End of Life | mBC Unspoken

Real stories performed by actors.

Dying to Talk

Story From Regina | Performance by Joan Coombs

Real stories performed by actors.

[VOICEOVER]

Performances inspired by real stories of women with metastatic breast cancer, told through artistic expression.

[REGINA]

Can we talk honestly? I want to talk about the elephant in the room. I want to talk about my death. Oh, don’t be that way. Where are you going?

We need to talk about what’s going to happen when I’m gone.

I want everyone to know that I love all of you and I want to be cremated. No, I’m not being morbid. I’m being practical—I had a will and power of attorney drawn up, stop changing the subject.

Family.

I’ve always been afraid of death. From the moment I first heard it was stage four, I’ve thought about nothing but death. Day and night.

Death is not a moment, not… not that date after a hyphen on your tombstone. It’s exhausting to even think about.

YOU don’t want me to talk about death? This is my session. It’s not healthy? Really? I don’t appreciate you saying that I’m obsessed. It’s kind of important that I work all this out before it happens. That’s what I’m saying: My time is up. Oh, OUR time is up, today. You can’t do this to me! I can’t wait a whole week to pick this up again.

Death is not all I want to talk about. I love going to the supermarket where I can be normal for just a bit. No cancer, just me, Regina.

Yeah, I’m still scared. And I hate it, but it is where I am now. I talk about death because it’s almost time, and I want to leave this world without any loose ends. So, let’s talk about it, hash it out, so that I’m able to find some peace while I can.

This is knowable—so let’s talk about it!

[VOICEOVER]

mBC Unspoken. A voice given. A story heard.

[ON-SCREEN TEXT]

GILEAD and the GILEAD logo are trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc., or its related companies.
All other marks are the property of their respective owners.

Ask questions. The only wrong questions are the ones that don’t get asked.

I want to deal with the fear of the unknown. I now know, depending on how you go, you just go. I mean, my concern is that it’d be a long, drawn out, painful process. Of course, as we know, people don’t live to talk about it.

I started to participate in a local hospice group that focused on death and dying because that was the one thing I couldn’t seem to find anywhere. When you talk about it openly anywhere else, a lot of people just get quiet. It’s very taboo.

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Watch: A Tale of Two Treatments

Bias within the healthcare system often means that Black women face later stage diagnoses, more aggressive types of cancer, and a lack of accessibility to quality healthcare. This performance illustrates the different struggles Black and white women face when dealing with mBC. Watch how Tameka tries to advocate for herself through an emotional letter to her doctor.

Story performed by Soteria Shepperson and Kathleen Cameron.

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The cool part: Just the act of reading stories from people who get what you’re going through can remind you that you can handle whatever’s next.

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