What happened, in summary

Erin first noticed an ache near her left breast and armpit, then later saw dimpling in the skin. A mammogram was clear, but she pointed the ultrasound team to the exact area, and a biopsy led to breast cancer care. Surgery found that what had looked like a 9 mm tumor was actually 2.3 cm, with 1 involved lymph node, changing the diagnosis to Stage IIB triple-negative breast cancer. She then received AC-T chemotherapy: Adriamycin, known as the Red Devil, plus cyclophosphamide every 2 weeks for 4 treatments, followed by weekly Taxol for 12 weeks with carboplatin every 3 weeks. Radiation included 33 sessions, with 28 sessions to the breast/chest area and 5 boost sessions. After treatment, Erin had no evidence of disease and did not need hormone therapy because the cancer was triple-negative. About 3 years later, she felt sick and a workup showed the breast cancer had returned, including disease in the lung. A lung tumor was surgically removed, but a daily androgen-blocking pill did not control the disease, and brain metastases were later found. Brain radiation was followed by Gemzar plus carboplatin every 2 weeks. As of June 2026, her tumors had shrunk on that ongoing treatment.