In the fall of 2023 I started having some back pain. At first I thought I’d just pulled a muscle or something and tried my best to rest, waiting for it to improve. Instead, the opposite happened. Eventually the pain reached a peak and I woke up one morning unable to walk because of how severe it was. My parents came to my house to help me to the ER. As we were there and the doctor kept ordering more tests and doing multiple scans, I knew that something serious was wrong. None of us were expecting the news the doctor came back with. The pain in my back came from a compression fracture caused by cancerous lesions in my spine. He told us that multiple masses were visible in my breasts, so this was most likely breast cancer that had metastasized to various lymph nodes and bones. It was about a week before Christmas. I was 37.
In a whirlwind of urgency, I was quickly set up with a treatment team in my parents’ hometown. Within a few days I had a mammogram, ultrasounds, and a biopsy. On December 28, 2023 it was confirmed I have metastatic breast cancer. Since my cancer is hormone receptor positive and HER2 negative we immediately started estrogen blocking medication through pills and shots. Tests showed the treatment was going okay, but unfortunately complications arose. In March of this year I was briefly hospitalized with multiple pulmonary embolisms in both lungs. With something new to take into account, my team is working on amending my treatment plan. We’re hopeful that some adjustments will find us the right treatment for me going forward.
Alix’s LifeList:
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VIP Passes to Lollapalooza to see Stray Kids