Inaugural Chicago Metsquerade on May 11 - A Fundraiser for Stage IV Breast Cancer Research
Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC) or stage IV breast cancer is the spread of breast cancer to distant organs, most commonly the bones, liver, lungs and/or brain. Metastatic breast cancer is a terminal diagnosis, with a median life expectancy of 33 months. If you know a woman who died from breast cancer, she died from metastatic breast cancer. This year alone over 40,000 men and women in the United States will die from MBC, yet only 2-5% of funding goes toward researching treatment for MBC. This number has not changed in decades and in part can be traced to the lack of funding for stage IV research.
Lianne Kraemer, longtime Chicago community member currently battling metastatic breast cancer and METAvivor patient advocate, is the organizer of the Chicago Metsquerade - a black-tie gala benefitting METAvivor. Taking place on Friday, May 11, 2018, this event will be the first of its kind in Chicago with a focus of going beyond awareness and early detection and raising money to fund research for stage IV breast cancer which is heavily underfunded.
In December 2014 after a year of treatment for early stage breast cancer, Lianne was told she was "cancer free". She was excited to hit such a milestone, but she knew that despite treatment 30% of those diagnosed with early stage breast cancer will have their cancer return as stage IV. In the summer of 2016 she learned her breast cancer had returned and spread to her brain. As Lianne began to explore treatments, it became clear that there weren't many options out there.
"It was surprising. With as much attention as breast cancer gets, there are shockingly few medical treatments out there for women that have progressed to stage IV," says Kraemer. "It didn't take me long to learn that all that money that is raised with pink ribbons and balloons is mostly spent on awareness and early detection. It doesn't go towards research to help women with stage IV disease live longer. We need to move past awareness and start thinking about how we can make this a chronic disease that gives women the chance to live a long, normal life."
That's when Lianne came across an organization called METAvivor. METAvivor is a volunteer led organization that funds research specifically for treatment of stage IV breast cancer. In 2017, METAvivor raised $1.65 million for research, and Lianne aims to do her part to increase that number by planning the Chicago Metsquerade. "Almost everyone has been touched in some way by breast cancer," she says. "I think people will be excited that they can do something to help our mothers, daughters, aunts, friends, and women everywhere". 2018 will be a record year in fundraising for METAvivor, with Metsquerades in Arkansas, Southwest Florida, North Carolina and Chicago.
The Chicago Metsquerade will be held at Artifact Events in the Ravenswood neighborhood from 6:30pm-Midnight. Guests at the gala will enjoy a night complete with a seated dinner catered by Hearty Boys Catering, a silent and live auction, open bar and dancing, all while raising critical dollars to fund research grants for metastatic breast cancer so that men and women living with this disease have a chance to live a longer life.
For tickets to the Inaugural Chicago Metsquerade visit www.chicagomets.org