Cancer U Thrivers

Kim Sorrelle is an entrepreneur, director of a non-profit organization, author, speaker, and lover of all people. Four months after receiving a breast cancer diagnosis, her husband was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, passing away just six weeks later. Kim began questioning the true meaning of love so she dedicated a full year to figure it out. The things that she discovered about love are unlike anything you've heard before and are chronicled in her book, Love Is.

• 01:32: How did this breast cancer diagnosis come about?  
• 03:58: He just grabbed onto me and held me.  
• 06:25: What stage and what type of breast cancer did you have? 
• 08:53: I had to have a complete hysterectomy because of the hormone receptors.  
• 10:05: I had a male doctor I told him to pick the size.  
• 14:50: I'm trying to call him and I'm not getting anywhere because his phone is off. 
• 17:01: The numbers were absolutely outrageous way higher than in the last lecture.  
• 19:29: Why do you want your husband to have pancreatic cancer? 
• 21:44: He had one round of chemo and his numbers never returned to a point to be able to have another round. 
• 23:59: We had hospice involved from the beginning and had an incredible experience with them.  
• 26:24: It just happened that fast.  
• 28:18: She seemed 100% at peace and the hospice nurse was like okay she's probably going to go today. 
• 30:07: I would have done anything in the world for that man. 
• 32:20: What is one thing you wish you had known at the very beginning? 
• 34:15: It was more of a transition than just a moment in time with him leaving.  
• 35:28: If you could only do one thing to improve health care in the U.S., what would it be and why?  
• 37:02: I don't think doctors get any kind of training on how to talk about dying. 
• 39:15: The two focuses of the lab were pancreatic and breast cancer.  
• 40:44: Thriver Rapid Fire Questions.  
• 41:49: Aside from Cancer U, what is one resource you would recommend for cancer patients and caregivers? 

Resources

• Kim's website
• Kim on LinkedIn
• Kim's book Cry Until You Laugh
• Email Kim

Surviving Stage 3C and Stage 4 colon cancer and their treatments and overcoming their long-term side effects taught Jay Einbender that cancer is not just a journey of the body, but equally a journey of the mind and soul. And that all three must be treated concurrently.

• 01:56: I started having symptoms in my lower left abdomen. 
• 04:27: Why was it such a nightmare? 
• 06:06: I had my chemotherapy at Sloan Kettering. 
• 08:35: It cost $10,000 a shot to keep my white blood cell levels high. 
• 10:35: I slept on average three hours a night. 
• 12:48: Cancer stresses your finances from the very beginning.  
• 14:43: What did you do before cancer? 
• 17:57: She’s the number one lung transplant doctor in the United States. 
• 20:59: What was the worst moment for you? 
• 23:04: People always think of me as an extrovert, but I'm really an introverted extrovert. 
• 24:19: How about your best moment?  
• 27:10: What is one thing you wish you had known at the beginning? 
• 31:18: if you could only do one thing to improve health care in the U.S., what would it be and why? 
• 32:41: Thriver Rapid Fire Questions.  
• 34:08: Aside from Cancer U, what's one resource you would recommend for cancer patients and caregivers? 

Resources

• Heartfirst
• Heartfirst on Facebook
• Email Jay

When bodybuilder Richard Bagdonas was diagnosed with cancer at the age of forty-five, he set out to design a new fitness regimen to help him fight that battle. One that would keep his mind and body strong enough to win. After beating stage IV cancer—and then COVID pneumonia—Richard started sharing his workout story and building a dedicated community of FitFAB warriors.

• 01:31: Just a few years ago, my family and I went to Mexico.  
• 02:56: I sat down in her office, and I said I have cancer. 
• 05:00: I wrote a letter email to Dr. Michael Wong at MD Anderson. 
• 07:14: Were there any side effects from the immunotherapy? 
• 09:15: Did your doctors think you were crazy? 
• 11:19: I started writing the book during the very first month of cancer treatment. 
• 13:25: I was going back and forth to Houston quite often. 
• 15:14: Cancer that was in my body was completely gone.  
• 17:12: When they ran a CT scan, they found a benign tumor behind her left eyeball the size of an eyeball.  
• 19:51: In 2019 I was cured of cancer.  
• 22:22: I had 30% lung capacity at the time. 
• 25:08: When I was at the hospital, I was vegetarian.  
• 26:11: What is one thing you wish you had known at the beginning of your cancer journey? 
• 26:53: If you could only do one thing to improve health care in the U.S., what would it be and why?  
• 28:14: Thriver Rapid Fire Questions.  
• 29:38: Aside from Cancer U, what's one resource you would recommend for cancer patients and caregivers? 

Resources

• Fit For Any Battle
• Richard on LinkedIn
• Richard on Twitter
• Email Richard

Philip Lister is an adult and child psychiatrist and psychotherapist. Liza, the second of their three children died 25 years ago at age six after a two-year journey with cancer. Dr. Lister works in private practice, often with families facing loss or severe medical illness. He also teaches the art of psychotherapy at Columbia and Mount Sinai medical centers. He is a therapist in the Phase 3 study of MDMA-assisted therapy for the treatment of PTSD.

