Patient from Hell

Dr. Douglas Blayney, past ASCO president and oncologist, gives us his thoughts on some of the key scientific themes presented at the 2023 ASCO annual meeting. In the field of breast cancer, there are three key areas of interest Dr. Blayney discusses. First, there is growing attention towards the use of CDK 4/6 inhibitors in the treatment of hormone positive breast cancer. Second, the significance of somatic cell DNA testing is being recognized. This testing can inform treatment decisions at different stages of the disease and help identify when a change in treatment is necessary. Lastly, there is a focus on the emerging role of antibody drug conjugates, which can selectively kill cancer cells in a more targeted way. Samira and Dr. Blayney also discuss how patients learn from and use this new information in partnership with their physician.

Visit the ⁠Manta Cares website⁠ & ⁠sign up for the access list⁠ for our digital platform coming soon!

Key Highlights:

About our guest:

Dr. Doug Blayney is an oncology physician who specializes in breast cancer. His research focuses on quality improvement in cancer care systems, new drug development, and patient experience improvement. At the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), he was founding Editor-in-Chief of its flagship practice journal, and as President, started the ASCO Quality Symposium and began planning for ASCO’s CancerLinq. He was a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Growth Factor Guideline panel, and is a past member of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Oncology Drugs Advisory Committee and the NCCN Board of Directors. Dr. Blayney leads the Manta Cares Scientific Advisory Board.

Key Moments:

8 minutes: What is a CDK 4/6 inhibitor? “When that estrogen receptor growth pathway is shut down, the cell compensates, or many of the cancer cells compensate by this CDK 4/6 pathway. And it turns out that if you combine estrogen blockade with blockade of the CD46 pathway at various steps, you can have an augmented or more effective therapeutic approach.”

18 minutes: On the types of DNA and how they impact cancer treatment decisions: “There are two kinds of DNA. There's germline DNA, which is present in every cell in our body. Then there is somatic mutation, which happens to various cells. Whether it's in a breast cell or a lung lining cell or a colon lining cell, an accumulation of those mutations in the right spot can lead to a cancer.”

33 minutes: On thinking about decision making with new scientific advances: “Your listeners may remember that 20 or 30 years ago, randomized clinical trial looked at circulating tumor cells monitoring versus standard monitoring. And the circulating tumor cell DNA did not improve survival, probably because of the sensitivity of the test. Plus the treatments 20 or 30 years ago weren't as efficacious. There weren't as many of them. So if the cancer was growing, but you didn't have an effective treatment for it, so what? Looking at this now, the situation has changed. The test is probably more sensitive, and we have more treatments.”

Disclaimer: This podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at the user's own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard, or delay in obtaining, medical advice for any medical condition they may have, and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions.

There is a lot of buzz around the annual ASCO meeting, which brings together 40,000 oncology professionals from around the world. But as a patient, what does that mean for us? Dr. Douglas Blayney, past ASCO president and oncologist gives us a behind the scenes understanding of the purpose, process and outcomes that are driven by the information shared at the ASCO annual meeting. He shares how different stakeholders in the oncology and healthcare ecosystem play a role at the meeting, and how the information is used to improve patient care and also drive innovation.

Key Highlights:

About our guest:

Dr. Doug Blayney is an oncology physician who specializes in breast cancer. His research focuses on quality improvement in cancer care systems, new drug development, and patient experience improvement. At the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), he was founding Editor-in-Chief of its flagship practice journal, and as President, started the ASCO Quality Symposium and began planning for ASCO’s CancerLinq. He was a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Growth Factor Guideline panel, and is a past member of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Oncology Drugs Advisory Committee and the NCCN Board of Directors. Dr. Blayney leads the Manta Cares Scientific Advisory Board.

Key Moments:

9 minutes - On what’s important about the ASCO annual meeting: “The ASCO annual meeting has a long tradition of having breakthrough therapies announced. Traditionally, on Sunday afternoon, the highest impact scientific findings are announced in the plenary session, which this year had four abstracts featured.”

27 minutes - On the importance of scientific meetings for clinicians and patients: “Most clinicians and oncologists want to do the best for our patients. Having said that, we can't be everywhere, and we can't know everything, so we do rely on other sources of information, maybe secondary or tertiary sources of information about what went on at the ASCO meeting and other scientific meetings.”

33 minutes - On the integrity of scientific data presented at ASCO:  “ASCO is a largely volunteer professional society, with the exception of the elected officers, or actually the president and board chair, etc. So three or four elected officers and the journal editors are compensated, and all other ASCO activities are essentially donated by interested parties. And part of the American tradition, as de Tocqueville pointed out in the early 1800s, is that there's this large tradition of volunteerism in our society, which is great and very satisfying. And which ASCO takes advantage of and gives a very positive outlet for clinicians, doctors, and other advocates who want to volunteer to make the world better. 

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Disclaimer: This podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at the user's own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard, or delay in obtaining, medical advice for any medical condition they may have, and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions.

Dave Durante, former USA Gymnastics Olympic team member and co-owner of Power Monkey Fitness, talks about his journey from elite athlete to coach. He details the importance of consistency in movement of the body, and the value of smaller but consistent periods of activity each day. Dave shares tips on how cancer survivors can start to regain some of their strength and mobility back after treatments, and the importance of having support along the way to maintain consistency and achieve fitness goals. He also reminds us to prioritize the process and not the end result.

Key Highlights:

About our guest:

Dave Durante is a multiple time USA gymnastics national champion and a member of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Team as an alternate. Following his retirement from competition, Dave helped coach his alma mater, Stanford University, to an NCAA Team Title in 2009. He remained involved in the sport by serving on the Athlete Advisory Committee with the United States Olympic Committee and the USA Gymnastics Men's Technical Committee until 2018. From 2013-2015, Dave was a lead coach with the CrossFit Gymnastics L1 course, where he developed the CrossFit Gymnastics Advanced Course. Dave is now the co-owner of Power Monkey Fitness and Power Monkey Camp, which host adult fitness events worldwide. They also provide technical education in various training specialties through their social media platforms and their Power Monkey Training app.

Key Moments:

12 minutes: On the importance of mental health to perform - Leading up to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, I just missed out on the Olympic team. I was part of the Olympic selection process team, one of the last ten guys. They took eight to Athens. I was one of the two that they didn't take to Athens. I did everything I could, and I was in the best shape of my life. I was so ready competitively, but I was mentally a mess. Everything that I'm doing well physically, the complete opposite is happening on the mental side. So I found a balance in my teammates and things outside of the sport.

36 minutes: How to ease back into exercise after cancer treatments - Start with bodyweight. Really phase one is about more mobility as we discussed, but also a stronger core. So those are two things that we recommend people doing on a daily basis. You should spend five to ten minutes on core work. You spend five to ten minutes on mobility work on a daily basis.

40 minutes: On the power of consistency - It's imperative on you to wake up every day and put a priority on how important these things are to you. It doesn't need to start massive. And I think that that's the thing that's really important with consistency. It can start as easy as I'm going to walk to the end of the block today and come back and just do that for this week. When we talk about consistency, it needs to start with something attainable, something small, one day at a time, and then allow it to grow from there.
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Disclaimer: This podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at the user's own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard, or delay in obtaining, medical advice for any medical condition they may have, and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions.

After experiencing symptoms for a year and a half, Katie Coleman was diagnosed with a rare kidney cancer at the age of 29. She began to share her story on social media (@katiekickscancer), and her honest storytelling of her own experience as well as her advocacy for other cancer patients, has grown a large and engaged following. In this episode, Katie talks about the challenges of getting a diagnosis when you are “too young” for cancer. She discusses how to balance having trust in your doctor with advocating for your own values and priorities. Katie also shares her biggest piece of advice for other cancer patients.

Key highlights:

About our guest:

Katie Coleman is a patient advocate who was diagnosed with a rare stage IV kidney cancer in Dec 2020, at the age of 29. She has shared her diagnosis publicly on social media to spread awareness and to advocate for others with kidney cancer and rare diseases. Since being diagnosed, she has also founded a non-profit, started a podcast and is currently writing a memoir. You can read more about Katie on her website at www.katiekickscancer.com.

Key Moments:

2 minutes: On her initial diagnosis with cancer - I started sharing every day because I was diagnosed at 29 with a rare Stage IV kidney cancer. At the time I knew nothing about cancer, healthcare or really anything medically related. And so I was terrified. All I had to go on was the things I’d seen in books, TV shows and movies about what Stage IV looks like. I kept hearing from other people that you can live with cancer, and there’s so much life to live. So I started sharing to document the process. And if anybody else came and found themselves in my shoes one day and was also scared, they could look at my story and see what to expect.

28 minutes: On shared decision making between patient and doctor: For me as a patient, I had to decide which route I wanted to take. Do I want to continue with this treatment that is actually working for me? Do I want to stick with the standard of care? Or do I want to take a risk on this surgery, which has the intent to cure, so a much bigger reward, but obviously has a much higher risk because there was a whole lot of things that could go wrong? I think that’s where rapport with your physician really comes into play, being able to sit across from each other and have those conversations, to let them know: these are my goals, and these are the options. Where should we fall in between there? And making that decision with them versus having to do it alone or having them make the decision for you.

42 minutes: Advice for fellow cancer patients: My biggest piece of advice for other patients is to ask questions and advocate for yourself. For more common types of cancers, there are more options and guidelines to follow, but especially the further down the treatment path you get or the more rare type of cancer you have, the more your plan becomes a discussion with your physician. So learning as much about your disease as you can, and then advocating and asking questions is important. You have to ask questions to learn.
Visit the Manta Cares website

Disclaimer: This podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at the user's own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard, or delay in obtaining, medical advice for any medical condition they may have, and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions.

Radiation oncologist and entrepreneur, Dr. Madhu Shetti, gives a “radiation 101” overview to understand more about the art and science of this treatment. She delves into the importance of treating a patient holistically, understanding how cancer treatment fits into the logistics of daily life, and creating a treatment plan to honor this full view of each person. Creating a safe, non-judgemental space for diverse patients is central to her practice of medicine. Dr. Shetti discusses her hope that supportive care will continue to improve over time to give patients a high quality of life after treatments end, and has created skin care products to address some of the longer-term issues faced by patients.

Key highlights

About our guest

Dr. Madhu Shetti is a board certified, practicing Radiation Oncologist and a Stanford Graduate School of Business alum. She primarily treats black and brown women. During cancer treatments, patients can experience painful blistering skin reactions similar to shingles + long term skin sensitivity. Unsatisfied with currently available options especially for black and brown skin tones, Dr. Shetti developed skin care products to protect and soothe the skin during treatment and prevent secondary cancers for years afterwards. In 2022, Balmere received the Stanford Impact Founder prize (funded by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak & his wife Akshata Murthy) to improve health outcomes in communities of color.

Key Moments

3 mins: How to balance cancer treatment with quality of life - I visited several of the cancer hospitals in India and saw many young adults with disfiguring surgeries. So they could undergo cancer surgery, but once they got back to their villages and their homes, they were often not included because they could not eat comfortably in public or they couldn’t hold down jobs because they couldn’t maintain their nutritional status. And that really made me think about what is the point of curing someone of cancer if they have no quality of life afterward? How do we preserve as much of the body as possible, both physically and functionally?

15 mins: Important considerations when thinking about radiation treatment -  The number one thing I think about is the logistics for treatment. Because we can create the most beautiful, ideal treatment, but if a patient cannot complete it for any reason, then we’ve actually done a disservice to the patient. So I think about: how do I make this manageable for my patients?

29 mins: On building trust with patients - My number one goal is to build trust. Because if you don’t have trust, it’s an uphill journey….I think it’s very important to really listen to your patients to understand their concerns, and not make them feel embarrassed or judged. Because to some extent, we’re only here with you in person for a certain number of days, but outside of that, you are going to go home and live your life. And an average survivor is going to live for 14 years after diagnosis, so we need to make sure we set you up for success in those years to come.

Visit the Manta Cares website

Disclaimer: This podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at the user's own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard, or delay in obtaining, medical advice for any medical condition they may have, and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions.

Part 2 of 2 with Dr. Manuela Kogon, Integrative Medicine Internist, Clinical Professor and author of “When Cancer Visits: How to Free Your Mind from the Grip of Distress and Heal Your Jolted Nervous System.” Dr. Kogon specializes in mind-body medicine and non-pharmacological treatment of illness distress and delves more into the topic of stress. In addition to defining stress, she talks about how a cancer diagnosis opens the door to uncertainty and three specific techniques to help manage that stress and uncertainty.

Key highlights:

About our guest:

Manuela Kogon is an integrative medicine internist in private practice and a clinical professor at a large university. Dr. Kogon has devoted her life to patients in distress and has helped them connect to their innate ability to heal. She divides her time between California, Europe and rural Massachusetts and is looking forward to the day when humans rediscover their ability to be emotionally present for their fellow beings. You can learn more about her book “When Cancer Visits: How to Free Your Mind from the Grip of Distress and Heal Your Jolted Nervous System” here.

Key Moments:

2 minutes: On the definition of stress: We have to define it because part of the problem is that stress is a huge umbrella term for a million things. And in the context of cancer, I want people to think of it as activation, and in some ways, a chronic activation. So I can either be activated because I’m stimulated by an outside event, like a diagnosis of cancer. But it also happens from pressure from inside. The physics definition of stress is: a force applied to a surface area. So that's how I think of it for myself - what’s pressing from the outside and what’s pressing from the inside.

32 minutes:  On dealing with uncertainty: The problem with uncertainty is that it’s fueled by fearful thinking. I know for myself and many other people with or without cancer, thinking really gets out of hand. [So you ask] Can I do something about my thinking? Can I do something about my emotions? Can I do something about my behavior? And there, I always want people to see it in the context of ‘Am I doing these things as a representation of uncertainty and feeling out of control?’ Cancer is an out of control experience and no human likes that. We want control. And there are things you can control. You might not be able to control every single cancer cell in your body, but to some degree you can control your emotions, your actions and your thinking. 

42 minutes: On the physical component of stress you can control: People always talk about mind over body, but that’s not a philosophy I follow. For me, it’s really body over mind. The mind is very expressive in its demands and the body is like, no thank you – I can barely go to the bathroom, and I’m supposed to go for a walk? So I flip it. What is the body capable of doing? Something it can always do is breathing. The lungs and the heart and the brain are very closely linked through the vagus nerve. So how I breathe doesn’t just affect my heart, it also affects how I think. 

Visit the Manta Cares website

Disclaimer: This podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at the user's own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard, or delay in obtaining, medical advice for any medical condition they may have, and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions.

Part 1 of 2 with Dr. Manuela Kogon, Integrative Medicine Internist, Professor and author of “When Cancer Visits: How to Free Your Mind from the Grip of Distress and Heal Your Jolted Nervous System.” Dr. Kogon specializes in mind-body medicine and non-pharmacological treatment of illness distress and talks about the internal and external stimuli that drive stress. She discusses the unique uncertainty that comes with cancer survivorship and how to live your life with daily living versus longer term planning. For those living with cancer, Dr. Kogan talks about the question of quantity vs. quality of life, and how patient values might not always match with those of their loved ones. She also talks about how expansion of these principles to other cultures needs to be nuanced to appropriately account for differences in the cancer experience. 

Key highlights:

About our guest:

Manuela Kogon is an integrative medicine internist in private practice and a clinical professor at a large university. Dr. Kogon has devoted her life to patients in distress and has helped them connect to their innate ability to heal. She divides her time between California, Europe and rural Massachusetts and is looking forward to the day when humans rediscover their ability to be emotionally present for their fellow beings. You can learn more about her book “When Cancer Visits: How to Free Your Mind from the Grip of Distress and Heal Your Jolted Nervous System here.

Key Moments:

19 minutes: On external vs. internal stimuli that drives stress - To separate external stimulation from internal stimulation, when people talk about fight, flight and freeze: if I put a gun to your head you’ve got to be activated, and you’ve got to fight back and run. But people aren’t fully aware that their internal system activates them, too. Someone with fear, if their heart beats faster might say ‘Oh my goodness, am I having a heart attack’ Or someone with pain might say ‘Oh, is my cancer might be back?’ And that’s a very activating thought. So I make people aware if that activation is external or internal.

22 minutes: On how to live while grappling with uncertainty and fear as a cancer survivor - So that’s an important thing, but uncertainty and unpredictability; it’s like ‘how do I manage my life if I don’t know?’ Am I now going out to live life as though it’s coming to an end tomorrow or do I live life as if I’m going to live another 40 or 50 years? That’s a very different approach to life. And in some ways, you have to do both.

38 minutes: On living with cancer and the cost-benefit analysis of quantity vs. quality of life - You’re caught between all these choices and this optimization of very difficult choices. There’s never a good answer, there’s only a cost-benefit analysis in that if the cost of taking the medicine is that high, and the benefit is this, but if I look at the cost, it’s attached to another cost – it’s a complicated decision making algorithm that’s overwhelming.

Visit the Manta Cares website

Disclaimer: This podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at the user's own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard, or delay in obtaining, medical advice for any medical condition they may have, and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions.

A July 2021 diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer at the age of 43 completely changed Dr. Yi-wen Huang’s life. In this episode, Yi-wen talks about how she has reprioritized what is important in her life given her diagnosis. Telling her two children about her cancer was difficult, but the entire family has found silver linings in her diagnosis. Yi-wen has already had a number of treatment plans and talks about her decision making process and the positive experience she had as a participant in a clinical trial. She also sums up some of the learnings she’s gathered as she grapples with uncertainty.

Manta Maps are coming! Step-by-step subway maps that guide you through the entire cancer experience. Learn more here!

Key highlights:

About our guest:

Dr. Yi-wen Huang is a stage IV HER2+ metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patient. Her diagnosis in July 2021 at age 43 turned her life up-side-down. She has kept a positive outlook despite setbacks on the cancer journey. Yi-wen has a PhD in Physical Chemistry from Harvard University, worked in environmental and biotech instrumentation companies in the Bay Area before the diagnosis. She enjoys her current "retirement" filled with parenting duties, family time, pottery, running and self care (including continuous treatments).

Key Moments:

7 minutes 10 seconds: Staying at work after a metastatic breast cancer diagnosis - I think the fact that it metastasized made it easy to decide my priorities.  I was in a lab and thought, “What am I doing here? Is this how I’m going to spend the rest of my life or time? Like any minute of it?” I don’t want to be away from my kids and family. So it made it easier to prioritize.

26 minutes 30 seconds: On how she got involved in a clinical trial - So when I found out it went to the brain, I immediately emailed both my UCSF and Stanford doctors to see if they had ideas or thoughts. The UCSF doctor actually had this clinical trial and encouraged me to come in, and then I qualified. There are different types of clinical trials, different phases, and I was on a Phase 2 trial that means there was no control group yet. So everybody gets the medication, and they want to see how well it works. I actually really enjoyed my experience on the clinical trial.

39 minutes 40 seconds: After telling her kids she had cancer - Pretty quickly life went back to normal. We live as normal a life as we can with the difference being that I’m a stay at home mom now, not a career woman. My kids will actually tell you that cancer is not all bad. They say we’re much closer now. We don’t talk about the future, we just enjoy all the moments we’re together.

45 minutes: Life lessons learned by living with uncertainty - My biggest lesson is to enjoy the moment. Enjoy your life all the time, every day. It’s a privilege and don’t think about how long, how much. Just take now. Take as much as you can, and live it day by day, moment by moment. Enjoy it to the fullest. 

Visit the Manta Cares website

Disclaimer: This podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at the user's own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard, or delay in obtaining, medical advice for any medical condition they may have, and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions.

Dr. Gayatri Gowrishankar, a cancer researcher, talks about how her professional life collided with her personal life when her daughter was diagnosed with a brain tumor. After a number of confusing symptoms, Gayatri followed her motherly instinct when she felt something wasn’t right with her daughter’s health. Dr. Gowrishankar talks about what her daughter remembers about her experience at the age of 9,  the power of positivity for kids with cancer, and reaching out for support as a caregiver. She also talks about ways to better the experience for childhood cancer patients in India.

Visit the ⁠Manta Cares website⁠ & ⁠sign up for the access list⁠ for our digital platform coming soon!

