Traveling with MBC: Tales & Tips
Travel can mean many things - Adventure. Relaxation. Exotic places & cultures, foods & jaw-dropping natural vistas. It can stimulate or soothe us and transport us literally and figuratively to a different reality. It lifts us out of the daily challenges of our diagnosis. It's no wonder so many of us with MBC love to travel and to plan new trips. But traveling with MBC can present a unique set of challenges. In this episode, Nancy Roylance co-hosts with Dr. Ellen Landsberger. She's the perfect partner, a retired MD, and one of the most traveled people we know. So brew yourself a cup of tea., pull up a comfortable chair ,and settle in. You'll hear from several members of the OUR MBC life team as well as other frequent flyers from the larger MBC community. We reflect on where we've been, where we would like to go and offer our advice for when a journey is really a journey.
Understanding Progression: How to Identify & Treat ESR1 Mutations in HR+ MBC
Today we are bringing you a special podcast that we created in partnership with SHARE Cancer Support called Understanding Progression: How to Identify and Treat ESR1 Mutations in HR+ MBC. This episode was produced from a live webinar from this past October. There has not been a new endocrine treatment in decades and many of us find out the endocrine treatment no longer works for us because the cancer has mutated. Kate Vieira Pfitzer and Victoria Goldberg are excited to bring Dr. Virginia Kaklamani to you. You will hear her explain this common problem, how to test for it, the new treatment option that is now available as well as many of the ongoing clinical trials for HR+ MBC.
mTNBC Unicorns: Living In Contradiction
Becoming a cancer “unicorn”--a person whose cancer responds exceptionally well to available treatment and who survives beyond what is expected--is what most of us hope for. This is all the more true for triple negative MBC where effective, targeted treatments are still sorely lacking. Today we talk to two women who have lived with triple negative metastatic breast cancer for 8 years. Dr. Toni Willis and Colleen Broughton share their diagnosis & treatment stories, including their experiences with second opinions, clinical trials, self-advocacy, and cultivating joy for themselves & their families as they navigate surviving longer than they –or their doctors—expected to.
Tony Laudico: One Year Without Lisa
Meet Tony Laudico, husband of 27 years to our beloved Lisa. In this episode, you will hear a remarkable and at times, heart wrenching account of Tony’s struggle to comprehend a life without the partnership that had sustained and defined him for 30 years. He will talk about the anguish of loss, a nightmare of "death-duties", the true meaning of grief, and the solace of friendship. Although not always easy listening, this is an uplifting story and a testament to the power of love.
Young Adults & MBC
Young Adults & MBC is an episode that explores the lives of those diagnosed under the age of 40. We focus on finding a community, over coming obstacles and living with breast cancer everyday.
We Remember
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. “We Remember” is our opportunity to give voice to the profound grief we share and to honor and celebrate each person lost to this disease. It’s a chance for the MBC community to express gratitude for the extraordinary and unique ways they made our lives richer.
Living & Aging with MBC: Dr. Rachel Freedman & Patient Experiences
What is old? What do you call old? Seniors? Elderly? Geriatrics? Older Adults? We have strong opinions about these terms and being included in this group. In general, breast cancer is a disease of aging and more common in older patients. As our population ages, it is becoming increasingly more common, and yet older patients have worse survival from their breast cancers than their younger counterparts at every stage of diagnosis & every subtype. We will ask Dr. Rachel Freedman, medical oncologist from Dana Farber, to explain and discuss what it means to be living & aging with MBC, along with a very special group of women living with MBC.
Roberta Lombardi and Infinite Strength
Roberta Lombardi wanted to do something for the Connecticut moms and kids with breast cancer, but that *something* quickly morphed into a nonprofit effort to help break through barriers in the lives of moms with MBC. Laser focused on single moms with kids under 19 living at home and financial need, Roberta took her nonprofit (she calls it her fourth child) nationwide in mid-2023 and is already serving women in 27 states. While providing 6 months of financial support to approved applicants remains the core of Infinite Strength, Roberta has added to the support through one-day local (Connecticut) mom-and-kid retreats, in-person and online panels with some of the best experts in cancer care, a 2024 MBC conference, and a groundbreaking effort to change the picture through the Connecticut Coalition of Oncologists. This is a woman who does not sit still and we are so lucky to have her as an ally for people living with MBC. This episode may inspire *you* to get out there and do something!