Traveling with MBC: Tales & Tips
For many of us living with MBC, travel provides a much-needed respite from the day-to-day realities of living with our disease. But balancing trips with treatment and side effects can be challenging. In this episode, you hear from members of the OMBCL team, along with some remarkable MBC frequent flyers as they share places they’ve been, the places they want to go, and the advice they have for those times when a journey really is a journey. We hope you’ll find inspiration and encouragement for your own Adventures.
Travel Resources
Travel Insurance: Compare products at InsureMyTrip Note: To insure the trip for all reasons, you need to purchase within 14 days of first payment for trip to cover pre-existing condition.
Destinations Mentioned by our Guests:
Disney locations - check out Disability Access Services, DAS, to “join” a line virtually, allowing you to wait in a comfortable space before getting on the ride.
Cruises - Consider taking advantage of a cruise with medical services available Cruise to the Arctic, Svalbard: several lines from Finland, Norway
Havasupai Indian Reservation in Arizona
Organizations Providing Free Vacations and Retreats for People with Cancer:
(Note: most require participants to pay for their own transportation to the location) This is not an exhaustive list! Explore online yourself to see if there is a vacation retreat offered near you or in a destination you are eager to visit.
Little Pink Houses of Hope: Week-long beach retreats for people with breast cancer (Mentioned in our podcast)
Casting for Recovery: Connects people living with breast cancer with nature through the therapeutic sport of fly fishing
Send me on Vacation: Covers hotel/lodgings and some other costs at different destinations including Italian winery, beaches (Mentioned in our podcast)
Harmony Hill Healing Retreat: Free 3-day retreats in the Pacific Northwest for people living with cancer and their companions
Mary’s Place by the Sea: Free 2-day night and day spa retreats near the beach in Ocean Grove, NJ
Live by Living: Free retreats in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado for people with cancer and their care givers
Camp Mak-a-Dream: Free retreats in Montana for people with cancer and their caregivers
Meet the Guests of the Episode
Ashley Fernandez
Ashley was diagnosed with Denovo Metastatic breast Cancer at the age of 31 in April 2018. Ashley 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, so they are currently stationed in North Carolina. Ashley is also a powerful prayer partner and is active with the local church. Ashley has done MBC advocacy through 2018 Ohio Metsquerade, Komen Public Policy, Public Speaking, Metavivor where she was one of the faces of their newest campaigns and Komen. She's always looking for opportunities to educate and empower others to advocate for the best possible health care, You are worth all good things in this world! She believes in living life colorfully, full of adventure and with intention. All MBC patients should be able to create memories and meet important milestones in their lives which is only possible with research. She continues to educate and remind others those living with MBC are not statistics or shells, but people. 116 People die a day with MBC , Stage 4 truly needs more funding.
Lesley Kailani Glenn
Passion, motivation and personal experience of living with Metastatic Breast Cancer for the past 10.5 years is what drives Lesley’s desire to be an advocate. Her goal is to partner with communities, researchers and organizations to aid with the funding of research, raising awareness, and providing support to the overlooked community of those who also live with Metastatic Breast Cancer. With a bachelors of Science in Organizational Leadership, she has been actively involved in advocacy since 2015, training with the inaugural Hear My Voice Volunteer class presented by Living Beyond Breast Cancer. She was invited back as a mentor in 2018 and was awarded the Living Beyond Breast Cancer Leadership Volunteer Award in the Fall of the same year. She enjoys working with researchers and other stakeholders in the MBC field. She is a member of the Metastatic Breast Cancer Alliance, Susan G. Komen’s Advocates in Science, the scientific advisory committee for the Love Research Army, and a consumer reviewer with the DOD-CDMRP, PICORI and Komen. She recently launched her biggest endeavor, Project Life, a virtual wellness house for those living with MBC and their loved ones. Lesley currently lives in the Rogue Valley of Southern Oregon with her rescue pup and 2 rescue cats.
Sheila Johnson
When it comes to health equity and breaking down systemic barriers to care in the metastatic breast cancer community, Sheila Johnson is an inspiration to us all. Not only has Sheila been living with metastatic breast cancer for 13 years, she is also a 25-year United States Air Force military veteran.
With African American women dying 42% faster than any other race, Sheila has used her own experiences to enhance care for others and tackle this worrying statistic. Sheila is wholly committed to ensuring that not only is health equity awareness raised, but that people from marginalized and minority groups are included in conversations about their care. Sheila’s efforts are staggering and relentless. She has held positions as an ambassador, advocate and mentor with Living Beyond Breast Cancer, Young Women’s Initiative, National Breast Cancer Coalition, Shades of Brown Foundation, and The Metastatic Breast Cancer Project amongst others. Sheila is a Patient Insights Board member for Medidata bringing her voice to recruitment and inclusion of clinical trials to the African American community. She is also a Consumer Reviewer for METAvivor and the DOB Breast Cancer Research Program.
Sheila exemplifies inclusion, and despite her own ongoing health issues, she has given her time selflessly to engage and include others. She has spearheaded projects that have served to enhance diversity and promote equality, including being part of the Susan G. Komen Advocates In Science Program and as a Komen Scholar. Sheila’s remarkable story has been featured online for A Story Half Told, and in publications including The Breast Cancer Wellness Magazine Winter 2018 Edition “Ending Disparity”, and “O” The Oprah Magazine September 2020 Edition “An Air Force Vet’s Hardest Fight Yet.” Sheila is now a published author of “A Survivor’s Lens”, A Metastatic Breast Cancer Survivor’s Focus on Gods Word and Faith.”
Sheila’s resiliency and energy are contagious, and she delivers excellence in all aspects of her life, personal and professional.
Kelly Shanahan
In 2008, Kelly Shanahan had everything going for her: a busy and successful ob-gyn practice; a precocious 9 year old daughter; and a well used passport from traveling all over the world with her family to attend conferences, with a liberal dose of vacation on the side. When she was diagnosed with stage IIB breast cancer, she considered it a mere bump in the road.
And for five years, breast cancer was an aside, something to put in the past medical history section of forms. Even when she developed sudden back pain, Kelly never thought it could be breast cancer rearing its ugly head – a pulled muscle, a herniated disc maybe, but not what it turned out to be: metastatic breast cancer in virtually every bone in her body, with a fractured vertebrae and an about to break left femur. Kelly was diagnosed in 2013, on her 53rd birthday.
Neuropathy from the chemo cost her her career, but she has found a new purpose in advocacy. Kelly is on the board of METAvivor, a member of the Metastatic Breast Cancer Alliance, a Komen Advocate in Science, on the symptom intervention committee of the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology, a grant reviewer and research advocate. She is passionate about getting patients to the table in the design, implementation, and follow up of clinical trials. Follow her on Twitter @stage4kelly.
Kelly Shanahan is a mother, a wife, a daughter, a doctor, a woman LIVING with metastatic breast cancer.
