Chiara Riga of Santa Cruz, California, returns to The Burn for a second time. She is a marketing operations manager who was diagnosed at 27 with Stage IV metastatic breast cancer. In this episode Chiara reads her essay “I Thought All Love Was Off the Table” from the 2023 “Love & Intimacy” issue of Wildfire.
Chiara’s story is about finding love after a breast cancer diagnosis, and putting hope back on the table. April and Chiara will talk about what it was like shifting from living with her caregiver mom and moving in with her partner, how to manage a container for cancer in a relationship, and the challenge of explaining cancer to her future in-laws with language and cultural barriers. They will also discuss planning life around cancer and share travel planning tips while living with MBC.