Running for Lauren Strong and METAvivor

The Cause: Please consider donating to "Running for Lauren Strong + METAvivor". Lauren is my sister, a 28 year old battling stage 4 breast cancer. All proceeds will be split 50/50 between assisting with Lauren's never-ending treatment costs and METAvivor's scientific research-funding grants for stage IV breast cancer. Any and all donations are greatly appreciated; if you would prefer your donation goes to either Lauren’s treatment costs or METAvivor, please message me along with your donation and I will ensure your donation is used as intended!

For more information about this fundraiser, please continue reading below. Additionally, please consider checking out Lauren's blog at Laurens-Healing-Hope.com. Thank you in advance to all supporters of Lauren and Nolan, our family, and other Stage 4 breast cancer Metavivors around the world.

The Story: As many of you know, my sister Lauren was diagnosed with breast cancer in December of 2020. At the age of just 26 years old, this came as a huge shock for Lauren and our family. Lauren lived a healthy and active lifestyle with no history of breast cancer in the family. Shocked, disheartened, sad, frustrated, and confused can describe some of the emotions felt by our family. Yet, we had heard and seen so many stories of strong women overcoming breast cancer and going on to live full and healthy lives, giving us an optimistic perspective.

However, shortly after Lauren's initial diagnosis, she began receiving treatment at the University of Michigan, and things took a turn for the worse. We learned that Lauren's breast cancer had spread, or metastasized, to her lymph nodes and liver. This categorized Lauren's breast cancer as Stage 4, or metastatic breast cancer -- considered to be an incurable, terminal disease. Before this diagnosis, our family had commonly believed that breast cancer was a survivable disease, but Lauren’s situation highlighted the fact that over 40,000 men and women annually lose their battle with breast cancer, ultimately because of a Stage 4 breast cancer diagnosis.

Currently, Lauren is undergoing a wide array of treatments in an attempt to stabilize and kill the cancer, and to maintain the highest quality of life possible. Living life to its fullest with her diagnosis for over 1.5 years, Lauren is truly a "metavivor", or a metastatic breast cancer thriver. She continually amazes her family, friends, and beyond every day with her strength, resilience, compassion, and joy that surpasses common understanding. She demonstrates this by attacking her perpetual treatment with positivity and a can-do mentality and by being extremely active in her friend and church community. Lauren also writes a blog titled "Lauren's Healing Hope" (laurens-healing-hope.com) which focuses on providing healing hope to those going through similar battles and educating thousands of readers about the widely misunderstood diagnosis of Stage 4 breast cancer. All of this is made possible by Lauren's unwavering faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Running for Lauren Strong + METAvivor: our family, Lauren's husband, Nolan, and a large community of extended family and friends have attempted to stand in solidarity with Lauren throughout her struggle. At the beginning of her I.V. chemotherapy treatment, for example, all of the men in the family shaved our heads to support Lauren's inevitable and dreaded hair loss.

Now, Lauren's husband Nolan, his brother Grant, and I will be running the Ann Arbor Half Marathon on October 2nd to raise awareness for breast cancer month, as well as raise money for both Lauren's treatment and the METAvivor foundation. As former football and basketball athletes none of us ever thought of running more than a mile or two. Yet, we wanted to find a challenge to stand with Lauren and show our solidarity by pushing ourselves physically and mentally on a daily basis -- and we can all say the training has been much harder than anticipated! However, we acknowledge that this challenge pales in comparison to what Lauren and over 40,000 metavivors across the USA battle every single day. In short, we love Lauren beyond words and can't begin to even show it.

Why METAvivor? Because we believe in the mission. METAvivor has four missions: 1) Award research grants for metastatic breast cancer; 2) support persons with metastatic breast cancer 3) provide education for those living or supporting someone with a MBC diagnosis and 4) promote awareness of metastatic breast cancer. METAvivor's overarching goal is "to transition metastatic breast cancer from a terminal diagnosis to a chronic, manageable disease with a decent quality of life". It was also the first organization established that was devoted to stage 4 breast cancer research and support.

Thank you for reading -- even if you are unable to donate, my hope is that this brief message educates you about metastatic breast cancer and allows you to provide compassion and hope to others fighting various types of cancer in your families and communities.