BARBARA BIGELOW

Barbara Bigelow has been living with breast cancer for more than 20 years — the last ten with metastatic disease. Initially diagnosed as ER+, she later mutated to Triple Negative MBC. A passionate advocate for patient research, Barbara has not only championed others but also participated in a clinical trial herself — one that left her hospitalized for two months, relearning how to walk and swallow while undergoing dialysis. Along the way, she has also survived lung cancer and melanoma.

Barbara served as a past Vice President of METAvivor, dedicated to funding innovative metastatic breast cancer research and amplifying the voices of those living with MBC. Currently she is a member of the Executive Group at the MBC Alliance, Vice-President of Advocates for Collaborative Education, and serves as a GRASP Mentor.

Barbara shares her experiences with humor, honesty, and hope on her blog, The Cancer Chronicles, where readers get glimpses of her resilience and her love for I Love Lucy, Calvin and Hobbes, and The Life of Pi. A School Psychologist by profession, Barbara has spent more than three decades working with adolescents — a population she deeply loves and understands. She and her husband, Tim, have been happily married for 42 years and are the proud parents of two adult daughters and two joyful grandsons.

You may recognize Barbara from her tireless advocacy and outreach — at the DC Stampede, the 2018 Elements Campaign with her daughter Bridget for #ThisIsMBC, the Count Me In video for the MBC Project, or behind the wheel of the METAvivor Sea to Sea RV. She has live-streamed from LBBC and SABCS, walked the runway at New York Fashion Week (2019) and Runway for Recovery with her daughters, fundraised with Booty by Brabants and guest bartended to raise over $100,000 for metastatic breast cancer research.