Meet the Models: Cheryl Durand
Metastatic breast cancer often hides in plain sight. To the outside world, you may look fine—your hair might still be intact, you might be smiling at work, picking up your kids, going through the motions. But inside, the terrain has shifted completely. For this incredible model, that disconnect—the invisibility of her diagnosis—was one of the hardest parts.
“The emotional struggle is probably harder than the treatments. When you have metastatic breast cancer, you may not look sick. But you feel far from normal.”
Her reaction to her diagnosis was honest and human.
“I was terrified. I felt like my world had just closed in on me and came to a screeching halt. I remember feeling frozen, walking around in a total fog for months. It felt so strange to watch people go about their daily lives like everything was normal when for me, it was so far from it.”
It’s a feeling many of us don’t talk about enough—that surreal, out-of-body experience of living with cancer while life around you moves on.
Support became her lifeline.
“My friends and family were a huge support for me through my initial treatment. A meal train during treatment made such a difference—I didn’t have to think about what to eat, and that gave me space to focus on healing.”
Her journey is one of both early stage and metastatic breast cancer. That progression naturally invites reflection—but she’s found peace in not dwelling on the “what ifs.”
“I try not to think about what I would’ve done differently. I’ve spent time wondering if I could have prevented the cancer from coming back, but that’s not productive. It takes away from being present and enjoying the moment I’m in now.”
Her advice to anyone just beginning their diagnosis is clear and comforting:
“The period of time around the diagnosis is the worst. It will get better.”
In her calm truth-telling, she brings hope—not the kind that denies difficulty, but the kind that shines through it. This is the power of showing up with honesty and vulnerability. This is what it means to model resilience.
