Combating Cancer

Season Two, Episode 2- Show Notes:

Host Gwen Kelly, a stage three astrocytoma brain cancer survivor, welcomes Alex Fenn for Breast Cancer Awareness Month to discuss Alex's breast cancer journey and life after treatment. Alex shares finishing four rounds of TC chemotherapy (Taxotere and Cytoxan) and starting a 10-year daily medication regimen due to hormone-positive cancer that induces medical menopause, alongside ongoing follow-ups and another planned surgery after her double mastectomy with reconstruction. She and Gwen discuss coping with anxiety, fear of recurrence, drastic physical changes (hair loss/regrowth, weight and skin changes, loss of sensation, clothing fit), and mourning a pre-cancer identity. Alex describes shifting friendships, building online community, marriage challenges and strengthened connection through caregiving, unexpected chemo side effects like food aversions, and encouragement that there is light at the end of the tunnel and cancer is not a life sentence.

Discussed in this episode:

• Welcome to the Podcast
• Meet Alex from TikTok
• Life After Treatment
• Body and Identity Changes
• Strength and Friendship Shifts
• Marriage and Caregiving
• Chemo Side Effects and Food
• Chemo Schedule and Milestones
• Fear of Recurrence
• Rebuilding Confidence and Hair
• Advice and Closing Thoughts
• Final Wrap Up

More from Gwen:

Get in touch with our team for sponsorship inquiries or guest host submissions: [email protected]

Follow and join the community:

Website: https://www.combatingcancer.org

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CombatingCancer

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/combating-cancer/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BwfwuJT81/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/combatingcancer_?igsh=azNjM3RlcmJwcWxn

Season Two, Episode 1- Show Notes:

Host Gwen Kelly introduces season two of the Combating Cancer podcast and reflects on how it began from her own experience of being diagnosed with a brain tumor at 19 after a grand mal seizure on March 6, 2022. She recounts emergency imaging, learning the diagnosis before her father arrived, and undergoing an eight-hour surgery with Dr. Grant, followed by pathology initially read as stage four and then regraded to stage three astrocytoma. Gwen describes fertility preservation decisions, 30 days of proton radiation at Mayo Clinic, a year of oral temozolomide, the emotional complexity of treatment and survivorship, and ongoing MRIs every 90 days. She explains how sharing her story, involvement with brain cancer advocacy, and 73 season-one episodes shaped a community centered on the mission that no one should fight cancer alone, and previews season two expansions including more guests, educational content, short-form videos, guides, blogs, and vlogs.

Discussed in this episode:

• Season Two Begins
• Why I Started
• The Seizure Day
• MRI & Diagnosis
• Dad Arrives
• Surgery & Pathology
• Treatment & Growing Up
• Life After Treatment
• Building The Microphone
• How The Podcast Grew
• What Season One Taught
• Season Two Vision
• Welcome To Season Two

More from Gwen:

Get in touch with our team for sponsorship inquiries or guest host submissions: [email protected]

Follow and join the community:

Website: https://www.combatingcancer.org

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CombatingCancer

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/combating-cancer/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BwfwuJT81/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/combatingcancer_?igsh=azNjM3RlcmJwcWxn

Episode 73- Show Notes:

Host Gwen Kelly introduces Combating Cancer and reflects on being diagnosed with stage three astrocytoma brain cancer at 19 and nearly five years out, exploring how cancer can shrink life into appointments and survival. She argues that while getting through treatment can be enough, people eventually need purpose—small reasons that make tomorrow matter—and should keep "pouring into" what brings joy without forcing productivity. Gwen shares what helped her feel like herself: her dog Bruce, journaling and poetry, staying in college and seeing friends, working out when able, and developing a personal faith during treatment. She emphasizes that no single person, hobby, job, or relationship can be an entire support system, encourages listeners (patients, caregivers, or anyone in a hard in-between season) to start small, and explains that continuing her passions prevented her identity from being replaced by cancer.

Discussed in this episode:

• What Gets You Up
• Cancer Takes Over
• Survival to Purpose
• Fill Your Cup
• Joy Anchors
• More Than One Thing
• Start Small Again
• After Treatment Ends
• Meaning Beyond Milestones
• Final Questions
• Closing and Share

More from Gwen:

Get in touch with our team for sponsorship inquiries or guest host submissions: [email protected]

Follow and join the community:

Website: https://www.combatingcancer.org

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CombatingCancer

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/combating-cancer/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BwfwuJT81/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/combatingcancer_?igsh=azNjM3RlcmJwcWxn

Episode 72- Show Notes:

Host Gwen Kelly shares her experience navigating diet advice during cancer treatment, clarifying the episode isn't a claim that keto cured cancer or that diet doesn't matter, but a personal account. Diagnosed at 19 with stage three astrocytoma brain cancer, she tried a ketogenic diet during 30 days of proton radiation after her radiation oncologist mentioned some patients felt they tolerated treatment better. With help from a dietitian friend and strong support from her mom, she followed a simple food list, noticed hidden sugars, and formed strong associations with certain foods. She gradually stopped keto before pill-form chemotherapy and didn't notice a meaningful difference in how she felt between radiation on keto and chemo without it. She reflects that dietary changes often provide a sense of control amid uncertainty, advises consulting an oncology team or registered dietitian before major changes, and cautions against believing there is one perfect cancer diet.

Discussed in this episode:

• Cancer Diet Noise
• Keto Suggested
• Making Keto Work
• Radiation Routine
• Stopping After Radiation
• Did It Help
• Control Through Food
• Advice And Caution
• Closing Thoughts

More from Gwen:

Get in touch with our team for sponsorship inquiries or guest host submissions: [email protected]

Follow and join the community:

Website: https://www.combatingcancer.org

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CombatingCancer

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/combating-cancer/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BwfwuJT81/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/combatingcancer_?igsh=azNjM3RlcmJwcWxn

Episode 71- Show Notes:

Host Gwen Kelly reflects on how answering "What do you do?" often leads to disclosing her stage three astrocytoma brain cancer diagnosis at nineteen and watching people's perception shift into pity, shock, and questions. She describes cancer unexpectedly surfacing in ordinary moments like a routine physical and coaching tennis, even though she no longer looks like she's in treatment. Gwen explores relationships with people who met her after treatment, including her fiancé Jake, who knows her story but didn't live it with her, and notes that even those who were present couldn't fully feel what she felt. She concludes that she doesn't need others to completely understand, but to listen, believe the ongoing weight of survivorship, and love her without making cancer the center of who she is.

Discussed in this episode:

• The What Do You Do Question
• Meet Gwen And The Podcast
• When People See You Differently
• Cancer In Ordinary Moments
• Loved Without Knowing Cancer Gwen
• Jake And The Parts He Missed
• Understanding Versus Acceptance
• Believe Me Love Me Still
• Peace With Who Was There
• Closing

More from Gwen:

Get in touch with our team for sponsorship inquiries or guest host submissions: [email protected]

Follow and join the community:

Website: https://www.combatingcancer.org

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CombatingCancer

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/combating-cancer/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BwfwuJT81/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/combatingcancer_?igsh=azNjM3RlcmJwcWxn

Episode 70- Show Notes:

Host Gwen Kelly explores the assumption that cancer must "feel" like something, sharing that she had Stage 3 astrocytoma brain cancer at 19 while feeling completely normal. She recounts years of chronic back pain starting at 15, multiple spine MRIs that showed nothing, and the exhaustion of having real pain without an explanation. On March 6, 2022, she had a grand mal seizure in front of trusted people, leading to the discovery of the tumor; she notes she never had headaches, vision problems, or prior seizures. After tumor removal, her back pain largely improved, though doctors can't confirm any connection or how long the tumor existed. Gwen emphasizes there is no universal cancer feeling, and symptoms often come from treatment or may be absent, telling listeners they may have had nothing to notice or miss.

Discussed in this episode:

• Can You Feel Cancer
• Meet Gwen And The Question
• Years Of Back Pain
• The Seizure That Changed Everything
• No Classic Brain Tumor Signs
• Back Pain After Tumor Removal
• What Cancer Feels Like
• No Warning And Final Takeaway
• Closing And Invitation

More from Gwen:

Get in touch with our team for sponsorship inquiries or guest host submissions: [email protected]

Follow and join the community:

Website: https://www.combatingcancer.org

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CombatingCancer

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/combating-cancer/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BwfwuJT81/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/combatingcancer_?igsh=azNjM3RlcmJwcWxn

Episode 69- Show Notes:

Gwen Kelly, host of "Combating Cancer," reflects on how surviving stage three astrocytoma brain cancer diagnosed at nineteen changed her relationship with time and planning. After treatment, she lived independently, paid bills, and made only minimum loan payments while largely avoiding long-term planning because she didn't know if cancer would return, even as those years brought deep community and meeting her fiancé, Jake. She contrasts living in the moment from freedom versus fear and describes the post-treatment shift when the medical "map" disappears and survivors must build a life without a template while also grieving and rebuilding identity. Now at twenty-four, facing ordinary stresses like mortgages, down payments, and wedding costs, she has moved back in with her parents to pay off loans, wrestles with shame, and reframes future planning as an act of compassion and a form of healing.

