The problem with volunteering for a metastatic breast cancer charity is that I have it. METUPUK can’t achieve its goals because patient advocates will insist on getting ill or dying. I can’t sleep after a meeting; my thoughts horrifyingly morbid.
And the trouble is, it’s not pessimism or anxiety, it’s reality. Just 25% of people live over five years with metastatic breast cancer. 31 women die from it every single day. Average life expectancy is 2 to 3 years, so on that basis I’ve got one year left. *
My oncologist doesn’t bat an eyelid when I’m referred to the hospice, in palliative care, claiming my pension. In your situation you don’t really need to worry about taking so many drugs, say the doctors.
During hardcore chemo, I lay in bed listening to the YouMeBigC podcasts. It felt amazing to know others understood what it was really like. The trouble was, two thirds of the original presenting team died. I looked up many guests on social media to find they’d died too. It was a black cloud impossible to escape.
Nine women from last year’s METUPUK #WeAreThe31 campaign have already died. That’s about a third. People who were brave, inspirational, positive, fit. Who really lived until they did not. Mums, daughters, sisters, wives, colleagues, bosses, friends. Gone.
This post is not for me. It’s for all of their #DisappearingLives.
*Leading causes of death by age group, England, 2020 Source: Office for National Statistics Nomis
These Boobs Were Made For Talking 