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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 84: Navigating Loss and Inspiring Change – Caren Roblin’s Mission After Her Mother’s Passing
After the heart-wrenching experience of losing her mother at a tender age, Caren Roblin, a passionate advocate for women's health, shares her poignant journey of navigating life before, during, and after her mother’s battle with breast cancer. Her story casts light on the enduring influence of maternal love and how profound loss can fuel a mission to educate others about the critical importance of early screenings and self-care, even without health insurance.
We delve into personal reflections on how sudden loss during childhood shapes one's perspective on life and health. Through vivid memories and emotional recounting, Caren describes the chaos and confusion of losing her mother and the protective role she played. Writing, for Caren, became an invaluable tool to process grief and connect with others facing similar traumas.
Join us as we tackle the broader issues surrounding healthcare access, particularly for those facing breast cancer, and discuss the significant role of nonprofits in bridging gaps. From navigating healthcare without insurance to discovering community resources, we explore ways to overcome barriers and prioritize health. Caren and I share insights on how early detection can make a life-changing difference, encouraging listeners to seek the support and resources available to them. With personal anecdotes, we underline the importance of finding a supportive network and taking proactive steps in one’s health journey.
If you are in the Reno/Sparks Nevada area, check out one of the Kaia Fit Sierra locations! Here is where you can contact Caren: caren@kaiafitsierra.com775-375-KAIA (5242) (Kaia Fitness)
Contact Carin:
https://www.tiktok.com/@carenroblin711
Resources:
https://www.accesstohealthcare.org
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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.
Speaker 1: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. Hello friends, welcome back to this episode of Test those Breasts. I am your host, jamie Vaughn, and today I have a new friend named Karen Roblin on my show and Karen and I were connected somehow on Facebook. We have a lot of mutual friends and all the things, and she lives in the area that I live in and Karen is the owner of Kaya Fit Sierra, a women's fitness and nutrition program with four RenoSparks locations, as well as digital marketing strategist and journalism instructor at the University of Nevada, reno, and lost her mother to breast cancer as a child, and the experience dramatically shaped who she is today. A proponent of women's health, karen advocates for early screenings and overall breast health education. She doesn't just talk the talk, she also walks the walk, sticking to her own recommended screening schedule, even when she does not have health insurance to help with costs, and that's a huge deal. Hello Karen, how are you? Welcome to the show?
Speaker 2:Hello, so great to be here.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm excited because we do this on video too, and it goes on YouTube, so I'm excited for my audience to see your gorgeous purple hair.
Speaker 1:I just think it's so beautiful. I love the style and everything. So I'm just glad that we were able to connect Because you know you have such a great story, much like a couple of other people like, I interviewed Isha Coslacarande a while back, and she is a local icon in our area fitness stylist, women's stylist and her mother also died of breast cancer. And so hearing the perspective of women whose mothers died of breast cancer and how that has shaped the trajectory of your life going forward, I think is really important to kind of bring to the surface for other people, because there's so many people in your, you know, very similar situation where you know they have this memory of their mom only up to a certain point and moving forward. That's really hard to kind of wrap your mind around because you don't have the memory moving forward.
Speaker 1:Isha herself surpassed how old her mother was when she had breast cancer. I'm not sure if that's the case with you too, but it was a really interesting, pivotal point for her in her life, thinking to herself wow, I'm the age of my mother right now of when she died of breast cancer and that's really interesting. So I'm just really glad that you're here to talk about your story. So one of the questions I would love to ask for you to share with our audiences who was Karen before her mom's breast cancer diagnosis, and how did your perspective of your mom change during the diagnosis?
Speaker 2:Sure. So you know, before my mom was diagnosed we'd always been just me and her. She was a single mom, my only child, and you know we frequently moved back and forth between San Diego and Las Vegas. I was born in New Jersey, actually Inglewood. She was working in New York at one point but it really was just me and her against the world. But she also was very, very protective and sheltered me in a lot of ways, very much spoiled me.
