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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 83: Transforming Personal Trials into Advocacy w/ Marilyn Getas-Byrne
Marilyn Getas Byrne, once a prominent television news anchor, unravels her compelling transition into a tireless breast cancer advocate. Her life took an unexpected turn when she was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 40, while raising young children. This journey reshaped her career as she shifted from reporting headlines to crafting narratives that resonate with survivors and their support networks. Through her stories, she offers hope and resilience, showcasing the powerful connection she builds with others, including our serendipitous meeting through TikTok.
Our conversation shines a light on the often overshadowed phase of cancer survivorship, where the emotional and psychological hurdles can be as daunting as the disease itself. Marilyn and I discuss the difficult transition from structured treatment schedules to the uncertainty of post-treatment life. We explore how therapy and open communication can fortify relationships during this challenging period. Additionally, we reflect on how retirement can serve as an opportunity to discover new passions and the vital role storytelling plays in fostering community support and breast cancer awareness, particularly through modalities such as physically working with cancer patients, writing or podcasting.
Marilyn also introduces us to Healing Touch, an innovative approach gaining traction in the cancer care community. This holistic method offers a non-invasive way to ease anxiety and promote healing, providing a comforting space for patients. We discuss invaluable resources like the Know Your Lemons Foundation campaign and practical tools such as Meal Train , Lots A Helping Hands , and We Got This that assist those navigating the cancer journey. With heartfelt gratitude for our listeners, I invite you to share our podcast, helping to spread awareness and support far and wide.
Marilyn on Instagram
Marilyn on Facebook
Marilyn on TikTok
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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.
Speaker 1:Now let's listen to the next episode of Test those Breasts. Well, hello, friends, Welcome back to this episode of Test those Breasts. I am your host, jamie Vaughn, and today I have the most amazing woman as my guest on my show today, and her name is Marilyn Giedis Byrne. And. Marilyn started her career in television news, working nearly 20 years as an anchor and reporter for CBS and NBC affiliates on the West and East Coast. At the age of 40, with two young children, breast cancer entered the picture and set her on a new path. Through writing, motivational speaking and patient navigation, she is sharing her own challenges, tragedies and triumphs to help inspire others to believe they too can find their way through hard times. Currently she's in the final revision of a memoir and she can't wait to share her story to help others see that, no matter what, there is always hope. Well, hello, marilyn. How are you doing today?
Speaker 2:I'm doing great, Jamie. Thank you so very much for having me.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, we've had some technical difficulties today, which is super sometimes normal, and so we just kind of go with the flow and we made it works. I just want to let my audience know that I ran across you in such a funny way. I am really a believer in kismet. I am a believer in things happen. They just sort of randomly happen for a reason, and I was on my TikTok channel, just you know, kind of scrolling around, and I put my videos on there and promote awareness for breast cancer and your face popped up in front of me talking about and you were in your living room and you just kind of spoke to me because what you were saying was very profound and just really good information to get out there to breast cancer patients and even people who've never been diagnosed.
Speaker 1:One video in particular, you were talking about what not to say to breast cancer patients and, anyway, one thing led to another and I went through all of your videos and I thought this lady is someone I need to meet. Your name is Marilyn, my mom's name was Marilyn, and so there was that first. You know, thing that I really love and you have such a warm presence about you and I'm kind of picky about who I choose to interview on my podcast. I don't just like any old warm body, you know and I was like I need to reach out to this lady. So I did, and your social media gal Morgan, is the one who answered me in my message and she told me that she would give you a message from me. And you reached out to me pretty quickly and we had like a two-hour conversation yesterday.
Speaker 2:I know it was great, great and we even have a mutual friend, which is fantastic we do. I know it's such a small world.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Thank you for finding me and thank you for reaching out. I really it was a delightful conversation yesterday and and very educational. You've got so much information and resources to share, so I felt educated and enlightened, just you know, having that conversation with you.
Speaker 1:Well, good, because that's what I aim to do on this podcast is to have people like you who contribute to that awareness and education for people. Yeah, I noticed you were being followed by one of my best friends. I've known her since actually middle school but I thought what a connection and this girl is quality and I'm like okay, marilyn's got to be obviously quality too.
