Cancer U Thrivers

Robin is a breast cancer survivor and mother to Jordan Ray. Robin's 20-year-old son Zach has his private pilot license and he's pursuing his commercial license. Robin has been married to her husband John for almost 30 years. Robin and Jordan join us from Wellington, Florida. Jordan has gone from a star athlete, brain surgery survivor, to serial entrepreneur all before age 20. Jordan Ray is the Founder and CEO of Limitless Medical Logs®, a keynote speaker. and an aspiring author.

• 01:41: Let's start with you Robin because I know your experience came first.  
• 03:53: They determined there were two spots on my right breast that they found.  
• 05:52: What happens after radiation? 
• 08:35: What about your brother? 
• 09:31: You said your worst moment was that three-hour MRI that turned out to be unnecessary. 
• 12:24: What was your best moment?  
• 15:25: I think I was down for a few seconds.  
• 17:10: You go to the neurosurgeon and what's next? 
• 19:29: We were like what is that malformation?  
• 21:19: What was the surgery?  
• 23:11: My spine is killing me. 
• 25:34: Jordan, how did this affect your athletic career? 
• 27:07: Yeah, well I have to say it was hard for us as well because as parents, we've traveled out of state with Jordan. 
• 29:34: She was the first pick of their season of 2016 graduates. 
• 31:11: What is one thing you wish you had known at the beginning of this journey?  
• 34:12: I have an uncle who's an oncologist up in Maine and he was very helpful whenever I got information. 
• 37:41: If you could only do one thing to improve health care in the US, what would it be and why? 
• 40:02: You don't just come out of medical school and know how to do these things.  
• 42:42: Thriver Rapid Fire Questions 
• 44:36: Aside from Cancer U, what is one resource that you would recommend for patients and caregivers?  

Resources

• Limitless Medical Logs
• Email Robin 
• Email Jordan
• DM Jordan on Instagram

Keith D Guernsey has beaten cancer twice — prostate cancer in 2018 and multiple myeloma in 2020. He works on cultivating and maintaining a positive mental attitude.

• 00:59: Take us back to the beginning with the first diagnosis and how that all came about.  
• 03:26: You are cancer-free.  
• 05:12: Tell us about getting that multiple myeloma diagnosis after being cancer-free from prostate cancer for a year. 
• 07:10: I've talked to people who have lived with myeloma for 31 years.  
• 09:25: I went down so hard that I put my left elbow through the wall. 
• 11:20: I was speaking in gibberish; I couldn't speak complete sentences.  
• 13:02: It wouldn't be safe for me to travel until I've had my vaccines. 
• 15:54: He was diagnosed with leukemia right before I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma.  
• 18:16: I just had this time in my life where I would faint on a regular basis, and it was scary.  
• 20:50: What was your worst moment in all of it?  
• 22:00: What was your best moment? 
• 23:45: What is the one thing you wish you had known at the beginning of your cancer journey? 
• 24:29: If you could only do one thing to improve health care in the US, what would it be and why? 
• 26:55: Thriver Rapid Fire Questions 
• 28:03: Aside from Cancer U, what is one resource you would recommend for cancer patients and caregivers? 

Resources

• Keith on Facebook
• Keith on Amazon
• Email Keith
• Call Keith 1.978.973.5691
• American Cancer Society

AnnMarie Giannino is parlaying her cancer diagnosis into advocacy and she is a powerhouse. She works tirelessly to engage the community through awareness programs and fundraising initiatives. And she ensures that everyone who suffers is heard.

