In this week’s episode Maddy is speaking with Katie Day, who on November 19th 2021 is officially 1 year in remission from Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma!

Katie discusses the first symptoms she experienced while in her senior of college and what led her to go get checked and ultimately receive the official diagnosis. She talks about doing REPOC chemo treatment and how she had to be hooked up to chemo 24/7 for 5 days at a time.

We also discuss the process of how she decided not to freeze her eggs and what she did instead, why a traditional support group didn’t feel right for her and how she found amazing support through social media and the online young adult cancer community.

Katie has started playing tennis again and is now in school abroad in the UK! You can follow her and reach out on Instagram @_katieday and follow us @canceractuallysuckspodcast on Facebook and Instagram!

On today’s episode I’m chatting with Jessa de la Morena, cervical cancer survivor, Global Director of the Transformational Leadership program at Amadeus, and founder of U Are The Hero.

Jessa and I talk about some similarities between quarantine in Covid and being in treatment, how she was first diagnosed with a rare form of cervical cancer, parenting two children while going through treatment, and how she dealt with the cancer coming back.

Jessa also opens up a lot about how her cancer experience transformed the way she shows up in her every day life,  how it led her to have a big personal transformation due to tons of introspection and supplemental practices she did while in treatment that helped with both physical and mental side effects of cancer.

From realizing that there aren’t many positive places online for cancer patients or people dealing with adversities in general, she created U Are The Hero, an online community where people can share their stories to give others hope and inspire to own your wellbeing, take action, and be your own hero.

You can check out U Are The Hero online and share your own story at uarethehero.com and follow the community on Instagram @u_are_the_hero.

Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe to this podcast and follow us on Facebook and Instagram @canceractuallysuckspodcast

Today’s guest is Jessa de la Morena, cervical cancer survivor and founder of U Are The Hero. Jessa shares how her cancer experience led her to becoming her own hero and how important introspection and connection are to healing.

On this week’s episode Jen Delvaux joins me to talk about her experience as both a caregiver to her husband, who has been fighting brain cancer since 2009, and a cancer fighter herself. Jen was diagnosed with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma breast cancer in February 2021. We discuss how her and her husband’s mindsets around their diagnoses are super different, but how they help each other along the way, how fitness has helped her throughout this entire journey, the treatment she had to undergo, going through forced menopause, parenting while both having cancer and so much more!

Jen is truly such a positive light in this cancer community and reminds us of the importance of controlling what we can when it comes to our health. She also discusses other modalities she has used to help with the side effects from hormone therapy and what other lifestyle changes she’s made that have made a positive impact on her health.

You can follow Jen on Instagram @jendelvaux and check out her website jendelvaux.com, and go listen to her podcast Not Today Cancer.

Keep up with us and our guests on Facebook and Instagram @canceractuallysuckspodcast.

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This week’s guest is Howie Saavedra, caregiver and husband to Christina Marie Saavedra Paisley who passed away on June 16, 2021 after battling ALL for 16 months. I’m beyond honored that Howie was willing to share his and Christina’s story and be super vulnerable during our whole chat.

Howie opens up about how him and Christina met, how Christina found out she had Leukemia, their difficulties with finding treatment plans in Canada, the beautiful, happy times they had during this experience and what led to Christina’s passing. He also explains how he’s had his own PTSD to deal with, what brings him joy now that she is gone and how he plans on living his life after going through this tragic experience.

Howie’s perspective from the husband and caregiver is so important to talk about and share, and I’m truly so grateful that he was willing to on this podcast.

In the words of Christina, “Be kind. Be brave. Be radically bold.”

You can keep up with Howie on Instagram @howru_howie and keep up with our guests on Facebook and Instagram @canceractuallysuckspodcast.

This week’s guest is Cody O’Connor, Ewing Sarcoma survivor and founder of Champions do Overcome, an organization that raises money to help with the families affected by childhood cancer. As a young kid diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, Cody witnessed firsthand how cancer not only affected him personally, but all of his younger siblings and his parents throughout his experience. 

Cody opens up about his own experience with treatment, needing to get surgery to remove his fibula, which ultimately changed the trajectory of his life. Building up strength and now proving everyone wrong by walking across the country to raise awareness and funds for his organization Champions Do Overcome. He also talks about how faith and religion has helped him get through, reacclimatizing to life after treatment as an active teenage boy and what inspired him to go on this "walk for hope." 

