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Test Those Breasts ™️
This podcast by Jamie Vaughn is a deep-dive discussion on a myriad of breast cancer topics, such as early detection, the initial shock of diagnosis, testing/scans, treatment, loss of hair, caregiving, surgery, emotional support, and advocacy.
These episodes will include breast cancer survivors, thrivers, caregivers, surgeons, oncologists, therapists, and other specialists who can speak to many different topics.
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor and not all information in this podcast comes from qualified health care providers, therefore does not constitute medical advice. For personalized medical advice, you should reach out to one of the qualified healthcare providers interviewed on this podcast and/or seek medical advice from your own providers.
Test Those Breasts ™️
Episode 71: Transforming Adversity into Advocacy: Meg Cadoux's Lived Breast Cancer Experience
Trust your instincts and take charge of your health journey with insights from our inspiring guest, Meg Cadoux. A breast cancer survivor and co-founder of the Anti Cancer Lifestyle Program, Meg's story begins with a misdiagnosed stage 3B estrogen-positive breast cancer in 2001. Despite facing two recurrences in 2008 and 2018, Meg shares how her perseverance and the power of immunotherapy led her to remission, emphasizing the critical importance of second opinions and staying informed about one's health.
In our conversation, Meg discusses how frustration with the lack of actionable advice from her oncologist led her to make profound lifestyle changes inspired by Dr. Servan-Schreiber's book, "Anti-Cancer: A New Way of Life." Collaborating with her local cancer center, she created a comprehensive course for cancer survivors that focuses on diet, fitness, mindset, and creating a less toxic home environment. Initially available in person, the program transitioned online due to COVID-19, broadening its reach to participants from 122 countries, including Spanish translations, and ensuring evidence-based support through partnerships with healthcare providers.
Finally, we explore the lifelong commitment to maintaining a healthy lifestyle post-cancer diagnosis. Meg highlights the challenges of integrating consistent exercise into daily routines and the necessity of resistance training for bone health. She introduces Learning Circles, a supportive and interactive program for cancer survivors, facilitated by health coaches and experts. Tune in to discover valuable insights and resources that can aid your personal journey.
Contact Meg:
meg@anticancerlifestyle.org
Anti-Cancer Lifestyle on LinkedIn
Anti-Cancer Lifestyle on Instagram
Anti-Cancer Lifestyle on Facebook
Anti Cancer Lifestyle Program
Anticancer Allies
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Where to find Jamie:
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I am not a doctor and not all information in this podcast comes from qualified healthcare providers, therefore may not constitute medical advice. For personalized medical advice, you should reach out to one of the qualified healthcare providers interviewed on this podcast and/or seek medical advice from your own providers .
Hello friends, welcome back to the Test those Breasts podcast. I am your host, jamie Vaughn. I'm a retired teacher of 20 years and a breast cancer thriver turned staunch, unapologetic, loud supporter and advocate for others, bringing education and awareness through a myriad of medical experts, therapists, caregivers and other survivors. A breast cancer diagnosis is incredibly overwhelming, with the mounds of information out there, and other survivors A breast cancer diagnosis is incredibly overwhelming, with the mounds of information out there, especially on Dr Google. I get it. I'm not a doctor and I know how important it is to uncover accurate information, which is my ongoing mission through my nonprofit. The podcast includes personal stories and opinions from breast cancer survivors and professional physicians, providing the most up-to-date information. At the time of recording Evidence, research and practices are always changing, so please check the date of the recording and always refer to your medical professionals for the most up-to-date information. I hope you find this podcast a source of inspiration and support from my guests. Their contact information is in the show notes, so please feel free to reach out to them. We have an enormous breast cancer community ready to support you in so many ways. Now let's listen to the next episode of Test those Breasts. Well, hey, friends, welcome back to this episode of Test those Breasts. I am your host, jamie Vaughn, and today I am so excited to have my new friend, meg Kadu, on my show.
Speaker 1:Meg is a cancer survivor and co-founder of the Anti-Cancer Lifestyle Program. Meg was inspired to create the program by the work of her friend, dr David Servin Schreiber, author of Anti-Cancer A New Way of Life. Meg was a freelance writer for magazines and had a regular column in Inc Magazine. She was a frequent speaker on the impact of entrepreneurial business on families, a topic covered in her book For Better or for Work A Survival Guide for Entrepreneurs and their Families. Meg worked with her husband, gary, in the early years of their business Stonyfield Yogurt.
