We need to make some noise

Early-stage breast cancer and metastatic breast cancer are two different beasts. Treatment and information between the two can vary greatly. The American Cancer Society has a pamphlet for breast cancer, just one. And it only relates to early-stage.

When I was in for my mammogram - my first one, after I already had BC under the age of 40 - there was only information about early stage, early detection. It's hard to find anything about metastatic breast cancer anywhere unless the site is about metastatic breast cancer to start.

When general cancer sites do have something that mentions metastatic breast cancer, it's usually very bare-bones. Not a whole lot of detail, compared to early stage.

Metastatic breast cancer gets ignored in research and funding, and that's the stage that kills people.

40% of people with breast cancer are metastatic. That number is too damn high.

10% of them were metastatic from the time of diagnosis, like me.

30% of them were treated for early stage breast cancer, usually quite aggressively to boot. Mastectomy,  radiation, chemotherapy, hormone drugs. And they still develop metastasis.

Hiding from the metastatic beast won't make it go away. Pretending it's not an issue won't keep people safe. We need to make noise, like the people with AIDS back in the '80s who were fighting to get research for treatment and maybe a cure. I don't know how to do that, though. If I did, I'd be doing it.

All I know how to do is write. So I have this blog, and I'm working on a book, a memoir, to try to get the word out. If anyone has any more ideas, please feel free to share them.

We've got to be the squeaky wheel if we want the grease.