In this episode of Beyond My Diagnosis, I talk with Loretta Donovan, a coach, educator, and healthcare leader who brings wisdom from both her professional and personal experiences navigating illness. Together, we explore how curiosity can steady us in moments of fear, how language shapes our emotional responses to illness, and why mindset becomes an anchor when life feels unpredictable. Loretta’s insight is grounded, compassionate, and full of lived truth.

In this conversation, you will learn:
 • How curiosity and inquiry-based thinking help us face overwhelming diagnoses
 • What clinicians and patients both need in order to communicate compassionately
 • How Loretta navigated breast cancer while supporting a daughter with metastatic disease
 • Why mindset, language, and reframing change the emotional landscape of illness
 • How to stay grounded and purposeful even when life feels unpredictable

About Loretta:
 Loretta Donovan is the President of iAttain and a Professional Fellow with the Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School. She is a former Chief Learning Officer in healthcare and an educator who has guided leaders and clinicians for more than a decade. As a patient, mother, caregiver, and lifelong learner, Loretta brings deep empathy and perspective to conversations about healing, mindset, and resilience.

Loretta’s Links:
 🌐 iAttain: https://about.me/iAttain
🌐 Appreciative Inquiry Consulting: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/48345/
🌐 ReInvive Coaching & Leadership: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13322073/

In this episode of Beyond My Diagnosis, I talk with Lisa Berry Blackstock, Independent Patient Advocate, educator, and founder of Soul Sherpa Healthcare Advocacy Services. Lisa has dedicated her career to helping patients and families make sense of complicated medical systems while maintaining compassion, dignity, and choice.

We talk about why patient advocacy is vital in today’s healthcare landscape, how trust and communication can transform outcomes, and what it really means to put patients first. Lisa shares her insights from decades of navigating hospitals, insurance systems, and end-of-life care while teaching others how to speak up and stay informed.

You will learn how to:
 • Recognize when and how to bring a patient advocate into your healthcare journey
 • Ask the right questions to build confidence with your care team
 • Navigate the healthcare system with clarity and compassion
 • Understand end-of-life options and palliative care from a patient-first perspective
 • Access trusted tools like Lisa’s educational program Patients First

Lisa Berry Blackstock is an Independent Patient Advocate, author, and educator with more than three decades of experience guiding individuals and families through complex healthcare systems. She is the founder and owner of Soul Sherpa Healthcare Advocacy Services, established in 2008, which has grown into an international practice known for its compassion, integrity, and results-driven guidance.

Lisa is a certified hospice and palliative care counselor and an author featured in The Caregivers Advocate, Volume 2. She also created Patients First: Navigating Healthcare in America, an online educational program designed to help patients, caregivers, and advocates gain confidence and control in medical environments.

Through her company, Soul Sherpa, Lisa provides clarity and comfort to those navigating serious illness, end-of-life care, or medical uncertainty. Her mission is to empower people to be informed, proactive, and supported at every stage of their healthcare journey.

🌐 soulsherpasolutions.com
🌐 soulsherpa.com
🔗 LinkedIn: Lisa Berry Blackstock
🎓 Patients First Program

In this episode of Beyond My Diagnosis, I sit down with Joyce Gerber, a lawyer, advocate, and caregiver who has become a leading voice in cannabis education and women’s wellness. and helping to reshape how women talk about health, caregiving, and healing.

We discuss what it takes to challenge long-held stigmas, balance self-care with caregiving, and understand the role of curiosity in personal transformation. Joyce shares her journey from the courtroom to advocacy and how her passion for cannabis education grew out of her experiences caring for others and watching how traditional medicine sometimes falls short.

You will learn how to:
 • Reframe caregiving as both compassion and leadership
 • Explore how cannabis and plant-based wellness can support stress relief and healing
 • Understand the role of curiosity and education in breaking stigma
 • Recognize caregiving as advocacy, both for others and for yourself
 • Balance humor, honesty, and humanity in your own healing journey

Joyce Gerber is a lawyer, advocate, and caregiver who has become a leading voice in cannabis education and women’s wellness. Drawing from her background in law, caregiving, and communication, Joyce helps bridge the gap between stigma and science, policy and people.

Through her writing, speaking, and community work, she shines light on how cannabis can play a role in compassionate care, stress management, and holistic healing. Joyce’s humor, heart, and honesty invite people to rethink what health looks like and to see caregiving and self-advocacy as acts of empowerment.

In this episode of Beyond My Diagnosis, I sit down with Jeannie Taylor. We went to undergraduate university together in Kalamazoo, Michigan and now she is here with me having a conversation on 'Beyond my Diagnosis'. Jeannie is an actor, educator and artist living with a rare condition called solar urticaria—a severe allergic reaction to sunlight. Jeannie opens up about her years-long journey to diagnosis, the emotional and physical toll of living in partial darkness, and the creative ways she continues to find joy and meaning.

We talk about identity, self-advocacy, and how art became both a refuge and a form of resistance. Jeannie reminds us that healing isn’t always about “fixing” what’s broken—it’s about embracing what still shines.

You’ll learn how to:
 • Understand the emotional weight of invisible illness
 • Navigate medical systems when answers are hard to find
 • Build a support network rooted in empathy and shared experience
 • Reclaim joy and self-expression even in the face of limitations
 • Transform adversity into art, advocacy, and acceptance

In this episode of Beyond My Diagnosis, I sit down with Lorie Gardner, a nurse, certified patient advocate, and wellness coach whose story embodies resilience and reinvention. After facing a major health crisis that led to a complex Whipple surgery, Lorie turned her recovery into a calling—helping others navigate the healthcare system with strength and purpose. Together, we talk about what it means to take control of your health, why self-advocacy saves lives, and how women can embrace midlife with clarity, confidence, and compassion.

