This MBC spotlight blog series aims to reduce the stigma of living with Stage 4. These blogs are meant to shed light on how those living with metastatic breast cancer find meaning and are intentional about creating legacy and hope despite the heavy reality of living with this diagnosis. This series illuminates how those with Stage 4 navigate through the darkness, are still here and living with new purpose.
A stage 4, or metastatic breast cancer (MBC) diagnosis can be scary and abrupt. Like a fire, it ravages through what’s in its path and leaves ash in its wake. You find yourself sitting amongst the damage, wondering ‘how am I going to move forward?’ But you don’t have to face it alone. That’s the silver lining, everything is stripped down to what really matters.
Lisa Mannina-Sulzer knows that all too well, and this is her story.
An MBC Diagnosis that Changed it All
Lisa was initially diagnosed with stage 1 invasive ductal carcinoma in January 2020. As a pilot, Lisa said, “My main focus was to get back to flying.”
At the time, Lisa’s wife was pregnant with their first son. After Lisa underwent a mastectomy, they moved on with their busy lives. “I went back to work. I had a series of promotions, and life was good. My wife and I both felt like we were finally where we could breathe and that’s what we had been working towards,” Lisa said.
They were unaware that in May of 2024, they’d be dealing with a reoccurrence.
The Reoccurrence
During a routine checkup that was required for her pilot’s license, Lisa’s doctor found a lump in the exact same spot where her cancer was initially found. After biopsy and imaging, she received the news that that her breast cancer had returned. “My wife was nine months pregnant at the time,” Lisa explained. “I got grounded from flying again. There was a lot of upheaval in our lives. I think I kind of turned inward and got really sad.” Nonetheless, Lisa saw a glimmer of hope, thinking that like last time, she would just go through treatment again and move on with her life.
Unfortunately, this breast cancer recurrence was more serious – Lisa had metastatic breast cancer (MBC). “We found out that it was in my bones. Even though I had breast cancer before, I didn’t know much about what ‘metastatic’ meant. And the second I heard ‘stage 4’, I was like, ‘oh my God, I’m dying!’” Lisa recalled.
This time, Lisa worried that the vision of a life she had planned might not happen. “I’m not going to get to watch my kids grow up and be their soccer coach or take pictures of their first high school dance and all these things,” she explained. “It was absolutely devastating.”
Although she could not fly, Lisa was able to do office work remotely for a year. “We realized I would never get my flying privileges back, and they needed somebody in that position that was able to fly, so, I lost my job,” Lisa said. “That was devastating, all over again.”
Lisa and her wife faced another significant dilemma that many people living with cancer endure, financial insecurity.
MBC not only threatened Lisa’s life and took away the career she loved, but it also left she and her wife, a part-time teacher at the time, struggling to make ends meet. “Life started getting even scarier. Suddenly, we were spiraling downward,” said Lisa.
Ultimately, Lisa and her wife were forced to pull their children from the only home they knew in Connecticut to move across the country to Louisianna, where the cost of living is more manageable and where they had family who could offer additional support. “It just goes to show you the lasting impact that this disease can have,” she said. “Just when you think you have stable ground under you for a minute, the rug gets pulled out again.”
Sincer her MBC diagnosis, Lisa has undergone another surgery, radiation treatment and oral chemotherapy. Unfortunately, the chemotherapy lowered her white blood cell count, so she had to stop that treatment. “Losing a line of treatment is never a good thing,” she said.
From Devastation to Action
Through it all, Lisa was able to turn her heartbreak into opportunity and action.
“I went through a period that lasted about 3-4 months where I just felt down. I was depressed and couldn’t get myself in gear,” said Lisa. “But at some point, I got tired of crying and realized that’s not what I wanted my kids to see of me, no matter how long I have left. I want them to know that I tried my best.”
Determined to make the most of her time with her children and stay engaged in her life, Lisa shifted her focus to what she can control. ” “What can I do that may give me a little more time or at least help me feel better I saw it as my last chance to change, fix and heal anything that was in my hands.”
Lisa started reading more to educate herself about things she could do on her own to improve her overall health. She changed her diet. She tried red light therapy, an infrared sauna blanket, acupuncture and meditation, all to complement the treatments she receives in the oncology clinic. “I think instead of just sitting there being sad and feeling hopeless, I feel like at least I’m doing something. It’s helping me be the healthiest that I can possibly be,” she said.
Lisa also joined Komen’s Metastatic Breast Cancer Steering Committee so she can be a voice for others living with this disease. ““Hopefully I will inspire others to pick themselves up and keep going,” said Lisa.
Additionally, being an active participant in the MBC community has given Lisa a safe place to connect with those that truly understand the dark reality of living with MBC. “I’ve found this community, in this unfortunate situation, where we can speak openly with each other. Nobody else really gets it unless you’ve had this diagnosis,” she said.
Moving Forward
Lisa’s MBC diagnosis changed the entire trajectory of her life. It forced her to confront her own mortality, shattered the career she built, created financial uncertainty and uprooted her family. But Lisa and her wife are forging a new path forward.
“My wife and I actually swapped roles and she is starting a full-time teaching position in August, and I will be a stay at home parent to our 2-year-od. If you would have asked me before May 2024, I never would have thought I would end up to be the stay at home parent. It has, and continues to be, a big adjustment for us all, but we are doing our best,” Lisa said. She has good days and bad days physically, mentally and emotionally. “I still get upset when I think about losing my career and all of the other things this diagnosis has taken from me and my family. But I try to keep moving forward in hopes of creating a life that I love again. I feel like everything in my life has been stripped away except for the people that love me.”
Lisa says that finding new purpose is an ongoing project and it can change and vary depending on where we are at in our lives. Since being grounded, she has written a memoir, something she always wanted to do but never had the time for. She has found ways to help others through using her voice and volunteering. She created Living Out Loud her substack that amplifies the voices of those living with MB and most recently, she has also started a small business, selling healthy foods at local farmer’s markets; she hopes to expand to a food truck soon.
For Lisa, remembering what she’s lost is also a reminder that none of that is important. “I’m not taking any of that with me. I have all these people that love me. And what I need to open my eyes to is who’s around me and who’s still here. That’s a beautiful thing — when we let people in,” she said.“There’s more light in our lives, and it can help us find a purpose. ]It’s what gives us a reason to get out of bed every day because hard days are going to happen. We don’t have all the time in the world, but we have today.”
