Sandy Cassanelli of Glastonbury shares with us her story of battling cancer. She was diagnosed with breast cancer 10 years ago. Her long battle has led her to become a fierce advocate for research. She formed the Breast Friends Fund, which has raised nearly $900,000, with100 percent of donations going to cancer research.
"I have had the honor of knowing Sandy for the past 7 years and serving as her oncologist," says Dr. Eric Winer, Sandy's oncologist. "She is a truly incredible human being – compassionate, curious, generous, smart, and funny. And Sandy is totally committed to breast cancer research in her words and her actions. She is a patient, a friend, and a partner in the fight against breast cancer."
I was diagnosed with stage III Breast Cancer at age 37, before I was even eligible for a mammogram. I found the lump myself. My daughters were in elementary school at the time.
I had a bilateral mastectomy, eight rounds of chemotherapy, and 28 days of radiation. After, I was declared cancer free!
Two years later I had bone pain under my breast and a scan showed my breast cancer had spread to my liver. One month before turning 40 I learned I had Stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC). No Cure! I would be in treatment for the rest of my life!
MBC is when breast cancer spreads from to another place in your body, usually your bones, lungs, liver or brain. I was scared to death. Would I see any more birthdays? My girls were so young. What would happen to them if I died?
My husband Craig and I knew we needed the best care possible so after advice and help from a dear friend, we were off to Dana Farber Cancer Institute to see Dr. Eric Winer, the Thompson Chair in Breast Cancer Research, chief clinical development officer, and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. He's the best oncologist in the world at treating MBC.
Dr. Winer told us that while my cancer had spread very fast he still had many tools in his toolbox to treat me.
Our family has always raised money for breast cancer as it has affected so many in our lives and now we desperately needed a cure.
We started to do our homework as to what organizations gave the most to research for the cure. We were shocked that most organizations give just 7-10 percent to research.
We also found that Dr. Winer was the top researcher for most of these organizations so we went to him and asked if we could start our own fund and give him all the money.
In 2016 our family founded the Breast Friends Fund, which donates 100 percent of the money it raises to Metastatic Breast Cancer research under the direction of Dr. Eric Winer.
This is something our family runs part-time as we have full-time jobs and our girls have school full-time, as well as jobs.
As of this year, Breast Friends Fund has raised over $890,000.
Dr. Winer has moved his cancer research work from Dana Farber to Yale Cancer Center. He currently serves as the director of the Yale Cancer Center’s Physician-in-Chief at Smilow Cancer Hospital.
I have also transferred my care and Breast Friends Fund to Yale with him.
Living with MBC is not easy. It brings many physical and mental challenges. Up until recently, I spent the following year and a half going from one failed treatment to another.
I am currently on my 11th line of treatment since my diagnosis in 2015. It is a Phase 1 clinical trial of weekly intravenous chemotherapy at Yale Cancer Center.
We found out last month that for the first time in a year and a half this treatment is working!
Having stage IV metastatic breast cancer has taught me to TRULY enjoy every day of my life. It has brought our family so close. We spend as much time together as we can, creating lots of amazing memories together.
The four of us love spending time together. I am very blessed to be married to my husband and best friend Craig for almost 23 years. I am blessed to be the mom of two amazing girls. Samantha is a junior at the University of Hartford and Amanda is a junior at Glastonbury High School.
It has also increased my faith in God. I have always been religious but having this disease and not knowing what the future holds has taught me how to surrender my illness and have greater faith in God.
How To Give:
Breastfriendsfund.org
For more information:
Ynhh.org/smilow