I'm Still Here: Real Conversations About Living with Metastatic Breast Cancer

Tammy Eagle Bowling was 41, healthy, and diagnosed out of nowhere after a routine mammogram caught what blood work and a clean physical missed. She'd never even heard the word metastatic before a scan of her liver changed her diagnosis and her life in one phone call. Eleven years later, she's still here, raising her daughters, and channeling everything she's learned into Light Up MBC, the campaign she now runs that lights up landmarks around the world every October 13th in pink, teal, and green.

In this conversation, Tammy walks us through her diagnosis story, the drug she started on when it was brand new to the market, and how she turned her own advocacy into a global campaign that's raised over $2.7 million for metastatic breast cancer research through MetaVIVOR. We talk about why so little research funding goes to stage four disease, what it's like watching landmarks from the Philippines to Aruba light up in solidarity, and how she developed the EAGLE method to help herself and others build resilience.

Follow Tammy: @eaglemethod

Light Up MBC
Watch live on October 13th, find a landmark near you, or start a team:
https://lightupmbc.org
https://lightupmbc.metaviver.org
Follow the campaign: @lightupmbc

Heather was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer at 26 and has now been living with the disease for more than 25 years. Through this podcast she shares perspective, lived experience, and conversations that help people navigate life with metastatic cancer.

Join the There's No Cancer In This Book Club:
https://www.patreon.com/cw/TheresNoCancerInThisBookClub

Digital Guides
https://shop.heatherjose.com/all-guides/

Support the Podcast
If this podcast has helped you, consider supporting it here — every bit is appreciated:
https://ko-fi.com/heatherjose

Sensational Survivor Series
If you have been living with metastatic breast cancer for 10 years or more and would like to share your story on the podcast, you can apply here:
https://forms.gle/6H9K7NXMAeN1QEv87

Listener Questions
Have a question you'd like answered in a future episode? Submit it through the contact form:
https://heatherjose.com

Connect with Heather
Instagram: https://instagram.com/heatherbjose
Website: https://heatherjose.com

Music
Intro and outro music for the podcast was created by Heather's son, Ty. You can find his music here:
Instagram: https://instagram.com/tyjosee

Heather's solo this week, getting ahead of Breast Cancer Awareness Month before the pink shows up everywhere. This one's less a tidy takeaway and more her thinking out loud — the complicated feelings that come with October, not quite fitting the story the marketing tells, feeling overlooked as a longtime survivor because her experience doesn't look "sick" or "young" anymore, and the strange kind of ageism that comes with living this long. She sits with something a lot of people carry quietly: the pressure to be grateful and invisible at the same time, and whether your worth is tied to what you achieve or just to being here. No neat answers, just an honest place to start.

Heather also introduces a new project she's building with her friend Melissa: There's No Cancer In This Book Club, a virtual book club for readers affected by cancer who just want a good book without a cancer storyline. Details on tiers, pricing, and how to join are in the episode.

Heather was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer at 26 and has now been living with the disease for more than 25 years. Through this podcast she shares perspective, lived experience, and conversations that help people navigate life with metastatic cancer.

Join the There's No Cancer In This Book Club:
https://www.patreon.com/cw/TheresNoCancerInThisBookClub

Digital Guides
https://shop.heatherjose.com/all-guides/

Support the Podcast
If this episode has been helpful, you can support the podcast here:
https://ko-fi.com/heatherjose

Sensational Survivor Series
If you have been living with metastatic breast cancer for 10 years or more and would like to share your story on the podcast, you can apply here:
https://forms.gle/6H9K7NXMAeN1QEv87

Listener Questions
Have a question you'd like answered in a future episode? Submit it through the contact form:
https://heatherjose.com

Connect with Heather
Instagram: https://instagram.com/heatherbjose
Website: https://heatherjose.com

Music
Intro and outro music for the podcast was created by Heather's son, Ty. You can find his music here:
Instagram: https://instagram.com/tyjosee

