What happened, in summary

Renee first found a hard, painful breast area after playing with her children. Her family doctor quickly suspected breast cancer, and testing showed Stage III disease. The first plan was chemotherapy before surgery, with the hope that she might be able to have a lumpectomy. Renee received 4 rounds of AC chemotherapy, described as Adriamycin and carboplatin, with hospitalizations and a dose reduction by the 4th round. She then had 4 rounds of Taxol. After scans showed the cancer had not shrunk enough for lumpectomy, she chose a bilateral mastectomy at the end of January. Radiation followed in April: 25 sessions over 5 weeks. Herceptin had started during Taxol and continued for 18 total infusions. After surgery, Renee was told she had no evidence of disease and finished treatment on December 31, 2018. Two months later, persistent headaches led to scans showing metastatic relapse in the brain. The brain disease was inoperable, so she had 5 radiation treatments, then more Taxol, followed by Herceptin and Perjeta. Because her oncologist wanted treatment that could better address brain disease, she moved to Kadcyla every 3 weeks. As of June 2026, Renee was sharing life with metastatic breast cancer as a chronic illness, with stable scans reported in late 2019 and early 2020.