Two wives. Two MBC diagnoses. Two tragic deaths.

I married J, my first wife, in 1977. She was 20, and I was 22. Our 14-year-old daughter lost her mom three weeks before she entered her freshman year of high school.

Met spots all over

J's initial diagnosis at age 39 was stage 4 due to the tumor's size. A mastectomy and TRAM reconstruction were followed by chemotherapy and radiation. A year later, the cancer metastasized in a lung. A year and a half after that, it appeared in her liver and eventually took over her brain. The brain image looked like a map of the night sky because there were too many white spots to count. She died at age 41 after a 34-month battle.

Discovering a lump

I married C a year after J's death, and things were great. Our families blended very smoothly, and C was very supportive. C discovered a lump in her right breast at age 61, and it metastasized to many different bones with a year. She fought it for 46 months and died in May 2020.

We need a cure

We need a cure so badly. If a cure isn't available, a vaccine might be better. If that isn't in the cards, how about a treatment regimen that doesn't rob women of their dignity with hair loss, bodily disfigurement, and myriad side effects that make living each day a new challenge.