MY LIFE Matters - 4

Metastatic & Black

SURVIVOR PERSPECTIVE

A Metastatic Breast
Cancer Perspective as
a Black Patient
WHAT SYSTEMIC BARRIERS BLACK WOMEN
FACE AND WHY SHOULD YOU CARE

fter receiving my diagnosis of Stage IIB, Estrogen Positive, Grade 3, Invasive Ductal Carcinoma in December
2013. When I received the diagnosis I was devastated
and didn't understand how this could be possible after
receiving a clean mammogram in April of 2013.
In December 2013, I was introduced to someone who became
my mentor and my strength guiding me through my diagnosis.
She was living her second cancer diagnosis at the age of 36. She
was the one person that taught me the importance of not getting
caught up on the hype of being diagnosed early stage.
Hindsight is 20/20. After being diagnosed with Metastatic Breast
Cancer, my mentor would always tell me she would do things
differently......
1)
educating herself more about the statistics of early stage
2) healthy lifestyle choices
3) managing stress
As my mentor and big sister, she literally educated me about
the constant struggles of Metastatic Breast Cancer. All the while
she was dealing with her own Metastatic Breast Cancer, she was
very passionate about educating her community specifically the
Black community, we were dying at a higher rate than our White
counterparts. She stressed the importance of educating myself by
attending conferences, understanding clinical trials, and being a
consumer reviewer for the Department of Defense Breast Cancer
Research Program. Most importantly she taught me to work on myself first. Her message was clear, I wouldn't be any good to anyone if
I didn't deal with my own struggles of being diagnosed with breast

METASTATIC CANCERS
OCTOBER 2020

cancer. She stated, once I finished all of
my treatments and when I was ready,
I should get trained by Living Beyond
Breast Cancer to become an advocate.
The Black community needed more of
us to be educated about the importance
of breast health not just diabetes and
hypertension. The Black community
needs more us to be empowered to
provide health care support, services,
guidance and mentorship.
So for me, I didn't need to become
a survivor to understand the dire importance of advocating for Metastatic
Breast Cancer patients. While receiving my own treatments, I noticed the
disparities and issues facing the Black
community. It was obvious to me that
Black patients did not receive their
treatments from the more prestigious
health institutions. Since 2013, I've
seen way too many Black Metastatic
Breast Cancer patients perish from this
disease including my mentor/big sister.
This was devastating but beyond that
as much as she helped me, she would
have helped so many other women like

MY LIFE Matters

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