MY LIFE Matters: TNBC Patient Voices Issue 2022 - 20

Conversation A Q&A ON TNBC
to support increased funding for breast
cancer research. She is the co-founder of
the Metsquerade (nwamets.org), which
began in 2016 as a yearly fundraising
event; to date the organization has raised
over 1.6 million dollars. Her partner,
Lisa Quinn, has sadly passed, but Kelli
continues the yearly event in her honor.
She proudly shared with me that other
Metsquerades have popped up across the
country as well, and all are organized
and led by metastatic patients. " That's
my legacy, " she said.
Along with the Metsquerade, she also
helps organize Runway for Research
events that raise around one thousand
dollars each year. She said that when she
is feeling down, she puts her heart and
soul into her advocacy work. She wants
other people who are given the same
diagnosis to know that they are more
than a statistic. These events raise so
much money for research and are vital
to the MTNBC community for the mere
fact that there are not enough targeted
therapies for the disease. " So many young
women, Black women, and pregnant
women are getting diagnosed with triple
negative, there's got to be a reason.
WHY is this happening? " she asked; a
question many people have wondered
as well. She expressed her thoughts that
those targeted therapies are needed to
have not only a longer life, but a better
quality of life. Kelli said, " When you say,
'triple-negative,' people know that it's
bad, but our life matters just as much as
anybody else's does. "
When I asked Kelli what her hope for
the future of triple-negative breast cancer
is, she said she hopes for precision
medicine. She hopes that someday they
can use mutations, like hers, as well as
each individual cancer's personality to
drive medical decisions. She also hopes
that someday there will be more options
for targeted therapies for TNBC. " It's not
just about extending our lives-yeah, we
want to live longer, but we want to live
better as well, " she stated. She went on to
share that she has hope for clinical trials
and is optimistic that more continue to
pop up for people like her. " There are a lot
of cool things in the works. What if that
cool thing is your power drug? What if
that new drug is the one to stop your mets
20
MY LIFE MATTERS
TNBC PATIENT VOICES ISSUE 2022
" I had no idea I was going to live this long. We
don't know what breakthroughs are coming, [or]
what's coming down the pipeline. "
in their tracks? " she explained. She told
me that when she was first diagnosed, she
thought she was dying, so she decided to
stop living. She then said, " If I had done
that, I would have spent eight and a half
years on the couch. I had no idea I was
going to live this long. We don't know
what breakthroughs are coming, [or]
what's coming down the pipeline. " She
urges others not to give up. She wants
people to know that if they give up now,
they are giving up on the opportunity
and the hope to be able to live longer.
As far as advice she would give to others
in the same situation, Kelli would like
people to get rid of the toxicity in their
lives-all of it. She said that everyone
deserves to be happy, joyful, treated well,
and loved. She doesn't want anyone to
settle for anything less than that. " Don't
put up with anything that you wouldn't
put up with otherwise. You are worthy,
you are enough, " she said. We talked
about how there are still going to be bad
days, and how that's OK. She said when
she is feeling low, she continues to put
her heart and soul into fundraisers and
making a difference in the lives of others
with metastatic breast cancer.
After my conversation with her, I know
one thing for sure: the triple-negative
breast cancer and metastatic breast
cancer communities are a better place
because of people like Kelli Davis. She
is paving the way for people like her to
follow, creating an inspiring legacy that
will change the world. Her shining light
is palpable, and her story struck a deep
chord within me. As our call came to a
close, I asked her if there was anything
else she wanted to share. She took a deep
breath and said, " I have life and I have
life left to live, and I need to get out there
and live it. " I hope that Kelli's words
touch your heart as much as they have
touched mine. l
http://www.nwamets.org
MY LIFE Matters: TNBC Patient Voices Issue 2022

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