Susan Rahn

Last month while at my oncology appointment, I decided to ask my doctor an unpopular question. I asked her if she ever had a patient that went off treatment after...

Unsurprisingly, drugs to treat metastatic breast cancer are outrageously priced. So imagine my shock when I learned a new medication I needed was equally offensively priced. Over the last year...

I had a preconceived belief that people living with cancer were thin and frail in appearance; they looked sick. Most understand that chemotherapy can be brutal. It makes people sick...

I recently saw a few friends coming up on impressive survival anniversaries living with MBC. Seeing their beautiful faces in photos and reading their posts was a welcome treat in...

Back when the dinosaurs roamed, and before breast cancer, I had a job. It was a demanding career that had me going in a million directions. Many times during the...

It's hard to believe I've been on my current line of treatment since January 2016. Just over seven years of being best friends with Ibrance and Faslodex. I had previously...

Last January, I became a new grandmother to a gorgeous baby girl. Never in my wildest dreams did I allow myself to think ahead when I was diagnosed in 2013...

A family member recently started an aggressive combination of chemotherapies. She was overwhelmed with her diagnosis, the treatment plan, and keeping loved ones informed. While I have not undergone chemotherapy...

I have a love-hate relationship with October. I like seeing the leaves change color, gearing up for the coming holidays and crisp cool nights. It's also breast cancer awareness month...

Palliative care can be scary to those with cancer or other serious conditions. I used to associate palliative care (PC) with end-of-life (EOL) or hospice until I needed it after...

Cancer isn't a gift but it has been a teacher. I’ve learned more about cancer, terminology, research, and clinical trials than most healthy people will forget. Nine years of being...

Having a serious illness in this age of social media, it’s not uncommon to form friendships with people you would never have met otherwise. Over the years, since my MBC...

The best piece of unsolicited advice I have ever received was when a friend told me, “Don’t try to climb mountains, just take baby steps every day.” I had recently...

Breast Cancer Awareness month doesn't hold the same meaning for everyone, and that's OK. To some people, it's a time to celebrate they survived treatment & came out the other...

Editor's note: Susan shares about her metastatic breast cancer experience. I was afraid; I am now at peace I was pessimistic; I am now optimistic I felt angry; I now...

I've learned a lot about myself during the eight years I've been living with metastatic breast cancer. Too many to count but these are the five things I feel are...

Every time August rolls, around, I see myself recoil; from everyone and everything. It's a slow process. As the days’ tick by; the black hole, I found myself in 2013...

I used to pride myself on having a memory like a steel trap. I didn’t need to make lists or create calendar notifications for birthdays. The chocolate chip banana bread...

My first dose of reality came when I was diagnosed with de novo metastatic breast cancer (MBC). That was the day the pink-colored glasses came off, and I learned that...