Lauren Huffmaster received a late-stage metastatic breast cancer (mBC) diagnosis in 2015 and soon discovered there wasn’t a lot information to help explain to her young children what she was going through.

“My children were two, four and six at the time,” recalls Lauren. “Cancer not only affected me but everyone around me. I questioned how I would raise them with this disease and how would I talk to them about it.”

Lauren found many books explaining cancer, but she didn’t find a lot of supportive resources for patients and their loved ones. To help close this gap, she started the Adventure Therapy Foundation in 2018 – a nonprofit to help families navigate the emotional impact cancer can have.

That’s why she was also so interested in helping contribute to the creation of “The Adventure Jar: A Story of Magic for Families Living with Metastatic Breast Cancer” children’s book, which launched last August. Produced in collaboration with Gilead, several patient advisors and a psychiatrist, the book was partially inspired by Lauren’s own experience and her family’s weekly adventures.

“This book is really important to acknowledge how children's lives are impacted, how families can support their loved ones and how the whole family unit can work together to make sure life is still lived despite the disease,” explains Lauren.

Lauren and her fellow patient advisors had a high level of creative control to include their personal experiences throughout the book. It was also important to Lauren that the mother depicted in the book was seen as more than a person diagnosed with mBC.

"The Adventure Jar provides a mental shift where we portray women with cancer as people first and patients later. They’re living their lives, mothering, parenting and being a spouse,” she explains.

Lauren finds comfort knowing the book can continue to bring some joy to not just her family, but many other families in the same position.

You can get a complimentary copy of the book here and learn more about Lauren’s journey in the video above.