Lynn Calhoun, a long-time resident of Homewood, had a 34-year career as a school social worker at Churchill and Willow Schools before retiring in June 2019. Now she’s focused on sharing information on metastatic breast cancer (MBC).
Calhoun, one of the thousands who suffers from MBC, was one of two specially named ambassadors in Illinois for the #LightUpMBC event Oct. 13 designed to bring awareness to metastatic breast cancer, a form of cancer that travels to the liver, bones, lungs and brain. There is no cure, MBC patients are in treatment for the rest of their lives. It is estimated 115 people who die daily from MBC.
The Oct. 13 event, organized by METAvivor, a volunteer group raising awareness and funds for MBC research, put green, teal and pink spotlights on buildings in downtown Chicago and more than 100 landmarks throughout the United States, Canada and Ireland.
The event was live streamed and Calhoun had a short segment in which she discussed the need for more funding for MBC research. The event raised over $100,000 and Calhoun personally raised around $3,000 through donations from friends and family.
At 59, Calhoun is dedicated to her family – her husband, three children and three grandchildren – and to raising awareness and financial support for MBC.
“I have been living with an incurable disease, stage four metastatic breast cancer (MBC), for two and a half years,” she said. “I pray every day that I will live long enough to see my two unmarried children walk down the aisle and watch my grandchildren grow up. My husband, Jim, and I would like to travel a bit. I believe my ‘work’ on earth is not yet over.”
She is not a newcomer to the terrible world of cancer. When she was 47 years old, she was diagnosed with stage one breast cancer. With a bit of humor, she describes that time as “easy-peasy” compared to what she is dealing with now.
“I had a lumpectomy (breast tumor removed), six weeks of radiation and one prescribed medication I had to take for five years. I passed the five-year mark being cancer free, and was considered ‘cured.'”
Ten years later she felt a pain in her side for several days and sought medical attention.
“I went to an urgent care and had a CT scan. I was told that it was likely muscle pain,” she said.
Two months later she requested a copy of the test report and was surprised to find mention of swollen hilar lymph nodes.
“I immediately went to see my oncologist, who ordered a CT scan, PET scan, an MRI and a bone scan. The test results revealed the news no one ever wants to hear. Out of the blue, I was told I had metastatic breast cancer (MBC) in many of the bones in my body and that there was no cure, only treatments to slow the progression of the disease.”
She also learned that MBC mostly travels to the liver, bones, lungs and brain, causing MBC patients to be in treatment for the rest of their lives – with only 22 percent of U.S. MBC patients living longer than five years.
“I had no knowledge that breast cancer can spread this way, or that it can even return after so many years. I did not realize I had to worry about breast cancer reoccurring as stage four,” she said.
“I had clean mammograms every year and was not the least worried. I had no risk factors, nor any genetic predisposition for any cancer returning. I didn’t know (MBC) can happen to anyone—men, women and young women. But I plan on being one of the 22% that survives longer than five years,” she stressed.
“In the beginning of my MBC diagnosis I was not able to really talk about it to anyone. But as time passed and I learned more about it, I realized that people needed to know about the disease, not just mine, but they needed to become aware that it can happen to anyone!”
Her research revealed that an estimated 42,170 Americans will die from MBC in 2020, the equivalent of 115 women and men each day. This knowledge led Calhoun to start her “work” on earth to raise the awareness of MBC and its need for funding.
“So much attention is on the pink ribbon campaigns about breast cancer that the MBC patients feel invisible and forgotten in the campaigns,” she said. “And sadly, less than 5% of overall breast cancer research is currently allocated to researching metastatic breast cancer – the breast cancer that kills. If you want to find a cure, you need to cure Stage 4!
“Maybe I am here so I can help educate and raise awareness of this disease,” she said
Calhoun maintains a positive attitude and says that she does not put anything off. She and her husband fulfilled one of her desires to travel just before the COVID-19 shutdown.
“We took our entire family to Hawaii and had a wonderful time. We came home and decided to remodel our kitchen. If I want to do something, I do it. Why delay doing something I want to do?
“And I want to do all I can to make people aware that MBC does not discriminate. It does not matter how much money you have, the color of your skin, how old you are, how much your family needs you…it can happen to anyone, out of the blue.”
To learn more about metastatic breast cancer and the research and fundraising efforts for MBC, visit www.metavivor.org.