There is a version of this podcast that Dr. Randi Paynter imagined making before she started. She would sit across from strangers, ask them to trust her with the hardest thing that ever happened to them, and there would be a clean line between host and guest.

This is not that episode.

Brenda is Randi's sister. She is 52 years old. She works in human services — a career built on trying to do right by people the system overlooks. She has a dog named Lucy. She has metastatic breast cancer. And she asked Randi to tell her story — because she believes that if it helps even one person feel less alone, something good will have come from all of this.

In March of 2024, Brenda found a change in her breast. She had just started a new job in Albuquerque, New Mexico — a city where she had lived for just over a year, with no local family. She tried to get a diagnostic mammogram. She was told to wait two months. She went to urgent care. She called every imaging center in the city. Every nurse practitioner that examined her told her the lump didn't feel like cancer.

What finally got Brenda an appointment wasn't the system. It was a coincidence — a connection between her mother in Montana and a nurse practitioner whose husband worked in radiology. A phone call. A favor.

By the time she got in, her cancer was already Stage III. An invasive ductal carcinoma, Grade 3, with an Oncotype score of 52. The most aggressive category. Chemotherapy was never a question — only how fast they could start. She started on May 2nd, 2024. She was 50 years old, the only income in her household, and her job was the insurance that was paying for her treatment. Stopping work was never an option.

In this first part of Brenda's story, she and Dr. Paynter discuss:

-- The two-month wait for a diagnostic mammogram on a Stage III tumor — and what it means for the women who don't have systemic connections

-- Switching oncologists when the first one wasn't moving fast enough, and why that decision mattered

-- What 16 rounds of chemotherapy actually feels like, week after week, while working full-time

-- Hair loss, fatigue, and the moment cancer stops being abstract and becomes real

-- Compartmentalizing: being a worker, a patient, and a wife in separate rooms of the same life

-- The brutal financial reality of being the sole earner while undergoing cancer treatment

-- Surgery, lymph node removal, and 30 rounds of radiation before work every morning

-- What "No Evidence of Disease" feels like after a year of fighting — and why Brenda thought she was finally done

This episode is produced with voice, archival photos, and host narration. There is no standard interview video. Some stories are better told this way.

-- Go to ChangedByCancer.com for show notes and episode links

Resources mentioned in this episode:

-- Oncotype DX genomic testing: genomichealth.com

-- NCI-designated cancer centers by state: cancer.gov/research/infrastructure/cancer-centers/find

-- Indian Health Service cancer resources: ihs.gov

Additional resources:

-- CancerCare (free counseling and financial assistance): cancercare.org

-- The No Bull**** Guide to Dealing with Cancer: https://www.nobullguidetodealingwithcancer.com/

Changed By Cancer is hosted by Dr. Randi Paynter, a cancer epidemiologist. This podcast shares personal experiences and systemic issues in healthcare. It is not medical advice. Please consult your own medical team for health-related decisions.