What happened, in summary

Lianne Kraemer was 37 when a small painful area in her left breast led to imaging and a biopsy in late 2013. She was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer involving lymph nodes. In 2014, she underwent a double mastectomy, chemotherapy, reconstruction, and radiation. In June 2016, a sudden tingling sensation on the right side of her face prompted a brain scan that found 12 metastases. Rather than start the whole-brain radiation that had initially been recommended, Lianne joined a clinical trial of the targeted drug abemaciclib. The treatment contained the brain disease for a time, but she left the study in early 2017 when the metastases began to grow. Her Dana-Farber team then helped her move through several additional clinical trials as treatment needs changed. Six years after the brain metastases were first found, Lianne was still traveling from Chicago to Boston every 8 weeks for scans and treatment decisions. She also became an advocate for others with breast cancer brain metastases, helping patients find information, specialists, and clinical trials.