During her first hospital stay for breast cancer treatment, CJ was greeted by a volunteer who brought gifts to keep her spirits up. Later though, when she had metastatic breast cancer and was afraid of whether she would survive, there was nobody. Even at conferences, there were few speakers talking about metastatic breast cancer, and so CJ vowed to change that.

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Transcript

My name is Dian Corneliussen-James, although I go by CJ. I am 59 years old and I have been diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. My organization is called Metavivor Research and Support. We chose the name Metavivor. It’s a combination of metastasis and survivor. We have a support program, a local support program, which is a face to face support program.

We have 31 members at present, all with metastatic breast cancer. We do morning coffees, we do evening dinners, we might go antiquing on a Saturday. We also have a guest speaker program. The guest speaker comes to speak on an issue directly related to metastatic breast cancer. We also award a research grant every year, specifically for research targeting metastatic breast cancer. When I was first diagnosed with breast cancer, the hospital where I had my surgery, has a tremendous program for people with early stage breast cancer. And actually, as you lie on the gurney with your IV in, and you’re waiting to go into surgery, a CHERI volunteer comes in, and she brings you A bag full of gifts and she says to you that she’s sorry about your situation, but she has been there herself. She’s a breast cancer survivor. She wants you to join her program and she will be your mentor if you want one. She’ll walk by your side throughout your treatment. I was very impressed by that program.

I thought it was wonderful. And when I was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, I lay on the gurney in that same hospital thinking about the fact that maybe I was not going to live much longer. And there was no cherry volunteer who came in, and there was no gift bag, and there was no one offering to be my friend and my mentor. And when I got out and I went to a breast cancer conference. There was no guest speaker on metastatic breast cancer, there was no literature handed out. And I realized through all this, how little support there was out there. And what I wanted to do was make a difference for others out there with this disease. It has been the most rewarding experience of my life. I’ve had a lot of very good jobs, a lot of fascinating jobs, worked with a lot of people, and I’ve lived in a lot of places. But the people that I’ve met since I have been diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer have been just phenomenal. So many people that I’ve met with metastatic breast cancer, what they’ve been able to do and what they’ve been able to achieve since their diagnosis. The people that have reached out to help us have been just tremendous. To me, it is the most rewarding experience of my life.