Here is my story
Hello and welcome to my page. I hope the stories of our travels and my sharing how I chose to live with my illness will inspire you. Give you hope. Uplift you. Provide peace. Or just bring a smile to your face. When I started telling people that my husband and I were setting out on this journey, all I heard was, “That is my dream. I have always wanted to do that same thing.” So I guess we are living everyone’s dream! Feel free to live a little through us. I will try to make these posts fun and interesting and to provide information along the way. But here is the why we are on this journey.
I have metastatic breast cancer (MBC) or commonly known as Stage IV; hence the term Metavivor. I’m a “thrivor”, not a survivor. In 2008, I was diagnosed with Triple Negative Breast Cancer. I responded well to treatment and was considered in remission.
Then on April 3, 2015, I received the news that my cancer was back. After further tests, it was confirmed that the cancer not only returned, but had metastasized (spread). I now have Hormone positive (ER/PR+) Breast Cancer that spread to my lungs and other areas. In November 2016, I made the decision to leave my full-time employment in higher education in order to focus on my well-being.
My husband, Al, just retired from the Air Force after 30 years of active duty service. I love to travel and proposed that we take at least the next year traveling the country (and maybe the world). I wanted us to have quality time together, to reconnect after so many years apart thank you to 14 deployments in his career and to make lasting memories. None of us are promised tomorrow, but when you have a disease like cancer, that becomes a reality.
I have cancer. But it doesn’t have me.