Discussed in this episode:

• Welcome to Combating Cancer
• Mortgage Math Wakeup
• Life After Treatment
• Time Feels Different
• Full Life Fear
• No Roadmap After
• Normal Problems Whiplash
• Moving Back Home
• Learning Financial Survival
• Sacrifices For Later
• Planning As Healing
• Comfort Imagining Life
• Closing And Invitation

More from Gwen:

Get in touch with our team for sponsorship inquiries or guest host submissions: [email protected]

Follow and join the community:

Website: https://www.combatingcancer.org

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CombatingCancer

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/combating-cancer/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BwfwuJT81/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/combatingcancer_?igsh=azNjM3RlcmJwcWxn

Episode 68- Show Notes:

Host Gwen Kelly, diagnosed with stage three astrocytoma at 19, reflects five years later on telling her fiancé Jake she feels she has "lost" her merit to talk about cancer, and his pushback helps her reframe survivorship. She describes feeling like a poser as cancer is no longer her everyday life, and wrestles with becoming the "on the other side" person she once couldn't relate to while seeking peers during diagnosis. Gwen explores grieving the earlier version of herself who needed the podcast, recognizing the show helped her heal, and realizing distance can add perspective without erasing fear, scans, or therapy. She emphasizes "moving forward" with cancer, not staying stuck to prove it mattered, encourages listeners to say these thoughts out loud to trusted people, and affirms that life getting bigger doesn't invalidate survival or the right to share the story.

Discussed in this episode:

• Welcome to Combating Cancer
• Losing My Merit
• Five Years Later
• Feeling Like A Poser
• Why I Started This
• Becoming The Future
• Grieving Old Me
• What Survivorship Means
• Can I Still Do This
• Moving Forward Not On
• You Don't Owe Suffering
• Say It Out Loud
• My Life Got Bigger
• Wrap Up and Share

More from Gwen:

Get in touch with our team for sponsorship inquiries or guest host submissions: [email protected]

Follow and join the community:

Website: https://www.combatingcancer.org

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CombatingCancer

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/combating-cancer/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BwfwuJT81/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/combatingcancer_?igsh=azNjM3RlcmJwcWxn

Episode 67- Show Notes:

Gwen Kelly, host of Combating Cancer, recounts receiving MRI results via a patient portal 40 minutes before her appointment at Allina Health and reading alarming language about a lesion and urgent follow-up, leading her to cry alone in a bathroom stall while trying to hide it from her dad. She connects this to first learning she had stage three astrocytoma brain cancer at 19 after a report circulated through family and a doctor friend before reaching her, which fueled her habit of checking results early during recurring scan cycles. After transitioning from Minnesota Children's Hospital—where clinicians tried to get ahead of portal alerts—to adult care, she continued checking until the lesion episode, which ultimately shrank and disappeared over the next year. She explains why Google and raw reports can intensify fear without context, and why she and her dad now enforce a rule that she won't open portal results before her doctor explains them.

Discussed in this episode:

• Welcome to Combating Cancer
• The 40 Minute Wait
• Portal Results Shock
• Why It Hit Hard
• First Diagnosis Origin
• Scan Cycle Habit
• Doctor Visit Fallout
• Lesion Shrinks Away
• Banned From The Portal
• Google Is Not Context
• Information Vs Control
• Let Someone Carry It
• Wrap Up and Share

More from Gwen:

Get in touch with our team for sponsorship inquiries or guest host submissions: [email protected]

Follow and join the community:

Website: https://www.combatingcancer.org

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CombatingCancer

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/combating-cancer/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BwfwuJT81/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/combatingcancer_?igsh=azNjM3RlcmJwcWxn

Episode 66- Show Notes:

Host Gwen Kelly of Combating Cancer shares that her latest scans were stable with no evidence of disease and explains what "scan day" is like for her as a stage III astrocytoma survivor on a 90-day MRI cycle. She walks through her routine from the night before (removing jewelry) to the early Monday morning hospital visit with her dad, intake paperwork, changing into a gown and grip socks, waiting, getting an IV for contrast, and completing the ~20-minute MRI amid loud noises and intrusive "what if" thoughts. She describes contrast sensations, the emotional intensity of waiting for results, and the exhaustion afterward. Gwen advises against reading MRI reports in the patient portal before a doctor explains them and acknowledges that while she celebrates good news, others may receive difficult results.

Discussed in this episode:

• Welcome to Combating Cancer
• Stable Scan Update
• What Scan Day Covers
• Night Before Routine
• Morning Drive Mindset
• Check In and Paperwork
• Changing Room Wait
• IV and Scanxiety
• Inside the MRI
• Contrast Sensations
• After the Scan
• Waiting for Results
• Good News Crash
• Portal Results Warning
• Holding Space for Others
• Wrap Up and Share

More from Gwen:

Get in touch with our team for sponsorship inquiries or guest host submissions: [email protected]

Follow and join the community:

Website: https://www.combatingcancer.org

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CombatingCancer

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/combating-cancer/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BwfwuJT81/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/combatingcancer_?igsh=azNjM3RlcmJwcWxn