“I have no control over what my disease is going to do, but I can control what I do with my time while I'm here,” says Beth Fairchild at one point in Not Just One, a documentary about metastatic breast cancer (MBC) now available on Amazon Prime Video and presented by Allergan.
And what Fairchild does with that time is incredible. As the president of METAvivor, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting awareness and funding for MBC, Fairchild was a fierce advocate for research equity. (She’s since stepped down from the role.) She says in the film, she knows the work she’s doing with METAvivor probably won’t save her life—but she continues to do it because it could save someone else’s life. It could save your life.
As Not Just One explains, the need for MBC research funding is great. “Nearly 270,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year,” the film begins. “Approximately 30% will metastasize, with cancer spreading to other areas of the body.” And yet only 2% to 5% of funding goes to MBC research.
So it’s up to organizations like METAvivor to make up the difference, which is where Not Just One comes in. The documentary centers around seven women who had been diagnosed with breast cancer and came together during New York City Fashion Week in 2019 for a fundraising show featuring bras designed by Dana Donofree, the founder and CEO of AnaOno Intimates. Donofree, who has breast cancer herself, started AnaOno to provide better options for women who have different breast shapes and needs following their mastectomies. The proceeds from the fashion show, as well as this documentary, benefit METAvivor.
In addition to funds—you can donate here—Not Just One also aims to raise awareness for MBC, which it does very effectively through the lens of these seven women. One of the most moving parts in a film full of emotional scenes is when the women share their diagnosis stories.
Fairchild, for example, was 34 and on top of the world when she was diagnosed with MBC. She never drank, never smoked—the news felt like it came out of nowhere.
Donofree was diagnosed the day before her 28th birthday, and two months before her wedding date. She got the call while she was home for her bridal shower.
Brittney Beadle was 18. She had her double mastectomy the day of her senior prom, so her friends came to the hospital dressed in their gowns.
Amy Schnitzler got her diagnosis the same week she received acceptance letters to her top three graduate school programs. She was an aspiring opera singer.
Susan Danenberger was diagnosed a year after she opened her winery. She was in the middle of harvest season and thought maybe she could wait a little longer for her mastectomy. By the time she went in, it had spread.
Patricia Wu was 30, newly married, and on the cusp of her career after finishing her doctorate. She was told she had stage 0 cancer. “It’s the best diagnosis you can hope for,” she says. But two and a half years later, she was diagnosed with MBC.
Tsiliana Jolson was working out seven days a week, eating organic, and living a healthy life—her goal was to live past 100. She noticed she had less endurance after workouts, and then she found a lump in her breast.
Their stories are equal parts heartbreaking and inspiring. Though I don’t have breast cancer myself, the strength and advice of these women motivated me nonetheless. They reminded me that life is precious and time is a commodity, that in dark times all you can do is take each day at a time, and that turning to a community of like-minded people for support can be a powerful thing.
That last part is reflected in the title of the documentary: Not Just One. It was chosen, I learn, to reflect that no person is alone. No person is just a statistic. We are all part of a greater community, and there is strength in numbers. It’s a beautiful lesson, one I’m glad to have seen.
Anna Moeslein is the senior entertainment editor at Glamour.
