On this episode, Shannon sits down with Hil Moss of VivorCare to chat all things survivorship.

Hil is the Co-Founder & CEO of VivorCare, the first virtual survivorship clinic delivering cancer survivorship care. A young breast cancer survivor, Hil is an active advocate, mentor, and writer in the cancer community (published in outlets such as New York Magazine, Cell, and STAT), and dedicates her time to raising awareness around the importance of early detection and improving patient experience.

Hil shares her diagnosis experience and the irony of the season of her life she found out she had breast cancer. She shares about her experience with family planning throughout her cancer journey and the importance of talking about the different fertility experiences that can come after diagnosis.

We also talk about VivorCare & why Hil decided to commit to the full career change to focus on providing more support in the "What Now?" phase of survivorship.

VivorCare - https://www.vivorcare.com/

Hil Moss - https://www.instagram.com/hilmoss/

Shannon & Maddy start the episode off recapping their Thanksgiving and with some big podcast updates.

Then we introduce Thandi Montgomery to the pod this week who is a breast cancer survivor and advocate. We walk through her diagnosis journey, what her treatment looked like and the emotional rollercoaster through all of it.

She also shares how she stays so positive, ways she deals with fear of recurrence and reframing thoughts both during and after cancer.

You can keep up with Thandi on Instagram @thandimonee and check out her website at thandimonee.com.

This week’s guest is Dr. Sanjay, aka The Onc Doc @theoncdoc! We’re so excited for this episode - it’s full of super helpful information for cancer patients and survivors from an amazing oncologist. 

We talk to Dr. Sanjay about supplements, advocacy for patients, what he thinks cancer survivors should be doing after treatment, cancer topics & myths and new cancer-related discoveries and technologies that are coming. 

He’s so great at explaining cancer and cancer-related topics in everyday terms and gives so many helpful tips to navigate this experience. Thank you Dr. Sanjay for being such an awesome guest! Follow him on social media @theoncdoc and you can check out his website https://www.sjunejamd.com/ ! Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe to the pod! 

We're talking to Joanna Doran, Cancer Rights Expert & CEO of Triage Cancer. We discuss all things patient rights for the cancer community. This episode is a must listen for anyone impacted by cancer.

Joanna shares her background and how she got into the field of Cancer Rights. We discuss the primary areas that the cancer community looks for support - financial, insurance and employment law - with practical tips on how to make sure you are advocating for yourself sooner than later.

Triage Cancer is a national nonprofit organization that provides education on the practical and legal issues that can arise following a cancer diagnosis. The organization serves individuals diagnosed with cancer, as well as their families, caregivers, advocates and healthcare professionals, helping them navigate complex situations by providing free events, materials and resources.

Joanna Fawzy Doran, Esq., is a cancer rights attorney, author, speaker, and CEO of Triage Cancer, a national, nonprofit organization providing free education on practical and legal issues that may impact individuals coping with cancer and their caregivers, through events, materials, and resources.

You can check out everything Triage cancer has to offer at https://triagecancer.org/!

This week we're talking to Abigail Glavy, breast cancer survivor and women's rights advocate. Abigail had grown up seeing breast cancer her whole life with loved ones who had been diagnosed and she opens up about finding out about her own genetic mutation at the time of diagnosis and what it was like being exposed to this world at a young age.

She also shares some other traumatic events that happened around this time and how she's been living in survival mode for so long, and what she's been doing to start getting out of it and moving into survivorship.

Abigail is incredible and we're so excited for you to hear her story! Don't forget to rate, review & subscribe to the pod. You can follow Maddy on Instagram @maddypollack_health and Shannon @shancury.

It’s a solo episode with Shannon this week and she’s talking to Stephanie, the creator of Bad Genes, a “cancer clothing line” aimed to raise awareness about cancer, inspire survivors or those impacted and directly support cancer research. They donate 50% of net proceeds to non-profit organizations that are also dedicated to making a responsible impact.

