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Woman with terminal brain tumor shares her truly inspiring outlook on finding meaning in life

"Pretty soon, all the beautiful days stacked up into a beautiful life."

Photo Credit: Amber Stratton

A woman is living her best life, despite terminal health issues.

Amber Stratton had her world turn upside down nearly five years ago. She was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer and she fought it with every tool in the proverbial medical tool box. After chemo and a double mastectomy, it remained—so she did it again, along with radiation, and was finally deemed cancer-free in early 2022.

That is until two months later when she was told she had a terminal brain tumor. Her prognosis? About two years to live. But there has been something inside of her, despite such a scary diagnosis, that drives her to grab every day and fill it up to the brim with joy. She lives each day as fully as she doubling down on wearing pink and going all in on motorsports.

Amber Stratton, brain tumor, living life, positive thinking, cancer Amber Stratton stays extremely active in the face of health issues. Phtoto Credit: Reddit, Amber Stratton

Upworthy first reached out to Stratton last November via Reddit after she posted "Yearly post, 3 years into terminal brain tumor. Beating the odds and loving life!" She (like many) didn't realize there was a direct messaging system on the site but responded just last week with the subject header, "I'm still alive, woo hoo!"

We had the honor of talking to her about how she's doing and, more specifically, how she has trained herself to live in a present state with true grace that makes all the past hardships and future prognoses seem blurry in comparison to the crystal clarity of what this exact moment holds.

Stratton encourages others facing similar battles on Reddit, in particular commenting on a post to someone struggling with positivity. She writes, "A friend of mine I met in a support group told me to just 'live a beautiful day and then another.'"

We asked her about this and she responded, "I started telling myself I wanted to live a beautiful day and then another and pretty soon all the beautiful days stacked up into a beautiful life."

She says this way of thinking anchors her. "It helped me focus on the day in front of me and not worry about the future or things outside of my control. And on those days, I told myself I would do something I loved, something for someone else, or learn something new each day. I gotta tell you that’s been a blast and I think a fun way to live."

When asked for specifics on the new things she's tried, Stratton reeled off a list of exciting ventures. "I started riding stand-up jet skis shortly after the brain tumor and fell in love. Then tried snowmobiles and got to build a vintage snowmobile with my husband this winter and race it on ice 100 miles, which was super fun. I plan to race this winter too. And I got into riding dirt bikes and rock climbing. My husband taught me to weld, which was challenging since I have vision loss, haha, but I’m getting the hang of it. And I bought a 1971 Chevy I’m learning to put an engine in. We’re doing an LS swap."

Amber Stratton, cancer, brain tumor, best life, gratitude. Amber Stratton poses with her Chevy truck and dog. Photo Credit: Amber Stratton

She also discusses how her diagnosis has helped her sift through what really matters: time and how we spend it. "I spent time traveling with my mom and fishing with my boys and… just living."

This doesn't mean she lacks awareness of what's going on in her body; her reality gives her perspective. "Cancer changes you and being aware that you're living with a ticking time bomb in your head gives you perspective. I have two boys who are now 7 and 9 and I want them to see me as someone who didn’t give up, no matter what the odds. And even if my body shuts down eventually, I won’t let the cancer take my spirit and who I am while I’m here. Then the cancer wins and I’m so much more than cancer. I’m going out living full and if I live a long time well, then heck yeah it will be an awesome ride!"

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A tattoo artist is giving people free 'nipple tattoos' to help cancer survivors

Tattooing, like any other skill, requires practice. The problem is, how do you practice permanently putting a nipple on someone else's body?

This genius tattoo artist found a solution. "Shannon McCauley gives out free tattoos to the people who volunteer their bodies to help her practice tattooing nipples.

McCauley is a tattoo artist at Steadfast Tattoo in Rochester, NY. She went absolutely viral after tweeting a photo of a leg with a nipple with the caption, "Tattooed my first nipple on skin. I'll be covering this tattoo for free once it's healed. I'm learning this so I can tattoo in surgeon's offices and help breast cancer survivors that had mastectomies."



She later said she'll also use this skill for people in the trans community. Simply amazing. You can visit Shannon's instagram to see even more photos of nipples tattooed on legs.



Tattooing is very common for people that have gone through mastectomies because surgeons can only do so much in terms of pigmentation. Tattoos on the hand have a practically infinite range of shade and color. Artists like Shannon are necessary in helping people through the recovery process.

