Liz Mover’s Story

How has breast cancer affected your life?

Liz Mover was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2018 at age 34.

As an ICU nurse, Liz was familiar with the weight of devastating medical diagnoses. She had cared for families in some of their hardest moments. But she never expected to be the patient.

After finding a lump in her breast and experiencing arm pain, Liz had a mammogram, ultrasound, and biopsy. When she read over the biopsy report herself, she knew what it meant.

She had breast cancer.

From there, everything moved quickly.

“It was a total whirlwind,” Liz shared in 2021.

Suddenly, her life was filled with genetic counselors, oncologists, surgeons, a double mastectomy, port placement, and chemotherapy.

“It felt like time had froze,” Liz said, “but in reality it was still very much moving.”

What was it like to go through treatment as a mother?

While Liz was focused on making a treatment plan, life at home kept moving too.

She still had to figure out how to talk to her two boys about why she would be losing her hair and feeling sick. At the time, her sons were young, and Liz wanted desperately to protect their routines and keep their lives as steady as possible.

That part felt overwhelming.

Liz turned to Mass General Hospital’s PACT program, Parenting During a Challenging Time, which helps parents navigate serious illness with their children. As an ICU nurse, Liz had referred many families to PACT before. But when she was the one going through treatment, it took a coworker reminding her about the resource for Liz to use it herself.

“It was the best thing I ever did,” Liz said.

PACT helped Liz connect with her children in an age-appropriate way and gave her the language to talk about something no parent ever wants to explain.

 

How did your community show up for you?

As a nurse, Liz was used to being the caretaker.

She was used to caring for patients, friends, and family. Being the person who needed help was much harder.

But her community showed up.

Her husband changed his entire work schedule so he could work full time while also being home when Liz felt sick. Her mother came every weekend to help with the boys. Friends organized meals, sent flowers, picked up her sons, and made sure they still got to the activities and play dates that made their lives feel normal.

“What was just a play date for my boys was actually my friends stepping up to take care of them,” Liz said.

For Liz, those gestures mattered deeply. They helped keep her children’s world steady while everything else felt uncertain.

 

What has survivorship looked like since then?

Since her diagnosis, Liz has had three more reconstructive surgeries and later had her ovaries removed after cysts developed due to medication.

The experience changed how she thinks about her health.

Liz has become more conscious of prioritizing herself instead of always putting others first. She tries to focus on what she can control, including how she eats, how she exercises, and how she listens to her body.

But cancer also left fear behind.

“Any ache and pain, I now jump to the doctor where I never would before,” Liz shared in 2021. “You have a fear that you had cancer once, you could have it again.”

That fear is part of survivorship too. It does not erase the gratitude, but it lives alongside it.

 

What advice would you give someone newly diagnosed?

Liz keeps her advice simple.

“Take a deep breath, don’t panic, and DON’T GOOGLE.”

She also encourages people to ask for help. 

That lesson did not come easily to Liz. As a nurse and caretaker, accepting help was uncomfortable at first. But looking back, she knows how much it mattered.

Her family needed support. Her children needed steadiness. And Liz needed people willing to step in, even when she did not know exactly how to ask.

And as she has learned to ask for help, Liz now actively gives it. As part of the first model mentoring program, she looks out for others in the same way she has been looked after.

This year, we are celebrating Liz’s return to the Runway stage as a reminder that no one should have to go through breast cancer alone.