Earlier this year, Jo wrote a piece on a wish for ‘palliative care’ to be renamed ‘supportive care‘ because it is so intrinsically tied in most people’s minds with ‘end
What’s in a name? Palliative Care? Supportive Care?
Cancer Poverty: The financial burden of metastatic breast cancer… Emma’s Story
Metastatic breast cancer is not only taking the lives of 31 women per day. In the limited time they have left women living with this disease are experiencing financial hardship.
The 6 types of people you meet when you’ve got breast cancer.
Yup, we’ve all been there and met a few of these guys.
Which one is most prevalent in your life?
A thousand beautiful moments worth living for
When I was first diagnosed with cancer, my primary cancer, at 35 in July 2016 I was determined that I wouldn’t let cancer take over my life. I sat in a chair and thought I’d have 8 months of treatment and be done with it. Oh. What a fool I was.
Drugs, Drugs, Drugs
I think sometimes when those outside the cancer world imagine what treatment is like they think we go in, have some chemo, take some photos dancing around our IV pole and then go home and rest for a few days…. And don’t get me wrong I’m one of those people who have taken a cheeky chemo selfie and donned numerous items of leopard print to get me through those loooooooong days in the chemo ward, it’s like armour for what is essentially ritual poisoning!
The serial killer inside me
I’m 36 and I walk around with a serial killer inside of me. One day soon, almost certainly before my 40th birthday, that serial killer is going to break free and end my life in a slow and painful way. To delay this from happening I’ve had to fill my body with poison (some of the drug boxes actually have skull and crossbones warning signs on!).
Write to your MP about Herceptin Access
We really need to raise awareness around what people with secondary cancer require, encouraging the debate to be placed upon the policy table. You can really help us by writing
Friends and family friday – Connie and her friends
MetUpUK member Connie sat down, on zoom, with some of her oldest friends to talk to them about their understanding of her life with MBC.
They discuss cancer types, treatment lines, tumor profiling, trials, survival rates, progressions, drug lines, and how all of this makes them feel.
A Real Life Accounts of Accessing Clinical Trials
In 2018 I was diagnosed with secondary breast cancer in my liver, I was 44.
I knew the survival statistics were grim, so decided from the outset, in order to outlive the 2 to 3-year median I’d have to embrace experimental drugs and treatments.
I made this clear during my first oncology appointment, telling my doctor I was keen to sign up for clinical trials right from the start.
Fighting for Palbociclib
Under NICE rules, I would not be eligible to receive the medication that I am currently taking for my metastatic breast cancer on the NHS. I have been on my current drug regime since 2017, I am feeling really well, my disease is stable, and my scans are clear.
I began taking Palbociclib over 3 years ago, badgering my Oncologist and accessing it through a free trial set up by Pfizer. The trial was designed to sway NICE into approving the drug for NHS use, despite it’s high price.