Words to Live By
Young Survival Coalition
"Words to Live By: Stories from the MBC Community" is a storytelling video and stills series created by The Rathkopfs, a survivor and co-survivor visual storytelling team. This by-community, for-community project was developed in partnership with patients and advocates, including storyteller, influencer, and MBC thriver Lauren Huffmaster.
thriver Lauren Huffmaster.
The series centers the voices of young adults living with metastatic breast cancer (MBC), offering a raw, emotional, and spiritually grounded look into life as a thriver. As part of the process, we asked participants what stories they wanted to tell—and built the project around their experiences, values, and truths. The result is a collaborative, community-led effort that highlights the real-life experiences of the MBC community in their own words.
JASMINE
“I think the way I even think about dreams are different now - I just think of the word peace”
TIANA
“Instead of me feeling like I’ve got a death sentence, I view it as my purpose.”
ASHLEY
“I had to have a hysterectomy, I’ve had so many surgeries - I’ve lost my career.”
CHRISTINA
“I think the way I even think about dreams are different now - I just think of the word peace”
WREN
“For every day that I’m on this earth I will make sure that our voices are heard.”
KATIE
“I'm alive right now. And I want people to see that I'm alive right now. I have metastatic breast cancer, but I'm not metastatic breast cancer.”
JOANNA
“The third time [I was diagnosed], I was pissed off.”