Speaker 2:If we lived in an apartment or a townhome or whatever that looked like, I was the one who was given the master bedroom, which you're the master suite.
Speaker 2:And that seems a little crazy now, but at the time it just wasn't even that was just normal. I didn't know that there was any other way that anyone really went about giving away the master suite. I was very spoiled. The world really did revolve around me promoting my success in school, making sure that I was academically sound, you know, making sure I had the best grades going to public school, but also kind of mixing in some private school years as well. And once she was diagnosed kind of came paired with some other injuries. She had fallen and had badly fractured her knee and ultimately realized later that her back was also injured and it really took her from being this like powerhouse in my life to being someone that I mostly had to care for in a lot of ways or at least be concerned about, and that really started around the age of 10 or so as far as the injuries and needing to step up as a help in the household for her Right.
Speaker 1:And you mentioned, you know, this idea that your childhood was like the tale of two childhoods. So you had all of this experience with your mom before, where you were held up and treated kind of like a just as a really important princess and you were given everything you were only, you know, yeah, and so you were so used to that with your mom until she got the diagnosis.
Speaker 1:and explain to us a little more about how your perspective of your mom and your childhood changed. Uh, further than being kind of taking care of her, how did your perspective change over time during her diagnosis and your you know, very young child way of looking at things?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, a big part of the diagnosis was that it was very much downplayed for me. So I very much fought as a child to still kind of live my life and think about myself. And obviously I loved my mom so I would help, you know, when I was asked to, and do things for her, and that was how I would show my love as well. But you know she was terminal as soon as she was diagnosed. Her screenings were not consistent. Her body was in a weakened state from the fall that she had taken. She was only in her forties, but you know it's not like she was, you know, super advanced age, you know, like where one fall can take you out forever. It was all very surprising along the way, and so I was in a lot of denial. But I was also in a protected denial, you know I wasn't being given the truth in a lot of which ways, unless I really had to be told. When she had a mastectomy I had to change her tubes and the drainage bags and assist with that wound care. And I was very, very young I believe I was 11 at that time and those images stay with me for sure but at the same time I'm not being told that she's terminal, I'm being protected, but she knew she was. So we were moving back to San Diego because she knew I loved San Diego more than Las Vegas as a child and knowing that she was going to pass at some point probably soon she wanted me to at least be in a place where I loved, versus a place that I really didn't love in Las Vegas.
Speaker 2:And definitely, with a year and a half or so of just caring more and more and more as her body was breaking down more and more and more, I just started to resent it and I started to rebel in ways that you know I was very ashamed of.
Speaker 2:After she passed, would fight a lot, would buck against what she would say. You know, when things were getting really, really hard for her, when she was unable to dress herself or bathe, a friend of hers and her husband kind of moved in with us and helped in ways that I just wasn't physically able to help with anymore. As far as some of those, I couldn't lift her out of the tub per se, right, I wasn't large enough for that, and so my whole kind of world was shifting, but at the same time I was still being very cocooned. I didn't know the truth of what was coming. I was still being told to do this, that or the other. I wasn't being told you know any context after a fight that you know this could be the last month that we're even talking, so yeah, I can understand that.
Speaker 1:That would be really. I mean, I can empathize with this resentment because you really didn't know. At the same time, you're watching her body break down. So at some point in time, did you, did you know that she was probably dying without even being told?
Speaker 2:No, no, I. I always had my mom on a pedestal where she was the strongest woman I ever knew and I and it was fueled by a million different things. She was a marathoner Like I. Would ride my bike when she would be running. I'd ride my bike alongside her. Even when she fractured her knee, the doctors didn't realize it for six weeks because the muscles supposedly were so strong. They were holding the kneecap in place, so they didn't realize the front row of these amazing instances of like. My mom is so strong and you know, even if things were getting harder for her, I just never fathomed a reality where there wasn't another side, there wasn't like a coming out, the other end of it. It just never crossed my mind. It was complete shock when she passed, and the day she passed, I had no idea.
