I'm Still Here: Real Conversations About Living with Metastatic Breast Cancer

What do we actually want when we go into a scan? When we make the hard choices about treatment and energy and how we spend ourselves? We want a Tuesday. An ordinary, unremarkable, nothing-special day when we feel fine, go to work, eat dinner, and nothing interrupts it.In this episode Heather talks about why the Tuesday is the whole thing — not the milestones, not the moments that take your breath away, but the ordinary days stacked one on top of the other where life actually happens. She talks about what MBC gives you in terms of perspective, how to put the fear down long enough to actually be in the day, and how to hold the grief for the life you thought you would have alongside the life you actually have.This one is a reminder as much as it is an episode. Look up.Heather was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer at 26 and has now been living with the disease for more than 25 years. Through this podcast she shares perspective, lived experience, and conversations that help people navigate life with metastatic cancer.Sensational Survivor Series — apply at: https://forms.gle/6H9K7NXMAeN1QEv87Digital Guides — https://shop.heatherjose.com/all-guides/Listener Questions — submit at: https://heatherjose.comConnect with Heather:Instagram: https://instagram.com/heatherbjoseWebsite: https://heatherjose.comIntro/outro music by Heather's son Ty — Instagram: https://instagram.com/tyjosee

You had questions. Heather answered them. In this episode, Heather pulls from questions submitted on Instagram to talk about where her mets were, the treatments she's been on since her 1998 diagnosis, how she manages anxiety and scansiety, why she can't attribute her 27 years of living with MBC to any one thing, and what the first year of a metastatic diagnosis actually feels like from the inside. She also talks about the Block Center, curating your social media feed when you're newly diagnosed, and how to counter the what-ifs before a scan result lands in your portal.Honest, personal, and covers a lot of ground — this is one to share with someone who is newly diagnosed or just has questions they haven't known how to ask.Heather was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer at 26 and has now been living with the disease for more than 25 years. Through this podcast she shares perspective, lived experience, and conversations that help people navigate life with metastatic cancer.Sensational Survivor Series — apply at: https://forms.gle/6H9K7NXMAeN1QEv87Digital Guides — https://shop.heatherjose.com/all-guides/Listener Questions — submit at: https://heatherjose.comConnect with Heather:Instagram: https://instagram.com/heatherbjoseWebsite: https://heatherjose.comIntro/outro music by Heather's son Ty — Instagram: https://instagram.com/tyjosee

Scan results don't always come back clean. After 28 years living with metastatic breast cancer, Heather has learned that "okay" doesn't always mean "clear" — and that learning to trust the process when the report isn't black and white is its own kind of work.In this episode, Heather and Larry talk through her most recent PET scan and oncology appointment — including what it feels like to hold uncertainty during a weekend full of life, why the clockwork back pain before every scan never fully goes away, and what it means to be an enigma at 28 years with no real data to compare to.They also get into the bigger picture: what whole-person cancer care actually looks like, why the relationship with your oncologist matters more than most people talk about, and what it's like navigating a stack of appointments — sleep studies, cardiology, titration — all while just trying to live your life.If you've ever read a scan report and felt more confused than reassured, or wondered if the fear ever really goes away — this one's for you.Heather was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer at 26 and has now been living with the disease for more than 25 years. Through this podcast she shares perspective, lived experience, and conversations that help people navigate life with metastatic cancer.Sensational Survivor SeriesIf you have been living with metastatic breast cancer for 10 years or more and would like to share your story on the podcast, you can apply here:https://forms.gle/6H9K7NXMAeN1QEv87Listener QuestionsHave a question you'd like answered in a future episode? Submit it through the contact form:https://heatherjose.comConnect with HeatherInstagram: https://instagram.com/heatherbjoseWebsite: https://heatherjose.comMusic intro and outro music for the podcast was created by Heather's son, Ty. You can find his music here:Instagram: https://instagram.com/tyjosee