This is a free, educational event for patients with metastatic breast cancer & their caregivers hosted by Fred Hutch.

Good morning! Picking up where I left off last week with Breast Cancer Awareness month educational tiles from Metavivor: In 2017, I was 38 and had never had a mammogram because I did not yet meet the criteria for screening. I received my first mammogram in the process of my de novo diagnosis and if I had been getting mammograms, the density of my breast tissue and the fact I was breastfeeding would have affected the results. Every person needs to know their individual risk and which screening and diagnostic testing is the best for their body.

Dr. Cassann Blake, a breast surgical oncologist at the Cleveland Clinic, on lobular breast cancer.

Hear from Fred Hutch experts about lobular breast cancer’s history, screening and surveillance challenges, new findings and clinical trials.

Each October, Metavivor shares tiles of educational information and 2025 is no different. I'll be sharing information throughout the month as I have the time/bandwidth and today I'm catching up on the first week of tiles: Approximately 117 people in the United States die every day from Stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC) -- that's the equivalent of a plane load of people falling out of the sky to their deaths every single day.

While we don't see the fall seasons so much here in Florida from the trees, the rising incidences of pink smothered whatever always reminds me that October has arrived. Similar to other holidays, retailers get a start earlier and earlier in the year to capitalize on a larger timeline for sales. And while some of the most egregious perpetrators of Pinkwashing have been confronted and some have adjusted their behaviors, it's still something that is pretty clearly happening more than it should.

Just popping in with a quick update as I've been remiss lately in keeping everyone updated. When so much is happening and changing in a short period of time, it's easy to forget that everyone else isn't doing this strange one foot in medical offices and the other in the real world existence. Periods of disruption to the routine/schedule are pretty consistent in this MBC experience and I have to say that it's a lot to handle when you have to juggle as much as is going on in our lives, but we persist.