Sep 10, 2026 · 46 min · 12 segments
Five years cancer-free, Bridget thought she was in the clear — until a scan the day of a minor surgery revealed stage four metastatic breast cancer. A hospice and palliative care nurse practitioner…
Cody HufstedlerHostSo the surgeon comes in and she's like, you know, I'm Dr. Maria.
Did you see her PET scan or have you talked to your oncologist? And I was like, no.
No.
So she gently came, you know, I'm sitting on the patient table in my pink gown and, you know, like my boobs are hanging out and, you know, and she kind of just gently placed her, you know, hand on my, on my lap and brought over so that both of us could view the report at the same time.
Unfortunately, she had a lot of it highlighted, which were the ones that she wanted to really make sure that it was clear that And my report showed stage four metastatic breast cancer was spread to the liver and bones.
And I just was hysterical again.
I couldn't, I mean, it really knocked me.
knocked the wind out of me.
And to this day, I still can't even believe that I got this diagnosis.
But you can't dwell on it.
You have to be positive and move forward.
I want to go back to that moment where you see the PET scan and you see mets to liver and bones, I can just, I imagine that you know then exactly what that means.
I know you said is, you know, just devastating, but what, what were you thinking? What was going through your mind when you got that?
Yeah, so again, being a palliative hospice nurse practitioner, these are the reports I see from my patients that... aren't doing well.
I see 22-year-old patients, 30-year-old patients.
I mean, we know this data that cancer is definitely much more in numbers than it has been, especially affecting the younger generation and population.
And all I could think of was my last patient who was the same age that I was, who passed away from metastatic breast cancer.
You know what I mean? But I think a lot of my fears were back when I was 35.
And I think I have a better appreciation on life as I'm older.
So the surgeon comes in and she's like, you know, I'm Dr. Maria.
Did you see her PET scan or have you talked to your oncologist? And I was like, no.
No.
So she gently came, you know, I'm sitting on the patient table in my pink gown and, you know, like my boobs are hanging out and, you know, and she kind of just gently placed her, you know, hand on my, on my lap and brought over so that both of us could view the report at the same time.
Unfortunately, she had a lot of it highlighted, which were the ones that she wanted to really make sure that it was clear that And my report showed stage four metastatic breast cancer was spread to the liver and bones.
And I just was hysterical again.
I couldn't, I mean, it really knocked me.
knocked the wind out of me.
And to this day, I still can't even believe that I got this diagnosis.
But you can't dwell on it.
You have to be positive and move forward.
I want to go back to that moment where you see the PET scan and you see mets to liver and bones, I can just, I imagine that you know then exactly what that means.
I know you said is, you know, just devastating, but what, what were you thinking? What was going through your mind when you got that?
Yeah, so again, being a palliative hospice nurse practitioner, these are the reports I see from my patients that... aren't doing well.
I see 22-year-old patients, 30-year-old patients.
I mean, we know this data that cancer is definitely much more in numbers than it has been, especially affecting the younger generation and population.
And all I could think of was my last patient who was the same age that I was, who passed away from metastatic breast cancer.
You know what I mean? But I think a lot of my fears were back when I was 35.
And I think I have a better appreciation on life as I'm older.
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