This week I'm joined by Dr. Eleonora Teplinsky, a medical oncologist specializing in breast and gynecologic cancers, for a conversation about what actually helps people live well with metastatic disease, not just longer. We talk about the shift toward quality of life conversations in oncology, why it took so long to get here, and what it really takes to build a care team that listens. Dr. Teplinsky also opens up about her new book, Beyond the Pink: Navigating Life, Health, and Breast Cancer, out at the end of September, and why she wanted to write something that goes beyond treatment into the parts of this experience we rarely get time to talk about in a clinic visit.

We also get into the practical stuff. How to make the most of a short appointment, navigating the maze of specialists and ancillary care, the realities of insurance pushback on imaging, and what's actually changing in the metastatic treatment landscape right now. If you've ever left an oncology appointment with more questions than answers, this one is for you.

Heather was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer at 26 and has now been living with the disease for more than 25 years. Through this podcast she shares perspective, lived experience, and conversations that help people navigate life with metastatic cancer.

Book Club
Join the There's No Cancer In This Book Club:
https://theresnocancerinthisbookclub.com

Sensational Survivor Series
If you have been living with metastatic breast cancer for 10 years or more and would like to share your story on the podcast, you can apply here:
https://forms.gle/6H9K7NXMAeN1QEv87

Digital Guides
https://shop.heatherjose.com/all-guides/

Listener Questions
Have a question you'd like answered in a future episode? Submit it through the contact form:
https://heatherjose.com

Connect with Heather
Instagram: https://instagram.com/heatherbjose
Website: https://heatherjose.com

Music
Intro and outro music for the podcast was created by Heather's son, Ty. You can find his music here:
Instagram: https://instagram.com/tyjosee

Heather and Larry are back after a summer break, and they're kicking off the new season with a little reflection. After 275 episodes, Heather opens up about why the podcast started in the first place — those late-night questions from friends, family, and strangers about what she's actually done to live with metastatic breast cancer for over 27 years — and how it grew from there. She talks honestly about not having a single formula, about ditching food guilt while still trying to take care of her body, and about the mindset work she believes matters more than anything else in this fight.

Looking ahead, Heather shares what's coming this fall: an episode with Dr. Teplinsky around the release of her book Beyond the Pink, and the launch of "There's No Cancer In This Book Club" — a project with her friend Melissa built around vetted, cancer-line-free reads for anyone who just wants a good book without the ambush. She's also opening the floor for listener questions and topics for future episodes.

Heather was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer at 26 and has now been living with the disease for more than 25 years. Through this podcast she shares perspective, lived experience, and conversations that help people navigate life with metastatic cancer.

Sensational Survivor Series
If you have been living with metastatic breast cancer for 10 years or more and would like to share your story on the podcast, you can apply here:
https://forms.gle/6H9K7NXMAeN1QEv87

Digital Guides
https://shop.heatherjose.com/all-guides/

Support the Podcast
If this podcast has been helpful to you, consider supporting it with a donation on Ko-fi. Every bit helps us keep bringing you these conversations:
https://ko-fi.com/heatherjose

Listener Questions
Have a question you'd like answered in a future episode? Submit it through the contact form:
https://heatherjose.com

Connect with Heather
Instagram: https://instagram.com/heatherbjose
Website: https://heatherjose.com

Music
Intro and outro music for the podcast was created by Heather's son, Ty. You can find his music here:
Instagram: https://instagram.com/tyjosee

Gillian Burles was 39 years old when her breast cancer metastasized to her spine — so severely that her T10 vertebra had to be replaced with a titanium alloy cage. She was living in the Northwest Territories, 1,500 kilometers from the nearest major cancer center, with two young children at home. Her oncologist gave her 18 to 24 months.

That was 20 years ago.

