Houston Mom Celebrates 100th Chemo Treatment for Stage 4 Breast Cancer: ‘I’m Still Alive!’ (Exclusive)

Last month, 59-year-old Melissa Fouts brought cupcakes to the clinic at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston to celebrate her 100th chemotherapy cycle. She has stage 4 triple-negative breast cancer, one of the most aggressive types of breast cancer, her oncologist, Dr. Sharon Giordano, Chair of Breast Medical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, tells PEOPLE.

“She’s so tough,” Dr. Giordano says. “She has fought this with every inch of her being.” Fouts has been on the same low-dose chemotherapy drug Eribulin for nearly six years. It usually extends someone’s life by 6 months or a year, according to Fouts. But Fouts has had a “a really extraordinary response.” Her tumors have stabilized, and some are nearly undetectable.

Determined to survive, Fouts has lived to see many major milestones: her son’s college graduation, her daughter’s wedding, her son’s wedding and the birth of her first grandchild. “Her story is inspirational,” Dr. Giordano says. “I hope it’s a source of hope to women who are diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer.”

“I have never let my cancer define me,” Fouts tells PEOPLE. “I’ve never let it take me down. When someone tells me no, that just fuels the fire and I come back stronger.”

Fouts shares her story in her own words with PEOPLE’s Wendy Grossman Kantor.

I was 38 years old when I was diagnosed with stage 1 triple-negative breast cancer in 2004. My husband, David Fouts, found it, actually. It was a little lump above my right breast. I didn’t even feel it. He said, “You should probably have that looked at.” So I did.

They told me it was one of the harder breast cancers to treat, mainly because there are fewer options.

It’s a shock when you’re told that you have cancer. Your mind automatically thinks that your life is over. I have two children: My son, Noah, was 6 at the time, and my daughter, Hannah, was 11. It was hard on my daughter; she was in middle school and basically thought that I was going to die.

They started me off with six rounds of chemotherapy and six weeks of radiation. Following treatment, there was no detectable evidence of cancer.

After that, I had yearly checkups and all of those kept coming back fine. After about 12 years, I kind of forgot about it and just lived my life.

But in December 2016, I was working out with a trainer and remember thinking, “My chest hurts. This sports bra is really tight.”

I found a small lump in my right breast. I was diagnosed with stage 2B cancer. I was 50 years old. This time, my son was a 19-year-old freshman in college, and my daughter was 23 and had just graduated. I think it was a little bit harder on my son. It was difficult for him, not knowing what was going to happen.

I elected to do a double mastectomy in February 2017. It was difficult. It was painful. But it’s something that I had to do.

Then, I did four rounds of chemo between March and May.

In December 2018, I asked my oncologist, Dr. Sharon Giordano, “Are you giving me a clean bill of health now?” And she said, “Let’s do scans and see.”

On New Year’s Eve, a CT scan showed my cancer had spread to the area outside my lungs. I was surprised because I had felt fine. I’d had a little bit of a cough and assumed it was a cold. But in January 2019, I was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer.

That was a shocker because when you hear stage 4, you automatically think that you’re near the end of life. My doctor said the cancer was treatable but not curable and that I would be on chemo forever.

It was devastating. On Jan. 16, I began Eribulin chemotherapy (which I am still on today).

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David, a retired financial services manager, and I met with an attorney and made sure our will was in order and our medical power of attorney. We met with the funeral home director and planned my funeral. I’m a very goal-driven person. I like to have control over my life. I wanted to do it my way. If I was going to go out, I wanted it to be the way that I wanted … on my terms.

The next few years were rough. I don’t want to say I stayed in bed for three years, but I spent a lot of time resting. I was still working at the time as a communications manager for an oil and gas firm, but contemplated quitting. I didn’t know what to do.

I met with a counselor at MD Anderson who asked: “How do you want to live out the remainder of your years? Do you want to continue to work? Do you want to enjoy time with your family?” These questions made me think. I ended up retiring in 2022.

It was around this time that I had an a-ha moment: I was still alive. I could not believe that every time I went in and got my scans, the six tumors near my lungs were shrinking. I was like, “I guess this is not really my time to die yet. I need to get out of bed and start living life.”

So in 2022, I decided to try to improve my health on my own. I started working out with a trainer. The first time I met him, I said, “Look, I’ve got stage 4 cancer. I’ve been lying in bed for three years. I need to get moving. I can’t just sit here and wait.” He asked, “What is your goal?” I said, “My goal is to live. And as long as I’m long as I’m moving, I’m not dying.” That became my motto.

My trainer was a godsend. We started small, working out twice a week for 20 minutes. Within six months, our sessions grew to almost an hour long. By then, I was lifting weights.

I got significantly stronger, and it was very apparent. I was stronger mentally. I was stronger emotionally. I thought, “Whatever remains of my life, I’m going to live it the way that I want.” I started feeling better, stronger, healthier.

My life became very simple: working out, going to mass, going to the grocery store and spending time with my family. I don’t spend time doing things that I don’t really want to do.

These days, I am on a three-week chemo cycle. Day one, I see my oncologist and do labs and get the first round of chemo. The following Wednesday, I go back and I get a second round of chemo. And then the third Wednesday is an off week. That’s what we call one cycle of chemo.

I have been doing this since January 2019 to treat my stage 4 cancer. I had my 100^th chemo cycle on September 3, 2025. A hundred cycles is a really, really big deal. I asked Dr. Giordano, “Do you have any other patients that have made it to 100 cycles?” She said no.

And really, actually, I kind of talked myself out of celebrating the day. Because I thought it sounded very self-centered, and I know that other people are not having the success that I’m having. And so it felt a little wrong to be celebrating. But then my husband brought up a good point: When you are stage 4, there’s not a whole lot to celebrate. Stage 4 means you have cancer, it’s never going to go away. You’re going to be on chemotherapy for life.

I went back and forth, and then David said, “You have one shot. You have one day when you’re going to reach 100 cycles, you can’t go back and do it.” And so I said, “Okay, we’re going to celebrate this day, and I’m going to thank the people that got me here.”

I had celebrations both at the gym with my trainers, and at the hospital with my doctors, my physician’s assistant and oncology nurses. I brought cupcakes and cookies.

I’m very, very fortunate that the chemo that I’m on is very well tolerated now.

That said, there are side effects from being on this drug for almost seven years. And probably the biggest side effect is fatigue — there are days when I could probably sleep for two straight days, but the exercise helps, and I see a fatigue specialist, and I get massages through integrative medicine. I’m going to continue on with the chemo as long as I can, as long as my body can accept it.

Dr. Giordano is brilliant. She has kept me alive. I lived to see my son graduate from college, and both my children get married, and I got to meet my first grandchild. I have a 4-month-old grandson.

And there’s more good news: I’m still on my very first line of treatment for stage 4. There are so many more options now, like immunotherapy, that weren’t available when I started this drug. And I haven’t even started those options. So my prognosis is pretty good because I still have a lot of treatments that I can try that I haven’t even gotten to yet. I’m going to do whatever I have to do to stay alive.

My faith is important to me. From the beginning, being diagnosed with cancer, I never said, “Why me?” I have never gotten angry. I felt like this was a cross that I had to carry, and this is what God has planned for my life.

I share my story on TikTok and on Instagram. If it inspires someone or gives hope, I’m happy. I will share my story and use my voice in any way that I can to help others.

My future looks bright. But this can change at any point in time. I know that — and I’m aware of that.

In the meantime, I will do whatever I have to do to stay alive.