In November, I received a call that I will never forget. It was from my cousin Amy—the woman I had always looked up to, my idol, the person who seemed invincible in my eyes. And yet, she was calling to tell me that she, too, had been diagnosed with breast cancer. It felt like the ground beneath me had shifted. How could this happen? We were both facing the same battle, but the weight of it seemed so much heavier when it was someone I loved so deeply. I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude for our cousin Dana, an NP who specializes in Breast Cancer oncology. Like she did for me, Dana immediately took charge, assembling the best medical team to help Amy navigate the fight ahead.
Amy is now in the thick of her battle, but she continues to inspire me every day. She remains a warrior—fierce, strong, and determined. Watching her fight with everything she has only strengthens my resolve. She is still my idol, a beacon of grace and resilience as she pushes through each day.
2025 Life Update
It’s hard to believe it’s been eight years since I first heard those words. “You have cancer.” It was a diagnosis that turned my world upside down, but somehow, here I am, still standing. Through every challenge, I’ve found reasons to keep moving forward—because life, despite its unpredictability, has offered me gifts I never expected.
When I was first diagnosed, I couldn’t have imagined all that would unfold in the years to come. I had to learn to live with uncertainty, with the constant reminder of my condition. Medication became a part of my routine, a daily reminder of the fight I was in. But amid all that, something beautiful began to take shape.
Over the last 8 years, Will and I have built a life together. Our son will be 5 in April and in 2022 our daughter was born. Being able to carry her myself was a miracle as we were sure if that would be a possibility with all the chemo I went through.
My children have made every struggle, every hospital visit, every difficult moment worth it. They are my light in the dark, my reminder of the strength I have within me.
But life, as it tends to, threw more challenges our way. Along the way, multiple people I know and love have been diagnosed with cancer. Watching them fight their own battles has been both heartbreaking and humbling. It’s a cruel reminder of how fragile life is, and how deeply connected we all are in our shared struggles.
Through it all, the journey has been one of resilience, love, and hope. I’m still on medication, still fighting, but I have more to fight for now than I ever imagined. Each day, I remind myself that life, in all its complexity, is still a gift.
2021
Ride number 6 here we go!! 5th year riding as a member for TEAM Living Proof.
2020 was full of curve ball and surprises. The highest of highs and ended the year with the lowest of lows.
In April, our son was born via surrogate in the middle of the pandemic. The best days of our lives, we loved watched Keegan grow over the last year.
Ending 2020 we were expecting! Yaya! After all we've been through it was a Christmas Mircale. Unfortunately the week after Christmas, that all changed... devastation. A miscarriage, something so hard to talk about yet so many women go through it and are afraid to talk about it.
Reflecting now, I'm grafteful to be able to have gotten pregnant after all my body had gone through, something we didn't think possible. So for now back on my bike I go...
They threw me a whirlwind... And I spat back the sea - Frank Turner Get Better
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2020
Hello PMC world, my name is Brittney and I am Living Proof. A week after my 33rd birthday I was diagnosed with an ER/PR/Her2+ invasive ductal carcinoma. Now at the age of 36, I can proudly say I am a breast cancer survivor, and I am a proud member of Team Living Proof! This year will be my 5th PMC and 4th year as Living Proof.
This will be the first time in 4 years that I am riding while not undergoing any treatment for my cancer and that feels GREAT! ! The days of weekly doctor’s appointments, twice a month chemo treatments, frequent blood count checks, heart scans, etc are behind me. Minus daily medication I am adjusting to my new normal. My husband and I even welcomed our first child in April via surrogate. Science saved my life AND gave me a son; science is truly AMAZING. Our bun, her oven and a couple of trials later, we brought home our first born. All during a pandemic too!
But that’s not the full reason why I ride. Before I was riding for myself, riding was a reason to live, a release from it all where it was just me and my bike. I took my anger and frustration out on the hills, long rides where my legs just pedaled as my mind got lost in my thoughts, reflecting on my past and being hopeful of my future, little did I know what was to come.
This year I ride with a new sense of purpose. While I am so proud of the trials and tribulations I have overcome, I now ride for everyone else.
I ride for people who are now in my shoes… I ride for the cure, for them.
