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

Heather Jose

I’m Still Here: Real Conversations About Living with Metastatic Breast Cancer is a podcast about the real-life experience of living with metastatic breast cancer (MBC). Hosted by long-term thriver Heather Jose, diagnosed at 26 and living with metastatic disease for over 25 years, the show explores what life actually looks like beyond treatment. Topics include identity, relationships, work, uncertainty, quality of life, and the emotional realities of metastatic cancer. Episodes feature long-term survivor stories, caregiver perspectives, listener questions, and expert conversations.

  1. 2D AGO

    Episode 273: You Asked, I Answered

    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

    33 min

  2. APR 29

    Episode 272: When the Scan Isn't Clear — and That's Okay

    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

    26 min

  3. APR 22

    Episode 271: Your Nervous System Isn't Overreacting

    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

    24 min

  4. APR 15

    Episode 270: The Appointment Is the Easy Part: The Real Cost of Navigating Healthcare with MBC

    How are you? Busy? Overwhelmed? Maybe both? In this solo episode, Heather gets honest about what the last month has really looked like — navigating a sleep study, insurance approvals, cardiology appointments, and the quiet exhaustion that comes from managing your health on top of managing your life. This isn't a crisis episode. It's a real one. Because for those of us living with metastatic breast cancer, the invisible load doesn't take days off — and the healthcare system isn't making it any easier. The appointment is the easy part. It's everything around it — the prep, the phone calls, the insurance approvals, the waiting, the processing — that nobody accounts for. And when you're doing that on repeat, it costs something. Heather talks about what it actually costs to keep all the loops open, why energy triage matters more than time management, and why giving yourself grace isn't the same as giving up. If you've ever hung up the phone with your insurance company and just sat there for a minute — 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 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

    23 min

  5. APR 8

    Episode 269: Your Questions, Our Answers

    You asked, and we're answering. In this Q&A episode, Heather and Larry tackle questions submitted by listeners on Instagram and Facebook — the real ones, the hard ones, the ones a lot of people are thinking but don't always say out loud. Topics include how to live with uncertainty and still make plans, staying present when fear wants to take over, scan anxiety (yes, it's still a thing at 27 years), the pros and cons of support groups, what to do when your doctor gives you no hope, and how metastatic cancer goes from all-consuming to just... part of your life. Honest, unscripted, and straight from two people who have been navigating this for a 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 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

    44 min

  6. APR 1

    Episode 268: What Nobody Tells You About Being a Caregiver

    When Larry said "in sickness and in health" at 25, stage four breast cancer three years later was not what either of them had in mind. In this episode, Heather and Larry pull back the curtain on what caregiving actually looks like in a long-term marriage — the hard days, the fear, the moments of connection, and the ones that just needed a hug or a joke to survive. They talk honestly about the caregiver/patient dynamic, what it means to stay present when the results are terrifying, why disconnecting is actually necessary, and how roles shift over 27 years of living alongside metastatic cancer. If you're a caregiver, a patient, or somewhere in between — 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

    34 min

  7. MAR 25

    Episode 267: Sensational Survivor: 14 Years, Twin Boys, and a Life Built on Purpose — Janelle Slavik

    Janelle Slavic was 24 years old when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer. A year later she was told it had spread. She has now been living with metastatic breast cancer for 14 years — and somewhere in the middle of all of it, she became a mom to 20-month-old twin boys via surrogacy. In this episode of the Sensational Survivor Series, Janelle shares what it was like to be diagnosed young, how she advocated for her own scan that revealed her metastatic diagnosis, and why she believes cancer saved her life. She talks openly about the surrogacy journey, the financial reality of building a family with MBC, parenting through IV chemo and a seizure, and what it looked like to ask her medical team whether she was safe to care for her own babies alone. Janelle is warm, honest, and deeply human. She talks about hope not as a cure but as proof of life — and she is living proof of exactly that. If you are newly diagnosed, long-term, or somewhere in between — 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. 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

    42 min

  8. MAR 18

    Episode 266: The Loneliness Nobody Talks About with MBC

    There's a particular kind of loneliness that comes with long-term metastatic breast cancer — and it's not the loneliness of being sick and scared. It's quieter than that. More structural. More built in. In this episode, Heather gets honest about something she's been sitting with: feeling alone in a way that doesn't fit the story people expect from someone 27 years into survivorship. She talks about the isolation of living in the middle — too sick for the healthy world, not visibly sick enough for people to really get it. About the financial behindness of watching friends prepare to retire while carrying decades of interrupted plans and illness costs. About the withdrawal she's been doing from the people closest to her, and the comparison and grief underneath it. And about the exhaustion of living at the surface when your interior life is so much deeper than any conversation you're allowed to have. This isn't a tidy episode. There's no resolution at the end. But it's honest — and if you've been nodding along, that's exactly the point. You are not too much. You are not imagining it. And you are not alone in feeling alone. 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 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

    33 min
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5
out of 5
61 Ratings

About

I’m Still Here: Real Conversations About Living with Metastatic Breast Cancer is a podcast about the real-life experience of living with metastatic breast cancer (MBC). Hosted by long-term thriver Heather Jose, diagnosed at 26 and living with metastatic disease for over 25 years, the show explores what life actually looks like beyond treatment. Topics include identity, relationships, work, uncertainty, quality of life, and the emotional realities of metastatic cancer. Episodes feature long-term survivor stories, caregiver perspectives, listener questions, and expert conversations.

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