1. The power of imaging for cancer early detection

2. How a personal cancer diagnosis motivates and inspires professional work in the cancer research lab

3. Following motherly instinct to push for a diagnosis for your child

4. Caring for yourself when you’re a cancer patient’s caregiver

About the guest:

Dr. Gayatri Gowrishankar is a research scientist deeply invested in the business of diagnosing diseases. After being awarded a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Hannover, Germany, she moved to California to continue her postdoctoral studies in the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford University where she was introduced to the power of using molecular information to diagnose complex diseases like cancer. She stayed on at Stanford University as a Research Scientist under the mentorship of the late Professor Sanjiv Sam Gambhir who was a pioneer in the field of Molecular Imaging and laid the foundations for early detection programs in Oncology. At Stanford, her work focused around developing novel diagnostic imaging agents, particularly positron emission tomography (PET) tracers for Oncology and Infectious Diseases. She has co-authored numerous scientific publications and participated in several scientific conferences. She is now working in the External Partnerships/Scientific affairs division of Visby Medical, a growing start-up in Silicon Valley with a mission of bringing diagnostics to the patients.

Key Moments:

6 minutes: On the science behind and impact of PET scan imaging - Cancer cells are continuing to grow, proliferate and divide, so they need energy and consume a lot of glucose. So that’s why they take up this glucose tracer. Then the patients go through the PET scanner and the area where the glucose has been taken up just lights up. And it turns out, it’s an exquisitely sensitive modality, or imaging technique, because it's able to pinpoint very small masses of cells all over your body. It tells you where all the cancer has spread in a patient.

22 minutes: On the uncertainty before test results - I think all the mother’s listening in will identify because you know when there is something really wrong. You know when there’s a simple thing like a scrape and they just need a bandaid. But you know when something’s not right with your child.

41 minutes: On reaching out for emotional support as a caregiver -  So I made use of that because I felt like I needed to talk to someone. And it was hard to talk to my husband because we were both so emotional, and we would just break down talking to each other. So I had to reach out for help.

Visit the Manta Cares website

Disclaimer: This podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at the user's own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard, or delay in obtaining, medical advice for any medical condition they may have, and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions.

Our guest, Carolyn Taylor, is a photographer, a supportive cancer advocate, and a survivor of ovarian and endometrial cancer. She has worked across the globe increasing access to cancer care. In this episode she talks about how she developed broad-based partnership and built strong alliances with stakeholders to introduce lasting change in access to care. She discusses the differences between the healthcare systems across the world versus the healthcare industry we have in the United States. Carolyn talks about the universal stories that bring individuals together when they hear the words "You have Cancer." 

Key highlights:

About our guest:

Carolyn Taylor is a photographer, a supportive cancer care advocate and a survivor of ovarian and endometrial cancers. In 2010, after winning a grant from British Airways, she logged more than 120,000 air miles, visiting 14 countries using photography and interviews to document that regardless of race, religion, nationality or economic status, we are all one in the battle against cancer. Inspired by the people she met and the lack of education and support we tend to take for granted in high-resource settings, Carolyn founded Global Focus on Cancer (GFC), a non-profit organization in late 2011 to act as an agent of simple and effective change to help reduce the global burden of cancer through programs in cancer support, awareness, education, advocacy and networking in countries where access to information about cancer is critically lacking.

Key Moments:

7 minutes 45 seconds: On combining photography and art with global health – Everybody needs to tell their story. It's really important for people to have someone listen to their story. It's a way for them to get out their experience, to normalize it or equalize their experience. In addition to getting their stories out, getting this data out there in a more digestible, humanistic way, it also is an opportunity for people to share their story. To share “I am not just a number, I’m a person. I’m not just a statistic.”

22 minutes 21 seconds: On how to develop culturally appropriate programs – If a program is not coming from within the country, it's not going to be sustainable or appropriate. We have to have the buy-in of the country. We really look to help support the development (seed money and seed ideas) based on the resources within the culture. 

40 minutes 40 seconds: Difference between a healthcare system & industry – I wish people would be more open to the idea of a centralized healthcare system. It works very well in a lot of social-democratic countries like Finland, Norway, Denmark, France, Italy. It’s free for people. You pay a little more in taxes, but it’s really quality care. The healthcare industry in the US has done its job to poison people’s thoughts on universal health care for their own profitability.

Visit the Manta Cares website

Disclaimer: This podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at the user's own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard, or delay in obtaining, medical advice for any medical condition they may have, and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions.