I don’t know when I first heard about Breast Cancer, but I know I was a young girl. One of my friend’s mother’s had Breast Cancer, and I remember my mother telling me about it. I couldn’t have been more than 10 or 12 years old. I still remember it leaving an impression on me. I remember I asked 100 questions about it.

Breast Cancer personally touched my life when my cousin was diagnosed with it. She was in her 30’s, a mom of 3 little kids… and just fought as best as she could. She lost her life to Breast Cancer in 2004. In her honor, the 3 of us from Mom Generations… me, my mom and sister… posed in Estee Lauder’s 2010 Breast Cancer Awareness campaign to show our support and love and passion in pledging to spread the word about Breast Cancer Awareness.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month… but awareness needs to happen all year long. It’s important and it’s necessary. I’m so glad that the ladies over at 5 Minutes for Moms are doing what they can to spread the word and raise awareness for women.

Recently I was asked the difference between Breast Cancer and Metastatic Breast Cancer… and I didn’t know the answer. I had heard of Metastatic Breast Cancer, but just wasn’t informed enough about what it actually means to be diagnosed with it. I wanted to use this blog post as a way to spread the word and knowledge about what it is, awareness and information is key, especially when it comes to health.

Breast cancer is considered metastatic or advanced when it has spread from the breast to another part of the body, such as the bones, liver, lungs or brain. Those with MBC (Metastatic Breast Cancer) are facing a very different disease than women with early-stage breast cancer, and most will be on treatment for the rest of their lives.

Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, partnered with Living Beyond Breast Cancer, Metastatic Breast Cancer Network, and MetaVivor to recognize the 155,000 people living in the US with MBC.

The Faces of MBC campaign started in 2010 as an effort to learn more about how people living MBC identify with and feel about living with the disease.

It’s these stories that will continue to help raise awareness. It’s these stories that will continue to help save lives.

I wanted to share a story from “Faces of MBC: One Woman’s Story”…

This new video is the third-in-a-series and takes a look at Diane, a 50-year-old florist and mother of two who has been battling breast cancer for more than 15 years. For Diane, it took a MBC diagnosis to make her decide she was going to live the time she had left exactly the way she wanted. Instead of just giving up, she made a drastic career change so she could spend each day doing work she truly loved. As Diane knows, being diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer means living with it for a lifetime. Although she was once told she had only months to live, Diane has persevered to see her children’s milestones, including her son’s junior high graduation and daughter’s wedding day. Diane’s hope is to “run the race as slowly as possible” so she can potentially live to see options change for those living with MBC.

This video will touch your heart. Completely….

I see this video and my heart is just full, and my eyes have teared up. Awareness, togetherness, passion and love… we need to all be together in this and just keep the awareness moving.

Please.

This post is part of a sponsored campaign with Face of MBC and 5 Minutes for Mom. All opinions are our own.