After living with metastatic breast cancer for 12 years, people are sometimes surprised when I say how lucky and grateful I am.

What they may not understand is that the average lifespan of someone with my cancer is three years.

What they probably don’t know is that since my diagnosis, I watched my son attend and graduate from both high school and college and then marry the love of his life. I married a wonderful man and am the proudest grandma of four wonderful grandchildren, all under four years of age. I’ve also been fortunate to have an amazing team of healthcare professionals and access to medications that have saved my life.

So, yes, I am lucky and I am grateful.

But I am also nervous because I know that one day — hopefully a long time from now — my luck will run out. When that time comes, I will be forced to face the reality that treatment is no longer an option, and the only choices I have remaining will be palliative care, and then eventually hospice. But it’s unclear how effective these will be, as my gallbladder was removed during my........

© The Leader