TOLEDO, Ohio — October is breast cancer awareness month, and Oct. 13 is Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day.
Unfortunately, some who were already told they have breast cancer will later learn that cancer has spread, making it metastatic. Finding support after a metastatic breast cancer diagnosis is critical; fortunately, there are support groups for people in the community whose cancer has spread.
"I'm the ultimate optimist," Lori Knous, a metastatic breast cancer patient said. "But I think having a group like this and having a place like this to come, gives other people hope and it makes them realize that maybe the news that I got isn't as bad as I thought."
Knous is bringing that positivity to a relatively new support group she helped make available in the community by bringing together the Victory Center and Mercy Health.
She says when you learn your cancer has spread, the way you think about life changes. Those types of conversations weren't fully suited for a typical breast cancer support group.
"We didn't want to scare early stage people who didn't understand what we were talking about," Knous said.
Three years ago one of those people was Susan Rostkowski. But when she learned in 2020 her breast cancer had spread to her spine she knew there was support for her to handle this new diagnosis.
"Being human, even though I knew it wasn't a death sentence, as soon as I'd been told it spread the first though is, 'oh, I'm gonna die in five years. Let me start purging my clothing.' So I went through all of that stuff," Rostkowski said.
But looking at people like Knous, who's been metastatic for ten years, Rostkowski found a role model in the metastatic breast cancer community.
While the group provides hope, its members have also lost friends along the way.
"All of the challenges, as well as the opportunities to look at life differently, to appreciate life differently and what helps cope with that, and definitely community is one that I see," Dee Manning, Oncology Chaplain for Mercy Health said.
The support group also provides a community of people who went through different types of treatment and potential opportunities to those newly diagnosed.
"Having that sense of community allows you to kind of reassure yourself that some of those questions you feel, and thoughts you feel are normal, but there is a way to turn it into a positive outlook or perspective," Dr. Suketu Patel, a Radiation Oncologist for Mercy Health said.
During this month of October, as we don our pink in support of breast cancer survivors, we want to take some extra time to also support those whose cancer has spread, as only a small fraction of research is done on metastatic breast cancer.
"We need to honor the differences in their experience," Lor Dine, Service Lines Community Program Manager for Mercy Health said. "And also us in the healthcare field, need to ask ourselves: 'how is the work we're doing help meet and address the needs of the metastatic breast cancer community?'"
The support group meets at the Victory Center, the first Wednesday of every month from 6-7:30pm. The Victory Center is at 3166 Republic Blvd N in Toledo. Whether you attend in person on virtually, RSVP at 419-531-7600.
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