerful prayer partner and is active in her local church in Dayton. Some of the MBC advocacy she’s been involved in has been with the 2018 Ohio Metsquerade, Komen Public Policy, Public Speaking, and Metavivor where she was one of the faces of their newest campaigns. She's always looking for opportunities to educate and empower others to advocate for the best possible health care. Her mantra to others is “You are worth all good things in this world!” She believes in living life colorfully, full of adventure and with intention. Ashley says, “All MBC patients should be able to create memories and meet important milestones in their lives that's only possible with research.” She will continue to educate and remind others that those living with mbc are not statistics or shells, but people.
116 people die every day with MBC , Stage 4 truly needs more funding.
Lynda Weatherby @weatherbylynda
Lynda Weatherby has been living with Metastatic Breast Cancer since May 2013, and probably for years before that. Her diagnosis of MBC came 12 years after her early-stage diagnosis of “Stage 0 DCIS” and bilateral mastectomy 2001. She was told that “one rogue cell” must have been the cause of the metastatic spread throughout her bones, to her brain, and a very painful facial nerve over a decade after her first diagnosis. Her treatment has included radiation to the spine, two rounds of Gamma Knife radiation to the brain and facial nerve, and continual systemic hormonal treatment since 2013. After progression in 2018-2021, Lynda is on her first chemotherapy now and doing well with a “new normal”.
Advocacy in MBC came across Lynda’s path the year after learning she had MBC and became a lifeline to meeting other patients going through MBC, and leading clinical and research leaders in the space. She currently works with the MBC Alliance (MBCA) by serving on the Executive Committee and working on the MBCA Brain Mets Initiative/Marina Kaplan Project to elevate breast cancer brain mets research and resources for patients. Lynda co-founded the Northwest MBC Conference in Seattle, sponsored by Amazon, which ran for 5 years 2016-2020. She is active locally in Seattle as an advocate on MBC research at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. She is excited to join the Our MBC Life team in 2022 and pursue many topics there, including a passion around research into pregnancy related breast cancers and improving clinical practice guidelines to drive earlier discovery and diagnosis of MBC in oncology and across primary care settings.
Lynda and her husband Todd have two grown children who share their loves of family, friends, boating in the great Northwest and golden retrievers.
