The Burn

Today we celebrate our 1 year anniversary with a special 2 part episode where April and Monica revisit some favorite episodes and guests from the past year of The Burn! Our goal is to bring the stories of the young breast cancer community to life and to inspire you to use writing as a tool in your own survivorship. We’ve organized today’s special around what we are calling “hard truths of being diagnosed young.” Young is a state of mind, of course, but for our purposes young refers to those diagnosed at least initially under 50 years old. In this special 2 part episode, we will highlight just a few of these stories that we hope are an interesting & entertaining deep dive into today’s young breast cancer community.  We’ll discuss: 

• The Mom Thing
• Fertility & Infertility
• Mental Health
• The Struggle to Find Your Place in the Community
• Body Wars
• Sex & Intimacy

We’ll throw in some dark humor, too!

In honor of our 1 year anniversary, we have a gift for our listeners - a printable journal companion to this podcast with some of our favorite writer quotes and prompts to inspire you to write. Listen to the end for info on how to grab yours!

Trigger warning: suicide, disordered eating

Get the free Wildfire email newsletter: https://www.wildfirecommunity.org

Learn about Wildfire writing workshops: https://www.wildfirecommunity.org/workshops

Shop Wildfire merch & more: https://www.wildfirecommunity.org/shop

Send your voice recording testimonial to [email protected]

Today we celebrate our 1 year anniversary with a special 2 part episode where April and Monica revisit some favorite episodes and guests from the past year of The Burn! Our goal is to bring the stories of the young breast cancer community to life and to inspire you to use writing as a tool in your own survivorship. We’ve organized today’s special around what we are calling “hard truths of being diagnosed young.” Young is a state of mind, of course, but for our purposes young refers to those diagnosed at least initially under 50 years old. In this special 2 part episode, we will highlight just a few of these stories that we hope are an interesting & entertaining deep dive into today’s young breast cancer community.  We’ll discuss: 

• The Mom Thing
• Fertility & Infertility
• Mental Health
• The Struggle to Find Your Place in the Community
• Body Wars
• Sex & Intimacy

We’ll throw in some dark humor, too!

In honor of our 1 year anniversary, we have a gift for our listeners - a printable journal companion to this podcast with some of our favorite writer quotes and prompts to inspire you to write. Listen to the end for info on how to grab yours!

Trigger warning: suicide, disordered eating

Get the free Wildfire email newsletter: https://www.wildfirecommunity.org

Learn about Wildfire writing workshops: https://www.wildfirecommunity.org/workshops

Shop Wildfire merch & more: https://www.wildfirecommunity.org/shop

Send your voice recording testimonial to [email protected]

Pediatric Physiotherapist Vanessa D’Souza of Calgary was diagnosed with breast cancer at 44. She is a mother, daughter, sister, niece, cousin, partner, friend, neighbor, advocate and lover of life.  Today Vanessa reads her piece “Bindis & Bangles, Onions & Shame-ectomies” from Wildfire Magazine’s 2022 “Canada’s Young Survivors” issue.  This is a layered piece about intuition, family life, professional life, and cultural expectations that wrap around a cancer diagnosis.  April and Vanessa will discuss the range of emotions experienced over time with a cancer diagnosis, looking at illness and the family together holistically, being the change you want to be in the world at home, and how storytelling is important to immigrant lives. 

Connect with Vanessa: https://www.instagram.com/vanessal.dsouza/

or [email protected]

Get the free Wildfire email newsletter: https://www.wildfirecommunity.org

Learn about Wildfire writing workshops: https://www.wildfirecommunity.org/workshops

Shop Wildfire merch & more: https://www.wildfirecommunity.org/shop

Send your voice recording testimonial to [email protected]

New Yorker Amy Hartl wears many hats: recovery educator, survivorship consultant, oncology massage specialist, lymphatic drainage therapist and speaker. Since she was a young girl Amy lived in the shadow of her mom’s breast cancer diagnosis before receiving her own diagnosis at 41.  Today she reads her piece “The More Things Change, The Less They Stay The Same” from the 2022 “Cancer Culture” issue of Wildfire Magazine.  Amy writes poignantly about the woman in breast cancer that came before us and how breast cancer experiences have changed.  April and Amy will also take a deeper dive on the legacy of those who go before us, how we experience cancer culture, and Amy’s work in oncology massage and lymphedema.   

