In today's @CancerInterviews segment, Cinde Dolphin of San Luis Obispo, California tells host Bruce Morton how she went toe-to-toe with lung cancer once and breast cancer three times and survived. But that is not where her cancer journey ended. These days she engages in what she calls Cancerpreneurship, her method of helping those diagnosed with cancer in ways some might deem unconventional.

Cinde was fit and healthy and happy when in 1993 she had a terrible cough that wouldn't go away. That's when she was seen by a doctor who said she had a tumor in her left lung. The lung was removed, she survived lung cancer and has since gone through life with one lung.

It was in 1999 that Cinde discovered a lump in one of her breasts. A subsequent needle biopsy revealed she had breast cancer. She was shocked and thought her healthy lifestyle would provide a safeguard for something as severe as cancer, but gathered her network of friends around her and began the battle. As formidable as cancer, Cinde addressed her diagnosis with a combination of fearlessness and optimism. She underwent a lumpectomy, did chemotherapy and radiation treatment and thought she had gotten the best of breast cancer. However, in 2006, another lump was detected and with it, a different type of breast cancer. She had already lost a lung, but felt it was the wise thing to do was to get a mastectomy, so now she was going to lose a breast as well.

As for her chemotherapy treatment, Cinde, a tireless worker, says the toughest part was having to reduce or completely curtail, her workload for three months. During that time, she says the help and support from her friends and loved ones was invaluable, stating that sometimes the best thing you can do for your caregivers is to let them provide care.

After her surgical procedures, Cinde had to use a Jackson-Pratt drain. It is a device she calls ugly, uncomfortable and embarrassing, but at the same time very valuable because they siphon away fluids from the surgical wound area to keep it from getting infected or other complications.

Acknowledging the awkward nature of these drains, Cinde invented an alternative device which she says is a major improvement for any cancer patient. It takes the "Home Depot apron" which is part of the Jackson-Pratt drain, but her apron is made from a soft mesh with a zipper closure that can hold up to four drain bulbs, which in a best-case scenario can allow to go months without having to change the bulbs. Her marketing this improved drainage system is just one example of what she calls Cancerprenuership.

Cinde says Cancerprenuership calls for a patient to be an innovator and come up with ways to address a cancer diagnosis that are not addressed by major supply companies and Big Pharma. She says all too often Big Pharma does not listen to the people that claim they are serving by their products, that patients do not have a seat at the table occupied by a pharmaceutical's decision makers. Cinde references a Nobel Prize winner who says some of the best solutions come from a place of empathy, and that Big Health Care and Big Pharma would do a much better job if they devoted more time to listening to patients, what they need and what they are going through.

Additional Resources:

Cinde's website: https://www.medicaldrainer.com

Cancer Interviews: https://www.cancerinterviews.com