Skip to playerSkip to main content
  • 5 months ago
Roughly 100 people die every day of breast cancer in the U.S. — and virtually all of these deaths are from metastatic breast cancer. That's individual people — moms, daughters, sisters, friends — multifaceted women of which cancer is just one thing, not everything. We are telling the stories of these women who have found strength in their sense of self, power in their beauty, and who refuse to let an incurable, deadly disease tell their story for them.

Go to www.cancerland.tv for more info.

Subscribe to the Refinery29 channel: http://bit.ly/subscribe-to-r29
For the latest trends and videos, visit: refinery29.com
Like Refinery29 on Facebook: Refinery29
Follow Refinery29 on Twitter: @refinery29
Heart Refinery29 on Instagram: @refinery29
Transcript
00:00Action! Cancer doesn't discriminate based on age or even gender. It can happen to
00:06anyone at any time. Metastatic breast cancer means that the breast cancer has
00:15spread beyond the breast. It is now out in your body. It could be in your organs, it
00:18can be in your bones, and it means that it is now a terminal illness and that
00:23they have no cure. When you're metastatic, it never goes away. You are in permanent
00:28treatment. I did the typical chemo. I was told I had a 97% cure rate. After
00:37thinking I did everything right, I still ended up with metastatic diagnosis. I
00:42wasn't really told much about how early stage can progress to stage 4 or end
00:50stage breast cancer. I had 16 years of mammograms that never showed anything. I
00:57had a different kind of breast cancer called lobular breast cancer, evasive
01:01lobular breast cancer, which doesn't show up on mammograms or scans because it's
01:08filmy. I went in February of 2015 because I found a lump and they said, well, you're 18,
01:16you're too young to get breast cancer, and they sent me home.
01:25Cancerland is a group of women with breast cancer helping women with breast
01:29cancer. You have to be aware of the truth. So you can't be aware of these poor bald
01:35women who ran a 5k race and they lived on and they were smiling and they're done.
01:43I think it's important for me, at least, to be able to talk candidly about cancer and
01:49not have to sugarcoat things. The fact is, well, those pink M&Ms, they're not helping
01:56find a cure.
02:02When I lost my hair, people would say to me, oh, it's just hair, it'll grow back. You don't
02:07get it. You know, oh, you have breast cancer where you get a new set of breasts and then
02:11you move on with your life. Well, it's just not that simple.
02:13I also lost the ability to have children and to have my own family.
02:27We need a cure because we're dying and I'm dying for a cure.
02:32.
02:32.
02:32.
Comments

Recommended