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A new breast cancer study has good news, but not everyone can celebrate equally.

For years, breast cancer patients, survivors, and their families have wondered if decades of walks, ribbons, fundraising, awareness, and dedicated activism were making a difference.

On Tuesday, a new batch of results came in.

A statistical analysis published by the American Cancer Society found that mortality rates from breast cancer fell 39% between 1989 and 2015.

The decrease amounts to 322,600 saved lives in 26 years, according to the paper's authors. Researchers attribute the drop to increased early detection and more effective treatment options.

The percentage of women over 40 who have had a mammogram in the prior two years grew from 29% in 1987 to 64% in 2015. Meanwhile, options for combatting the disease have increased, thanks to the advent of new drugs and therapies.

Hundreds of thousands of fewer people dying is good news.

The bad news is that black women continue to die from the disease at higher rates than any other demographic.

While a lower percentage of black women are dying from the disease overall, their fatality rates are still nearly 40% higher than those of white women, a rate that has remained maddeningly persistent for decades.

Photo by USAG, Humphreys/Flickr.

"The reason for the black and white difference is primarily related to economic status and lack of insurance on part of black women," Harold Freeman, former director of the American Cancer Society, told NPR in a 2014 interview.  "But also, we have a health care system that doesn't treat everyone equally." He cites a lack of ability to pay for preventive care and subconscious assumptions that lead some medical professionals to ignore black women's concerns as contributing factors.

The study also found that the racial mortality gap varied heavily by region. Disparities were worst in eight mostly southern states: Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Virginia, Indiana, and Michigan.

Eliminating the racial disparity when it comes to breast cancer diagnoses will require more than ribbons and walks to solve — and organizations are already rising to the challenge.

Groups like Breast Cancer Action have made racial justice a core plank, citing the need to address the disparities in education, housing, and economic power that exacerbate the mortality gap at its root.

As a stopgap, programs like the CDC's National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program help provide early detection screenings to low-income and uninsured people.

While some states indeed showed large, persistent racial disparities in mortality rates, according to the study, the gap was nearly nonexistent in several others. Three states — California, Massachusetts, and Delaware — made significant, verifiable progress in making outcomes more equal over the 26-year span.

"This means that there is light at the end of the tunnel," Carol DeSantis, lead author of the study, told The Washington Post. "Some states are showing that they can close the gap."

For the 252,710 people expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer this year — and hundreds of thousands more in the years to come — the progress in treating the disease is a welcome sign.

The work to make sure they all have an equal shot at a full recovery remains.

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Julia Louis-Dreyfus shares her breast cancer diagnosis with a heartfelt call to action.

The 'Veep' star has an important message for her fans.

On Thursday, actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus announced via Twitter that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Just 11 days after accepting her sixth straight Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, the "Veep" star shared her diagnosis with the world.

"1 in 8 women get breast cancer. Today, I'm the one," she wrote.

"The good news is that I have the most glorious group of supportive and caring family and friends, and fantastic insurance through my union," she added. "The bad news is that not all women are so lucky, so let's fight all cancers and make universal health care a reality."

Each year, an estimated 231,840 U.S. women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and more than 40,000 will die. Early detection plays a huge role in reducing that number.

Breast cancer accounts for the second-most cancer-related deaths in U.S. women behind only lung cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. Regular screenings — self-checks and with a doctor — can aid in catching the cancer at its most treatable point, early on.

In her call to action, Louis-Dreyfus sounds optimistic, urging her followers to keep fighting so that others have access to the same care she'll be able to receive. While recent efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act have fallen flat, we are far from having "universal health care." 11% of women ages 19 to 64 in the U.S. don't have any form of health insurance. While that number has fallen since the ACA's implementation, it still means that millions of women are unable to access preventive care.

Thanks to a number of health centers around the country, such as Planned Parenthood, low-income and uninsured women aren't left completely out in the cold. Unfortunately, these groups are frequently under attack from political opponents.

Louis-Dreyfus's decision to share her diagnosis with her fans serves as a reminder that any of us can be hit by illness at any time — making the fight for universal care that much more important.

It's never a bad time to call your members of Congress and let them know that you want to live in a world where everybody has access to the same care she has.

We wish Louis-Dreyfus the absolute best of luck going forward.

Louis-Dreyfus accepts the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series on Sept. 17, 2017. Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images.

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