Posts by Olivia Achtmeyer Boger
Valerie’s Story
Valerie David’s story is one of extraordinary resilience, purpose, and unwavering hope.
Valerie is a 27-year cancer survivor who has faced multiple diagnoses across her lifetime—from Stage III Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma to Stage II breast cancer, and now living with Stage IV metastatic breast cancer with bone metastases. “Breast cancer has shaped who I am today by inspiring me to help others through the performing arts,” she shares. For the past eight years, she has been living with metastatic disease, continuing to defy expectations and rewrite what survivorship can look like.
Read MoreJLynn’s Story
JLynn McCarthy’s story is one of resilience, self-reliance, and radical self-love.
“When I was told they couldn’t save my breast or nipple, I remember feeling calm… and then everything else felt distant.”
Diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer in 2023, JLynn faced her journey largely on her own—navigating treatment, a divorce, and a move all at once. Without a strong support system, she became her own: taking herself on dates, choosing self-love daily, and ultimately embracing life flat with confidence and pride.
Read MorePatricia’s Story
Patricia San Pedro describes her breast cancer journey in a way that stops people in their tracks. “I can’t imagine what my life today would be like if I had not had breast cancer… and that sounds bizarre.”
Read MoreEve’s Story
Eve Bender’s story begins with a moment she can still picture clearly. After postponing a routine screening while caring for her father, she finally went in for her mammogram and sonogram in 2015—something she had always done together. A few days later, on a Friday night as she was pulling into the train station to head upstate to see her fiancé, her phone rang.
“Getting a cancer diagnosis actually made me realize I was giving my life to the wrong things,” she shared. Before her diagnosis, Karen had spent years building a career she loved. But in the stillness that followed, she gained a clarity she hadn’t had before.
Karen’s Story
When Karen was diagnosed with breast cancer on July 7, 2022, her life didn’t just change medically—it shifted entirely in how she saw the world around her.
“Getting a cancer diagnosis actually made me realize I was giving my life to the wrong things,” she shared. Before her diagnosis, Karen had spent years building a career she loved. But in the stillness that followed, she gained a clarity she hadn’t had before.
Read MoreLisa’s Story
Lisa’s breast cancer journey is grounded in something simple, but powerful: resilience.
Diagnosed on October 5, 2025, her experience with cancer has shaped the way she sees herself and the world around her—but it has also strengthened her in ways she carries forward every day.
“It made me resilient,” she shared, “and empowered me to help others on their journey.”
Read MoreTonya’s Story
Tonya’s diagnosis came in the middle of an ordinary moment—one that should have been filled with celebration.
“It was my son’s birthday,” she shared. “We were walking through the store looking for a football that he wanted.”
In an instant, everything changed.
“I was in complete shock. All I could think about were my three boys and how I would tell them.”
Read MoreCaileigh’s Story
When Caileigh was waiting for her biopsy results, she already sensed what was coming. “The radiologist who performed the biopsy was gentle yet clear with me that it was giving malignancy,” she shared. “In the days waiting for results, I remember telling myself if this was happening, I needed to buckle up, lock in, and get on board.”
Read MoreCaroline’s Story
Caroline will never forget the day that changed her life forever. “August 21, 2024,” she shared. “It was two days after my mother’s birthday and two days before my husband’s 50th birthday.”
Read MoreLucy’s Story
Lucy’s diagnosis came in a moment that could not have felt more surreal.
She was out to dinner with friends on a Saturday night when she received the results of her PET scan. What she read changed everything.
Read More