Speaker 1:Are you? I'm going to kind of ask another question at this point now, at year eight, how old are you again? I'm 40. Yeah, and she was so at this age do you look back on what you were thinking at the time, and are you ever surprised that you didn't know that she was dying?
Speaker 2:Sure, no, I mean, you look back and it's like, well, yeah, I mean my mom could only wear a very long, extra long kind of night shirt. She couldn't put on real clothes anymore. At one point she was using a walker to walk around, and this is a 44 year old, you know. She had shrunk in height like significantly. Everything was super, incredibly painful, had an incredibly hard time sleeping, to the point where she had to sleep on a couch to try to get some firmness in certain ways at certain times, because she couldn't possibly sleep. It was sub quality of life. Looking back on it, that seems so obvious from an adult perspective and definitely someone who understands cancer, cancer treatment more now. Yeah, at the time it was just like, oh, you know, like these two people are going to our friends, are going to move in with us and help me out, and it was just all kind of like oh hum, this is, this is how things are going to be. And I was like, okay, well, I still get my room, right, right.
Speaker 1:That was the perspective I will tell you. I don't know how much of my audience knows I was a middle school teacher for many, many years and I remember my middle school years very well and the thought process that was going through my mind. So I understood middle school kids a lot and even, like you know, sixth grade or whatever, because I did teach sixth, seventh and eighth grade and I just I understood their perspective in more ways than they probably even realized. Anyways, okay, so eventually your mom died at age 44. That was in 1996. And you were 12 or 13 at the time. How old were you at the time? At the time, I was 12.
Speaker 2:12. Okay, yeah, I turned 12 in July of 1996 and she passed away in September. Okay, so when?
Speaker 1:this happened. How did that play a role in how you actually handled the situation?
Speaker 2:So the day that she passed, it was just another school day for me. I was sitting in my classroom I believe it was a math class and someone came into the class and called me up to the office. There was some reason I had to go to the office and I did, and my soon to be guardian her name was Cricket she was there and she said we had to go to the hospital and that my mom wasn't doing too good, and it was news to me that she wasn't even in the hospital because that morning she was not. So that was a surprise. And we get to the hospital and by the time I'm walking into her hospital room, she's completely non-responsive and in general, she had, you know, tubes coming out of her, just completely not able to engage, and it was definitely a visual that sticks with me, of course, because it just was. There was no, yes, there was a breaking down of her body, but there was no ramp up to a hospital stay. That just wasn't even part of anything that she had done before. And they're saying that she's probably not coming back from this.
Speaker 2:And you know, I'm told to say my goodbyes and I don't remember a ton of what I said other than I obviously loved her and I asked if, if she could hear me, if she could blink. And I think I remember her blinking, but just in a way that, like, I hope that's because of that versus, you know, just a natural blink, but it was. You know, I wasn't there for the very end, they had me leave the room and I went home and then it was that night that my soon to be guardian, a friend of hers, cricket, again, she came home and, you know, gave me her watch and pointed at the time that maybe it was set to, and saying that this is the time that your mom passed and she's gone. And that's that's how that went. It was complete, you go to. It was almost like a car accident from my perspective. It was. It was just like another day, nothing different. And then it was just not another day, right?
Speaker 1:Right, that's terrible. That's a terrible feeling In hindsight. What do you wish the adults in the room would have done? How do you wish they would have handled it for you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I, I, I understand my mom's decisions. I mean she's, she's coming off of 12 years of protecting me in a million ways. You know, in general, you know she never brought anyone. She may have been dating or not, I never saw anyone. You know, there's just all these things that were just for my protection suddenly veer off that course with her diagnosis. You know that would be a little bit uncharacteristic for her for sure. But you know I was 10, 11, 12, as this was happening, I wasn't three or four or five. It's just a different developmental stage.
Speaker 2:And you know whether, in hindsight of course, but I absolutely would have needed and wanted and respected being let in, at least to the degree of knowing that this isn't just a phase or a thing that we're having to go through and there's light at the end of the tunnel.
Speaker 2:And there's light at the end of the tunnel.
Speaker 2:If we know there's no light at the end of the tunnel, I wanted to know that, I absolutely wanted to know that.
Speaker 2:I don't hold any grudges over anyone who made those decisions on my behalf, but ultimately, my behavior toward her and rebelling and fighting and arguing and the stress I was causing her, it caused me so much grief that it was almost equal to the loss itself right after her death, and that could have been spared. I could have curtailed my behavior in a way or at least relished the moments that I had with her. I could have gone a different path than how her final months really went, and I just wasn't given that opportunity. And I think at that age there's a way to every child's different, but there is a way to communicate what needs to be communicated so that the next day after a passing, or the next month or the next year or the next several years that this child isn't growing up with massive, deep seated regret and guilt and remorse over something that is out of their control, giving them some control on how they could have behaved during the last months.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so your processing started very quickly in that around age 13, you wrote an essay kind of an essay, whatever the kind of writing it was and it was called my Mom Was Dying and I Didn't Do Anything. And it's now actually in a book from like 1999, Ophelia Speaks, and it's on Amazon and I actually found it. Can you share a little bit about what that means to you? The just being published in the book in general, or and even going through the process of writing, that writing.
Speaker 2:So writing actually was incredibly cathartic for me. My mom always journaled. I don't know probably her whole life, but definitely throughout her time of just being my mom. She was always journaling, always a big proponent of writing things down and writing through things, and she would encourage me but I would kind of like, do a little here, do a little there. You know, my life was just.
Speaker 2:I didn't really other than, you know, my dad not being in the picture, I just didn't really have a whole lot of stuff I needed to work through myself and you can see that in like the little bitty starts of like, oh, my friend and I did this, and then, like I didn't write anything else, um, and very old journals that I have. But I started writing every single day the day that she died, um, or perhaps the day after she died. It was right, right in that realm and I was writing through all of it. I wrote stupid things and I wrote sad things and I wrote um things I found joy in and I wrote about crushes and I wrote stupid things and I wrote sad things and I wrote things I found joy in and I wrote about crushes and I wrote about guilt and I wrote about everything, every mix of emotion that a 12 year old going on 13 would be feeling and going through still going to school, still having to live life, still having to move forward in a completely different life. When it's only you and one parent and then you have to go forth, your whole world is different, the whole thing is on its head. And I was a good writer, I was told, and my career is, since I'm bald writing, so it's worked out.
Speaker 2:But it was my eighth grade English teacher who was aware of essays that were being submitted for this book, ophelia Speaks, and in 1998, she encouraged me to write. However, whatever assignments I was turning in in that class, she felt like I should submit, and I didn't really have anything else I wanted to write about other than my mom for that essay. And I really sat down and took very deep breath of okay, here's how I'm feeling in this moment and here's what I'm telling my friends and here's what I'm saying to others, because it really is a tale of you know, appreciate what you have while you have it, and that's that's really the backbone of that and I was really surprised but also elated it was my first publishing when they selected my essay to be in that book. Being published as a 13-year-old was like, oh my gosh. It was really cool in my opinion, and I never read that essay again. I have yet to read that essay again to this day, now that I'm 40. So it's been 27 years. Maybe one day I will read the whole thing.
Speaker 2:But I kept some photocopies of it. I would give them to friends that would enter my life that I wanted to share a piece of myself with. But in some ways I found it easier to just hand them this essay because they could just kind of understand from a very like I'm not imposing my emotional will on you and here I am sitting here crying, telling you all these things. I could just kind of share a piece of me and where I'm coming from and it would help them connect with me more. At least that was the point when I would do things.
Speaker 2:But yeah, I used to have a signed copy from Sarah Chandler. Over the years that's unfortunately been lost, but it was a.
Speaker 1:It was a really important experience for me, for sure lost, but it was a really important experience for me for sure. So well, in the essay you have a poem and I didn't talk to you about this before we started recording, but there's a poem in there that your mom wrote. Is that something that you remember? It says Karen, I'll be your person of good faith, I'll take a stand, I won't break. I'll be your rock and you can lean on. I'll be the fire in your night. I will defend, I will fight, I'll be there when you need me. I swear I'll always be strong and that will always belong when honor's at stake. This vow I will make you mean the world to me. Love mom.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, she, she was the kind of person I mean obviously she loved writing, but she that actually is a poem that I still have. She gave me this standing clock. It was like a wooden book that would prop up open and there was a clock on one side and engraved gold ish plate on the other side and that poem is engraved in that she was the kind of person where when she would give me a gift it would have our initials in the bottom or it would have some sort of poem etched into it in some way. I mean it was always a little bit different, but that is one. She gave it to me in the last. It was in the last couple of years of her life, for sure, and that clock stopped working a very, very long time ago, but I still have it, it's in my bedroom, it just is.
Speaker 2:It's a testament to her thinking of me first in her life. As a child, I was always thinking of myself first, so it's a good reminder to me to really think about the others that are in your world and the ones who are closest. That one, they know that, and two, that within reason. I mean, obviously self-care is important, like I don't know if I'd proponent, I would propose, like giving master suites to children or anything, but why not? But you know, being that person who you know is putting others first where it needs to happen, and being aware of that, and it's not all me, me, me, even though culture and you know, and society can feel like that sometimes as well. I mean it's a balance, as women, you know, being grown now. It's a balance of taking care of yourself and taking care of others. But yeah, she wrote that and I did not remember that. I included that poem in that essay.
Speaker 1:So thank you for reminding me. Well, I mean, it's a fairly long essay, but there is one part in there, after the poem, that I'm wondering if you'll let me read, because it's a really I think it was a really pivotal point for you, writing it at age 13. Do you mind?
Speaker 2:if I read it yeah, please.
Speaker 1:Okay. It says I am now 13 years old. My mother died on September 27, 1996, when I was 12. I've changed a lot since then. I can distinguish between what's important and what's not. And disrespecting my mom to fit in wasn't important, it wasn't the cool thing to do. I wish I could take it back, but that's the thing about life. I can't. I can only move forward and continue without my mom. She was my support, my backbone, and living without her has made me learn how to become my own support, my own backbend. There is a, there is, and Cricket was your guardian yes, yeah, my guardian and her husband.
Speaker 1:Okay, but they're not much older than me. This whole thing has forced me to become more independent. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but now I'm not afraid to tell people what I think. I'm able to accept things more easily. I'm not. I'm a lot more generous and giving, so I guess what I'm trying, what I'm saying, is forget all of the stupid reasons you fight with your parents. It's just not worth it. If you look hard enough, you'll realize everything they're doing is to protect you because they love you. Besides, whether you'll admit it or not, I know you love them. Love them too. I thought that was really. You had to grow up quickly.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah.
Speaker 1:And you, and that was is very evident in your writing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, even as a, even as being 13, I was just very hyper aware of my situation and my scenario. You know, the love of a parent is very different than the love of anyone else. It cannot be compared and you feel a lot lesser and a lot more left behind in a lot of instances in life holiday, I mean you, you name it, you know it's, it's a, it's a game shift for sure. And I was just very, very aware and I think I was able to articulate a lot of those instances because I had been writing through this, you know, since since the moment that she died, so it wasn't like I just sat down and finally vomited a bunch of words into an essay. I really have been working through my own grief for a while through writing, for sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so how, throughout your life? How has your mom's breast cancer experience shaped the way you take care of your own body today, like breast health or any gynecological health?
Speaker 2:Absolutely so. Obviously, having a parent, you know, pass away so young from breast cancer. I've been a high risk, you know, ever since, ever since, and so I started or I had to start, obgyn visits, you know, earlier on my annual exams earlier. Mammograms started for me when I was 30. Several years into that my doctor wanted me to alternate my annual mammogram with an annual breast MRI. So every six months I'm either getting a mammogram or a breast MRI, and mammograms are in April for me and breast MRI rise are in October for me.
Speaker 2:But it's always my doctor who I've been with for since 2006 or 2007. You know, she's just very aware of my history and it's always, you know, better safe than sorry. And she's really gone through my twenties with me and, you know, into my thirties and now I've turned 40. And you know, even when anything seemed even just slightly amiss, youiss, even when my breast tissue was too dense for like a mammogram in my twenties, she would have me go get an ultrasound just to be super sure. So what we've been doing since and in general has just been building a very lengthy, could probably fill a binder at some point screening history so that as soon as anything starts to develop in any way, we can catch it basically within six months at this point I mean literally. It's every six months there's a new, there's a new screening for them to review. So far I've been in the clear. I never want to jinx that, but so far it is. It is a matter of building that history so that if something does come around that we catch it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I would imagine you know early detection in your mind is like exactly what you know. That is like prominent in your mind because when your mom was diagnosed she did not catch it early. Is that right? Was she stage four at that time when she caught it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. And you know what I was told after the fact. All this was here. You know all this was after the fact. You know it was just that when, when they did diagnose her that it was already, it was either already in her blood or her bones, something along, something along the lines of like obviously, um, not possible to treat in any which way. And so in her, in her history of screenings you know I don't want to say like oh, it was the nineties, like, like I was some, like you know, like, oh, we're all weird and crazy in the nineties.
Speaker 2:But you know, single mom, you know she's doing her best. She was not consistent on her screenings, she was not consistent and at best she had a couple of mammograms under her belt, at best. And that's just me like trying to pull my memory of someone referring to that. And you know she always put me first, which a lot of parents can relate to health wise.
Speaker 2:You know you take the kid to the doctor. You don't necessarily go, or you don't necessarily go to the doctor yourself. You take the kid to the dentist. You're not necessarily going to the dentist yourself, but these things can trickle. So when it comes to screenings, they're so easy and there's so many resources out there that help make them more affordable. And at the end of the day, I will. If it's a money issue, I will save money catching it early, then save money catching it midstream or even at the end. So it's just always been. This is worth it to me and this is one way that I can honor her and keep her memory alive. You know, beyond just just living, you know, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think that's really important. You don't have to have, you know, have to have had breast cancer to be so concerned about this. You especially if you have somebody who's died in the past. I know that you and I talked about Corinne, who started Know your Lemons, and I told you that I was a lemonista with Know your Lemons, which is just somebody who brings awareness to as many people as possible about breast cancer. Corinne, who is the founder, has never had breast cancer, but her two biological grandmothers passed away of breast cancer and one of her very, very best friends, and so she, you know, really made it her mission to make sure that she did whatever she possibly could to bring awareness and talk about, you know, early detection and the importance of mammograms and any kind of advocacy of advocating for yourself. So what do you do in your adulthood to help people with that?
Speaker 2:I mean in general, I have a large social network that's just built up over the years and every time I get screened, I am the weirdo who asks if I can take my phone in just for a moment to take a photo of the breast MRI machine or I guess it's just a regular MRI machine but whatever, I'll take the selfie in the dressing room with the mammogram, take a photo of the mammogram machine, like whatever it is. I'm that person and you know they don't care. I mean, you just give them a heads up, especially because you're not supposed to have phones and MRI. But you know, I just I always want to promote, just just the awareness, because I think we know right, we know we should do something. But it's that next step of like I should be doing this. I just haven't, I just haven't scheduled it, I've been busy, I don't have the money, I'm not insured right now, like whatever pops up. We have that like next step that we just can't take.