• 01:20: Can you take us back to the very beginning?  
• 03:23: Why were you doing all this volunteer work for breast cancer if you hadn't even been diagnosed yet?  
• 05:14: Black discharge is normal.  
• 07:16: She encouraged me to get a second opinion, which I love about her because you know, not many doctors will encourage that.  
• 10:37: I wish more doctors would encourage women to go flat until their body could heal a little bit more and process the grieving of it.  
• 12:54: I felt like cancer stole so much and I was taking this back. 
• 16:09: I think I just burned my boob. 
• 18:17: Right in the beginning of my cancer process, my whole right side went numb.  
• 20:30: She took 17 vials of blood.  
• 22:19: What was your worst moment in all of this?  
• 24:15: I showed him these very graphic images of my then mutilated chest, black and blue drains coming out. 
• 27:45: What was your best moment in all of this? 
• 30:54: What is the one thing you wish you had known at the very beginning of your cancer journey? 
• 32:39: We never know whose story is going to matter to somebody else. 
• 34:47: If you could only do one thing to improve health care in the US, what would it be and why?  
• 36:30: Thriver Rapid Fire Questions 
• 39:20: What is one resource you would recommend for cancer patients and caregivers? 

Resources

• Breastcancer.org
• I had cancer
• AnnMarie’s website Stupid Dumb Breast Cancer

Anissa Orsino is a seven-year breast cancer survivor, homeschooling mom of two boys, and bucket list crusher. She’s on a mission to help fellow moms and sister survivors live with intention and create lives that they LOVE.

• 00:54: Take us back to the beginning of your cancer journey. 
• 03:29: Would you just come back and feel this lump?  
• 06:30: Okay so you're pregnant and what is the plan now?  
• 08:05: It turned out the lump did respond very, very well to chemo.  
• 10:18: I bet this is what it feels like right before you die.  
• 12:35: I got the expander put in at the time of my mastectomy.  
• 15:25: Talk to us about the implant and what went on from there.  
• 17:20: Talk to us about lymphedema.  
• 19:21: I could take a little bit more time off and so I just decided to go for it.  
• 21:33: I know I exercise most mornings and that has made a huge difference. 
• 23:25: What was your worst moment? 
• 25:20: What was your best moment?  
• 28:14: Many doctors are extremely reluctant to use the word cured.  
• 28:28: What is the one thing you wish you had known at the beginning of your cancer journey? 
• 33:50: If you could only do one thing to improve health care in the US, what would it be and why? 
• 36:12: Everybody should have a doctor that will talk to them for two hours. 
• 37:48: Thrive Rapid Fire Questions 
• 39:44: Aside from Cancer U, what is one resource that you would recommend for cancer patients and caregivers? 

Resources

• Anissa’s website
• Anissa on Facebook
• Anissa’s You Can Cancer Planner
• Email Anissa at [email protected]
• Radical Remission by Dr. Kelly Turner

Julia Baldwin Taylor is a creative biz owner and transformational coach. She and her mother were both diagnosed with cancer in January 2017. After making some major shifts in her life and business, she learned to hustle less, live more, and attract more success, and she loves to help other entrepreneurs do the same.

• 02:24: How did you guys get diagnosed?
• 04:24: My mom had surgery scheduled. There was suspicion that it was cancer, but the doctor didn't officially say it was.
• 06:09: I was on the living room floor in my parents’ house trying to do yoga and I just can't lay on my stomach.
• 09:03: It's slow-growing compared to most types of ovarian cancer.
• 12:03: What was your treatment after surgery?
• 14:18: Where were your siblings?
• 16:09: What was your worst moment?
• 17:43: What about your best moment in all of this?
• 19:59: What do you think is one of the big differences between being a caregiver in that situation and being a patient in this situation?
• 23:04: It was just such a touching, precious moment, and I'm so thankful that she lived long enough to see me thriving.
• 24:40: How was the beginning of your cancer journey?
• 26:29: If you could only do one thing to improve health care in the U.S. what would it be and why?
• 28:20: Do you think that's everywhere or specific to American culture?
• 29:14: Are you ready for the Thriver Rapid Fire questions?
• 31:10: Aside from Cancer U, what is one resource that you would recommend for cancer patients and caregivers?

Resources

• Julia’s website
• Julia on Instagram
• Email Julia at [email protected]
• Julia recommends Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) Tapping — The Tapping Foundation

Ginny Dent Brant is a speaker, writer, counselor, educator, and wellness advocate. Brant’s triple award-winning book Unleash Your God-Given Healing: Eight Steps to Prevent and Survive Cancer was written with an oncologist after her cancer journey. Her cancer prevention blog is at www.ginnybrant.com.

• 01:26: Would you please take us back to the very beginning of your cancer journey?
• 03:23: My absolute worst moment was when I met with the surgical oncologist after my MRI.
• 05:11: We didn't know how far the cancer had spread at that point.
• 07:01: Did you stay at Cancer Treatment Centers of America?
• 09:20: I do know this: people that have healthy lifestyle habits do better in the cancer treatment journey.
• 11:12: By the time they removed the tumor and cleared the margins, it left me with a small breast which was fine.
• 13:03: I ended up doing two miles that day.
• 15:18: I was able to put a routine together that not only oxygenated my body but held my bone density.
• 17:16: I'm curious what you think about Chinese medicine. Because in Chinese medicine, certain emotions reside in certain organs of the body.
• 19:31: I find this research that shows that grief can suppress the immune system.
• 21:28: I believe it was that acupuncture; she was stimulating my red blood cells to build themselves back up.
• 24:00: What was your best moment in all of this?
• 26:40: If you could only do one thing to improve health care in the US, what would it be and why?
• 28:50: You must be your own best advocate because cancer is a huge money-making business.
• 30:00: I was their first patient to get the Vitamin C infusions 24 hours before chemotherapy.
• 31:38: Are you ready for the Thriver Rapid Fire questions?
• 33:29: What is one resource you would recommend for cancer patients and caregivers?

Resources

• Ginny’s website
• Ginny on Facebook
• Unleash Your God-Given Healing: Eight Steps to Prevent and Survive Cancer

Joy Clausen Soto is the founder of the annual Dolphin Interaction Program for patients from Rady Children’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Joy is a Stage 2 Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma survivor, a dolphin trainer, TEDx speaker, and the director and subject of the documentary Just One Year –A story of triumph over cancer.

• 01:46: I had this cough, and the cough wouldn't go away, kept getting worse and worse instead of better.
• 03:45: We went to urgent care which is right around the corner from where he lived.
• 05:10: The next week I was diagnosed with stage two Hodgkin's lymphoma and my diagnosis ended up changing.
• 07:50: What did the doctor tell you about the diagnosis and what were your expectations about it?
• 09:27: That's one of the things I would tell people to do is to make sure you get someone else to check out your slides to make sure it is what it is.
• 11:07: Did you have to go down to Children's Hospital Los Angeles?
• 13:03: What happened with film school?
• 17:06: He was there for me for every single chemotherapy treatment, every blood transfusion.
• 19:32: Did you go back to film school?
• 22:12: You have to be selfish and that's what I did.
• 24:09: What was your worst moment?
• 26:20: What was your best moment?
• 27:47: What is one thing you wish you had known at the very beginning of your cancer journey?
• 28:36: If you could only do one thing to improve health care in the US, what would it be and why?
• 30:11: Are you ready for the Thriver Rapid Fire questions?
• 32:16: Aside from Cancer U, what would recommend for cancer patients and caregivers?

Resources

• Joy’s website
• Joy on LinkedIn
• Joy’s book: Joy: The story of a dolphin trainer, filmmaker, and cancer survivor
• Joy’s documentary
• Joy’s TED Talk

In 2018, Helen King was diagnosed with HER2 + breast cancer. She was 37 years old and had no family history. Everything happened quickly once she was diagnosed. Two weeks later, after a biopsy, she had her right breast removed and 24 lymph nodes removed. Then she endured 18 months of treatment. Cancer has had a profound impact on her life.

• 02:31: I just found a lump in my breast by chance in the shower and it was the day before I was starting a new job.
• 04:33: They can't confirm cancer until they have those biopsy results.
• 06:01: Did they give you any options about the mastectomy?
• 09:16: I just think it would have been a much easier option in a lot of ways, to not have either breast.
• 10:50: I had a mastectomy, fertility treatment, and then went straight into chemotherapy.
• 14:51: I guess when you when people have had cancer, they'll understand that everything comes down to percentages.
• 16:34: I think the hardest time in my experience is afterward.
• 18:10: You are not alone and there's just not enough for survivors.
• 20:31: I don't think people realize just how much a cancer diagnosis impacts you.
• 22:54: I was put into menopause during my treatment.
• 24:32: How does it feel knowing your mammogram is coming up?
• 25:59: What was your best moment in every all of this?
• 27:26: What is the one thing you wish you had known at the beginning of your cancer journey?
• 27:52: If you could only do one thing to improve health care in New Zealand would it be and why?
• 29:17: Because of the way that things are funded, we just don't have the same access to the drugs that you guys have.
• 30:13: Are you ready for the Thriver Rapid Fire questions?
• 31:55: Aside from Cancer U, what is one resource you would recommend for cancer patients and caregivers?

Resources

• The C-Word — Kiwis Talk About Cancer
• C-Word Radio
• Email Helen at [email protected]

Known as the Insightful Copywriter, Gloria Grace Rand shows service-based entrepreneurs how to create a business with more Impact, Influence, and Income! She is an inspirational speaker and author of the best-seller Live. Love. Engage. – How to Stop Doubting Yourself and Start Being Yourself.

• 01:42: Tell us about the cancer journey and how you became the caregiver.
• 03:31: What she had was a grapefruit-sized tumor that was wrapped around her muscle.
• 04:59: Her oncologist even said that the chances of her getting this cancer were like getting hit by lightning.
• 07:22: She had to be in a wheelchair and so she couldn't drive either.
• 10:26: She was just taking longer and longer to come back because it was depleting her white blood cells.
• 12:00: She went into the hospital because she had a bowel obstruction.
• 14:27: She went off to college when I was seven years old and did not move back home again.
• 16:28: Of all those hurdles which one was the most difficult for you?
• 20:18: Children leave, so do husbands and lovers, but sisters are the only ones with us from birth till death.
• 22:43: She was talking with someone about end-of-life things.
• 24:57: I do know that the meditating did help me.
• 27:57: What is the one thing that you wish you had known at the beginning of this journey with your sister?
• 29:21: If you could only do one thing to improve health care in the US, what would it be and why?
• 31:19: Are you ready for the Thriver Rapid Fire questions?
• 33:38: Aside from Cancer U, what is one resource you would recommend for cancer patients and caregivers?
• 36:40: Friday mornings I would drive out and sit for a couple of hours and write in my notebook.
• 39:03: I dedicated it to Michaela because I really felt that it was that journey that she was on that really sparked this.

Resources

• Buy Gloria’s book
• Gloria’s website
• Gloria on Facebook
• Email Gloria
• Call Gloria 1.786.942.8321

Bami Adenipekun founded Inspired To Soar with the mission to give everyone impacted by cancer the tools to live fulfilling lives. Bami has been a patient and loved one of someone with cancer. She infuses every client with positivity and helps to restore their confidence so they can achieve audacious goals.

• 01:30: The beginning of my cancer journey was when my late mother was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 42 in Nigeria.
• 03:13: You were diagnosed when you underwent a double mastectomy to prevent cancer.
• 05:05: They decided to go into my lymph nodes to make sure it hadn't spread.
• 07:17: I'd also seen the impact of chemotherapy not just on my sister but my friends.
• 10:25: Where were you living and getting your health care?
• 12:03: It just makes things so very difficult for myself and my younger siblings.
• 15:00: How has that [mother and sister’s deaths] impacted you?
• 17:05: Sisters are the only ones with you from birth till death.
• 19:25: How has your experience been as the daughter and sister of a cancer patient versus being a patient yourself?
• 21:21: If you don't have the answers then find somebody who has the answers.
• 25:30: I always say this every human being wants to be heard, wants to be understood.
• 27:17: They give you the sleeve and the whole point is that the sleeve helps to redirect the fluid to where it needs to go.
• 28:13: What was your worst moment?
• 30:09: What was your best moment?
• 32:40: If you could only do one thing to improve health care where you live in the UK, what would it be and why?
• 34:05: Don't just dismiss them, listen to them, get them the test that they need.
• 35:05: Are you ready for the Thriver Rapid Fire questions?
• 36:42: Aside from Cancer U, what is one resource you recommend for cancer patients and caregivers?

Resources

• Bami’s Coaching Website
• Bami on LinkedIn