Speaker 2:So much.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so thank you, and I'm really looking forward to working more with you. I think we can do some good collaboration together in more ways than one. But I would like to actually ask you about your breast cancer. But I want to know first who was Marilyn before she was diagnosed with breast cancer?
Speaker 2:Well, marilyn, right before the diagnosis, was, you know, a mother of two young children. My kids were seven and four at the time I was diagnosed and prior to that I had a very long journalism career and I started in San Francisco behind the scenes at KPIX, and that's a CBS owned and operated station. I started on the assignment desk and kind of worked my way up as a production assistant and then eventually moved down to the Monterey Peninsula, which is about two hours south of San Francisco, and started my on-air career there as a young woman in my 20s. I had a fabulous time. I mean, I just learned so much about broadcast journalism and just what it entails to be out there every day on the story. You know the story ends when the story is over, and so sometimes very long days and some exciting moments. You know rappelling out of a military helicopter into a big marijuana garden and doing some drug raids, and you know following gang stories, following Clint Eastwood, who was the mayor of Carmel many, many years ago and just a little bit south of the Silicon Valley, so certainly covering stories in the high tech world, and so really, little Monterey ended up being quite a place to learn about being a young, you know, being a new reporter.
Speaker 2:And then I moved into an anchor position and then was promoted by the company to WBAL, which was the NBC affiliate in the Baltimore Washington area, to WBAL, which was the NBC affiliate in the Baltimore Washington area, and so I was a morning anchor there.
Speaker 2:And then things changed a lot because I had to get up at about 2.30 in the morning every day and I'm a natural night owl, so when you're trying to go to sleep at 7 pm for someone who naturally likes to be up late, boy, that was a challenge. But I loved it there, loved our time on the East Coast and really enjoyed WBAL and the people that I worked with. So I was a very busy news anchor with a strong career and my husband Tom we've been married now 29 years but you know we were still sort of in the early days of our our marriage and had our first child in Baltimore and then we moved back to the West Coast and had our daughter Caroline and then shortly after I you know they again, they were seven and four I found out that I had breast cancer.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so it's like wow, I don't have time for this.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh, totally I was shocked. And you know I was a college athlete, I played volleyball and always considered myself really healthy and active and I wasn't abusive to my body other than getting up at 230 in the morning for many, many years and a high stress job, I'm sure you know that taxed my immune system a bit. But I, you know, always took good care of myself and it just wasn't something that I ever expected or imagined and it wasn't something I was afraid of. You know, I hear people today who have never had cancer and they're terrified of cancer. People are so afraid I didn't feel that. I just, you know, I had kind of a charmed life. Up until that point I would say things went in my direction. I had beautiful parents, a charmed life. Up until that point I would say Things went in my direction. I had beautiful parents and wonderful siblings and I felt like I had a very blessed life. And then I was diagnosed and boy, we did feel like we kind of fell into a vortex.
Speaker 1:That's a really good way to explain it a vortex, because it does feel like that, and it's just mounds of information, overwhelming information. So many things, so many moving parts to getting through a breast cancer diagnosis. So how old were you when you were diagnosed? 40. So, yeah, so you were not like old, like I was 54 when I was diagnosed and I always thought, you know, that's around the age that if people are going to get breast cancer, right, we don't usually don't think about people who are younger. I mean, after all, it hasn't always been that people start getting, you know, mammograms and things like that at age 40. You just don't think about those things and it's not really on our radar all that much.
Speaker 2:That's right. And I think I was scheduled for my very first mammogram that year because I had just turned 40. And so I knew that was coming in a couple of months. And then I ended up finding the lump in my left breast, called my OBGYN and they said come on in the next morning. I got right in there and still I was thinking, oh, it's a cyst, it's you know, they're just gonna, you know, tell me it's nothing.
