Help Natalie Battle Cancer for the 2nd Time

Hi, my name is Natalie Rivera. Many people who know me or have heard of my journey, know that my life has had it’s fair share of struggles. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019 during my last year of my family medicine residency. After what seemed like endless rounds of chemo, a double mastectomy, and radiation, I was told by my doctors that I was in remission and had reached NED (no evidence of disease). I went on with life happy to be done with residency training and got my first job as a family medicine doctor at Einstein health in Philadelphia.

Working full time and being a mother, a wife, and finding time for myself, proved to be extremely hard. The stress of everything took a toll on my physically and mentally. Before I knew it my body was in extreme uncontrollable pain and I experienced something called numb chin syndrome. An emergency room visit and acute hospital stay this summer is when I found out I unfortunately had a reoccurrence of breast cancer and this time it would be metastatic to my bones, involving my entire spine, pelvis, ribs, left femur, and base of my skull. My diagnosis this time is not as easy as my first journey with cancer, as this time my diagnosis is terminal. However with modern medicine I am currently on a multidisciplinary course of immunotherapy, hormone therapy, ovarian suppression, and osteoporosis medication.

Due to this unfortunate occurrence my world has made a complete 180. I went from working to being disabled. Pain is a constant reminder of my diagnosis. I now walk with a cane and deal with an array of ailments that make me feel like a quarter of the person I was.

I am trying to be graceful with myself and with the path my life has taken. I have never loved more, laughed harder, cried immensely, and just enjoyed the little things in my life that make my time on this earth the most important. My number one goal now is being with my family and enjoying life for however long I can endure. Due to no longer working and being the main source of income for my family, I have had to make extreme decisions for my family and I. Any help whether by donation or sharing my story means so much to me during this time. I’m thankful for any well wishes and prayers, and will keep everyone posted on my journey as I continue to battle cancer for the 2nd time.