As an award-winning television host, Meredith Vieira has used her voice throughout her career to tell stories and amplify the voices of others.
The story she tells now is a personal one – her grandmother’s battle with metastatic breast cancer (mBC). Metastatic breast cancer, also known as stage 4 breast cancer, is breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body.1 It’s the most advanced stage of the disease for which there is no cure.2
When someone is diagnosed with mBC, they often feel a sense of paralysis – not knowing what to do, which questions to ask or what treatment options are available to them. At the time of her grandmother’s diagnosis, Vieira was in college and remembers that her grandmother felt afraid to speak up.??
“I didn't understand what my grandmother was going through because she didn't talk about it. And I don't think she talked to her doctors either,” said Vieira. “She didn't know what questions to ask, and back then you really didn't ask a lot of questions. But I did know that she was very scared and overwhelmed.”
It is in her grandmother’s memory that Vieira has joined forces with Pfizer and the mBC community to launch Find Your MBC Voice.This initiative is helping to empower women and men living with mBC to take an active role in making a shared decision with their doctor about their treatment plan.
Find Your MBC Voice offers an interactive Treatment Discussion Guideto aid people living with mBC and their caregivers to have informed conversations with their doctors.
“I know how fear of the unknown can dictate the decisions we make. But if you’re too afraid to speak up and ask questions, you might not get the answers you need to make informed decisions about your treatment plan,” said, Vieira. “That’s why I’m so proud to be a part of Find Your MBC Voice, so I can help those facing a metastatic breast cancer diagnosis feel empowered to advocate for their health.”
If you or someone you love is living with mBC, we encourage you to visit FindYourMBCVoice.com to seek out information and resources.
Photo: Award-winning television host, Meredith Vieira (right), pictured with Teri Pollastro (left), who has been living with metastatic breast cancer since 2003.
1 American Cancer Society. Treatment of Breast Cancer by Stage. Available at: https://www.cancer.org/cancer/breast-cancer/treatment/treatment-of-breast-cancer-by-stage.html. Accessed June 2020.
2 American Cancer Society. Treatment of Stage IV (Metastatic) Breast Cancer. Available at: https://www.cancer.org/cancer/breast-cancer/treatment/treatment-of-breast-cancer-by-stage/treatment-of-stage-iv-advanced-breast-cancer.html. Accessed June 2020.