You’ll learn how to:
 • Discover how mindset and self-talk can change the outcome of recovery
 • Learn why having an advocate beside you can make all the difference
 • Understand how strength training supports healing after major surgery
 • Explore how to navigate hospitals and healthcare systems with confidence
 • Find inspiration to reinvent wellness and purpose in midlife

Lorie’s Resources:
Patient Advocacy Website:
 🔗 https://www.healthlinkadvocates.com
→ Focused on helping clients navigate complex healthcare systems and become empowered patients.

Women’s Wellness & Coaching Platform:
 🔗 https://healthlinkadvocates.mykajabi.com
 → Dedicated to women’s wellness, strength training, and mindset programs for midlife vitality.

Podcast:
 🎙️ Don’t Let the Old Lady In
 → A show dedicated to helping women stay vibrant, strong, and connected to their mind-body-spirit health.

What happens when the healthcare system runs out of answers, In this episode of Beyond the Diagnosis, I sit down with Dr. Sima Kahn, a former OB GYN turned independent patient advocate who helps people unravel complex, often mysterious medical cases. After decades in clinical practice, Dr. Kahn realized that patients were falling through the cracks, not because doctors did not care, but because they did not have the time or systems to look at the full picture. Together we explore how medical advocacy fills the gap between overwhelmed patients and overworked clinicians, the difference between routine and complex cases and how to know when you need help, what it takes to investigate rare and misdiagnosed conditions, and how communication, narrative medicine, and persistence lead to breakthroughs. Dr. Kahn’s story reminds us that curiosity saves lives, and that being heard can be as healing as any prescription.

• Explore what independent patient advocates do and how they help
• Understand when to seek advocacy support for complex or confusing cases
• Learn how persistence and clear communication reveal hidden answers
• Discover why narrative medicine and whole person listening matter
• Find empowerment in asking better questions and documenting your journey

Dr. Sima Kahn, MD, is a board certified OB GYN who became an independent patient advocate after more than 25 years in clinical practice. She founded Healthcare Advocacy Partners in Seattle, helping individuals and families navigate complex diagnoses, second opinions, and care coordination. She is a founding member of the National Association of Healthcare Advocacy and is listed in the Greater National Advocates directory.

What does it really take to cultivate calm in the middle of life’s storms, In this episode of Beyond the Diagnosis, I sit down with Annelies Gentile, an integrative life and leadership coach, artist, and author of From Chaos to Calm, Leading Change from the Inside Out. Together we explore how creativity, awareness, and self compassion can become powerful healing tools for those of us living with chronic conditions. Annelies shares her philosophy of seeing life as an experiment, inviting curiosity instead of judgment, and explains how positive psychology and creative expression help us move from stuck to self aware. We also talk about resilience, labels, and how to get out of our own way when we face illness or uncertainty. This is a conversation about reclaiming agency, rewriting your story, and realizing that calm is not the absence of chaos, it is learning to move with it.

• Learn how curiosity dissolves fear and invites adaptability
• Understand creativity as a daily practice for resilience
• Discover how to treat setbacks as experiments, not failures
• Explore ways to align self compassion with forward motion
• Find calm through awareness and choice, not control

Annelies Gentile, MA, PCC, is a professional certified integrative life and leadership coach, artist, and author. She founded Conduit for Change and helps people navigate transitions, grief, and uncertainty with creativity and compassion. She holds a master’s degree in Health and Wellness Coaching from Maryland University of Integrative Health and is the author of From Chaos to Calm, Leading Change from the Inside Out.

In this powerful conversation with Herb Karpatkin, PT, DSc, we dig deep into the role of movement, fatigue, and rehabilitation in navigating life with Multiple Sclerosis. Herb brings over four decades of clinical and research experience in neurologic physical therapy, specializing in MS, and he shares how he crafts individualized exercise programs that not only counter deconditioning but transform quality of life. Together we explore why fatigue in MS is more than feeling tired and how it sabotages function, how targeted, progressive movement can slow disability and improve balance, the art of listening to the body, and real world recommendations for safe strength, interval training, and mobility work, along with how mindset and consistency become anchors in chronic illness.

• Understand why MS fatigue differs from typical tiredness
• Explore how progressive movement reverses deconditioning and improves balance
• Discover practical ways to pace, cool, and protect energy during daily activities
• Learn simple strength and interval ideas you can tailor to your needs
• Find motivation to build consistency and confidence over time

Dr. Herbert Karpatkin, PT, DSc, NCS, GCS, MSCS, is a board certified specialist in neurology and geriatrics, and a Multiple Sclerosis Certified Specialist. He teaches in the Department of Physical Therapy at Hunter College and runs a private practice in New York that focuses on neurologic conditions including MS. His research centers on fatigue, balance, walking endurance, and individualized rehabilitation for people living with chronic illness.

Welcome to Beyond the Diagnosis, the podcast that brings real conversations, real stories, and real breakthroughs in health, healing, and hope. I’m your host, Michele Weston—Holistic Health and Wellbeing Coach—and I'm here to help you look past the symptoms and into the deeper story of living with your chronic condition.
Each week, we go beyond the chart and challenge the status quo of conventional care. From powerful patient journeys to expert insights in functional medicine and integrative practitioners, using mindset and lifestyle medicine, you’ll get the tools and inspiration to become the most informed, empowered version of yourself.
This is not just about managing illness—it’s about reclaiming your health, your voice, and your life.
Let’s get curious. Let’s get courageous. And let’s go Beyond the Diagnosis.