In this conversation, Gillian talks about what it actually looked like to rebuild her life after that diagnosis — returning to work, raising her kids, completing the Camino de Santiago with her husband, and managing HER2+ metastatic breast cancer from a small city in Northern Canada. She also shares the mantra that has stayed with her since the beginning: averages are the abstraction, variation is the reality. If you're newly diagnosed and struggling to see past the statistics, this one is worth your time.

Heather was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer at 26 and has now been living with the disease for more than 25 years. Through this podcast she shares perspective, lived experience, and conversations that help people navigate life with metastatic cancer.

Sensational Survivor Series
If you have been living with metastatic breast cancer for 10 years or more and would like to share your story on the podcast, you can apply here:
https://forms.gle/6H9K7NXMAeN1QEv87

Digital Guides
https://shop.heatherjose.com/all-guides/

Listener Questions
Have a question you'd like answered in a future episode? Submit it through the contact form:
https://heatherjose.com

Connect with Heather
Instagram: https://instagram.com/heatherbjose
Website: https://heatherjose.com

Music
Intro and outro music for the podcast was created by Heather's son, Ty. You can find his music here:
Instagram: https://instagram.com/tyjosee

Heather and Larry are back together, and they're catching up on a full couple of weeks. First up: Larry's first time volunteering at a Little Pink Houses of Hope retreat on the Outer Banks — what he expected, what surprised him, and why he's already ready to go back. From the families powering through the week despite treatment to the moment a 10-year-old said it was just nice to see other people in her shoes, this one is a good reminder of why this work matters.

Then Heather and Larry talk about their daughter's upcoming wedding — what it means to be here for it, why it doesn't feel arrogant anymore to talk about these milestones, and why being on the dance floor is the whole plan for the night. A honest, warm episode about the moments that make the hard stuff worth showing up for.

Heather was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer at 26 and has now been living with the disease for more than 25 years. Through this podcast she shares perspective, lived experience, and conversations that help people navigate life with metastatic cancer.

Sensational Survivor SeriesIf you have been living with metastatic breast cancer for 10 years or more and would like to share your story on the podcast, you can apply here:https://forms.gle/6H9K7NXMAeN1QEv87

Digital Guideshttps://shop.heatherjose.com/all-guides/

Listener QuestionsHave a question you'd like answered in a future episode? Submit it through the contact form:https://heatherjose.com

Connect with HeatherInstagram: https://instagram.com/heatherbjoseWebsite: https://heatherjose.com

MusicIntro and outro music for the podcast was created by Heather's son, Ty. You can find his music here:Instagram: https://instagram.com/tyjosee

What do we actually want when we go into a scan? When we make the hard choices about treatment and energy and how we spend ourselves? We want a Tuesday. An ordinary, unremarkable, nothing-special day when we feel fine, go to work, eat dinner, and nothing interrupts it.

In this episode Heather talks about why the Tuesday is the whole thing — not the milestones, not the moments that take your breath away, but the ordinary days stacked one on top of the other where life actually happens. She talks about what MBC gives you in terms of perspective, how to put the fear down long enough to actually be in the day, and how to hold the grief for the life you thought you would have alongside the life you actually have.

This one is a reminder as much as it is an episode. Look up.

Heather was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer at 26 and has now been living with the disease for more than 25 years. Through this podcast she shares perspective, lived experience, and conversations that help people navigate life with metastatic cancer.

Sensational Survivor Series — apply at: https://forms.gle/6H9K7NXMAeN1QEv87

Digital Guides — https://shop.heatherjose.com/all-guides/

Listener Questions — submit at: https://heatherjose.com

Connect with Heather:Instagram: https://instagram.com/heatherbjoseWebsite: https://heatherjose.com

Intro/outro music by Heather's son Ty — Instagram: https://instagram.com/tyjosee

You had questions. Heather answered them. In this episode, Heather pulls from questions submitted on Instagram to talk about where her mets were, the treatments she's been on since her 1998 diagnosis, how she manages anxiety and scansiety, why she can't attribute her 27 years of living with MBC to any one thing, and what the first year of a metastatic diagnosis actually feels like from the inside. She also talks about the Block Center, curating your social media feed when you're newly diagnosed, and how to counter the what-ifs before a scan result lands in your portal.