Speaker 2:And I remember bringing them cookies in the morning. I stopped by a local bakery and this was the doctor who delivered our daughter, and I hadn't seen them in a while. And so, you know, I came with a little box of cookies and I was in a great spirits. I really and truly did. I wasn't scared at that moment. And then he said you know, I think we'll all sleep better tonight if you head over to the breast care center and have a biopsy. And then I just I saw my down start to quiver and that definitely got my attention. And so I think my appointment was at 10 in the morning and by 2.43 PM that day I had an oncologist or not an oncologist, a radiologist telling me you have breast cancer. And she said, of course we'll get the biopsy results, but this is definitely cancer and you're going to have to deal with this right away.
Speaker 1:So what stage was it?
Speaker 2:It was stage two B invasive ductal cancer, breast cancer, and I did have three out of five lymph nodes were cancerous. So that was a bummer because you know of course you're hoping that it hadn't reached the lymph nodes. I had it start. I started with a double bilateral mastectomy, okay, and then after surgery we did. I did gosh. It was 20 rounds.
Speaker 2:It was about six to seven months of chemotherapy and sadly, after the chemo was over I had we don't know if it was from the PICC line, it kind of followed the line of the PICC line an 18 inch blood clot that was in the jugular, down across the subclavian vein and down my right arm and it was throwing clots to the lungs and I was very, very, very ill in the hospital about eight days and I'm not really sure if I was going to leave that hospital. That was very scary and I made it and I do feel that there were beautiful miracles in me walking out of there and got home, ended up getting shingles for a little flavor and I think my body just was. My immune system was so shot and then I had to start six weeks of radiation. So it really was a haul.
Speaker 1:Because breast cancer isn't enough. They want to throw you more things right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly, exactly. And so, yeah, it's almost like the shing shingles. You know it was like the shingles were nothing and they're not nothing. It's a big deal but it's. But coming right off of that blood clot, I just remember thinking, okay, I can deal with this right now. I just just really wanted to make sure that I was, I was going to live and be okay, and um, and so then I did the, the radiation, and then after that I did a full hysterectomy, with ovaries gone too.
Speaker 2:So, you know, at the age of 40, 41, at that time of going into that second year, it's quite a humbling experience and of course, my hair was gone for most of that time. And you know, two young children and my husband, who was a rock, I mean, he was a rock star, he really was so there for the kids and definitely there for me as well, and helped with all those hard conversations with insurance companies and you know, and thank goodness, I had that kind of support at that time. So I'm a very blessed person in that way that I had a community around me that definitely made me feel like there was this webbing of support and they weren't going to let me fall through those cracks and very, very strong support system. So and I say that with a lot of gratefulness, because I know that's not always the case for everybody and I just I really thank my lucky stars every day for the people that were around me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's, that's really awesome. Well, it speaks to the kind of person you must be too for you to have that much support. That being said, those people that don't have that kind of support isn't necessarily because they're a bad person or anything. It's just their circumstances that surround them, right.
Speaker 1:Right, and that's one of the Maybe they've just moved to a new town, exactly, and I know people like that. I've interviewed people who moved to a new town, got breast cancer. Didn't know anyone. But that is why I really try to encourage people to reach out to the cancer community where they are, or even online or both, to have that support, because everyone just experiences it differently. So I'm glad that you had that support. I'm glad that your husband was so great that I also had the same. That is not always the case. I know that the last I heard it was like 40% of marriages end up in divorce or relationships end up, you know, splitting up because of diagnoses like that. Some people just can't, they can't connect, they can't handle it and that's you know. My husband and I went through some hard times because of it but we did the work and we still do the work, even in my survivorship, because we know that when we are deemed disease free, that it's not really over. No, it's not. It's never it's never really over.
Speaker 2:It's really not. No, it's not. And I think you know that's the hard thing about cancer is I talked about this in one of the reels I did just a few days ago that I remember once I went through surgery and chemo and the blood clot and radiation, and that last day of radiation you go and you ring this bell that's on the wall and it signifies the end of formal treatment and everybody was just clapping and we had champagne and but the attitude was like, oh, thank God, that's over. You know, and and so, and you want to join everybody in feeling that way. Yes, of course I was thrilled that, that it was over, but by that point your body is so exhausted and and I and I felt a bit ravaged at that time and I remember thinking, gosh, everyone's just kind of gone about their business. Everyone's like, oh, it's over and we're so glad and, believe me, I was relieved.
Speaker 2:But I then felt alone and lost and a little down.
Speaker 2:I mean I don't know that I had I don't know that I would call it full depression very moments of feeling lost, and I remember just having to really reach out to friends.
Speaker 2:And I reached out to a support group and I joined a survivor class, which was very helpful in not only lifting my spirits but giving me some resources that I needed at that time. And just to be told that that was a very common time, in that in between you know when you're done with treatment. You're not seeing your doctors and nurses all the time, because I think when you see them frequently there's a you feel a little safety net there and, and even though you're kind of glad to be done with a lot of those appointments, you're left wondering now what's next. And I also think that when you're in the fight you don't have time to process what's happened to you. It's after things slow down and you get some stillness, you realize, oh my gosh, we just went through this for the last year and a half or two years. So I think you can feel a bit overwhelmed and I think that's the time when you might need the most support.
Speaker 1:I completely agree.
Speaker 1:You are echoing so much of what I went through and felt, and so many other women, because not a lot of people understand that after we are deemed disease-free and the doctor's appointments slow down, what that puts us through Like it's a mental and emotional situation where you are feeling lost.
Speaker 1:And that's what happened to me almost two years ago, where I had had my mastectomy and reconstruction came back from New Orleans, I was deemed disease-free and it was around February and I was in my first year of retirement. So retiring is a little difficult in itself because you're so used to being so busy working every day and doing all the things. Then you retire and you have to learn how to be retired. You have to learn about what kind of things you're going to do, how to keep a schedule, are you going to have any hobbies, are you going to have a side business or whatever. And when I was diagnosed it was literally one week after my retirement party. So I spent the first you know better half of the year dealing with cancer and then, when February rolled around, I was like I was depressed.
Speaker 2:And.
Speaker 1:I was in, my husband wasn't understanding that we were not connecting at all and it was frustrating both of us. And so, anyway, we ended up going to therapy and we still do to this day, just because we we've even when you're doing really well together, that it's still okay to go to therapy, because you want to talk about the good things too. And and I people were like, well, why don't you write a book? And I didn't want to write a book, but I knew how to podcast because I had a podcast before I retired about education to help struggling teachers and new teachers. So I thought I like to have conversations with people and I also want to bring awareness to other people about breast cancer.
Speaker 1:So podcasting was just sort of it made sense, it was natural, and so that's so. I launched it on the one year anniversary of my diagnosis and have been releasing every week ever since. So yeah, and so when we talk about what we do in our survivorship, I already know part of what you do, especially because of your TikTok videos. You have a whole series and they're topics that we all need to hear and talk about. So what else do you do in your survivorship to give back to the breast cancer community?
Speaker 2:Well, I just want to say thanks for sharing about that time when you were struggling, even in marriage. I mean, I think it is one of the hardest things to go through, because and I just wanted to speak to that just for a minute if you don't mind Absolutely. I think what's interesting is it's I had to keep reminding myself my husband was going through his own journey and learning his I don't want to say lessons, but his. You know, we're all here to learn, right? I kind of feel like that's what we're. You know, there's a lesson in everything. And I think he was on a journey as my care taker and support system and definitely stepping up for the kids and trying to keep life as normal as possible for them and coaching little league. He was incredible, but I was.
Speaker 2:I was facing this life-threatening disease, and so I think everything became acutely important. I felt like I didn't have when I was coming out of treatment. I didn't have any time to waste. I knew that life was so fleeting and I think my I wouldn't say it was an, maybe it was an urgency, maybe that's a word I could use, but it was this feeling of I can't waste a minute. Everything is precious and I don't know that he had that same sense of, oh my gosh, we have to embrace life to the full.
Speaker 2:I think he was kind of feeling like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop, and he was still feeling a lot of fear, and at that moment, I was feeling this elation to be, you know, I'm feeling alive, and in the farther away from, or further away from, chemo, I was becoming, you know, more and more healthy and feeling better, and so then and then, maybe, when he was feeling a little better, I was. Then, you know, it was like we couldn't get balanced together for a while, and so I, I just wanted to speak to that, and I and we, we had helped too. I mean, we had to talk to somebody because and my body changed so much too that was also something that that we both had to come to terms with. So so, anyway, I just wanted to say thank you for sharing that, because you're really you're hitting something in me that I haven't talked about yet, and that's it's a really important topic that I haven't talked about yet.
Speaker 1:And that's. It's a really important topic, yeah, and I'm pretty open about it because I feel like, with these difficult top situations that we get ourselves into, that talking about it is one of the most important things, because when we don't talk about it we're not processing, we're not getting through. And so my husband and I actually interviewed on my podcast together I had a friend of mine interview us about our perspectives and how he was as a caregiver, and he was a wonderful caregiver, but there is no way that he could possibly understand what I was going through. So he was getting frustrated with me because I was not doing well, like I. I really was struggling a lot. He didn't understand Like I. He's like hey, it's all done with like on on back to normal, and there just is no normal, at least the way it was yeah, and that's a big expectation, and I think that's what I was even saying.
Speaker 2:You know, when everyone's kind of getting giving that look like, oh, we're so glad this is over, and they go right back to what they've been doing every day, going back to work, and you're sort of left with this who am I now? What if this comes back? I mean, obviously, once you've had cancer, you have a pain in your back and you right away think, oh gosh, you know, I hope, I hope I'm okay and it's, you know, and it's usually just just a little spasm or, you know, maybe a little arthritis or something. At my age now, at 54. But I think that you know, we can't help it Once you've heard the words you have cancer. Yeah, I do think that, because I never expected to hear those words at 40, but I did. And so sometimes I, you know, I still get a little scared and that I'm a human and I, and that's normal to feel that. And then I have to kind of dial it back and say, no, no, you know, let's go get it checked out and make sure everything's okay.
Speaker 2:And so 14 years later after my diagnosis, I'm here and I am giving back to my community. I'm a patient navigator, a volunteer patient navigator at our hospital, and they pair us with newly diagnosed cancer patients. I have had breast cancer patients mostly, but I have had someone with colon cancer and I have had someone with lung cancer I think, because I did go through so much with I went through surgery, chemo and radiation. They have felt like there is some crossover there with patients who've had other kinds of cancers, so they have paired me with them and each one has their. As you know, it's such a unique journey to each of us and it is an absolute privilege. It's a privilege to walk alongside somebody who is suddenly feeling more vulnerable and scared than they've ever felt in their lives.
Speaker 2:And I think you know, even initially you don't have to say much, you just listen and just being in presence with these patients I think offers such a comfort. Because I'm here and you tell them 14 years ago I was diagnosed and I think automatically just to know that there's another cancer patient or former cancer patient in their life who they can talk to now, who's made it, and they can see survivorship and they can see what that looks like and they can see that that's possible. So right there. And then you know we're trained.
Speaker 2:We do pretty extensive training and we are taught to look for barriers to treatment and to listen for those. So you know we meet once a week. We either meet on the phone, we meet in person and we develop these beautiful relationships that are they're professional but there's something very personal there and they know that. I think the comfort is in knowing that someone has walked a similar journey of course not exactly the same, but similar and I often find that they pair me with younger patients who have children, because that was, that was my situation and it does bring back lots of memories, but I've worked through that and I feel like I'm in a really healthy place to hold that space for them.
Speaker 1:Now you are in Carmel, yes, and you have. It's called Healing Partners of Central Coast, of the Central Coast.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, correct. Healing Partners of the Central Coast is a non-profit organization that provides a healing modality to patients who are on the journey and it is most like Reiki work. It's an energy work. It was developed by nurses, many, many, many, many decades ago actually, and Stanford Hospital is where I did my training. I had Healing Touch. Healing Touch is actually the work that's being done.
Speaker 2:The name of our organization is Healing Partners of the Central Coast, but they call us partners because you're doing the work together and the practitioner is there with the patient and it's just a place where you're providing space for the patient to get on the table and to get still and to get still enough in their busy schedules, because you know, as a cancer survivor, all of the doctor's appointments, all of the running around while you're in treatment I mean it just feels like it's never ending. And this is a place once a week, it is absolutely free to the patient because we don't want them to have to deal with one more thing or one more bill. And they come in, they get on the table and they can take off their mom hat and their wife hat and their work hat and just be and give their bodies enough stillness to kind of get in touch with what they need, because maybe they weren't even realizing how stressed out they were that week, maybe they weren't realizing how busy they had become and didn't take time to rest their bodies and rest their minds. And so it's a beautiful.
Speaker 2:I think it's teamwork of the practitioner doing the techniques and non-invasive. So when these patients are in a routine of having invasive treatment, this is non-invasive, it's peaceful, it's quiet and, as Stanford said, we're not exactly sure how it works, but we know that people who do it have better outcomes. And I thought, wow, you know, I think whether it's just the patient finding the stillness and getting more calm, the reduction of anxiety. And now there's so many studies out there that show that this works. My own oncologist has said she sees huge benefits after surgery faster healing times, less nausea with chemotherapy and less burning to the skin during radiation. So she said, and when you have oncologists prescribing healing touch to their patients, we're really moving in an exciting direction, I think.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think so too. And when you have an oncologist who actually, you know, grasps that idea because not all oncologists are like that you know that idea because not all oncologists are like that. We have a couple of oncologists, integrative oncologists, in our area who work with the general oncologists together, so they're like that's why we call it integrative, so that it can work alongside Western medication, and there are better outcomes when we incorporate things like that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely, it's self-care really. And so now, so I went through the training and so I received Healing Touch during the course of my cancer journey and starting before surgery through chemo and into radiation, and I really believe it was integral to my healing and I now so I've taken all the courses and now I have the absolute privilege of working with clients myself and I have a little studio and I have three clients right now who are at various stages of their cancer treatment, and so, yet again, I feel this tremendous sense of giving back and I feel a tremendous, it's a real honor to share that space with people who are going through so much.
Speaker 1:Well, and they probably are incredibly comfortable around you. You can tell that you love what you do and you know and that you appreciate that, and so just probably they feel so much more comfortable with you. So that's awesome. I love it.
Speaker 2:I love it.
Speaker 1:You have a memoir that's coming out and you don't want to talk too much about it. Is there anything you can share with us?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I started writing quite a few years ago about my experience and we had a little twist. Right after the bilateral mastectomy and just about a week before I started chemotherapy, my brother a dentist of 30 years at that time showed up on our porch in a catatonic state. We didn't know what happened to him and we took him in and we took care of him at the same time that I was really in the thick of that battle with the breast cancer and he was in and out of hospitals and we did everything we could to give him a respite, to try to manage his practice while he was home with us from afar, from a distance.
Speaker 2:And I won't tell you how it ends, but I will tell you. It's a story of a brother and sister close at heart intersecting at the height of their own crises, with one desperately wanting to live and the other desperately wanting to die. And so it is a story of family and hope and resilience and tragedy and forgiveness. And it's just kind of a remarkable moment in time when this family you know we all were very healthy and strong and then suddenly two of the four kids in our family were at the just peak of our crises. And how our family came together and dealt with it all. It's a remarkable story of survival, for sure.
Speaker 1:Very interesting. So when will that be published and released?
Speaker 2:We're thinking probably early 25. So just kind of putting the finishing touches and creating that author's platform and shopping agents as we speak, so very excited. It was a labor of love. It took me a little while. I thought maybe like during COVID I would have. We thought we'd be done before COVID.
Speaker 2:But you know, my editor said, had we been done before COVID you wouldn't have had it, would have gone nowhere. Because you know, everything was was shut down and I thought I would have used that time wisely to write. But I was so busy cooking for teenagers that that didn't happen. But you know, everything I think is divinely orchestrated. And and now time I really do think what I just I'm not in this book.
Speaker 2:My editor said he said it's a very brave and witty memoir and he said, but it's gritty, it's not Pollyanna, it's real, it's raw. But he said it's done with so much love and truth that what was remarkable to him, he said, was that there was no bitterness. And he said, oftentimes in memoir there may be a little bitterness and he said there's just none of that. And that was a real compliment to me, because and that's what I want I don't want this to be about making some statement.
Speaker 2:I'm not trying to preach or lecture or anything. I just simply share my story and hope that people will realize, no matter what comes down the pike, you can get through it, and that we are all here today, so we have 100% track record for overcoming, and I think that's something that is a good reminder, no matter what you're going through. You know, I definitely think this story. There are two main audiences of my book. It's probably, you know, the cancer world and families that are helping others with mental illness. So you know, I just really do want to help and I do feel like it's my duty to share.
Speaker 1:I love it. Maybe it can be made into a movie someday.
Speaker 2:You know, I was the one thing that's interesting. We have early readers, they're called beta readers and everyone wrote I think it's a movie. I think it's a movie and I think I'm a very visual person. So when I write I definitely do bring you into that scene and it's quite visual. So who knows? You know it'll be. It'll be an interesting journey and I'm excited to be on it.
Speaker 1:I think it's great and I love it when there's a really good memoir that is brought to the theater so that, you know, people can visualize. I'm very visual as well and there's been some really great ones out there, really really good. Well, I think it's great and I really look forward to getting the link to the memoir once you have it so we can actually put it in the show notes. So I want to go ahead and wrap up with I always ask people what kind of advice they might have for people who've never been diagnosed.
Speaker 1:So for me I I started getting my mammograms probably about age 40. I knew I had dense breasts. I didn't know that right away because I didn't even know what that meant until a little bit later down the road, and I ended up having to have a couple of lumpectomies in the past 10 years before I got breast cancer, and so I've just always been very diligent about going every single year getting my mammograms, not always about self breast exams, but I always like to ask you know, what kind of advice could you give to someone who's never been diagnosed, whether it be they're in their 20s or 40s?
Speaker 2:their 40s. Yeah, sure, absolutely Know your breasts, know them well enough to notice any changes. And I was not good at that or I didn't pay close enough attention. Maybe I could have found the lump in my breast a little earlier. I found it, I say, by accident, I don't think there are accidents, but when I did it was already the lump had. It was a good size lump and I think had I known my breasts a little better, maybe I would have caught it earlier. And so that's one.
Speaker 2:And just to listen to your body and pay attention. So you know, maybe unusual, I know I was feeling unusual tiredness. I felt like my. I just felt like I wasn't bouncing back as fast from a cold.
Speaker 2:Or I'm not saying if that's happening to anybody that there's any need for alarm. It's just that your body's behaving in a way that might feel different to you. Just pay attention, you know, and rest and listen. Be more in touch with what your body's telling you, because our bodies are just remarkable and I think that there are these messages we get. And then the other thing is just don't go down the rabbit hole of the internet searching. Right, you got to be really careful because, boy, you can really freak yourself out if you do, and so I just think staying in touch and getting still and quiet enough and in touch with yourself enough that you're aware if something's changing, I really think that's important. So I guess that's presence and stillness. We're all so busy and we're all just I feel like things get busier and busier, and so I think it's up to us to carve out time in our day to get still enough, to pay attention, to listen, to be aware, and our bodies tell us a lot.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, it was a good thing that you went in to get that mammogram when you did, and I think you're right. I think we need to slow down, know our bodies and because we are the ones that know it the best. And I knew that I had a lump, but I also knew I had lumpy breasts because I had dense breast tissue. So I was just sliding into retirement but I was super busy. You know, I had a few months before I was going to retire and I knew that my mammogram was probably coming up soon and I did get reminded and I ended up going in. But they moved it up by three weeks because they asked me if I had felt anything and I at first I said no, but then I was like, actually I do feel a lump, it feels a little bit different and I feel these zingers and hot spots. So they moved it up by three weeks and luckily I did and I had also had, I had stage two. Was yours estrogen driven or no? Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1:So mine was not. So mine was positive ERP or negative.
Speaker 2:Okay, yeah, okay.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay. So I love how you said know your breasts, because you and I yesterday talked about. Know your lemons, and my audience knows that. My audience knows that I am a lemonista.
Speaker 2:Yes, with know your lemons. I want to be a lemonista too.
Speaker 1:We're going to make sure you're a lemonista because it'll pair really nicely with your nurse navigating, okay, and you know, because it I mean just to bring awareness to people who haven't had it will pair really nicely and your and your uh, you know your energy, your healing practitioner, um, you know, piece to it as well. So, um, but know your lemons is so great because it makes it kind of a quirky, fun way to help people understand what the 12 signs of breast cancer is and what an actual lump feels like. That actually reminds them to do their self breast exams and not just do them, but do them properly, because I never did them properly and most people don't. That's, that's a that'd be great. To know your breasts, know your lemons. I love it. Great, great tagline. Yeah, so we have in the contact information I have you on Instagram, facebook, tiktok, linkedin, and then a website is going to be coming if anybody wants to reach out to you. And then lots of helping hands and Mealtrain. I used Mealtrain when I had cancer. That was so good.
Speaker 1:There's also you should know about. It's called wegotthisorg. Have you ever heard of that? We got thisorg. Alyssa Calvert I interviewed her. She has metastatic breast cancer and she started a nonprofit called we got this because she realized when she first got breast cancer there was no real place for people to go to get you what you might need. So people always ask you what do you need, what can I do for you? And at that time we're like I don't know, like I don't even know what I want. So she started this organization and it's run a lot like a baby registry and a wedding registry so that people can go in there and they can register for certain things that they might need and friends can help out with that, and then people can go onto that website, into your registry, and get you the things that you need. Wow, I know it's really cool.
Speaker 2:I have not heard of that. That'd be great. That would be a great thing I could tell patients during the navigation process.
Speaker 1:WeGotThisorg, wegotthisorg. Yeah, lots of helping hands.
Speaker 2:Lots of helping hands. Lots of helping handsorg was one that my friends used and they could put in. The needs of a newly diagnosed patient might meet in this situation, and so I needed maybe some rides for the kids to school, oh yeah, and maybe some meals. You could do other chores you could add in their laundry, or you know, I I was a little personal about my laundry, but if I needed needed to, I could add some of these chores. And people were.
Speaker 2:You know how people are, as soon as they know a friend, a loved one, has been diagnosed, they just can't do enough. And you know, we had hot meals on the porch and we had people dropping by and sending their cleaning ladies over and the whole thing. So I feel like lots of helping handsorg was a way to organize that and also gave me an opportunity to send well wishes to everybody who was sending well wishes to me. So there was a communication, but there was also a little bit of a barrier there. So if I needed to rest and I could have the quiet, quietude of the house and people could kind of come and go and there were directions and it sort of it. Sort of it protected me a little bit so I could get the rest that I needed. And have all of these things going on that would really help support us, so I really found that to be helpful.
Speaker 1:I love it, and it's a good learning experience for friends and family, because most people don't even know what to do and so well, this has been great. Marilyn, I just have learned so much from you. I'm so glad that our paths have crossed. I have a feeling we're going to be friends and we're going to be doing some other work together. I just I have a really good feeling about that. Is there anything you'd like to leave us with before we wrap up?
Speaker 2:Oh gosh, I think, just savor, savor life, choose life, choose life. And when you get scared or you know, just keep coming back into that understanding that just choose to engage. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Well, this has been a great conversation. I can see that my screen is a little bit darker now because the sun has gone down. Well, I appreciate it and, to my audience, thank you once again for joining us on this episode of Test those Breasts. I am thrilled that you're here every single week and, as usual, if you can head over to your favorite platform and rate and review this podcast, it really does help, and when people just give it a five star would be good and even a little review. I know on some platforms you can do that and I just really appreciate that and we will see you next time on the next episode of Test those Breasts. Bye for now.
Speaker 1:Thanks, jamie Friends. 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.
