The reality behind the holidays, hospital stays and hope.
Our Stage 4’ers are having a tough time right now.
We’ve been following their lives since we first met them in February, and it’s been fascinating, inspiring, heartbreaking – and, at times, brutally real.
Our first article was a reality check: young, seemingly healthy women are being diagnosed with advanced cancer.
The New Face of Cancer
5 Apr
Outliers? Or the Start of Something New
7 Apr
In which we looked at those supporting the girls – long-term cancer survivors who understand this road only too well.
Enough for Today: Three Stage 4 Women – and the Art of Living Now
31 May
Part Three of our New Face of Cancer series follows where our three Stage 4 “outliers” find themselves today – living, waiting, hoping, grieving, celebrating, and choosing faith in the space between scan results.
Showed just how differently life can look with a Stage 4 diagnosis.
One travelling Europe.
One concentrating on the day-to-day life of her family.
One in the middle of a particularly turbulent time.
Next was:
The Art of ‘Living Living’ With Stage 4 Cancer
5 Jul
Holiday time mixed with the huge loss of one of our girls’ soulmates.
Then, at the beginning of this month, we introduced you to Stage 4’er number four in Told She Had 3 Months to Live: Hope.
So where are we today?
Today, we’re keeping it real.
“When she was away she felt removed from all the tests, checks and cancer-ness of her daily life – and felt cancer free.”
Leah
Leah had the BEST time travelling this year. (That’s her, above, on a boat, in Portuguese caves, looking absolutely gorgeous).
I spoke with her this week and she described something I think many people living with cancer will recognise.
Cancer was there when she was at home.
But when she was away, she felt literally distanced from the tests, the checks, the appointments and the constant cancer-ness of everyday life.
She felt cancer free.
Then she came home.
And she hit a wall.
One of her medications (Doxacyline) was making her dizzy, causing double vision and affecting her memory. She needed a brain scan to make sure the cancer hadn’t metastasised there.
Thankfully, it hadn’t.
In fact, as of today, she ‘only’ has small tumours in both lobes of her liver.
She’s researching new options. She’s manifesting ringing that bell at the end of treatment.
She’s looking at Y90 as one of those options – and don’t think for one minute she’s accepting the 5 year survival stats shown in this explanation from Healthline as applying to her life.
WHEN she is cancer-free. Not IF.
Another option is dendritic cell therapy – in a bid to keep ahead of the cancer.
She’s been reading research showing its potential effectiveness for liver cancer and is considering travelling to Mexico. I shared details of the 2 Mexican clinics we feature on Double-zero and told her about meeting founder of one of them Dr Francisco Contreras at the Annie Appleseed Conference in 2025.
They share a strong Christian faith, so it may well be a good fit.
But ultimately, she’ll make her own decisions.
And that’s exactly how it should be.
Steph
Take a look at Steph’s social media and you could easily think she’s having the most amazing time travelling around Thailand and Vietnam.
And that would be true.
But there’s another story happening underneath this photograph.
She has massive pain in her back, right where she knows the cancer is residing.
Yesterday morning she hit the gym, determined to get herself back into her health regime.
She’s also incredibly emotional.
Losing her sidekick, her soulmate through all of this – has been and is, HARD.
And in a couple of days, she’ll head home too.
Back to reality.
“You can be having the time of your life and still be carrying something incredibly heavy.”
That’s the bit social media doesn’t always show.
Sarah
Sarah is home. Looking AMAZING at her retirement party at the beginning of the month:
She’s also been in hospital after the lymphoma in her neck caused an oedema and made breathing really difficult.
Many tears and a few days of tests and she’s back home.
The current red alert has passed.
For now, it’s back to her protocol.
Back to the next day.
Back to doing what she can.
And our new number four Stage 4’er?
Our Frenchy.
Well.
This is where things get really interesting.
Frenchy was the subject of:
Told She Had 3 Months to Live. Hope Had Other Ideas.
2 Aug
Frenchy had her PET scan, and…
The scan showed enlarged lymph nodes under one arm which could be cancerous.
But there is no confirmed cancer elsewhere in her body.
Let me write that again.
As of last week, she could have NO active cancer.
“She was told she had three months to live. And now she could have no active cancer.”
That prognosis?
There are no words.
The reality of Stage 4
We all know this road is a long one.
There are ups and downs.
Wins and losses.
Tears and smiles.
Hope and fear.
And sometimes the tears happen quietly.
Often hidden.
Cried alone.
Behind a closed door.
Because we put on a brave face for everyone else.
That’s the thing about following these women.
The photographs don’t tell the whole story.
The smiles don’t tell the whole story.
The holidays don’t tell the whole story.
And neither does the diagnosis.
This is not for the faint-hearted.
But it is possible to heal.
These girls believe that.
They know that.
And they are prepared to do whatever they can to get that bell ringing.
For now, though?
We’re keeping it real.
This is not easy.
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