 More about Amy: https://amyhartl.com and https://www.instagram.com/as.we.are.now/

Get the free Wildfire email newsletter: https://www.wildfirecommunity.orgLearn about Wildfire writing workshops: https://www.wildfirecommunity.org/workshops

Shop Wildfire merch & more: https://www.wildfirecommunity.org/shop

Send your voice recording testimonial to [email protected]

Young mother Lauren Candies Tarpley of Charleston, South Carolina was diagnosed at 34 with breast cancer.  Today Lauren reads her piece “The Friends that Leave” from Wildfire Magazine’s 2021 “Community” issue.  Lauren writes about the friendships that couldn’t stand up to cancer and what that taught her.  April and Lauren will discuss friends that can’t handle the diagnosis, how long cancer things go on, or the changed person in cancer’s aftermath.  They’ll also talk about parenting young kids through cancer, Lauren’s cancer advocacy as a young adult of color,  the pandemic’s role in her post diagnosis friend connections, and what role her post-cancer lifestyle change of not drinking plays in her social life. 

More about Lauren on IG: https://www.instagram.com/typeaguidetocancer/?hl=en and https://www.instagram.com/lifewithlittleones.podcast/?hl=en

Type A Guide to Cancer book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1638376352/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_TGEZBZJDH6S8C2DEJW59

Too Many Cells book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B2V2427W/ref=cm_sw_r_api_i_WKJ2RSTR3QQ6ET79R2TH_0

Too Many Cells book Spanish edition: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B4L1YRTY/ref=cm_sw_r_api_i_DCAJFSDBK1N708FXH1G1_0

Life with Little Ones podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/life-with-little-ones/id1528226162

Get the free Wildfire email newsletter: https://www.wildfirecommunity.org

Learn about Wildfire writing workshops: https://www.wildfirecommunity.org/workshops

Shop Wildfire merch & more: https://www.wildfirecommunity.org/shop

Send your voice recording testimonial to [email protected].

Today’s guest is Meghan Nathanson, a writer & visual artist from coastal Maine.  She was diagnosed at 45 with breast cancer.  Today, Meghan reads her piece “There Can Be Joy” from Wildfire Magazine’s 2021 “Community” issue.  Meghan writes about her inner world during her breast cancer experiences with her medical professionals to inspire a deeper, more resounding presence in the lives of others while winnowing out the wonder and essence of why we are here. April and Meghan will discuss receiving breast cancer medical care before and during the pandemic, grounding practices that ease our being, the power of a “do-over”, and Meghan’s upcoming book about facing breast cancer with a spiritual mindset in the midst of family life.

More about Meghan: https://meghannathanson.com/collections/all-is-well and https://www.instagram.com/meghan.nathanson.artistry/

Get the free Wildfire email newsletter: https://www.wildfirecommunity.org

Learn about Wildfire writing workshops: https://www.wildfirecommunity.org/workshops

Shop Wildfire merch & more: https://www.wildfirecommunity.org/shop

Send your voice recording testimonial to [email protected]

Shelley Moreno of Los Angeles was diagnosed in 2012 at 40 with breast cancer while a single mother.  Today Shelley reads her piece “Each Body Part Has a Story to Tell” from Wildfire Magazine’s 2019 “Body” issue.  Shelley navigates cancer’s aftermath as a single mother and wonders what it will take to accept her body for what it is.  Shelley and April will discuss authentic parenting through cancer, re-parenting yourself when cancer brings past physical body traumas to the surface, cancer recurrence, and being visible with survivorship longevity to the newly diagnosed. They'll also take a deeper dive on how writing can unpack things you didn't know you were holding onto.

More about Shelley:https://www.instagram.com/shelleyshell_m/ and https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1121613767

Get the free Wildfire email newsletter: https://www.wildfirecommunity.org

Learn about Wildfire writing workshops: https://www.wildfirecommunity.org/workshops

Shop Wildfire merch & more: https://www.wildfirecommunity.org/shop

Send your voice recording testimonial to [email protected]

Managing Director Dawn Amodeo of Los Angeles was diagnosed at 34 with breast cancer.  Today Dawn reads her piece “Car Battery” from Wildfire Magazine’s 2022 “Body” issue.  Dawn’s story slows things down to key moments that played out on the day she needs to check into the hospital for breast surgery and her car battery dies, giving us a closer look at what she observed and felt. April and Dawn will discuss self-blame for getting cancer, the metaphors that emerge while writing our stories, and using affirmations to navigate scary experiences.

