Andra Kalnins was a mindfulness instructor, patient advocate, former nurse and family nurse practitioner graduate. She lived in Chicago, with her husband and 5-year-old son. She was diagnosed with early-stage triple negative breast cancer in 2016, with a stage IV metastatic breast cancer (MBC) recurrence in 2020.
Andra recently completed mentor training with Project Life, a virtual wellness house for those living with MBC and their loved ones, and advocacy training through Living Beyond Breast Cancer’s 2021 Hear My Voice Metastatic Advocacy Program.
Her advocacy interests included peer support, with a focus on quality of life and psychosocial, emotional, spiritual, coping and healing. Andra strived to live as fully as possible, by empowering herself and others to keep living with joy, connection, meaning and purpose despite the grief and uncertainty of facing an incurable disease. Always seeking hope.
We are honored that we had the opportunity to get to know Andra through her involvement with Survivingbreastcancer.org.
Watch her Webinar as she and her sister Ilga discuss how Art gives Hope.