My name is Cheri and I am like many other 34 year old women in America. I have a young son who is the light of my life, an amazing husband at my side, and a large family full of love and laughter. I am fortunate to have a career that I enjoy with really wonderful colleagues. I have more friends than I know what to do with and have had the pleasure of making more as each year has passed. All of this was put in jeopardy when I was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer just two days after Christmas in December 2012. After beginning chemotherapy on January 2, 2013, genetic testing revealed that I was a carrier of the BRCA 1 gene mutation. Although other women in my family have had breast cancer, I was not considered high risk because they were not first-degree relatives. This coupled with my age led to a year of misdiagnosis during which the cancer grew and spread. To make matters worse, the type of cancer I have is triple negative — a particularly aggressive and more rare form of breast cancer that is difficult to treat.

I started this blog to serve primarily as a place for me to process my thoughts in the wake of my diagnosis. I also hope that I can provide some insight on what it’s like to live with metastatic breast cancer, not just for my friends and family, but for others who have been impacted by this dreadful disease. I hope that sharing my experiences will help create awareness for breast cancer in young women, and especially for triple negative breast cancer. For more information or to support research efforts to find a cure, please visit the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation.