Cancer U Thrivers

Tess Deveze is an occupational therapist, somatic sexologist, and she is fighting stage three breast cancer. Personally experiencing the severe impacts that treatments have on our intimacy and how this topic is so often ignored, Tess’s goal is to help as many as they can.

• 02:08: I was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer at the age of 36. 
• 04:17: How big was this lump? 
• 05:58: What surgeries did you have in terms of lumpectomy or mastectomy?  
• 07:58: They used my lower back tissue to rebuild a breast and then there were complications. 
• 10:45: I would show up to my appointments with a list of questions. 
• 13:33: I had a Facebook group for anyone that wanted to join, and I used to give updates.  
• 15:46: I also had a GoFundMe. 
• 17:24: What shifted in your treatment regimen that has given it a much more positive optimistic outlook? 
• 19:21: I have chronic genital pain, which has been so bad that I haven't been able to walk for like three days at a time. 
• 22:35: Things like chemo would change completely changed my orgasm experience.  
• 24:38: I studied semantics sexology while I was on treatments. 
• 27:45: Sex is this weird thing that we can't talk about.  
• 29:29: Our primary sexual organ is our brain, but we associate sex with our genitals.  
• 32:23: I've seen so many women who have gone through menopause and completely lost touch with their sexuality.  
• 35:15: All these factors contribute to loss of libido. 
• 37:49: People think they don't have libido, but it’s just that their arousal responses have changed.  
• 40:38: People also might need a little extra help with what I call intimacy aids.  
• 42:44: What is one thing you wish you had known at the very beginning of your cancer journey?  
• 44:05: If you could only do one thing to improve health care in Australia, what would it be and why? 
• 45:24: I would appreciate for the Australian medical system to acknowledge intimacy as a contributor to quality of life. 
• 46:56: Thriver Rapid Fire Questions.  
• 48:22: Aside from Cancer U, what is one resource you would recommend for cancer patients and caregivers? 

Resources

• Tess' website Connectable Therapies
• Tess's book A Better Normal
• Tess's private Facebook group
• Tess on Facebook
• Intimacy and Cancer (Tess's YouTube channel)

Rachel DeSpain is a breast cancer survivor, author, global adventurer, and entrepreneur. She lives in Hawaii with her husband and daughter. She wrote a book titled A Wild Ride: Reclaiming my Edge after Cancer to convey hope to survivors that it's possible to find joy after cancer.

• 02:17: I have been to more than 40 countries.  
• 03:41: Take us back to the beginning of your cancer journey.  
• 05:15: I woke up and looked down and I had no breasts. 
• 07:10: I felt this incredible, strong shooting pain from my left breast, something I had never felt before.  
• 09:35: You know, no one told me anything.  
• 11:57: I think I would have been okay with radiated reconstructed breasts.  
• 14:21: There's no road map when you're finished with your treatment. 
• 14:56: What was your worst moment? 
• 17:40: How about your best moment? 
• 19:34: We lived in Alaska for 10 years together, where we started and operated a zip line tour. 
• 21:38: It's not an easy dream to pull off.  
• 23:45: How old was your daughter when you were diagnosed, and how did that impact her?  
• 25:30: What is the one thing you wish you had known at the very beginning of your cancer journey?  
• 27:10: If you could only do one thing to improve health care in the US, what would it be and why? 
• 30:48: Thriver Rapid Fire Questions.  
• 32:12: Aside from Cancer U, what's one resource you would recommend for cancer patients and caregivers? 

Resources

• Rachel on LinkedIn
• Rachel on Instagram
• Email Rachel

Dr. Louise Lubin, a clinical psychologist, has practiced adult, marital, and family therapy for forty years. Her book, Your Journey Beyond Breast Cancer-Tools for the Road as well as her programs and website, Many Paths to Healing offer individuals the life skills to cope with the ongoing challenges of cancer.

• 01:51: I played a therapist role in my family. 
• 03:59: I enrolled in graduate school in Richmond and got my master's degree. 
• 06:35: Changing your breath is the quickest, easiest, and cheapest way to calm down.  
• 08:22: I started my private practice in 1981, and I was always sort of a dinosaur.  
• 10:11: She taught me that everybody is an individual and not a statistic. 
• 12:10: We're all seeking healing, but it is different than cure.  
• 14:10: Part of what I am grateful for is that my patients have been my teachers. 
• 17:25: How has aging benefited you? 
• 19:12: I think at the root of almost every single fear is fear of change.  
• 21:24: The only control we have is in the present moment. 
• 23:31: What was or has been your worst moment working as a therapist? 
• 26:15: There was a woman that I had worked with who had stopped seeing me for a while. 
• 29:20: What is one thing that you wish you had known at the very beginning of your career? 
• 31:21: If you could only do one thing to improve health care in the U.S., what would it be and why?  
• 32:59: I started practicing when people wouldn't even say the cancer word. 
• 34:46: Thriver Rapid Fire Questions. 
• 36:20: Aside from Cancer U, what is one resource you would recommend for cancer patients and caregivers? 

Resources

• Many Paths To Healing (Dr. Lubin's website)
• The Conversation Project
• The Greater Good
• Sounds True (website may not be available)

Liz Curran lost her sister to aggressive breast cancer. This changed her life in so many ways and led her down a path to become a holistic cancer health coach.

• 01:15: Tell us a little bit about your sister.  
• 03:21: The nurse still thinks I might have breast cancer.  
• 05:05: What was your sister's prognosis given that it was a very aggressive type of breast cancer? 
• 08:47: It's interesting to me that your sister underwent chemotherapy first.  
• 10:19: She had a dear friend who lived across the street from her who was an energy therapist. 
• 12:05: She never talked like she was going to die. 
• 13:03: My hardest moment was sitting there receiving that for her.  
• 16:02: Her cancer had spread everywhere. 
• 19:02: I just want you to know her cancer was remarkable, and there's absolutely nothing I could have done for her at all. 
• 21:25: She did not have clinical trials available to her at that time. 
• 22:09: All of those things play such an immense role in the ability of your medications to work.  
• 24:42: Did you have a best moment during this time? 
• 26:57: I didn't know that she was going to die two days later. 
• 30:02: What is one thing you wish you had known at the beginning?  
• 31:06: If you could only do one thing to improve health care in the U.S., what would it be and why?  
• 32:20: Thriver Rapid Fire Questions
• 34:56: Aside from Cancer U, what is one resource you would recommend for cancer patients and caregivers? 

Resources

• Health Navigators website
• Liz on Instagram
• Email Liz
• Call Liz 215.760.6672

Lauren Parrish is a wife, mother, business professional, and yoga lover. She was diagnosed with breast cancer at 38 with no family history. So, needless to say, Lauren was surprised by her diagnosis. It has been really tough on her family but it has brought them closer. Gratitude has been their motto.

• 01:30: How did you find out that you had breast cancer?  
• 03:25: I kind of knew it wasn't normal to have all this happening.  
• 05:19: What did they recommend as far as your treatment?  
• 06:36: At that time, we didn't think I would have to do chemo or radiation. 
• 09:04: How was it for your family?  
• 11:12: You have kids, correct?  
• 13:31: I know that I'm estrogen-progesterone positive. 
• 16:18: I would say sometimes I'm a sappy positive person. 
• 18:15: I think the first day of chemo I had a tough time. 
• 19:31: What about your best moment?  
• 23:43: What is one thing you wish you had known from the very beginning? 
• 25:24: If you could only do one thing to improve health care in the US, what would it be and why?  
• 28:15: Thriver Rapid Fire Questions.  
• 30:22: Aside from Cancer U, what's one resource you would recommend for cancer patients and caregivers? 

Resources

• Lauren on LinkTree
• Lauren on Facebook
• Lauren on Instagram
• Email Lauren
• Call Lauren at 972.400.2929

Dr. Patrick Vickers is an expert on the indisputable, cellular science behind health and disease and the face of Gerson Therapy worldwide. He was trained by Dr. Gerson's family and is one of the few people to have studied Dr. Gerson's handwritten files. He continues to carry on Dr. Gerson's legacy through his clinic, The Advanced Gerson Therapy Clinic, in Rosarito, Mexico, the world’s premier clinic for the natural treatment of cancer and advanced disease. Dr. Patrick Vickers is also featured in the epic documentary series, The Truth About Cancer: A Global Quest, and one of his patients is also chronicled in the classic documentary, The Beautiful Truth.

• 01:55: I wanted to be a chiropractor ever since I was 11 years old.  
• 05:34: I didn't quite understand that the human body could reverse advanced terminal cancer if you give it what it needs.  
• 08:29: He would experiment in his grandma's backyard with her soil.  
• 10:34: What does that tell you about our society at that time?  
• 15:06: He refused to treat her for her cancer with his tuberculosis treatment.  
• 18:13: It was designed to give 100 million dollars in funding to anyone who could show promise in the realm of cancer research.  
• 20:37: Could you imagine the red flags that went off when he started opening his mouth.  
• 23:33: He became a marked man and became prohibited from publishing in all major medical journals around the world.  
• 24:28: What was it like for you at the very beginning? 
• 26:46: There's an ugly side to treating advanced diseases and cancer in the bible. 
• 28:23: Those laws of nature will no longer defend us today.  
• 30:34: When you start to restore the nutrient status to the body, you restore the immune system.  
• 32:15: The coffee enema is the most potent way to detoxify the human body.  
• 33:47: How many times have you heard obesity is a predominant risk of getting cancer? 
• 35:37: We've addressed the issue of toxicity with the coffee enemas. 
• 37:40: He went on to describe how the body’s main ability to utilize oxygen was an alkaline diet.  
• 39:15: That cell membrane has an electrical charge. 
• 41:47: There's no such thing as a good salt. 
• 44:03: She comes into the Gerson Clinic in 2004 with terminal ovarian cancer.  
• 46:03: She's alive and well, completely cured.  
• 49:18: Blood disorders shouldn't be named cancers because they're not; they're blood disorders.  
• 50:32: If you could only do one thing to improve health care in the U.S., what would it be and why? 
• 51:37: Thriver Rapid Fire Questions.  
• 54:21: Aside from Cancer U, what's one resource you would recommend for cancer patients and caregivers? 

Resources

• Patrick on LinkedIn
• Patrick on Facebook
• Email Patrick
• Gerson Clinic website
• Gerson Clinic on Instagram
• Gerson Clinic on YouTube
• Healing the Gerson way (book)

Robert Andrew Wagner is a writer, teacher, and performer, teaching through stories, telling stories through songs as frontman and chief songwriter/lyricist for The Little Wretches. Wagner is a survivor of cancer, holds a master’s degree in Instruction and Learning, and teaches and counsels at-risk teens.

• 02:20: The Little Wretches was the band I started when my survival was clear. 
• 04:42: I find this little lump in my groin.  
• 06:09: I had one positive lymph node. 
• 08:35: We just found a lump the size of a walnut and on each of your lungs. 
• 09:48: I did miss a few chemo sessions.  
• 13:00: Did it have any impact on your ability to have kids?  
• 15:00: I think the chemo affected my thinking. 
• 18:56: It's like my life came back to me.  
• 21:11: Were you alone in this hospital?  
• 23:00: They kept on trying to tell him that he had AIDS.  
• 25:14: What is the one thing you wish you had known at the very beginning of your cancer journey? 
• 27:03: If you could only do one thing to improve health care in the US, what would it  
• be and why?  
• 28:15: Thriver Rapid Fire Questions.  
• 31:13: Trust your doctors. 
• 33:07: Where did the name of the band come from? 

Resources

• Robert's band The Little Wretches
• The Little Wretches on YouTube
• Robert on LinkedIn
• Email Robert

Dr. Christine Sauer is a retired MD and ND. She has not only treated cancer patients but she has also been a caregiver for her mother-in-law and Christine has volunteered in palliative care.

• 01:51: Why did you decide to become a doctor?  
• 04:31: One of my patients with end-stage melanoma died in my arms.  
• 06:59: Can you tell us what led you to get into palliative care? 
• 10:04: I feel like we are very much aligned because we're all going to die.  
• 12:52: He didn't want to be resuscitated and he had that in his directive.  
• 15:03: Many patients touched my heart. 
• 17:04: I've seen lung cancer patients in Germany that never smoked. 
• 20:55: Her life was filled with love and care for others.  
• 21:11: Tell me what was your worst moment during your entire career as a physician? 
• 22:16: What about your best moment as a physician?  
• 23:59: He has a brain bleed.  
• 25:46: What is one thing that you wish you had known at the beginning of your journey as a physician? 
• 27:40: If you can only do one thing to improve health care in Canada and Germany, what would they be and why? 
• 30:57: We do have a shortage of primary care physicians here. 
• 32:49: Thriver Rapid Fire Questions.  
• 34:25: Aside from Cancer U, what is one resource you recommend for cancer patients and caregivers? 

Resources

• Christine's website
• Christine on Facebook
• Christine on LinkedIn
• Email Christine
• Healing and Cancer

Jodie Lin is a 2X breast cancer survivor/thriver, wife, mother of five wonderful children, animal lover, and National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach, NASM certified Nutrition Coach, and Holistic Cancer Coach. Jodie is passionate about helping others balance their health and advocate for themselves.

• 01:13: Can you take us back to the very beginning of that first journey with breast cancer?  
• 03:09: I don't have a family history of breast cancer. 
• 05:13: There were lumps that I was starting to feel in my breast.  
• 07:14: They sent my biopsy results to John Hopkins. 
• 09:03: It was just a scary number, and I didn't want to deal with those odds.  
• 11:02: I was kind of focusing on her health and trying to help her.  
• 13:17: They came back saying that both implants had ruptured and that was the source of my pain. 
• 15:08: My first thought was I don't want to do chemo.  
• 17:37: Research has shown that many women who have had bilateral mastectomies or just mastectomies end up with damage done to the nerves. 
• 19:47: What was your worst moment in all of this?  
• 20:35: How about your best moment? 
• 22:09: I got certified in holistic cancer coaching. 
• 24:40: What is one thing you wish you had known at the very beginning of that first cancer journey?  
• 26:44: I literally had to chase after the diagnosis and that's really frustrating for some people.  
• 27:38: If you could only do one thing to improve health care in the U.S., what would it be and why?  
• 29:46: Thriver Rapid Fire Questions
• 30:54: Aside from Cancer U, what's one resource that you would recommend for cancer patients and caregivers? 

Resources

• Jodie's website
• Jodie on Facebook
• Email Jodie
• Live with cancer

Anna Leonarda is a nine-year breast cancer survivor who struggled with endometriosis, painful intercourse, and lack of libido for many years. Approximately eight years after diagnosis, she got divorced. Traditional dating apps didn’t cater to people with sexual limitations so she created a dating app for individuals with sexual dysfunction/limitations.

• 01:39: How did you get diagnosed?  
• 03:12: When I got the diagnosis, I was in shock. 
• 05:19: I had a one-sided mastectomy.  
• 07:16: I lost all my hair, and the side effects weren't horrible. 
• 09:06: I'll join support groups on Facebook with 17,000 women that have vaginismus. 
• 11:25: My mom had breast cancer, and she lived a good 10 years. 
• 13:30: My chest looked yellow and brown.  
• 15:38: What about the deep flap?  
• 16:56: Did you end up doing that surgery? 
• 20:06: What was your worst moment?  
• 21:59: What is the one thing you wish you had known at the beginning of your cancer journey? 
• 22:42: If you could only do one thing to improve health care in the U.S., what would it be and why? 
• 23:56: Thriver Rapid Fire Questions.  
• 25:11: Aside from Cancer U, what is one resource that you would recommend for cancer patients and caregivers?  
• 27:24: If you're using this app, it means that intercourse is not a possibility.  

Resources

• Anna on LinkedIn
• Anna's dating website
• Anna on Facebook
• Anna on Instagram
• Anna on Twitter