10/28/2026
On New Year’s Day 2022 in their Boise, Idaho, home, Elea noticed an indentation on her breast. Her doctor confirmed the diagnosis: breast cancer. While Elea was declared cancer-free by spring of 2023, her quarterly scan in the fall showed she had developed metastatic (stage 4) breast cancer.
Boise’s local resources were thin, so Elea started looking beyond local care. That's how she came across the Journey of Courage and Hope Retreat—and then Dr. Timothy Pluard, director of Saint Luke's Cancer Institute, who is now her primary oncologist despite living more than 1,100 miles away. As Elea knows firsthand, access to this level of care for metastatic breast cancer is life-changing.
Elea’s visits to Saint Luke’s Hospital Koontz Center for Advanced Breast Cancer bring together oncology, psychology, nutrition, social work, and physical therapy—clinical coordination that makes Elea’s monthly trips from Idaho to Kansas City worth it.
It feels like the beginning of a new era for Elea and her family. She wants to be defined by her strength, not her tragedies.
“We've told this cancer story so much and lived it for so long that we want to find a new story,” she says. “The thing is, you're the storyteller. I feel like a new chapter is starting, that this is the turning point. And I do hope Dr. Pluard and the Koontz Center can be a big part of that.”
The Koontz Center's purpose is clear: to help patients with metastatic breast cancer live longer, while living better. For Elea, that means staying connected to her family, receiving attentive care, and continuing to write a story defined by strength.
Learn more at the link in the comments about how you can support the Koontz Center and patients living with metastatic breast cancer. ⬇️