Honest, personal, and covers a lot of ground — this is one to share with someone who is newly diagnosed or just has questions they haven't known how to ask.

Heather was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer at 26 and has now been living with the disease for more than 25 years. Through this podcast she shares perspective, lived experience, and conversations that help people navigate life with metastatic cancer.

Sensational Survivor Series — apply at: https://forms.gle/6H9K7NXMAeN1QEv87

Digital Guides — https://shop.heatherjose.com/all-guides/

Listener Questions — submit at: https://heatherjose.com

Connect with Heather:Instagram: https://instagram.com/heatherbjoseWebsite: https://heatherjose.com

Intro/outro music by Heather's son Ty — Instagram: https://instagram.com/tyjosee

Scan results don't always come back clean. After 28 years living with metastatic breast cancer, Heather has learned that "okay" doesn't always mean "clear" — and that learning to trust the process when the report isn't black and white is its own kind of work.

In this episode, Heather and Larry talk through her most recent PET scan and oncology appointment — including what it feels like to hold uncertainty during a weekend full of life, why the clockwork back pain before every scan never fully goes away, and what it means to be an enigma at 28 years with no real data to compare to.

They also get into the bigger picture: what whole-person cancer care actually looks like, why the relationship with your oncologist matters more than most people talk about, and what it's like navigating a stack of appointments — sleep studies, cardiology, titration — all while just trying to live your life.

If you've ever read a scan report and felt more confused than reassured, or wondered if the fear ever really goes away — this one's for you.

Heather was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer at 26 and has now been living with the disease for more than 25 years. Through this podcast she shares perspective, lived experience, and conversations that help people navigate life with metastatic cancer.

Sensational Survivor SeriesIf you have been living with metastatic breast cancer for 10 years or more and would like to share your story on the podcast, you can apply here:https://forms.gle/6H9K7NXMAeN1QEv87

Listener QuestionsHave a question you'd like answered in a future episode? Submit it through the contact form:https://heatherjose.com

Connect with HeatherInstagram: https://instagram.com/heatherbjoseWebsite: https://heatherjose.com

Music intro and outro music for the podcast was created by Heather's son, Ty. You can find his music here:Instagram: https://instagram.com/tyjosee

If you've ever felt like your body is always bracing for the next thing — you're not imagining it.

In this solo episode, Heather explores what happens to your nervous system when you've been living with metastatic breast cancer for years. Drawing on her background as an occupational therapist and her own 27 years with MBC, she talks about what dysregulation actually looks like — not just emotionally, but physically. The fatigue. The weight that won't budge. The exhaustion that sleep doesn't fix. The snap. The scan cycle that your body remembers even when the results are good.

This isn't an episode about fixing it. It's about naming it — because your nervous system isn't failing you. It's just been on duty for a really long time.

Heather was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer at 26 and has now been living with the disease for more than 25 years. Through this podcast she shares perspective, lived experience, and conversations that help people navigate life with metastatic cancer.

Sensational Survivor SeriesIf you have been living with metastatic breast cancer for 10 years or more and would like to share your story on the podcast, you can apply here:⁠https://forms.gle/6H9K7NXMAeN1QEv87⁠

Listener QuestionsHave a question you'd like answered in a future episode? Submit it through the contact form:⁠https://heatherjose.com⁠

Connect with HeatherInstagram: ⁠https://instagram.com/heatherbjose⁠Website: ⁠https://heatherjose.com⁠

MusicIntro and outro music for the podcast was created by Heather's son, Ty. You can find his music here:Instagram: ⁠https://instagram.com/tyjosee⁠