Patient Perspectives: finding strength

Like, I get through everything. Everything that is faced in front of me, I get through it. But only with the help of my family. I don't do it alone.

Yeah, I believe you could break straight through a brick wall if that were put in front of you. I think I-- [LAUGHS]

Joining me are four beautiful, strong MBC patients.

We have Jennifer from Nevada, Monique from North Carolina, Lakisha from New York, and Beth, also from North Carolina.

Part of the difficulty of a breast cancer diagnosis is that you can lose your sense of self as it exists apart from your cancer treatment.

You've suddenly been given something that requires a huge portion of your attention and time and resources. And yet, you are so much more than a cancer patient.

Forget about being humble for a second. I want each of you to tell me why you're the best you that ever was.

Monique, tell me what makes you strong and what that word means to you. Well, strong, what makes me strong

is knowing that I can do anything. It's just something that's in me. It's just a fight that's in me.

You know, that when I wake up every day, I expect to fight. I expect to live my life limitless. And I expect to do the things that I want to do.

I have to say, like, my whole life, I focused on being strong and just like, prided myself on being a strong, independent woman.

And I think what makes me strong now is that I know that, um, I don't have to be alone and I don't have to just get strength from myself.

I can get it from other sources. And you know, I think that I'm strong because I was given

this diagnosis and told, like, you know, you have a finite amount of time on this Earth. And I said, nope.

I don't accept that. Like, I'm going to fight and I'm going to live. It's hard when you're given that a hand. But you know, just-- just doing it and just being out there,

I think that's what makes me strong. You gain strength in roots, in roots tied to family and friendships and love so that when a storm blows--

and I can't really think of a fiercer storm than an MBC diagnosis-- you just sway with it rather than uproot, tumble.

My family gives me the strength, though, you know? Like, I don't do all of this alone. A lot of people are always like, oh my gosh. Like, you're so strong.

And I'm like, no, I ain't. Like, I get this from other people. Like, this is not by myself. Like, I stand on the backs of the women

before me, all my family, my-- my-- my aunts, my mom, my cousins. Like, I stand-- I come from that.

For the most part, like, I get through everything. I always say, I'm like, I'm a G. Like, I get through everything. Everything that is placed in front of me, I get through it.

But only with the help of my family. I don't do it alone. Yeah, I believe you could break straight through a brick wall if that were put in front of you.

I think I-- [LAUGHS] Beth, tell me what makes you strong. I think just being a driven person.

Adversity makes me strong. And I certainly have had my fair share of it in my lifetime.

And MBC is just another one of those things. And my diagnosis, you know, as I said, stripped me of my hair and my--

the weight that I had. I was emaciated. I lost my breasts. And so, really finding who I was,

digging deep and finding that person, and then showing the world just who I am

and being authentic and resonating with other people, and helping other people, that really fills me up

and kind of fuels me. Being stripped down to the rawest part of you and then building yourself back up again

to feel like you can fully embrace life is probably the strongest thing a woman could ever do. And you've done it.

So I want to thank each of you strong ladies for showing up today with such raw truth

and transparent beauty. [MUSIC PLAYING]