Since my diagnosis in June 2017, I have been blessed with good fortune. Simply being here writing this today is the ultimate display of that. . Many aren’t as lucky, as friends and family have lost loved ones too many times to cancer. Many others are just beginning their cancer journey. I try to use the knowledge gained from my journey to help those at the beginning of the most difficult period of their lives. Whether that’s preparing questions to ask at the first appointment with an oncologist, discussing treatment options and their side effects, or simply acting as a soundboard to talk about the emotional toll that comes with being diagnosed with cancer, I do my best to be an advocate and most importantly a friend those going through what I’ve been through.
As I ride as Living Proof and for those fighting to be Living Proof, I am so proud to have my father and my two brothers by my side on the road as we ride together. My brothers joined the PMC after my diagnosis, to support the fundraising as they have seen first-hand the positive effects of cancer research. I was chosen to participate in a clinical trial run jointly between Dana Farber and MGH, a treatment plan that worked to shrink my tumor by giving me three different types of chemotherapies even before removing the tumor. They ride because if it wasn’t for the quick acting doctors and the aggressive treatment I received early on, I may not be here today. My father has been by my side even before day 1. In 2013 I was going to ride the PMC but a late July fall off my bike made me sit it out with a torn meniscus and sprained ligaments. Devastated, my father called the PMC and asked if he could ride in my place. With only 10 days of training, my father rode the full 192 and He has rode every year since and rode with me during my first PMC in 2016. We haven’t stopped since.
This year I ride with my father David Amanti 8th year rider, my older brother Jeff Amanti 3rd year, and my little brother Nick Amanti 1st year rider (insert cowbells!!). Our reimagined route will take us through the hills of Western Mass and the Berkshires. As a family we proudly ride together to celebrate the PMC and all that the PMC does for cancer research.
Proud to be part of Team Living Proof.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2019
This year I will be riding in my 4th PMC and my 3rd as a team member of Living Proof.
What I wrote below though it the honest truth. Let me just say for the record, I am not saying I wish I still had cancer, and I 100% believe in the PMC and am so grateful that the money raised from this event goes to cancer research. I was part of a successful study done by Dana Farber and MGH, helping develop new ways to fight breast cancer through the use of chemotherapies used for other types of cancer.
I am sharing my story because I know I am not alone on how I feel. This feeling may or may not pass (and I hope it does) but this is my new fight.
Over the last 2 years, I've had just under 30 infusions, made up of 5 different types of chemo/hormone therapies, in 3 cycles, and in the middle 1 major surgery. My life for the last 2 years has been under doctors’ care, at a minimum I went to the doctors twice a month for something always knowing I was under the care of the best doctors in the country.
When my last infusion was complete the doctors warned me that it may be hard to end treatment, since that is all I knew. I laughed, absolutely not! I couldn't wait to be over and be back to my normal life.... and like every young, inexperienced child at anything, I was wrong. Fear is in control of my daily life.
I miss getting infusions, for the infusions kept the cancer away, killing it off. While I am still on daily medication to block the cancer cells, fear still is alive and in control, fear cancer may come back elsewhere.
Riding is also something that has taken a new meaning in my life. The last 2 years, my riding was me fighting, battling back against the cancer and proving to myself I will be a survivor. Now survivor is a title I get to use, but it comes with a cost. It means I have to stand on my own two feet, pedal not to survive but because I survived. Riding is encouraging to me let go of my daily fears, continue to live as a survivor without infusions and under frequent doctors' care.
This journey for me is just beginning and more challenging than I could ever imagine. This is my fight, and my fight alone. I continue to have the world's most amazing support team; family and friends that went through more pain and fear than me over the last two years. They continue not to let me fight this new battle alone, the way they support me is by letting me have my good days and bad days; they know there are days I put a smile on and they know I don't want to talk about it and some days I do.
It is hard for me to get back on my bike and ride.
This PMC I take to the road one more time, maybe my final time because whether I ride 0 miles or the whole 192, I am a survivor. I am living proof.
https://patch.com/massachusetts/waltham/waltham-resident-confronts-her-fears-cancer-survivor?fbclid=IwAR2-vL5-uGSv9ByDBXcOOiKcS0gu_T0FSJJh1F1tFD_C1-Qv_ROSm1AfzrI
2018 Why I ride
I'm trying to get better because I haven't been my best
Let me tell you a little story about how the song “Get Better” by Frank Turner has become my anthem, and what makes the 2018 PMC extra special.