Speaker 1:That sounds delicious. Hello, meg, welcome to the show. How are you doing? Wonderful? Thanks for having me, jamie, it's a pleasure. Yeah, it's really great to see you again. We've had a conversation in the past, so like I always do get to know my guests before I interview them, and I'm so glad that it was a fit and we can really bring our audience to such great resources that you have been involved with and we'll talk about that later. You are a breast cancer survivor. Can you share what your diagnosis was and what your treatments were, and anything you'd like to share.
Speaker 2:Sure. Well, I was diagnosed with stage 3B breast cancer was estrogen-positive breast cancer in 2001. So it was 23 years ago now. The tumor was pretty large. It was just in one breast multiple tumors in one breast, but they were pretty big and I had been pretty lackadaisical about it. I'd gone to the doctor when I noticed it and they kept telling me it was fine. I had a mammogram, then I had a sonogram and they said no, it's fine. They never asked it to be biopsied or anything. And I wasn't seeing my regular OBGYN, I was just seeing some doctor at the clinic and I went along just thinking, well, I guess I've had these scans and I guess it's all fine. But it did trouble me but I wasn't very concerned. And then I met with my OBGYN and she saw the lump and she knew right away it was breast cancer and it was just a terrible case of being misdiagnosed. And since then I am a fierce advocate of follow your instincts. If something feels wrong about what you're being told, get another opinion. I feel very strongly about second opinions as a result. But I didn't know anything. I was only in my 40s, I had three little kids, I was a busy mom, you know I wanted to believe that reassurance. That's part of the problem is. That's what I wanted to believe and it turned out that it was cancer. Obviously, the reason it didn't show up on scans is that I had lobular cancer, which now they could probably, all these years later, detect it more easily. I don't know, maybe it was, but it is harder to visualize in a scan than ductal carcinoma. So that brought me today.
Speaker 2:I've had two recurrences since then. Okay, when were those? So the first one was in 2008, and then it was sort of officially metastatic because I had a tumor in my bone, in my hip bone, the iliac crest. I always joke that's how cancer patients learn about human anatomy is you get cancer in places you've never heard of. So what the hell is an iliac crest? But anyway, that was radiated successfully. And then 10 years later I showed up with tumors in my adrenal glands, which is a very, very unusual presentation, and then I went through various things trying to keep that under control. And then it was in my peritoneum, which is that again, I didn't know what that was at the time, but it's a thin sort of organ that surrounds your midriff but sort of protects your internal organs, so it wasn't an essential organ. But you certainly don't want cancer anywhere and I ended up going on immunotherapy and I did go into remission. I've been NED no evidence of disease for three years now, over three years.
Speaker 1:What was the organ that it was in that second time? My adrenal glands? Oh no, I mean the one after that.
Speaker 2:That was the peritoneum, which is again that sort of thin layer that's around. These were very, very unusual presentations both.
Speaker 1:Interesting. Yeah, I don't know whether I told you in our last conversation when they found my breast cancer, they found another tumor in my thoracic cavity. Yes, it was in my thoracic, like somewhere near my, and it was encapsulated and I never even knew that existed. So I guess we are born with that gland and it little bit by little bit disappears as you grow older. But mine grew a tumor in it and by the time they saw it it was quite large and it was benign. But I'd never even heard of that.
Speaker 1:So it's interesting how we sort of become professional. Could be TED Talk people, exactly, we'd rather not be. But there you go. Yeah, sounds to me like because of your experience your first experience you definitely became more of an advocate for yourself, much more aware of certain things, which seems very typical in how we deal with things, more aware of certain things, which seems very typical in how we deal with things. So you went through quite a bit and I know that breast cancer survivors any cancer survivor, for that matter but I know that our breast cancer community is like the sisterhood of all sisters. We take care of each other and we really do so much in our survivorship. Can you share with our audience what you are working on in your survivorship and anything you want to share about that, because you're doing a lot, yes.
Speaker 2:Well, actually I kind of really woke up when I had my recurrence, because when I initially had the diagnosis, you've been just slapped upside the head with this thing and it's so shocking, and you go through your treatment. And the treatment was aggressive for me because the case was pretty advanced and I just wanted to survive. For my kids they were 8, 10, and 12. They were my sole focus. So when that was over and they told me I had about an 85% chance of never seeing cancer again, I felt relieved 85% chance of never seeing cancer again. I felt relieved, just kind of went on my merry way. And when I had my metastatic recurrence, that is when I started to really pay attention, like, oh my God, I really have cancer, like this thing could kill me. It didn't dawn on me before that for some reason. And that's when I asked my doctor what can I do? There must be something I can do, because I didn't want to finish my treatment and then go home and just wait to not be protected. I felt like I didn't want to be a victim here. I wanted to be proactive and do something, anything that I could do that would help, that would reduce my risk of getting a recurrence. And he basically gave me the answer that virtually all oncologists give. I've since learned, which is some variation of just you know, try to keep your stress level down and I'll see you in six months for your scan.
Speaker 2:And I walked out the door I thought, oh my God, so I'm just like waiting. Is that what I'm supposed to do? So I you know, like many people who are presented with a vacuum of information, I went online and I started seeing all this crazy stuff, unvetted. I didn't know what was real. I didn't know who to believe. It was just the Wild West out there in terms of information and I really wanted something credible.
Speaker 2:That's when I met Dr Servin Schreiber and I read his book Anti-Cancer New Way of Life. This was in like 2008 or nine, right in there, right after I had my recurrence, and Dr Servin Schreiber marshaled the best evidence we have at the time for lifestyle behaviors that can reduce your risk of cancer. Of course, we never know about an individual, but on a population basis, we do know that these behaviors will reduce your risk of recurrence. And I thought, wow, finally something for me to latch onto, and I started making some lifestyle changes as a result.
Speaker 2:But then I approached the head of our local cancer center, where an excellent cancer center where I'd gotten a lot of my treatment. I said, hey, how about we start a course for cancer survivors, help them get through learning about these lifestyle behaviors and they can help each other and provide support and resources? Anyway, we took a. She said yes, which still astonishes me to this day community in certain lifestyle areas and we created a course which was offered in person for 10 years at the hospital until COVID, and by then we had put it online and now we have the course and a ton of other resources online.
Speaker 1:Do you both speak at events? How do you get that information out besides podcasts? And you probably have a newsletter or blog or whatever. How else do you get information out there for people so that they know that you're there?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a continual struggle. We're, of course, on social media, but we hold webinars, we have newsletters and blogs and recipes and we work with a lot of doctors and cancer centers because they really come to trust us, trust that the information we're providing is evidence-based, has been verified, and the great thing about it is that the topics that we give people sort of the tools and tips and information on how to get started in these areas they're helpful with other chronic illnesses as well heart disease or cardiovascular disease, diabetes because these are basic anti-inflammatory lifestyle guidance. So, in areas like diet, fitness, mindset and what we call environment, which is a unique thing we offer, which is how do you create a less toxic home environment, how do you reduce your exposure to harmful chemicals on a daily basis so that's an important pillar of our program. We're really unique on that score. Everything we offer is free, so there's no barrier to entry for patients or for providers or for family members. We have a lot of people who access our resources for prevention, which I love seeing.
Speaker 1:I love that, and so is it a nonprofit right? Yes, we are, and so you focus on getting donations to be able to bring that information for free to exactly people. Wonderful.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we have one of license agreement with a regional blue cross in Pennsylvania. They license our online course and they put it on their own learning management system and they offer it to their employees and to other businesses that they work with. That's a future kind of revenue model for us. We only have that one license agreement Now. We hope to have others in the future and other than that, we do survive on donation. We are have that one license agreement now. We hope to have others in the future and other than that, we do survive on donations.
Speaker 2:We are a little bit the mouse that roared and that we've been able to do a ton with not many resources, so I should also mention that we have Spanish translation of a number of our eBooks, and there's Google Translate on our website. We have participants from 122 countries who have accessed our resources, and so that's really exciting too. Yeah, that's really great.
