Beth Caldwell was dying.

The 41-year-old former civil rights attorney and mother of two was dying the way she had been living since being diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer 3½  years ago ­— out loud on Twitter and her blog. Determined that the rest of us pay attention to how urgently we need a cure for metastatic disease, she was dying with a candor that encompassed grit, grief, swearing, humor and a huge, huge heart.

Caldwell first put her own feelings into action by writing about them and, in doing so, became a voice for the fear, sadness, anger — and resolve — of others with metastatic breast cancer.

Here is one measure of Caldwell’s impact. When it became clear that every grueling treatment she had taken to stay alive as long as possible for The Hubs, The Boy, The Girl, the friends, the community, was no longer working, the cancer warrior wrote that she had started hospice care. And, via Twitter, she lamented that she would probably die before eggnog latte season began.

 

Read the full article by Mary Engel about Metastatic Breast Cancer from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center