202. Living with Metastatic Triple-Negative Breast Cancer & the Journey to Motherhood with Wren Morrobel

In this episode of the Interlude Podcast, I’m joined by Wren Morrobel, a metastatic triple-negative breast cancer thriver, patient advocate, and creator of Living Our Breast Lives. Wren was diagnosed with early-stage triple-negative breast cancer at just 29 and was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer one year later. Today, she has been living with no evidence of disease (NED) for six and a half years, which is truly incredible. Wren’s story is one of advocacy, fear, community, and joy. We talk about what it really means to live with metastatic breast cancer—even when scans show no evidence of disease—and the complicated decisions that can come with long-term treatment. Wren shares her experience with treatment, advocating for changes in her care, and navigating the uncertainty that comes with making decisions when there isn’t always data to tell us exactly what to do. Wren has dedicated so much of that time to lifting up others in the metastatic breast cancer community and through her platform and podcast, Wren shares the real, often complicated experiences of living with metastatic disease and works to make sure other thrivers feel seen and heard.

We talk about an incredibly exciting new chapter in Wren’s life: motherhood. After years of hoping, planning, fertility preservation, and navigating cancer alongside questions about her future, Wren and her husband are expecting a baby boy through gestational surrogacy this December. Wren speaks candidly about the joy of preparing to become a mom, but also about the complex emotions that can accompany gestational surrogacy.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

* Wren’s diagnosis with triple-negative breast cancer at age 29 and metastatic breast cancer one year later

* Living with metastatic breast cancer while NED for six and a half years

* Immunotherapy and the evolution of treatment for triple-negative breast cancer

* What happens when a cancer treatment that is working for you is no longer FDA-approved for your type of cancer

* The uncertainty surrounding long-term immunotherapy

* Advocating for treatment de-escalation and more flexibility in cancer care

* Knowing when it may be time to change oncologists or healthcare systems

* Why the relationship you need with your healthcare team may change over time

* Why describing metastatic breast cancer as a “chronic illness” can fail to capture the reality of living with the disease