Stage IV breast cancer survivor: Why I celebrated my 100th round of chemotherapy
September 18, 2025
Medically Reviewed | Last reviewed by on September 18, 2025
When I was diagnosed with stage IV triple-negative breast cancer in 2019, my new goal became to live fast. I didn¡¯t think I had much time left. So, after getting my affairs in order, my husband and I did a lot of things we wouldn¡¯t normally do. We took several trips that year, including one to Boston to watch a Red Sox game at Fenway Park. I crossed a lot of things off my bucket list.
Eighteen months later, the six metastatic breast cancer nodules located just outside my lungs had not only shrunken; they had also stabilized. Three were almost undetectable on scans. I was doing so well on the sole low-dose chemotherapy drug had prescribed that one day I finally realized, ¡°Well, I guess I¡¯m not dying, so I better pick myself back up and start living.¡±
That¡¯s why I made it a point to celebrate my 100th chemotherapy infusion recently.
¡®I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m still here¡¯
Most breast cancer patients who receive the same drug I¡¯m on only take it for six months or less. The average person on eribulin lives for between 12 and 14 months.
As someone who had already undergone triple-negative breast cancer treatment twice before ¡ª in 2004 for stage I and in 2016 for stage II ¡ª I understood that the goal of prescribing it now was to keep me alive for as long as possible. Dr. Giordano was very clear that while my stage IV cancer was still treatable, it was no longer curable. So, we took it in phases.
First, I asked her, ¡°Can you keep me alive long enough to see my son graduate from college?¡± And, she did.
Next, I asked her, ¡°Can you keep me alive long enough to watch my daughter get married?¡± And, she did.
Since then, my son has also gotten married, and I welcomed my first grandchild into the world on May 28, 2025.
Now, every time I go back for a checkup at MD Anderson, I just can¡¯t believe it. I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m still here. But I have been on this drug for almost seven years ¡ª and I received my 100th dose of it on Sept. 3, 2025.
¡®A statistical outlier¡¯
I realize that I am very much a statistical outlier. To my knowledge, no other MD Anderson patient has ever been on this drug for as long as I have. But I never take that for granted. I live my life very intentionally now, so I can do the things I really want to do and not bother with the things I don¡¯t.
Once I realized I wasn¡¯t going to die, I got out of bed, joined a gym and began working out with a trainer. I also retired and started eating better. I began getting massages at MD Anderson¡¯s Integrative Medicine Center, too, which has helped me tremendously with sleep and fatigue.
I know I will never ¡°ring the bell¡± to mark the end of my cancer treatments ¡ª because I won¡¯t ever really be done with them. Ringing the bell is not my style anyway, so that doesn¡¯t feel like a loss. But I sure as heck celebrated being on this drug for 100 cycles with my care team the other day with some sweet treats I brought to the clinic. Because it has allowed me to be here for many other milestones that are so much more meaningful. And I am incredibly grateful.
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I am incredibly grateful.
Melissa Fouts
Survivor