October Awareness - Day 2 - #StageIVneedsacure

There are more than 150,000 women in the US living with Metastatic Breast Cancer – Source – National Cancer Institute, May 18, 2017

1 in 8 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer

30% of these women will eventually progress of Metastatic Breast Cancer.

40,000 women in the United State die every year from MBC (Metastatic Breast Cancer/Stage IV

Watch Video - How can you get involved? --#MSABCJAX

Stage IV needs a cure. What can you do to help? Get involved! Watch now to learn more!

Watch Video- My Cancer Journey..... So Far

My Cancer Story video is a passion project, learn more about my story, Stage IV, Triple Negative, Clinical Trials, and my mission to help find a cure for breast cancer, by doing my part.

With being positive for BRCA1+, my daughter has a 50/50 chance of having the gene too. I will do anything within my power to ensure that she does not have to face Cancer in her lifetime.

To everyone who made this video possible, words cannot express my gratitude for this gift, that will not be wasted.  I am forever in your debt.

To everyone on my journey, from my doctors, the makers of Parp and Immunotherapy drugs, Clinical Trials, family, friends and strangers who have all become an important part of our lives, you have forever changed my life.

Thank you for watching my story and sharing it with your friends, family and network. This message is so important.

We need to change the focus on Breast Cancer Awareness to focus on finding a CURE for all Stage IV patients.

40,000 women a year die in the United States of this horrible disease, while approximately 150,000 women live and cope with it daily, waiting for a cure before it takes us too.

#stageiv #tnbc #brca1 #breastcancer #lucysworld

Got 2 minutes? Watch my video and Learn more about Stage IV Breast Cancer and My Story

This video is short summary of my Cancer Story.  #StageIV needs more - research, trials and a CURE!

Pink is not a Cure

My passion project for October Awareness Month 2018 is to educate and motivate, get more than just the "awareness" message.

October 1, 2018

• Stage IV (also known as Metastatic) has NO CURE
• MBC (Metastatic Breast Cancer) is cancer that has spread outside the breast to other organs, such as brain, liver, lungs, or brain. These tumors are Breast Cancer that reside in these organs not a different cancer. The cells of the tumors act and look like breast cancer and need to be treated as breast cancer
• When someone has Breast Cancer with "mets" to their liver or brain - it is NOT brain or liver cancer now - it is still Breast Cancer that has spread. This is also Stage IV.

Pinktober

As we are very close to “Pinktober”, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I am asking each of you (and to please share with your networks) to #thinkbeforeyoupink.

You will be bombarded with opportunities to make donations at your local store, buy all kinds of “pink” items, t-shirts, ribbons, etc.

Please make sure that at least a portion or all of the proceeds from your purchase or donation is earmarked to be donated to a certified charity, research facility, Breast cancer patients for assistance with access to care, etc, anything that benefits the goals of Breast Cancer Month.

For me, it is We Need A Cure. Do you know that while Stage 0 to Stage 3 Breast Cancer patients can be cured, there is no cure for #stageivbc #stageivneedsmore.
I will make sure when making my purchases the donations will go to research for a cure.

Everyone’s reason for donations, purchases for this month, is personal and I am not asking to change that. I just believe that your reason is not to SOLELY increase the profits of the company selling the pink items. #knowledgeispower

Thanks for listening to my opinion and hopefully #makeadifference this October.

#allforlucy #tnbc #brca1

Clinical Trials

So much to share about my trip. It was so informative and educational. I am still absorbing and processing everything that was shared.

I know this about my platform and how it needs to change:

1) Clinical Trials for Stage IV breast cancer are essential to finding a cure - but without brave patients willing, able, and informed as well as having access to the trials, to be a participant, the trials will take longer or never get the needed data for FDA approval to get the drugs into community healthcare
2) Clinical Trials need to be easier to find and access to the trials need to be expanded to community healthcare (I think they said) less than 2% of Breast cancer patients are participating in trials.
3) Patient Advocates are needed in every area to promote trials and charitable organizations need to help patients find the trials that they are eligible for and access the trial treatment.
4) I understand there are several in the works by private companies but clinical trials.org is not the answer for patients to try and do their own research to find trials that may work for them. We need easier websites for patients to try and advocate for themselves.

More to follow

#thinkbeforeyoupink #stageivneedsmore #clinicaltrials #lucysworld #msabcjax