Morgan Stanley Baltimore #LightUpMBC Walk to Benefit METAvivor

In Memory of Jane Holbrook

Written by Kim Fletcher: My mom, Jane Holbrook, passed away from metastatic breast cancer at age 59. Her fight with breast cancer began in her mid to late 40s while my sisters and I were still in various stages of school. After undergoing surgery and several successful treatments, she enjoyed 9 years of remission with the help of some maintenance drugs and consistent monitoring. After this period, when symptoms of metastasis presented themselves and cancer spread throughout her body, she continued fighting (often a silent fight) for about 3 years while continuing to work full time and raising us into early adulthood.

Her doctor proudly referred to my mom as his longest living patient until treatment options became ineffective. In this time, she stressed the importance of early detection and advancing technology to make sure that we, as her daughters, would be on top of our own future health. She learned to advocate for herself with various doctors and made sure we understood some of the harder decisions she had to make.

While my mom came to terms with her own mortality throughout her journey, what often gave her hope and strength to keep fighting was striving to be present for personal landmarks and family events. She centered her life around our family, including my dad and 2 sisters. Birthdays and holidays mattered and were important celebrations. She did not want to be remembered for her cancer or final days, but for the life she lived in between her fight. She found time to record family history through genealogy research, helped her aging parents with various tasks, and highly valued her family relationships. She left lasting memories for us, often remembering her fondly for her quirky sense of humor and contagious laughter.

Over a decade-plus later (she passed Oct 2010), thanks to continued research efforts, there are more treatment options available. However, the average life expectancy upon diagnosis still remains 2-3 years. I support Metavivor through #LightUpMBC because their fundraising goals solely support research to improve the outcome of metastatic breast cancer, which is the only kind of breast cancer considered terminal. More funding for research provides more hope for metastatic breast cancer patients to enjoy a better quality of life and have more time with their loved ones.

Fundraising is by no means required, but we wanted to offer as an option for those would like to participate in raising money to find a cure. When you register for the race, please pick to fundraise alone or become part of a team. You can customize your page and share the direct link to your personal page.