Michelle Maloney’s Story

How are you feeling now?

Michelle Maloney is still choosing hope.

Since September 2024, Michelle has averaged about three months per treatment plan. That has been one of the hardest adjustments in this phase of living with metastatic breast cancer.

As soon as she finds a rhythm, it is scan time again.

And too often, the scans have shown progression.

“That’s been hard to pivot from each time,” Michelle says.

Michelle always begins each treatment plan with optimism. She wants to believe this will be the one that works. But over the past year, that has not always been the case.

She has gone through multiple clinical trials, changed care teams, dealt with severe side effects, and then returned to her original team when scans showed progression again.

Most recently, her cancer progressed from her lungs into her liver.

That felt scary.

Until then, while there had been progression, it had remained contained within her lungs. Seeing it move to another location made Michelle nervous, as anyone would be.

Now, she is back on Taxol, a chemotherapy that was also her second line of treatment 16 years ago.

“I was so nervous,” Michelle says. “We’re back to Taxol because it’s kind of where I started.”

 

What is giving you hope right now?

Michelle is four infusions into her current treatment.

She is on a schedule of two weeks on and one week off. Already, her blood work has shown encouraging signs. Her tumor marker has improved dramatically, returning to where it was several months ago. Her liver enzymes have also dropped significantly.

Michelle knows that bloodwork alone does not tell the whole story. But for now, it feels like an early sign that treatment may be working.

“That made me feel super hopeful,” she says.

Her team also walked through the list of treatment options still available to her. That conversation helped Michelle breathe again.

Before meeting with them, she had seen the results and felt nervous sitting at home, trying to interpret them by herself.

After talking with her team, she felt steadier.

“Oh, okay,” she remembers thinking. “We’re good.”

That is often how it goes for Michelle. The waiting and wondering can feel overwhelming. But once she has information, a plan, and her team around her, she is able to move forward.

 

Why are you returning to Runway this year?

Michelle wanted to walk again last year, but she had a scheduling conflict with the Gloria Gemma Flames of Hope event in Rhode Island. She was part of their She Rose program, which was a supportive and meaningful experience.

Still, she missed Runway.

When she saw that this year was Runway for Recovery’s 20th Anniversary Show, she knew she wanted to return.

“I’d love to throw my hat in the ring and see if I could do it again,” she says.

This year, Michelle decided to be all in with Runway.

“It’s been such a huge support to me through my journey,” she says.

For Michelle, returning to the stage is about celebrating that she is still here.

She was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in March 2022. She is now on her eighth line of treatment. And yet, she continues to live, work part time, spend time with her family, and find joy where she can.

“I’m still here,” Michelle says. “I’m still living and thriving.”

What will you be celebrating on the Runway stage?

This year, Michelle will celebrate being alive.

She will celebrate the fact that there are still treatment options available. She will celebrate the support of the Runway community. She will celebrate the life she is still living, even in the middle of treatment.

This is also the first time Michelle has lost her hair since her diagnosis in March 2022. She had expected hair loss to happen right away, but it did not until now.

Even that has become part of the story she is bringing to the stage.

She is walking as someone actively navigating treatment, uncertainty, hope, and change.

And she is walking with gratitude.

“I get to be part of the excitement and the support that I know Runway is,” she says.

We can't wait to cheer her on in October!