No one wants to hear you have breast cancer, but that's exactly what we heard on 5/3/22. We were considered Stage I and would only need radiation because the cancer was not showing to have spread to any other parts of my body. But before we started treatment and after additional testing such as a PET scan, they found suspicious spots in my lungs and spine. On 9/23/22, our world was rattled to the core when the lung biopsy confirmed the cancer had spread and was metastatic breast cancer (MBC). MBC is Stage IV (not curable) and we went from curative to palliative care in the blink of an eye. After hours of tears, we began the fight of our lives by starting oral chemo meds. Thanks to amazing research and trials, the meds had proven to stabilize and shrink the tumors in certain cases. After 3 months of oral chemo, we repeated the PET scan and the results said, "no evidence of metabolically active malignancy." Basically, it meant the cancer was gone! Tears flowed again, but this time, they were happy tears. We repeated the PET scans every 3 months in 2023, and each time, the results said the same thing. In 2024 and 2025, we spaced the scans out to every 4 months to lessen the amount of radiation we were exposed to. The results were still clean and clear! ?No evidence of active disease?, or NEAD for short, is mind blowing and fantastic to hear, but we are always cautiously optimistic because we know the tumors will be active again someday. By then, we hope there will be more treatment options available to us. That's why we are choosing to support the Susan G. Komen foundation. They provide funds for ground-breaking research, support for survivors and their families, and advocate for patient rights.

If you re-read all of that, you will see I use the words ?we?, ?us? and ?our?. That?s intentional because this fight is so much more than just about me. It?s about my husband, Chris, and about our kids, Kaitlyn and Matthew. This fight is about our entire family and all of our friends. This fight is about future generations so they will never hear the words ?not curable?.

Please support me as I commit to an incredible challenge. The Susan G. Komen 3-day is a 60-mile walk over the course of three days. In 2023, I joined this event for the first time and fell completely in love with it and the people! 2026 will be my 4th walk and my heart has decided this will be an event I do year after year. The 60 miles is hard, but it?s not as hard as learning you have breast cancer. That's why I'm walking and why I'm raising money - to end breast cancer FOREVER!