2017 started off with a bang. I got engaged to the love of my life. We picked a dream location and set a date of October 28, 2017. I was looking forward to the best year of my life!
Just like that, wedding planning took over. From dress fitting to meal tastings, floral arrangements to booking a band (they were awesome!). It was all wedding, all the time. By mid May, I was looking forward to my birthday/bachelorette weekend. A chance to relax and unwind with family and friends. But deep down, I knew something was wrong.
I felt a lump in my right breast, so I went to the doctor. “It’s Nothing” they told me, but just to be sure I had a biopsy scheduled for that coming Wednesday. “It looks benign” they said looking at the ultra sound, “you will be fine”. Wednesday came and went. If something was wrong, I should have heard something. I still couldn’t shake that feeling though.
They threw me a whirlwind…..”
On June 16,2017, I waited by the phone all afternoon. The doctor’s office said they should have the results and promised to let me know one way or the other. Late that afternoon, the doctor finally called. My premonition came true in the worst way.. “I’m sorry, the biopsy was positive”. Just a week past my 33rd birthday, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was devastated, but not defeated. Cancer is an uphill battle, so I strapped my feet in, lowered my gears, and started pedaling.
“...and I spat back the sea. I took a battering but I’ve got thicker skin”
We all have guardian angels. Most we can’t see. I was fortunate enough to have one in the flesh, my cousin. She is a Nurse Practitioner in the Oncology department at MGH. My mother wasted no time reaching out to her and she wasted no time lining me up an appointment with the best team of doctors I could have, the team she would pick for herself.
“...and the best people I know are looking out for me”
Having the best team at one of the top rated hospitals in the world, I was presented with multiple courses of treatment. Ultimately, I chose to be a part of study using a direct form of chemo that attacks the cancer directly to shrink the tumor followed by surgery to remove it. We were going to be aggressive and attack this disease. Afterall, I had a wedding in four months! There was never a question that the wedding would go on.
“I’m taking the high road, my engine’s running high and fine,
may I always see the road rising up to meet me and my enemies defeated in the mirror behind”
As a part of the study, I was scheduled to have receive treatment every three weeks for eighteen weeks starting July 7th and ending the week before the wedding. This schedule meant the second treatment was on the 28th of July, a week before the PMC. People assured me that there’d be no shame in not riding this year given my treatment schedule. But ride I did. I was able to ride both days while not the whole thing, I rode over 100 miles of the PMC. I crossed the start line in Sturbridge and the finish line in P-town.I completed the PMC while undergoing chemo. I am living proof that the PMC’s mission to fund research and to advance cancer treatment is working.
“I’m a machine and I was built to last”
Over the next couple of months treatment continued and the school year started. While there were some bumps in the road and sharp turns I didn’t see coming, the finish line was always in my site. When dips in the road and hills to climb, my family and friends gave me that extra boost I needed to keep going.
“Try and get better and don’t ever accept less”
On October 28th our wedding day had finally arrived. The day couldn’t have been more perfect. I married the man of my dreams surrounded by friends and family, it truly was a fairytale wedding. To think back to where I was June 16th and what had transpired over the next four month is indescribable.
“Come on now let’s fix this mess. We can get better…”
It was back to reality on November 3rd and my final treatment of pre-surgery chemo. An MRI showed that the treatment had worked. The tumor has shrunk to about 30% of its original size. Surgery was scheduled for December 13th. Less than 6 months from my original diagnosis, I underwent a double mastectomy. I can't imagine what my husband and parents were thinking the hours I was in surgery. They like me were waiting for one answer, to find out if the cancer had spread. I don't recall what time I woke up that afternoon but the first question out of my mouth was the same question we all wanted to know, did it spread? It hadn't. For the first time in 6 months I was able to breathe, I was going to be okay.
“I got me a future, I’m not stuck on the past”
Now we prepare for the next steps, more chemo to be sure that no cells escaped the breast. This type of chemo is aggressive and heavier than before, 4 cycles every 2 weeks and side effects can be intense. I’m at another steep hill and I have no choice but to keep pedaling.
I will be riding in the PMC in August. I am living proof.