We're rooting for you Cody and so happy you could share your story! You can check out the organization at https://www.championsdoovercome.org/ and follow Cody on Instagram @overcomerteam to keep up with where he is on his journey. 

Follow us to keep up with guests and updates on Instagram and Facebook @canceractuallysuckspodcast! 

This week we’re speaking with Kiki Wooten, breast cancer fighter and advocate with Know Your Lemons. Kiki is the sweetest, most genuine human and I’m so happy she was able to share her story with us! She was diagnosed with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma Stage 2A on October 1st, 2019, ironically the first day of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Kiki talks us through how she first felt her tumor, finding out the news by herself, telling her husband, and then preparing for what was to come and explaining that to her 5 year old daughter. She also explains how she prepared for her bilateral mastectomy and different complications she experienced with the tissue expanders throughout chemo. Kiki had to go through several surgeries during Covid and also talks about not being able to see her family during that time. Kiki is passionate about teaching others to listen to their bodies and to be aware of the signs of potential breast cancer.

You can truly feel Kiki’s sweet, compassionate personality through this interview and I know she will help so many other women and men experiencing breast cancer through sharing her story and becoming an advocate with Know Your Lemons. Thank you Kiki!

You can find her Facebook at Kiki Nicole, and follow her on Instagram @viper_foxx. Check out Know Your Lemons at knowyourlemons.com.

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This week’s guest is Justin Seddon, an Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and kidney cancer survivor, and marine, who’s mission has been to influence and motivate other people with cancer by showing them that anything is possible post cancer. “My whole purpose of joining the military was to highlight that. As much as I appreciated all the volunteers helping me, they were unable to directly relate to anything we have gone through.”

Justin was diagnosed with ALL at just 13 years old. He opens up about being a teenager during such a difficult time, going through treatment for 3 years, how different the protocols were back then versus now, relating to other kids and how he felt about missing out on certain social situations growing up. He also talks about how this experience influenced him to join the military at 21 years old to become a marine, volunteering at pediatric oncology centers, and then getting diagnosed with kidney cancer years later.

Justin is now married with a son of his own, and has been NED for 7 months! He is so incredibly inspiring and is currently working on writing a book to talk about his experience.

You can follow or reach out to Justin on Instagram @seddondone

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This week’s guest is Amanda Kelly, 31 year old breast cancer survivor. Amanda was diagnosed with breast cancer at 29 after finding a lump in the shower. She walks us through the process of deciding on whether to do a mastectomy or chemo first, how she dealt with the waiting in between having surgery and the start of chemo, and the difficulty of making all of these different decisions that come with a cancer diagnosis.

We also talk about her recovery from the double mastectomy she had, her experience with dating during all of this, and dealing with the anxieties after treatment is over.

You can keep up with Amanda on her instagram @akelly726!

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I am SO EXCITED about this week’s guest, Emily Schmookler, Yoga, Meditation and Pranayama Guide and Ayurveda Health Counselor. Emily was diagnosed with Grade 1A Endometrial cancer in June 2020. She shares how thus far she’s taken a conservative, integrated approach to her cancer as opposed to the traditional treatment of a hysterectomy and is still in the decision making process.

Emily opens up about dealing with hormone imbalances, how she’s had PCOS her whole adult life, how making a decision around treatment can be super difficult and taking an integrated approach with both Western and Eastern medicine.

She also discusses Ayurveda and how It can help with balancing of hormones, the importance of self care and prioritizing your health, and 3 things she recommends doing every day in order to help with that balance.

Thank you so much Emily for sharing your story! You can follow her on Instagram @schmook.town or email her at [email protected].

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I’m so thankful to have Lauren Gilley on the episode today to share her experience and story as a first time mom to Ruby who recently completed treatment and is in remission from stage 4 Hebatoblastoma! Lauren talks about how they first discovered Ruby’s diagnosis, how even during chemo Ruby was hitting milestones like walking, gaining weight, and starting to talk and how absolutely resilient Ruby was throughout the whole process.

Lauren also opens up about trying to find other parents with kids that have or had this type of cancer since it’s so rare, how relating to other parents was extremely difficult and how little childhood cancer is researched compared to adult cancer.

Her and Ruby are truly so inspiring and Lauren’s outlook on this whole experience is incredible.

You can follow her for updates on Ruby @laur_gilley on Instagram & Twitter

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