She has stage four cancer. Her husband is a federal worker. Will she survive the Trump administration?

"Michaela felt a sharp pain shoot from her hip while she bent over to water some plants in early May 2025. Then she fell over and couldn't get back up. Her husband called an ambulance and she spent the night in a hospital, where, at 57, she found out she had a mass on her spine. It was metastatic breast cancer."

"I had no warning that that was going to happen, and I was devastated. At first, I didn't clearly understand that it was part of my breast cancer that had metastasized to my spine, which I learned was a common place for it to go, she said. If I were to die prematurely, I could not imagine leaving [my husband] here. We really don't have any family. We don't have any children."

"My husband's a veteran with the administration, and he's an expert in his field. He's been doing this for 20 years more now, so it's exhausting for him. We're in our 50s. He was leaving the house at five o'clock in the morning and getting home at seven at night, Michaela said. The Guardian is not using Michaela's real name since her husband still works in the Department of Transportation and fears retaliation."

In early May 2025 Michaela bent to water plants, felt a sharp pain in her hip, fell and was hospitalized. At 57 she learned she had a mass on her spine that was metastatic breast cancer. She said she had no warning and was devastated, and at first did not clearly understand the metastasis to her spine. She feared dying prematurely and leaving her husband alone because they have no children or family. Her husband, a long-time Department of Transportation employee, had worked remotely since the pandemic and faced a forced return to the office under a presidential order. In July she underwent a laminectomy, received stereotactic radiation, and began Kisqali and hormone therapy.

Read at www.theguardian.com