Mary’s Story

My story began in January of 2012 when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was a day I’ll never forget – the January chill felt just a bit cooler. I then underwent the expected lumpectomy surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. For nine months of my life, I endured sickness, nausea and fought not for survival – for the gravitas of the situation hadn’t quite become real – but for just a normal day, a day without sickness, anxiety and fear. I endured.

Fast forward to June 2014, almost two years after my last radiation treatment I received a call I had been subconsciously dreading, a call I’d hoped I’d never ever get.

The breast cancer had metastasized, spread to my bones. “Metastatic breast cancer is incurable,” was the only thing I remember from that day. Now the real fight had begun. I had a terminal diagnosis. Terminal.

A terminal cancer diagnosis such as metastatic breast cancer (MBC) is emotionally challenging, but is also physically draining. So I decided to focus my days doing something that I loved. I am swimming across as many lakes as possible bringing awareness and funding to metastatic breast cancer—a poorly funded and all but forgotten branch of a deadly disease.

I swim for the all the ​other 150,000-250,000 women and men who have metastatic-stage IV breast cancer.