• 03:24: Could this be leukemia?  
• 05:09: She had acute lymphoblastic leukemia.  
• 07:35: We didn't want to give her too much information. 
• 09:15: I trust that her curiosity was respected.  
• 12:02: Is it something that we could have protected her from? 
• 14:32: Did you go forward with the clinical trial? 
• 16:10: Liza lost her hair.  
• 17:36: The next bump in the road was that she got a fungal infection.  
• 20:36: How old was Liza at this point?  
• 22:46: What did that treatment look like?  
• 26:42: How long did that go on? 
• 28:51: I remember she was very endearing when she first saw this booth. 
• 30:11: Was there ever a point where you knew that she was not going to survive?  
• 32:01: How did Liza respond?  
• 35:57: She had accumulated many, many cows at one point. 
• 36:57: How old was your other daughter during this? 
• 40:42: I think it’s time that I'm dying, and I want you to know that I love you.  
• 42:06: If you could only do one thing to improve health care in the U.S., what would it be and why? 
• 43:49: Thriver Rapid Fire Questions.  
• 45:52: Aside from Cancer U, what's one resource you would recommend for cancer patients and caregivers? 

Resources

• Phil's website
• Email Phil
• A Short Good Life (on Amazon)

At the age of five, R.J. Windham was the victim of a hit-and-run accident and left for dead in the middle of the street. He survived. At 26, he was the victim of the terrorist bombing of a train station, where lives were lost, and dozens were injured. He survived. And in 2019, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and survived that as well. Through his podcast, Youtube channel, and his books, R.J. is committed to ensuring that you understand that you are not alone.

• 02:38: I took two steps to the left and boom the whole place exploded. 
• 04:31: When were you diagnosed with cancer? 
• 06:56: Were you in a teaching hospital?  
• 09:39: For the first time in my life, I was looking at mortality.  
• 12:14: My wife and I sat down, and we went through everything. 
• 14:45: I ended up being in the hospital for 3.5 days. 
• 17:36: There was one thing that I think still may haunt me down the road. 
• 20:17: It’s poison running through your body that looks like maple syrup. 
• 22:15: I have the same symptoms reoccurring every single time.  
• 24:18: If you take one Viagra a day, it will hopefully regenerate the nerve endings. 
• 26:16: I prefer female doctors. 
• 28:37: I call it an adventure as opposed to a journey. 
• 29:15: What was your worst moment?  
• 30:32: What about your best moment? 
• 31:16: What is one thing you wish you'd known at the very beginning of this cancer adventure? 
• 33:17: If you could only do one thing to improve health care in the U.S., what would it be and why? 
• 35:29: What do you think was the hardest part for your wife? 
• 36:56: Thriver Rapid Fire Questions.  
• 37:45: Aside from Cancer U, what is one resource that you would recommend for cancer patients and caregivers?

Resources  

• RJ's website
• Email RJ
• Call RJ at 323.606.1565

Tal Zlotnitsky is a serial entrepreneur and social activist, who recently launched a tech startup called OurLove. He is the father of three young adult children, and his middle daughter, Elainey, 23, is a recent thyroid cancer survivor. Today, Tal is also honoring his sister-in-law Patricia who passed away in May from lung cancer.

• 02:39: She was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. 
• 06:18: How did you and your wife meet? 
• 08:23: She graduated from a four-year college and then she joined the Navy. 
• 10:45: Do your daughters remember that time?  
• 13:02: We lived in Tampa Bay for about a decade and then we moved back to Maryland.  
• 16:30: How did you feel when you found out Elaine had cancer?  
• 18:37: The surgery went very well, and she's been recovering beautifully. 
• 20:28: I knew she was a fighter. 
• 22:20: She had two kinds of cancer in her breast. 
• 24:08: I'm honored as a parent to see them being there for each other.  
• 26:03: I don't know what more you can ask for as a parent than knowing your kids have each other's backs. 
• 28:16: I'm by my nature, someone that is an optimist.  
• 30:35: I don't know how I kept it together.  
• 32:40: If you could only do one thing to improve health care in the U.S., what would it be and why?  
• 33:41: Thriver Rapid Fire Questions.  
• 36:47: Aside from Cancer U, what is one resource that you would recommend for cancer patients and caregivers? 

 Resources

• Our Love (Tal's company)

Christine Handy is a model, author of the book Walk Beside Me, humanitarian, mother, mentor, and motivational speaker. Christine's best-selling novel is in production to be a film.

