The Overshare

20-It’s an Awkwafina Anaphylaxis Adventure

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Episode 20-It’s an Awkwafina Anaphylaxis Adventure


Hello and welcome, breast cancer curious fam! Kat, Aimee and Babs recorded this episode on September 7, 2022. Your love and support mean the world to us. Thank you! 


Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be taken as medical advice. Always seek the guidance of qualified health professionals. Please and thank you! 


If you get nothing else from this episode: 

  • Please report to your medical team anything that feels out of the ordinary when you’re going through active treatment - they’re here to care for you 
  • If you feel like something is wrong, please be encouraged to be persistent and insist on your care, and do what you can - or get someone to help you - to advocate for your needs 
  • Hot tip: Print out, or have a digital version, of your packet of info if you have a long medical history and give it to your medical team so they can add it to your chart - this saves you the time of rehashing all your info 
  • More hot tips: Consider what crisis planning mode looks like in your family. You could start with answering, 1) Who is in charge of communication within the family, 2) Who’s on the immediate text thread, 3) Who gets to share out beyond the family and how? 


    • In this conversation: 

    • Shoutout to B’s medical team and all the caregivers, including B’s sweet cheese of a husband, Cooper, his dad, and our parents 
    • B recounts her anaphylaxis adventures in the ER and the ICU as not a restful place with terrible lighting 
    • Chemo brain, and Aimee’s snorty English bulldog, Nola, make an appearance 
    • Kat goes through the family chat timeline and encourages family crisis communications planning 
    • Certain generations call B, Barb, and it’s endearing 
    • They ponder how medicine works - Isn’t everyone just responding to the best and most recent information they have, everyday? 
    • B’s new medical oncologist at Johns Hopkins who drops the truth about what the heck happened - it wasn’t the Zoladex! 
    • Chemo drugs: Taxotere, Cytoxin and AC chemo - doxorubicin (also known as Adriamycin) cyclophosphamide 
    • AC is sometimes called “the red devil” and it can cause voodoo doodoo and hair loss, and no big deal, congestive heart failure 
    • Wigs, wigs, wigs and that confidence, baby! 
    • What’s temporary versus what’s forever, the importance of an ongoing check-in with your people, and having open and honest conversation to build community with each other Aimee’s TikTok algorithm - no judgment in this safe space! 


      • New playlist adds: Fleetwood Mac, Pixies, Modest Mouse 

      My Breasties Podcast Tracks: Listen to the full playlist 


      References: How to Be a Better Human podcast, “How to be okay when things are not okay;" Mayo Clinic, Electrocardiogram and EKG 


      Honorable mentions: MyChart and a “minefield of test results”; weighted eye masks; The Corn Kid; #notsponsored The Wrap Life (they “make very pretty things for your hair” and here’s their story, told by founder, Nnenna Stella); America’s Funniest Home Videos with Bob Saget (RIP)

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      The OvershareBy Kat Wallace Knowles, Babs Wallace Drummond, Aimee Berniard