Dr. Jackie Gollan is associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral science and a clinical psychologist at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. As a clinician, she uses evidence-based psychotherapy to treat people for depression and anxiety. Her research focuses on how habits interfere with our goals; this includes how people make decisions to approach or avoid situations.

As the quarantine and restrictions related to COVID-19 stretch into their fourth month — though some areas are loosening some restrictions — we may find ourselves not wearing a mask every single time we leave the house or being a bit more casual about washing our hands. This reaction is called “caution fatigue.”

In this podcast, Dr. Gollan explains caution fatigue and give us some tips on how to overcome it.

Listen to hear Dr. Gollan explain:

Running time: 20:30

Dr. Lola Fayanju is assistant professor of surgery at the Duke University School of Medicine. In addition to treating people with breast cancer surgery, Dr. Fayanju’s research interests include using big data and sophisticated analyses to reduce disparities in outcomes after breast cancer diagnoses and to improve the value of breast cancer care. When she was a general surgery resident at Washington University in St. Louis, her research found that women treated by safety-net primary care doctors in the greater St. Louis area were more likely to be diagnosed with more advanced-stage breast cancer than women who had private insurance. She also looked at the reasons behind this disparity, and her work led to an overhaul of the referral process for underserved women in the St. Louis area.

Breast cancer is a crisis in its own right. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused many doctors’ offices and treatment facilities to close, so breast cancer screenings and treatments have been delayed for months. When some areas were just starting to schedule appointments again, many people experienced additional trauma due to the killing of George Floyd and potentially even more limited access to medical facilities. All of this fear, anxiety, and uncertainty can lead to sky high stress and despair levels, especially for people of color who have been diagnosed with breast cancer.

In this podcast, Dr. Fayanju talks about some of the disparities we see in breast cancer, as well as some ways to ease stress and despair.

Listen to the podcast to hear her explain:

Running time: 22:25

Dr. Frank DellaCroce, or “Dr. D” as he has come to be known, is a founding partner of the Center for Restorative Breast Surgery and St. Charles Surgical Hospital in New Orleans. Board-certified in plastic surgery, Dr. D has performed thousands of reconstructive procedures, both for women diagnosed with breast cancer and women at high risk of the disease who choose to have prophylactic breast removal. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of numerous professional societies, including the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the American Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery, and the World Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery. He also has been named one of the “Best Doctors in America.”

In this podcast, Dr. DellaCroce talks about why numbness happens after mastectomy or breast reconstruction and factors that can affect how much sensation returns.

Listen to the podcast to hear him explain:

Running time: 42:43

During her professional career, Shirley Mertz was a political science teacher and high school principal. Before her retirement, Shirley was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, 12 years after being diagnosed with early-stage disease. After receiving targeted treatment, Shirley experienced a durable remission. She decided in 2005 to use her skills and intellect to advocate for research to end deaths from metastatic breast cancer; to lobby for access to affordable, quality healthcare; and to empower metastatic patients to make informed healthcare decisions to have the best outcomes. In 2009, to spread knowledge about metastatic disease, Shirley organized and led a group of patients to Congress, asking for a resolution to designate October 13 as National Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day. The resolution passed unanimously.

In 2013, Shirley was a founding member of the Metastatic Breast Cancer Alliance and currently serves as its chairperson. She is also president of the Metastatic Breast Cancer Network, a patient advocate member of the Translational Breast Cancer Consortium and the AURORA USA clinical study, and a member of the board of directors of the Global Advanced Breast Cancer Alliance based in Lisbon. Shirley is often invited to speak at conferences about the challenges and needs of patients. Among her numerous awards, Shirley was honored at the White House in 2011 as a Champion of Change in Breast Cancer by President Obama.

In this podcast, Shirley talks about what it’s like to live with metastatic breast cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Listen to the podcast to hear Shirley discuss:

Running time: 38:31

Dr. Julie Sprunt is a board-certified Fellow of the American Academy of Surgeons who specializes in breast surgery, treating all breast conditions. After receiving her medical degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center, she did her residency in general surgery at the University of Texas at Austin and completed a breast surgical oncology fellowship at the University of Southern California.

Dr. Elisabeth Potter is a board-certified plastic surgeon who received her medical degree from Emory University. She completed her plastic surgery residency at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and her reconstructive plastic surgery and microsurgery fellowship at MD Anderson. Dr. Potter specializes in autologous breast reconstruction and has performed more than 750 DIEP flap surgeries.

Drs. Potter and Sprunt work as a team to treat breast cancer and then reconstruct a woman’s breast or breasts.

On April 21, 2020, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons released guidelines on how breast reconstruction surgery can begin again. The American Society of Breast Surgeons also issued updated guidelines on treating people with breast cancer during the pandemic.

Listen to the podcast to hear Drs. Potter and Sprunt explain:

Running time: 27:50

Our guest is Dr. Brian Wojciechowski, who practices medical oncology in Delaware County, Pennsylvania at Riddle, Taylor, and Crozer hospitals and also serves as Breastcancer.org's medical adviser. A native of South Philadelphia, he trained at Temple University School of Medicine and Lankenau Medical Center. Dr. Wojciechowski is a sought-after speaker on the topics of medical ethics and the biology of cancer.

In one of our Discussion Board threads, people were talking about how a breast cancer is staged, especially if an early-stage cancer spreads or comes back in a place away from the breast. Both the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute websites say that the stage of a breast cancer at first diagnosis doesn’t change. So a woman who was diagnosed in 2010 with stage II disease and then had a recurrence in the bones in 2015 would technically be “stage II with metastatic recurrence to bone,” which is not how most people think and talk about metastatic disease.

Dr. Wojciechowski reached out to the American Cancer Society about this, and he joins us today to help us all understand this a little bit better.

Listen to the podcast to hear Dr. Wojciechowski each explain:

Running time: 17:23