FROM LIBRA
TO CANCER
Crysta Balis
Who Am I?
Sometimes I have cancer; sometimes cancer has me.
My name is Crysta Balis, and I was diagnosed with metastatic (Stage IV) breast cancer mid-pandemic, still on maternity leave with my second baby. I am not, however, wasting away from cancer; I'm growing from it. I’m using it and abusing it. I’m wearing it, poking it, dancing around it, and parenting with it. I’m fleecing it for all its worth, exploring its every crevice, and squeezing out all its meaning while I laugh or write about all its meaninglessness. Sometimes I lean and breathe into it. Other times, I lie at its feet and cry. I'm stuck with cancer, but it's also stuck with me.
I'M NOT A WRITE-OFF
Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC), is incurable, but it can stay dormant with the right drugs. Eventually, however, it will figure its way around those drugs and "wake up." When it does, I need to try something new. Shockingly, however only 2-5% of breast cancer research funding goes to Stage 4 Breast cancer.
Why? Is there a perception that people with MBC are write-offs?
Social awareness / perception influence how resources are allocated.
Fight with me. Become an MBC ally. Advocate for MBC research.
