This week we talk with author Melissa Alvarado Sierra about personal, intergenerational, and communal trauma. Melissa paints a vivid analogy between herself and her homeland, Puerto Rico. Just as cancer uncovered her personal trauma, hurricanes in Puerto Rico have exposed millions of pounds of war chemicals dropped by the U.S. Navy. Melissa turns towards her cancer, towards the pollution in her homeland with optimism and a belief that healing is always possible.

Melissa’s writing has been published or is forthcoming in The New York Times, ZORA, Catapult, The Caribbean Writer, and The Puerto Rico Review. Her newest book La Narrativa Activista de Rosario Ferré: Feminismo e Identidad is a critical reading of the work of poet/essayist Rosario Ferré. Ferré suggests that women have suffered the same fate as Puerto Rico itself: colonized, mistreated, and forgotten. Through her writing, Melissa is healing this violent past: de-colonizing, caring for, and remembering the power of Caribbean women.

If you need subtitles, you can view the episode on our YouTube page.

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1. A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle 2. Cured by Jeffrey Rediger, MD 3. The Empath Experience by Sydney Campos 4. Resilience by Elizabeth Edwards 5. The Undying by Anne Boyer 6. The Invisible Girls by Sarah Thebarge 7. Reading and Writing Cancer by Susan Gubar 8. Energy Work by Robert Bruce 9. Saving My Neck by Timothy McCall, MD 10. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk 11. I Am Diosa: A Journey to Healing Deep, Loving Yourself, and Coming Back Home to Soul by Christine Gutierrez

Conquering Cancer 101: https://youtu.be/vLu9lS1thG8

Cancer and Exercise: https://youtu.be/ffgAVrANmS4

Nausea Meditation: https://youtu.be/TMHzN_W9-GM

The Power of Now: https://youtu.be/Xeuj93J0Z3Y

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If you enjoy this conversation, we'd love it if you could leave a review in your podcast app. If you're moved to donate, please visit https://www.patreon.com/cancertalks.

This podcast is a platform for anyone who has been touched by cancer. Visit https://cancertalks.com/mystory to share your story! You can also follow us on Instagram and Facebook.

Cristina Whitehawk’s superpower is love. In this week’s episode, Cristina says with great conviction, “Love heals; hatred doesn’t.” Even as Cristina was going through chemo, she made a decision to love the cancer inside her.

Through her journey with cancer, Cristina started to accept that she was an author. Cristina writes from the inside out. Some of her transformative teachings include how to forgive, how to appreciate, and how to receive.

If you enjoy this conversation, we'd love it if you could leave a review in your podcast app. If you're moved to donate, please visit https://www.patreon.com/cancertalks. 

This podcast is a platform for anyone who has been touched by cancer. Visit https://cancertalks.com/mystory to share your story! You can also follow us on Instagram and Facebook.

Charlie Altekruse is a loving father who shares his wife Barbara’s cancer story. Barbara inspired anyone she met to notice everyday miracles, even as she was transitioning to another realm. Charlie joins us from Berkeley, California where he lives with his two boys. 

Parul Somani is a gifted public speaker who inspires people all over the world to build resilience. The Founder of Silver Linings, Parul offers actionable insights on thriving through hardship.

If you enjoy this conversation please leave a review in your podcast app.

This podcast is a platform for anyone who has been touched by cancer. Go to cancertalks.com/mystory to join the conversation. If you are moved to donate, please visit patreon.com/cancertalks.

This episode was produced by Claire de Laszlo and Rory Amunrud, music and editing by Annie Murnighan.

Special thanks to our donors and volunteers. We couldn't do this without you.

Vanessa Bradley Bocandé is an investor, philanthropist, and former executive. She is always seeking out projects that will make a difference in people’s lives and the world at large. Vanessa participated in the 2019 conference where CancerTalks was born. This episode is dedicated to Vanessa’s sister Angela.

Kristi Nelson is Executive Director of A Network for Grateful Living and a stage IV cancer thriver. Tune in to hear how her cancer experience led her to the transformative practice of taking nothing for granted.

Naturopath Beatrice Levinson is an expert in gut health as it relates to our mental and physical well-being. Joining us from France, she shares her personal cancer story, along with a lifetime of wisdom in natural medicine.

Hear how Jan Adrian of Healing Journeys transformed her cancer diagnosis from a death sentence into a life sentence.