It’s the final and most fatal form of cancer, but did you know these facts about your breast cancer metastasized diagnosis?

While being diagnosed with any type of cancer is a frightening experience, learning that you have reached the breast cancer metastasized stage can be very overwhelming for anyone. As you battle the feeling that your worst nightmare has come true, it is important for you to know a few essential things about MBC or breast cancer metastasized.

Here are a few things that you probably did not know about your breast cancer metastasized diagnosis that will help you understand your forthcoming journey better.

• Breast Cancer Metastasized is Fatal

Accepting the truth about your condition is perhaps the first step to understanding, and then aiding your own recovery journey. Breast cancer metastasized diagnosis means that your breast cancer has reached its final stage or Stage IV. This fatal stage means that your cancer has metastasized or spread to areas beyond the breast. More often than not, breast cancer metastasized spreads to parts such as the brain, liver, lungs, and bones. Accounting for approximately 40,000 annual deaths in the United States alone, this cancer is chronic, progressive, and eventually fatal.

• There is No Cure

Scientists and researchers are yet to understand exactly why the breast cancer metastasized outside the breast area. Once the breast cancer has metastasized, there is no cure to be had. However, this does not mean that there is no hope. There are a number of treatment options that are designed to control the condition and allow you to live a rich life even after your breast cancer metastasized diagnosis. Being aware and educated about breast cancer metastasized becomes even more important when you consider that it is a disease that will need to be treated for the rest of your life. You will have to work in tandem with your medical team to ensure that the conditions is actively managed and kept at bay as much as possible.

• It is NOT Your Fault

Did you catch it early enough? Could you have made different lifestyle choices to avoid this disease? Do you deserve a breast cancer metastasized diagnosis? No, no, and no. The bottom line is that some types of breast cancers are just more aggressive than others. There is nothing you could have done differently that would affect the fact that your cancer metastasized.

• Finding a Cure for Breast Cancer Metastasized is Not High on the Funding Priority List

It is unfortunate but true that only approximately 7 percent of breast cancer research funding is directed at finding a cure for breast cancer metastasized. Most of the funding is allotted to increasing awareness of the disease, as well as towards prevention and early detection of the condition. Over time, researchers believe that the condition will become more manageable akin to other chronic diseases.

• Early Breast Cancer Often Turns to Breast Cancer Metastasized

Approximately 20 to 30 percent of women who have been diagnosed with early breast cancer will go one to develop breast cancer metastasized, as per the Metastatic Breast Cancer Network. This may not happen in every case, but the chances are still quite high. However, it is important to keep in mind that while these two conditions vary, breast cancer metastasized is still treated as regular breast cancer is. Even though the breast cancer cells have metastasized, they still retain the original characteristics of the breast cancer cells. Breast cancer metastasized is not a whole new type of cancer. Treatment of the cancer as well as its rates of remission still depend on the primary breast cancer tumor type.

• Young Women and Men may also Receive a Breast Cancer Metastasized Diagnosis

It is a misconception that breast cancers of any type can only develop in older women. The truth is that breast cancer metastasized is not limited to only older women, or even only women. Younger people as well as men develop breast cancer metastasized too. According to Cancer.org, men account for about 2,300 cases of breast cancer each year.

Living with breast cancer metastasized takes a mental and physical toll on a patient, as well as their family members. Draw support from your community, hospital, as well as the online community of survivors and patients for better awareness, and understanding of your breast cancer metastasized diagnosis.