‘Every day that I get a treatment gives me another day with my boys’

Minooka — No nausea.

No mouth sores.

Just fatigue.

Overall, Chiara Robinette, 35, of Minooka, the mother of two active young sons, is feeling pretty good, considering she’s battling stage 4 metastatic breast cancer.

“My oncologist told me at the very beginning of the metastatic stage that I can live with cancer in body but not the swelling,” Robinette said. “We have to make sure that’s under control, so anything isn’t pushing or pressing on important places in my body – organs, the brain or anything like that.”

Robinette was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014. She’s since gone into remission twice and gave birth twice – to Richard Louis III, who’s heading to second grade this fall, and to Henry, age 3.

She receives treatments primarily through Edward Hospital in Naperville and consults with cancer specialists at other centers, including the University of Chicago, Mayo Clinic and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Massachusetts.

Some of Robinette’s cancer treatments are only recently approved. And that’s partly what gives Robinette hope, the fact that new cancer treatments keep becoming available.

Dr. Amaryllis Gil, a hematologist and oncologist and associate medical director of Elmhurst Hospital’s Nancy W. Knowles Cancer Center, said in a news release from Edward-Elmhurst Health that “there’s been an explosion in treatment options,” and stage 4 cancer patients can now live for years instead of months.

Treatments may include chemotherapy, immunotherapy and/or targeted therapy, depending on the receptors on the cancer cells, according to the release.

“The good news is that there is so much research for breast cancer that we have all of these great treatment options that have been changing the outcome for patients,” Gil said in the release.

Although that doesn’t change stage 4 metastatic breast cancer into a chronic disease, such as hypertension or diabetes, it often extends the life of cancer patients and provides valuable time with their families and to live their lives.

“Every day that I get a treatment gives me another day with my boys. That’s ultimately all that I want,” Robinette said. “I want stability so I can see my boys grow up and be there for them.”

Happy to be ‘Stable Mable’

This summer, “being there” includes the normal family routines with Robinette’s husband, Rich, that include trips to splash pads, hanging out with extended family and spending time at the Wilmington Recreation Center.

“My radiation oncologist does not want me driving, and she really doesn’t want me at home by myself with the kids because I am a fall risk,” Robinette said. “So I have lot of help from my mom and sister. They help me with the boys and help me keep the house clean, which I’m so grateful for.”

Robinette’s mother, Megan Hicks, and sister Alaina Pearling both live in Joliet, she said.

But Robinette is candid with her followers on her Beauty in Beast Mode Facebook page.

She shares her anxiety as the date of her regular scans – CT, MRI, bone and echocardiograms – approach and asks for more “tumor-melting prayers.”

She shares her elation when scans show improvement, disappointment when tumors grow or new lesions appear, and her happy acceptance of no changes by pronouncing herself “Stable Mable.”

She still sees a counselor every couple of weeks, which she said helps her outlook tremendously. She’s thankful for anti-nausea medicine, which makes living as fairly average a life as possible. Her goal is to see both Richard and Henry turn 18.

Robinette is hopeful – and realistic.

“I’ve crocheted them each a blanket that they can snuggle under,” Robinette said in a 2020 Herald-News story, “in the event of my death, if they’re missing me.”

Robinette also wrote letters someone can read at their various milestones, in case she’s not there to speak the words herself.

“I would rather have those things prepared and not use them,” Robinette said.

And she has this message for other stage 4 cancer patients.

“Talk to your team to make sure they understand what you want, and that they value your quality of life,” Robinette said.

For updates and to donate to Robinette’s GoFundMe page, visit gofund.me/55204e89.