They talk about why Stephanie created this business, being an oncology nurse and how that experience has been for her and why she’s been so drawn to the oncology field. You can check out Bad Genes at badgenes.co and follow them on social media @badgenes_

Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe to the pod! You can follow Shannon on Instagram @shancury and Maddy @maddypollack_health, and follow the pod @canceractuallysuckspod! 

It's a solo episode today catching up with your favorite hosts, Maddy & Shannon! We're reflecting on 2023 so far, talk about how both of us have had recent cancer triggers and fear of recurrence/other cancers. We talk about how no matter how long you're out of active cancer treatment, these feelings still come back and that is totally okay and how to get through them.

Shannon talks about her recent Europe trip and why the fear of recurrence came back during it. She opens up about the importance of recognizing what feels good for her body and coming back to it.

Maddy shares how she has recently taken some time off and how important it is to take time for yourself. She also has had a recent cancer trigger situation at the dermatologist and opens up about that experience.

We both open up about finding our own "normal" in our bodies and how that looks different for everyone.

Don't forget to rate, review and subscribe to the pod! And follow them on Insta @canceractuallysuckspod, @maddypollack_health and @shancury

This week we're talking to Tori McGee, who is a two time Hodgkins Lymphoma survivor, stem cell survivor and Guillain-Barre Syndrome warrior. She has now been in remission since last March 2022!

She shared with us how important it is to listen to your body rather than just go through the motions of life and accept not feeling great. Tori also opens up about how before her diagnosis she was always go go go and never took breaks or time for herself, and now moving forward how important that is her for her and her health.

She talks about the process of getting diagnosed and how scary it was seeing her scan results for the first time and how due to the size of her tumor she wasn’t able to do anything in regards to fertility prior to treatment. 

Tori also walks us through the stem cell transplant process and how it went for her, and how she ended up also getting diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), which is an autoimmune disease that attacks the nerve endings. 

She provides some amazing advice and tips on how she stays so positive and has such a great perspective on life, taking one day at a time and prioritizing your health. 

You can check out Tori’s website at iamstoritelling.com and follow her in Instagram at @storitelling. Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe to the pod and follow us on Insta @canceractuallysuckspod!

On this week’s pod we’re talking to Aidan Morris, stage 3 triple negative breast cancer survivor and co-founder of Do Cancer, a nonprofit organization that provides cancer patients and survivors with holistic healing services and programs.

Aidan walks us through her diagnosis processes, getting second opinions for her treatment plan and the treatments she went through. She also opens up about doing her own research on the different drugs and treatments that were being recommended by doctors and how helpful it was. 

She also discusses how imperative it is to be your own advocate and build trust within your body, parenting throughout cancer and how she approached it, and how she stayed in the present both during cancer treatment and now.

We are so appreciative of Aidan for being so open and sharing her story! Follow Do Cancer on Instagram @do.cancer and check out their website for more info and how to get involved at docancer.org.

Keep up with us and our guests on social media @canceractuallysuckspod.

This week we're talking to the incredible shining light that is Shenell Malloy. Shenell is a stage 4 Glioblastoma survivor, founder of Do Cancer, mom of two and has been in remission for 4 years. After being told that the average survival time is 12-18 months with this diagnosis and that 5% of patients live past 5 years, she became determined to not only live and survive through this cancer for herself and her family, but to also help others gain access to holistic healing modalities. She shares her journey through having such a terrifying diagnosis, treatment and how she prioritized herself and her health to get through treatment and the aftermath of it all.

Shenell talks about how important it is for all of us to make time for ourselves and our healing rather than waiting until it's too late. She opens up about starting the Do Cancer organization, what it is and how you can get involved. Shenell is truly amazing and we're so excited for you to hear her story! You can follow Do Cancer on Instagram @do.cancer and visit the website at docancer.org.

Don't forget to rate, review and subscribe to the pod and follow us on Instagram @canceractuallysuckspod!