Speaker 1:So if somebody goes to your website, they can just simply click on whatever course they want to take. I mean, it's that easy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so you go to anticancerlifestyleorg. Anticancerlifestyle is just one word, org and we have a page called Get Started and that introduces you to all the resources that we offer. I mean, we have kickstarts, eBooks, webinars, the course, and so it depends on how you like to learn and also what you like to learn about. And so it depends on how you like to learn and also what you like to learn about. You might be really more concerned about fitness and diet, or you might be. You know, how do I work fitness into my daily life, Like I know I need to do this, how do I do it? Or your environment, your home environment. That's been really popular with a lot of our participants is they want to know you know, what about the stuff I put on my skin? What about the stuff I'm doing my laundry with or cleaning with? So we give a lot of information about that kind of thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I went to your website and played around on it just to check out the ease of using, going through that website, which is really nice. It's very well laid out. I loved reading about the about page because it just gives people such valuable information about who is putting this information out there. Yes, and I like the fact that you can just kind of pick and choose what you are interested in. So I think you and I talked, since I mean, I started a nonprofit for Test those Breasts and I am just putting as many resources as possible on my website just putting as many resources as possible on my website, test those breastsorg. So I always ask my guests can I use your information and put it on my resource page so that people can find that and possibly go through some of your courses?
Speaker 2:Usually what we have people do is just basically just put hyperlinks to our resources and so they can sign up.
Speaker 2:Like there are webinars, we do have a put in your email to get our web to sign up for webinars or to download our eBooks or to take the online course, the recipes, blogs and actually the kickstarts. We need your email too, because with the kickstarts we send you an email every day for seven days. That is 15 minutes a day, so it's low bar to entry about how to just get started, literally as a kickstart. It's not a program. It's not like a diet or something, but we teach you about different important aspects of diet, for example, and then you make a small commitment to that. So if you learn in other words, if we teach you, say, what ultra processed foods are the commitment piece will be go into your pantry or open up your cabinets and identify two ultra processed foods that you have and think about how next time you go shopping, you might get something that's will satisfy that, whatever it happens to be. But it's more a whole food.
Speaker 1:I love that. So it's an action piece. We always give an action, yeah, and action to me brings clarity. So when you go and actually have something to do to sort of kind of like an assessment, what did you learn? Do you have anything in your kitchen that is not good for you, which most people do? They can certainly find something. Do you have anything on there about like, okay, you were just diagnosed, what do I need to do from here? Is there anything on the website yet for that?
Speaker 2:Well, okay, so just to speak for a moment about that. I have a blog that actually has been downloaded quite a bit or read quite a bit. We have to download it, but it's called 12 Tips for Navigating a Cancer Diagnosis. If you go on our website and just type in the search, you know tips or something you'll see it. That is for the newly diagnosed, because I've been newly diagnosed three times now. I'm an expert at being newly diagnosed so I give you know the tips that were things that were valuable to me when I was first diagnosed.
Speaker 2:Beyond that, in terms of what we have on the website for people who've been newly diagnosed, it's all they can do to kind of figure out their treatment plan, to deal with it emotionally, inform their friends and family, figure out how they're going to handle getting to chemo, and it's just overwhelming. Anyone is welcome anytime on our website, but we do find that it's usually people who are just past that stage. They might be on maintenance or they finish their treatment. They're able to make room in their lives for something like gee, how can I reduce my risk now I've done my treatment. They may still have cancer, maybe they don't, but they want to move forward with their lives. There's a number of millions of people living with cancer, and so what's my part in reducing the inflammation in my body and helping to boost my immune system so that I can stay in a more or less healthy place going forward?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so I know that a lot of us find that there's such a huge gap in what we learn for our survivorship. There's that bridge between you are disease-free and how am I going to move forward? And sometimes it's hard to find those resources. Most people, when they know somebody with cancer, or even the person with cancer, we think that we're going to go back to normal. And while things will get more normal, I guess or less overwhelming, should I say there's still a lot of support that's needed for people after they are deemed disease-free. So this is the perfect program for people after they are deemed disease free. So this is the perfect program for people to go through. In that case, it's empowering.