More about Dawn: https://www.instagram.com/brooklyndawn/

Get the free Wildfire email newsletter: https://www.wildfirecommunity.org

Learn about Wildfire writing workshops: https://www.wildfirecommunity.org/workshops

Shop Wildfire merch & more: https://www.wildfirecommunity.org/shop

Send your voice recording testimonial to [email protected]

Nutritional therapy practitioner and meditation teacher Juni Bucher was diagnosed at 41 with breast cancer.  Today Juni reads her piece, “Can I See?” from Wildfire Magazine’s 2022 “Body” issue.  Juni dives into her experience of dating with a changed body and one nipple after breast cancer treatment, and finding confidence and pleasure.  Juni and April discuss arriving at body acceptance, erogenous zones, and sexual health.  They’ll take a closer look at Juni’s empowering work with Rose City Sexual Health Collective where she provides nutritional support and stress management techniques alongside other sex-positive practitioners.  

More about Juni: https://www.instagram.com/junibwell/, https://www.tiktok.com/@junibwell, https://www.linkedin.com/in/juni-bucher-ntp-86379a239/,

https://www.facebook.com/junibwell

Meditate with Juni: https://insighttimer.com/junibwell?utm_source=copy_link&utm_medium=live_stream_share&_branch_match_id=850877922384867163&utm_campaign=web-share&_branch_referrer=H4sIAAAAAAAAA8soKSkottLXz8wrzkzXyyjRNw2JdC0LTk%2F2K0iyLy3JjS%2FOLy1KTrVNzi%2BojM%2FJzMtWAwnmpqZkluba5mSWpcYXlxSlJgLVZSQWpQIA4a0saU4AAAA%3D

Tata, Cancer! podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/2sw6DGpGzaMAtwnQjAvcA4

Rose City Sexual Health Collective: https://rosecitysexualhealth.com

Get the free Wildfire email newsletter: https://www.wildfirecommunity.org

Learn about Wildfire writing workshops: https://www.wildfirecommunity.org/workshops

Shop Wildfire merch & more: https://www.wildfirecommunity.org/shop

Send your voice recording testimonial to [email protected]

This week as we kick back and enjoy the Fourth of July holiday vibes here in the US, we are taking a little break from our regular podcast schedule to re-share with you a favorite episode from the archives. From time to time throughout the year, the Wildfire team will be sharing episodes that really resonate with us personally. Today, Monica Haro has selected this episode about suicidal ideation because she believes can be a mental health aspect of a cancer diagnosis that is not talked about often in the breast cancer community.  

Jen Rozenbaum is a photographer and author who was diagnosed at 41 with Stage IIb hormone-positive lobular breast cancer. In this episode Jen reads her piece “The Search to Feel Alive” from Wildfire Magazine’s 2021 “Grief & Acceptance” issue. Jen tackles the hard subject of suicidal ideation, and the difference between being alive and feeling alive. How do you live your life once you are done with breast cancer treatment and declared No Evidence of Disease when the reality is it is an unrecognizable new life littered with the rubble of your pre-diagnosis existence? What if all you want to do is get in bed and never get out? What if you aren’t the badass cancer warrior people think you are?  How do you cope when well-meaning outsiders say “at least you are alive” and “you should be celebrating” but you feel minimized and isolated from those comments?  The breast cancer community is starting to talk more about mental health, anxiety, and depression - but not so much about suicidal ideation.  April will talk more with Jen about survivor’s guilt, and the turning points to find help. 

More about Jen: https://www.instagram.com/jenrozenbaum/

https://jenrozenbaum.com

Jen’s podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/66z9UYVr7oYRMXpNIihhMz

Jen’s book: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/what-the-f-ck-just-happened-a-survivors-guide-to-life-after-breast-cancer-jen-rozenbaum/1138492714

Get the free Wildfire email newsletter: https://www.wildfirecommunity.org

Learn about Wildfire writing workshops: https://www.wildfirecommunity.org/workshops

Shop Wildfire merch & more: https://www.wildfirecommunity.org/shop

Send your voice recording testimonial to [email protected]

More about this episode’s sponsor Bright Spot Network:

https://www.brightspotnetwork.org/