• 01:09: Where did it all start?  
• 03:14: I had 10 to 15 casts over the course of seven months. 
• 05:45: What made you trust that doctor?  
• 07:12: What was the treatment plan? 
• 09:05: What did you do in terms of reconstruction?  
• 11:59: After I was in the hospital for five days, I went home with a nurse for two weeks. 
• 14:06: I’ve been a model for 40 years. 
• 16:10: My mom was always healthy.  
• 18:33: Don't ever choose a doctor based on where they went to school.  
• 20:31: My arm still looks like my thigh bone.  
• 22:10: I started to lose massive weight. 
• 24:17: He had told me that he had misdiagnosed me.  
• 26:23: Do you trust yourself and your intuition more now? 
• 28:49: What was your worst moment?  
• 30:17: What was your best moment?  
• 31:13: What is one thing you wish you had known at the very beginning?  
• 32:24: If you could only do one thing to improve health care in the U.S., what would it be and why? 
• 33:45: Thriver Rapid Fire Questions.  
• 34:34: Aside from Cancer U, what's one resource you would recommend for cancer patients and caregivers?

Resources

• Christine on Instagram
• Email Christine
• Christine's website
• Breast Cancer Research Foundation
• Learn Look Locate

Paul Stavros is a multi-time cancer survivor. He was diagnosed with cancer for the first time at the age of 14. Thirty-five years later, he was again diagnosed. Today, Paul is using his experience as a patient to help people learn how to stay meaningfully engaged and helpful to someone with cancer.

• 01:57: I wanted to see my new muscles and there was a substantial lump under my left arm.  
• 04:01: I feel like I missed a big part of my childhood.  
• 06:20: What was your brother's reaction? 
• 08:46: I had radiation as a child, and I had chemotherapy as an adult.  
• 10:18: How long were you out of school? 
• 14:12: There was a whole group of kids that would run with me around the playground.  
• 16:50: I spent a lot of years trying to pretend like it never happened. 
• 18:43: What symptoms did you have?  
• 20:14: Doctors only call when it's bad.  
• 22:39: Was there any discussion of clinical trials? 
• 24:57: His suggestion was to never have surgery again.  
• 26:47: What is one thing you wish you had known at the beginning of each cancer journey? 
• 30:50: I lost both my parents to cancer.  
• 31:31: What was your worst moment? 
• 32:56: I opened the closet door, and my wife was curled up on the floor sobbing.  
• 35:15: I always thought I would get cancer again.  
• 36:10: What was your best moment? 
• 38:37: If you could only do one thing to improve health care in the U.S., what would it be and why? 
• 40:58: I am grateful for my wife because she's a bulldog. 
• 41:48: Thriver Rapid Fire Questions
• 45:37: Aside from Cancer U, what is one resource you would recommend for cancer patients and caregivers? 

Resources

Joel Nagelbush is a life coach and speaker at The Change Management Company, where he teaches people how to find purpose in change. Joel is on the National Speakers Bureau and a Wish Granter for the Make a Wish Foundation®. Helping others is what he does!

• 02:27: I noticed that I had a lump in my throat. 
• 03:57: I also struggled with self-image issues. 
• 06:19: Whatever is in my neck is growing.  
• 08:33: He needs a liver transplant.  
• 11:27: After the surgery, what was the plan?  
• 13:35: I couldn't even chew through a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, the muscles in my mouth cramping up.  
• 16:08: What happened after you did the radiation? 
• 18:56: What was your worst moment? 
• 20:14: What was your best moment?  
• 22:41: I don't believe in coincidence. 
• 24:44: I was a cancer survivor.  
• 25:46: What's one thing you wish you had known at the very beginning?  
• 27:45: If you could only do one thing to improve healthcare in the U.S., what would it be and why? 
• 29:59: Thriver Rapid Fire Questions. 
• 31:30: Aside from Cancer U, what's one resource you would recommend for cancer patients and caregivers? 

Resources

• Joel on Instagram
• Life Coach Joel
• Make-A-Wish Foundation

Jaimie Sherling is a joy seeker, drag ambassador, and memoir author. She lives in Wisconsin with her two kids. When she’s not working at her day job or trying on piles of clothes at thrift stores, you can find her screaming YAASSSS surrounded by a bunch of queens.

• 01:44: I was diagnosed in April of 2018. 
• 03:22: What was your first thought?  
• 05:23: I had invasive ductal carcinoma.  
• 06:58: What did the rest of the treatment regimen look like? 
• 09:36: How old were your kids and how much did they understand about what was going on?  
• 12:00: Did you have some support?  
• 14:25: I spent a lot of time with my drag queen friends and enjoyed that. 
• 16:46: What was your worst moment? 
• 18:43: There was a fair amount of sexting which I was not okay with.  
• 20:27: We're no longer married anymore.  
• 21:11: What was the best moment? 
• 25:30: I think you might have cancer again and turns out he was right. 
• 28:11: I did radiation on my back before I had the official cancer diagnosis because my oncologist was worried that I'd be paralyzed. 
• 30:42: How do you look at your life differently now versus when you had no idea you were ever going to have cancer? 
• 32:08: What's one thing you wish you had known at the very beginning?  
• 35:33: If you could only do one thing to improve health care in the US, what would it be and why? 
• 36:56: Thriver Rapid Fire Questions.  
• 38:09: Aside from Cancer U, what is one resource you would recommend for cancer patients and caregivers? 

Resources

• Jaimie's website YDY Sweets
• YDY Sweets Facebook page
• Jaimie on LinkedIn
• Jaimie on Instagram
• Email Jaimie