I’m in a MOVIE!

Yes, an old dream is becoming reality - in a way. Doesn’t every little girl want to grow up and be a movie star or a famous singer? I did. I was in many school plays and even won a Best Actress award in high school one year, but my movie debut has nothing to do with acting. It’s all about how I have fought metastatic breast cancer for the last 9 years, along with 4 other young Canadian women.

We all have a very aggressive form of breast cancer. It’s breast cancer that is Her2 positive. Only about 20 percent of breast cancer patients over-express the Her2 gene and it’s a very aggressive breast cancer. Herceptin is a drug that just celebrated it’s 10th anniversary of being available here in Canada for stage 4 breast cancer patients like me. Herceptin is a monoclonal antibody that helps to stop the spread of the cancer (lay person explanation!) and it has improved the lives of many women even though it has not saved them all. I’ve lost friends who were Her2+ and getting Herceptin but the cancer got too smart and the drugs didn’t work anymore. I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop for me….wondering when my time will come….but for now I just have to continue to LIVE as best as I can.

In the summer of 2009 I was interviewed by a film crew (in HD!) in Calgary, where 2 other young women were also interviewed. In total the crew filmed 5 young Canadian women and used some of the interview clips for a new website designed for Canadians affected by Her2+ breast cancer. You can see them at www.TellHER2.com.

The film crew also interviewed us with the intention that they may make a documentary with some of the footage. At the time of filming it was going to be about 10 minutes long. It’s now finished and is 16 minutes long and will premiere at the Breast Fest Film Festival in Toronto November 19-22, 2009, presented by Rethink Breast Cancer.

I’m going to be walking the pink carpet in Toronto with the other four women featured in this documentary and we’ll all see it for the first time on the BIG SCREEN! I’ve seen the trailer for the film and I’m worried that perhaps I’m the ‘comic relief’ of the entire film. I hope they included something serious that I said. I hope I said something serious! I’ll find out along with everyone else on November 20th in Toronto.

I’m also very excited to be doing media interviews for the website, and the film festival, and to be featured on a panel after one of the films on Saturday afternoon. The documentary I’m in opens the Film Festival Friday night. You can see the trailer by going to www.tellher2.com, and clicking on the page that says “The Documentary” (it’s on the top right hand side of the website).

The name of the documentary is “About Her”. It’s about five of us young Canadian women who are fighting tooth and nail for our lives, praying that Herceptin will keep working for us and that if our cancer ever gets smart enough to over-power the drug that we will have another option and continue to lead happy, productive lives while feeling half decent. If you’re in Toronto come and see the film! If you’re not - at least check out the website with the clips, along with the trailer for the film.

It may not be the kind of movie I dreamed of being in when I was a little girl, but it feels just as good to have been involved in a project like this and have my story live on in some small way.

See the trailer for the documentary by Phyllis Ellis here: http://www.tellher2.com/the-documentary/