Speaker 2:It takes away that fear that when you're disempowered that's when you know in the middle of the night you're looking under the bed for the monster you know if you're actually taking action in your life. You don't have to do everything all at once Nobody's perfect at this but when you're actually moving forward, you start to feel better too. I mean, you feel better psychologically, you feel better physically, and that all is like a virtuous circle. It feeds on itself and it's a way of kind of it's hard to, I hate to say turning lemons in the lemonade, but it does capitalize on that idea that this terrible thing happened to me and I'm not going to let it rule my life. I'm going to take it and turn it into something that is better for me, even though I may not have control over this. But there are things that I can do. That's exactly the heart and soul of what we're trying to provide.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I just remember feeling that way.
Speaker 1:A year and a half ago I was in that place where I was deemed cancer free December, just a couple minutes prior and I was trying to figure out what I was going to do with my life because I had just retired the June before, like I literally had just retired and then I got breast cancer and that's what I dealt with for six, seven months. So after I was disease free, it was like here I am in my first year of retirement. Well, number one it's hard to retire in the first place because you're finding this new life and what am I going to do in retirement after being so busy for so many years? And number two, coming to the realization that when we are deemed disease-free, things are still different and we still have, you know, certain things that we worry about, like our scans or whatever it is. So I love that there's this program where people can go to and figure out some ways to empower themselves, and it's just such a great, great thing. So, taking let's, let's say, the exercise piece of it, they're modules, right?
Speaker 2:It depends. We have many different things you can access. So when you sign up for the online course, it's 9.25 hours, but you don't have to take it's self-paced and it25 hours but you don't have to take it.
Speaker 2:It's self-paced and it's free. But you don't have to take everything. You can just, for example, do the fitness module, which is 90 minutes long, and then we sort of lead you through the different aspects of fitness why fitness is important, how to get started, steps you can take. We have this wonderful ebook called Fit After 50, which has been downloaded many, many thousands of times, One of my favorite of our 29 eBooks now, and it's one of the top downloads. People just love that ebook, you know. So if you'd like to just read, if you want to, our eBooks are beautifully designed and there it's kind of easy listening, if you know what I mean in terms of the information download, or if you just want to, if somebody responds to Kickstarts, you know you sign up for one of our Kickstarts and you'll get that email every day for seven days with little things you can do and commit to for that week. So it just depends on how you respond to different types of learning and what you want to learn about.
Speaker 2:That's really what we're trying to do. You know our motto is we're trying to meet people where they are and they don't want to take a course you know they might want to watch a video, or there's so many different ways to take in information. This is really meant to be like a lifelong process. I mean, I still make changes all these years later. I'm still learning, I'm still falling off the wagon. You know, the exercise is the hardest one for me. My diet's really good, I've cleaned up my environment as far as the products that I use and things that I put in my house, but the exercise piece is just like, oh, do I really have to? And then you know, then I see the data about breast cancer recurrence and fitness and it's just like, ah, yeah, Well, yeah.
Speaker 1:And we women have to keep our bones healthy, right. So we need to do some resistance training. And I know I'm the same way. I was a huge fitness person. I mean I was running since I was five years, in fifth grade, and I have always either gone to the gym or always worked out at home, always done weights. And I'm 56 now and I'm like I've just joined a gym again so that I could do some resistance training and some classes and things like that for that community and I because I love community too, but I also love working out by myself. But I am really interested in taking that and I love the fact that you have multiple ways of learning. I'm a retired school teacher, so I'm all about differentiating. It's perfect, perfect, right, and I have different ways that I learn. I mean, I love to read, but I also love to listen to things and I love watching videos. So I'm really curious what that one will look like. I will definitely be digging into that.
Speaker 2:We have a lot of great fitness webinars too. So when you go on our webinar page, there's a little box where you can select for the fitness webinars and you can see what we have.
Speaker 1:Okay, I like it. I like it. Well, that sounds like just sort of a house, this place that houses all of that stuff and you're constantly updating and adding and things like that. I love that.
Speaker 2:We are doing all of that. That's what we do. We had all of our eBooks reviewed by outside expert. Everything we put out there has been created by a certified expert in that field. And we put out all these eBooks and we just had them all reviewed and so now we're editing them and putting them back up on the site. You know, one at a time.
Speaker 2:It's pretty laborious, but you know it's obviously really important to keep up with the evidence. That said, the evidence doesn't change too much, believe it or not. I know everybody says I hear everything about diet, I should eat this, I shouldn't eat that. What am I supposed to do? But actually, if you really drill down the evidence, there's always outlier studies and outlier everything. But if you're just sticking to the sort of what we really know, what the preponderance of evidence says right, In other words, like, eat more fiber, eat less ultra processed foods, favor fruits and vegetables, don't eat processed meats, these things, they don't change. There's so much data around them. I mean you can always update it, but the basic guideposts for all the areas we cover, they don't alter too much really. So we either make changes or we add studies.
Speaker 1:There's all sometimes ulterior motives for putting stuff out there and it's super, super confusing. That's why, when I got diagnosed, I had a friend of mine say I'm going to give you one piece of advice, one big one Don't Google stuff, because it'll just confuse you. You know, I mean just try not to, because it's so overwhelming at the beginning anyway. But I love that I have found and I love to interview people like you because I have found people that are really, really truly trying to put out solid, evidence-based information out there for the cancer community.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's such a vulnerable time, and so it's just really important to be reliable, and that's why we have gotten such uptake with docs all over the country and cancer centers all over the country. I will put it this way In the 13 years we've been doing this, we have never once been challenged about anything that we say, and that's a high bar that I'm going to try to maintain forever.
Speaker 2:That's why we're very, very, very careful. Everything we, you know, like all of our eBooks not most people aren't interested, but we have all the citations at the end and all the references and you know, you want to know. This is where I'm always interested. Yeah, most people are, but sometimes people are. They want to know. This is where I'm always interested. Yeah, most people are, but sometimes people are. They want to know a little more. So it's always there.
Speaker 2:If you want to mention for your audience is that we started offering something else last year. Last fall was our first learning circle, and we did one in the fall and the spring, and we're fully enrolled now for the fall, but it's going to be ongoing. And we did one in the fall and the spring and we're fully enrolled now for the fall, but it's going to be ongoing. And what it is is we gather around 15 people or so who've had a cancer diagnosis in a Zoom room once a week for nine weeks, for 90 minutes a week, and they go through our online course with, guided by, facilitated by a health coach, and they go through our online course with, guided by, facilitated by a health coach, and we bring in content matter experts for just short segments so they can answer questions that participants may have about their diet or their fitness or their mindset or the anti-cancer environment. So if people are interested in that, when they're on our website they can go. We have a learning circle page under programs and you can go there and just sign an interest form and the next time we offer a circle which, as I say, we're enrolled for the fall but we'll have one in the spring. We just contact. That's what we did this time. We contacted people who were on our waiting list and see if they wanted to join. What a fabulous idea. Yeah, it's been so impactful.
Speaker 2:The group that met last fall and remember, these are people every race, color, men, women we have two men this time coming but they're from all over, they're all ages and they're just kind of. They all have this one thing in common, which is they've heard those words, you have cancer and they've gone through everything that those three words create in people's lives. And they come together and the group support is unbelievable. It's so beautiful to watch that it forms over time. Like they're not, it's not a support group. They come to be part of a learning community, but the support is created just by being together, talking, sharing, and the group that met last fall. They're still meeting. They meet every other week. We have nothing to do with it, they just didn't want to stop, I love that, yeah, I love it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, it's a part of one of the things sometimes that I've talked to people when they've been diagnosed and they're just such at a low space in their life and it can be very, very depressing, it can be very scary this great big dark cloud over your head and one of the things that I discovered and I'm one for community anyway. I always have been. I have always found strength in that anyway, I always have been. I have always found strength in that. But I also know that it's very hard to be in a community. When you're in that space, it's hard to break out of that, but I always tell people when you go and you are part of a community whether it be online or whether it be in person, whether it be two people, whether it be 20 people it really does help us become empowered and feel more positive. If you will, sometimes I don't like that word, but it just makes it more bearable to get through, to be able to talk to people who have gone through similar things, and so it does not surprise me that they continue to communicate with each other. I continue to communicate with a lot of people that I actually have interviewed on my own podcast.
Speaker 1:So well, I have all of your social media. You are on LinkedIn, you are on Instagram, facebook and you have your website and I have your email address on the show notes. We're on threads also. Oh, and threads. I'm a new threads person. I know how to use it now, so I'll find you, but threads is actually really cool. You also have a couple of resources here. You have anti-cancer allies you have learn your way, anti-cancer lifestyle programs that we put in the resources part below the contact. Is there anything else you would like to share with us? Maybe a piece of advice that you might have for somebody who's maybe first been diagnosed? Or maybe they just heard that you're disease free now. Bye, you don't have to come into the doctor a million times in a month now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's sort of shocking when that happens, but especially for those who are newly diagnosed. I do recommend the blog that I wrote, 12 Tips for Surviving Cancer Diagnosis. It was also a webinar, so it's in our webinars if you'd rather listen rather than read what I have discovered. Having been diagnosed now three times and been had terrible scans and had clean scans and had you know everything in between, I just urge people to not panic. It's so easy for that to settle in. I just certainly at this point I've seen that usually sometimes it's every bit as bad as you think it's going to be, but usually it's not. You know, look at me right, stage 3B, pretty advanced, and my therapy was just horrifying. You know the usual sort of slash and burn. I see.
Speaker 2:Now I mean you kind of you just adapt. You know things happen to you. You have that moment of oh my God, and then you just deal with it. You know you go to the go get the scans you need, you go to the therapy you need, and that sort of panic moment it's the extent that you can control it or just set it aside and not to put a lid on it but just say, okay, I understand this is scary, but I'm just going to calm my heartbeat. I'm going to just clear my mind and do the things I have to do. And I'm at that stage now where I don't get nervous about scans because it's kind of washed out of me. I've been so nervous about scans for decades. It's just like I know if I have cancer again I'll deal with it. You know, I'll do what I have to do to get through that. So I think it's that panic piece that I would love to have people look at and see what they can do to manage.
Speaker 1:You're at the point where you're like, ah, dang, again.
Speaker 2:No no, no, no, no, no, no. You know what I mean. Like it just clouds my brain. It amps up my cortisol and adrenaline and all those unhealthy hormones. And I'm not saying it's easy to master, but, for example, like the whole anxiety thing, I've now figured out ways to kind of manage that emotionally. But I remember once I had a few hours at the oncologist between when I had my scan and when I was going to see him, and I'm just sitting there like I have no idea what the scans like I said, I've had terrible scans and I've had great scans. I don't know what this is going to be. So I just actually literally went out and went shoe shopping. It totally took my. I ended up buying a really cool pair of shoes that I still have. It was such a great distraction from the whole thing and I came back and my head had been elsewhere and I was, I felt, sort of refreshed in my mind. So I'm not saying people should go shopping every time Shopping always feels good though.
Speaker 2:Whatever it takes it, just relax your mind and distract you.
Speaker 1:Just don't go drink a bottle of wine.
Speaker 2:Maybe not, whatever it takes but, finding things, that toolbox that you can turn to.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, I love the fact that you have this program. It just helps so much and instead of people Googling a bunch of stuff even though they will find you on Google but being able to be led to a very, very solid resource like that is very comforting out in our cancer community. Well, I just really appreciate your taking the time. Meg and I have had two really wonderful conversations with you now and I just I like you, I think you're wonderful and I just like the fact that you are very genuinely interested in helping people through that process, and so I am going to go on there because I want to find out more about you know, like supplements and how to keep that cortisol level at a good level. I'm always interested in that.
Speaker 2:So there's something there for everybody at any stage, at any time, and it's all free, so there's no barrier to just going in and exploring.
Speaker 1:So I hope you're looking, I'm going to go in and look at the fitness one too, so, but I am going to put your website. I'm going to put that information on my resource page on Tesla's Breast. So, to my audience, all of this information will be in the show notes here, but it'll also be on my website under resources, and those are all obviously for free as well. So, thank you, meg, I appreciate you, thanks for having me and, yeah, so to my audience, thank you again for joining us on this episode of Test those Breasts and, as always, I would love for you to be able to go to your favorite platform and rate and review this podcast, and I hope you get a lot out of it and we will see you next time on the next episode of Test those Breasts. Bye for now, take care, jamie. Bye-bye Friends.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Test those Breasts. I hope you got some great much needed information that will help you with your journey. As always, I am open to guests to add value to my show, and I'm also open to being a guest on other podcasts where I can add value. So please reach out if you'd like to collaborate. My contact information is in the show notes and as a reminder, rating, reviewing and sharing this podcast will truly help build a bigger audience all over the world. I thank you for your efforts. I look forward to sharing my next episode of Test those Breasts you.
