My Stage IV Breast Cancer Journey

Hello!

My name is Cassie and I would like to share my story with you. I was happily living a normal, ordinary life. I had a long career working as a behavior therapist with children who have autism and spending time with my friends and my dog. Then,  in January of 2020, my life changed forever when I was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. I had a double mastectomy to remove the cancer, just weeks before the world shut down from the pandemic. While in isolation and recovering, my father was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called Burkitt’s lymphoma. So while he was going through intensive chemotherapy, I was undergoing 6 weeks of radiation at the same time.

After we both completed our cancer treatments, we celebrated and thought we could put the past behind us. However, just four months after my treatments had finished, my cancer returned and had spread to my liver. At that point, I was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, which is an incurable, terminal disease.  

Since that second diagnosis, I have had two more surgeries and more radiation for cancer that spread to my spine last August. I continue to take a clinical trial medication daily, get monthly  injections, bloodwork and routine scans, in order to monitor and slow the spread of this disease that has a 3-5 year survival rate.

I am asking for help to complete not a bucket list, but a LIVING list! I am doing everything in my power to keep as positive and healthy as possible. But this disease is so unpredictable that I don’t know how much time I will be healthy enough to travel and make beautiful memories to take with me. I have one dream left to fulfill. My entire life I have wanted to visit Italy. I would be forever grateful and overjoyed for any help on my journey. It would be amazing to have the opportunity to put this last trip on my calendar other than “cancer stuff”. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to read my story!