Life After Cancer: Hope’s Stage 4 Breast Cancer Story

Hope and her husband, Phil, were looking forward to retirement and beginning a new chapter together. They talked about spending more time on the water, possibly living on a boat and traveling the Great Loop. Then, in the spring of 2024, Hope began experiencing an unfamiliar pain underneath her arms and across her back.

On July 3, 2024, she went in for a mammogram and received a diagnosis neither she nor her family expected: Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer.

“When you hear those words, you don’t really hear them,” Hope remembers. “I just was diagnosed with breast cancer, and I don’t know what to do.”

Facing the Diagnosis Head On

Hope’s family had always known her as someone who faced challenges directly. Her daughter remembers a childhood skiing accident when Hope’s response was simple: get up, throw a little dirt on it and keep going. Her response to cancer was much the same.

That didn’t sit right with him. He and his family began researching alternatives. That search eventually led them to Immunocine.

Living Without Ongoing Treatment

Kevin completed his treatment at Immunocine in June 2023. By September of that same year, his scans showed no evidence of disease. Today, that status remains unchanged and he has not required cancer treatment since early 2024. Outside of routine imaging every three to six months, his calendar is no longer shaped by appointments, infusions, or recovery days.

“I wasn’t mad, I wasn’t crying, I wasn’t scared,” Hope says. “It was something that happened. And we were going to treat it as if we’re going to fix this.”

For Hope and Phil, the first priority was their family. Then, they began making a plan.
Hope started chemotherapy as part of her initial treatment. But after her second treatment, she came home and told Phil she could not continue down that path without exploring what else might be available.

Until then, neither of them had realized there could be other options to consider alongside the traditional approaches they already knew.

Finding Immunocine

An unexpected introduction changed the direction of their search. While Phil was at a business meeting in Miami, he shared that Hope was battling breast cancer. The person sitting across from him offered to introduce the couple to a contact who had experience referring patients facing similar situations.

Soon after, Hope and Phil spoke with Dr. Matt Halpert about the Immunocine Dendritic Cell Treatment (IDCT), including the treatment process, timeline and science behind the approach.

For Hope, what she learned felt very different from what she had experienced so far.

“It’s not 18 months. It’s not invasive,” she remembers thinking after that conversation. “So we said, ‘Yeah, we’re in.’”

Rather than waiting until she had exhausted every other option, Hope chose to incorporate the IDCT near the beginning of her treatment journey. She traveled to Cancun for the biopsy and later returned for treatment. What initially felt surreal quickly became a process she remembers as remarkably manageable.

“The whole immune system process was so easy,” Hope says. “It was never uncomfortable.”

More Than Medical Care

For both Hope and Phil, one of the most memorable parts of their time at Immunocine was the people. Hope remembers the consistent communication and the relationships she developed with the doctors and staff throughout the process.

“You don’t have friends in Cancun,” she says. “So they become your friends.”

Phil appreciated the same personal connection, but also the directness with which the team communicated about Hope’s care.

“You felt like they were family,” he says. “They just looked you in the eye and said, ‘This is the option. This is what we can do for you.’ I don’t want pie in the sky. I just want facts.”

When Hope left Cancun on December 19, the goodbye was unexpectedly emotional. The doctors and staff who had cared for her had become an important part of a journey she hoped she would never have to repeat.

Hearing the Words “You’re Cancer-Free”

After returning home, Hope entered the next phase of her treatment. She underwent a double mastectomy and lymph node surgery. When the procedure was over, the surgeon came out to speak with Phil.

“We saw no signs of cancer in the lymph nodes,” Phil remembers being told.

Then, on March 6, 2025, Hope heard the words she had been waiting for. “You’re cancer-free.” The moment marked the beginning of another transition. After months defined by appointments, treatment and uncertainty, Hope and Phil could begin thinking about the future again.

Life After Cancer

Cancer changed the way Hope and her family think about time.

“You always feel like you have unlimited time,” Phil says. “When something like that happens, you realize that it’s not unlimited time. So you start to change your priorities and focus on doing all the things you wanted to do.”

Today, Hope is working out, spending time with her family and returning to the plans she and Phil imagined before her diagnosis. Her daughter describes her as empowered by everything she has been through. For Hope, life after cancer is defined by gratitude.

“You appreciate it. You’re grateful,” she says. “You slow down a little bit.

She does not look back on her diagnosis with anger. Instead, she looks ahead with a new appreciation for the people she loves, the time they have together and everything still waiting for them.

“Life’s better on the other side of cancer.”