Speaker 2:And it's very similar in the fitness industry. You know what I see all the time with Kaia Fitzsierras women. I know I should move my body, I know I should do this. I just coming showing up, you know, putting the shoes on. You know, it's just, it's that next step that's like the killer that prevents it from happening.
Speaker 2:And so I always try to spread awareness in the sense of look, if I'm the one of the busiest women in Reno, please know that I make time for this. I don't even have health insurance and I'm paying for this because of these reasons. And it was so easy. It was less than an hour total from walking in the door to walking out the door. You can do this too, if you're. If you're not scheduling it now, do it. I've also hosted various different events that have raised funds for local breast cancer nonprofits over the years, and anything I can do, anything I can do, but I really do try to use my story as leverage to. If it just gets one person who sees my content to book that screening, then that's a win. I love that.
Speaker 1:That's so good though, and using that on social media obviously that's a win. That's a win. I love that. That's so good, though, and and using that on social media obviously that's what I do with this podcast, and putting it all over on all the platforms just to get get the word out, and I know that people do. They've actually reached out to me, even if they're from different countries, saying hey, I ran across your podcast and thank you so much for interviewing surgeons, because it's because of your podcast interviews we are. We now have an idea of what we want to do for my daughter's surgery or whatever it is, so I think putting it out there and being loud and proud about it is very, very important. You mentioned um.
Speaker 1:I want to wrap this up a little bit by talking about health. You know your insurance. You know not having insurance. How do you navigate that? Because I actually do have people have reached out to me and said look, I'm too busy to get my mammogram, or a want to go get my mammogram, but I don't have insurance, and so they just put it off. So how do you navigate that? What are some resources that you can share?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean the biggest resource. I mean there's. There's a lot of things across the country. I can only really speak locally within Nevada. My biggest resource that's enabled me.
Speaker 2:You know, as soon as I became a business owner and wasn't working you know the regular corporate nine to five I just did not really have access to health insurance and it's that was about five years ago. Five years ago, access to health insurance, and it's that was about five years ago. Five years ago, and I remember looking at different possibilities for insurance and it was just also expensive and it just didn't seem to cover anything. And a friend of mine told me about, here in Nevada, access to healthcare Nevada. And it is not insurance. It is basically for anyone in the state of Nevada. You can apply for it. It's a medical discount program and basically it discounts everything, almost anything you can think of, as long as you're working with the network that's providing you.
Speaker 2:But when you compare the cost, I mean I don't use it for my OBGYN because I have such a long history with her. I don't want to bounce around simply to save a few bucks and I'd rather pay the one 90 show up fee for my annual exam, because even if I'm paying that that's still so much less than even one month of insurance coverage. So whatever on that front. But um, they have in the past gotten me um mammograms the past few years. They've typically come in at like $80. I know that I put my breast MRI through their system and I can't recall if they actually discounted or not. I think there's some discount there, but I basically pay about $350 for that there, but I basically pay about $350 for that. And again you add that up, you know $80 plus $350 plus $190 still for the whole year is still really fantastic. And then I still have urgent care coverage or discounts. It feels like coverage.
Speaker 2:So I'm always like mixing it up, but it's a really amazing program and, yes, you have to apply and yes, there's a phone interview in the beginning and all these things. But and I know their prices are about to go up. But, as of our recording here on this podcast, you know it's about $40 a month and you can pay and save even more by prepaying a year. So it's just been a fantastic resource and they're also helpful and I think a lot of people just don't even know they exist. I think it's insurance or not insurance and I just can't afford it and I just can't do it and I put it off. But there are resources out there and there's national resources too. I mean it's it's just a matter of this matters to me. So I'm going to dig in a little bit, lean in a little bit to make sure that I can do this and make it work for me.
Speaker 1:And yeah, and it's so worth it. It's so worth it Because if you are diagnosed, you know you want to catch it early and there is like a cost thing that I just saw where stage one, the cost of like an average cost of being stage zero and one and two and three and four, and so the earlier you catch it the better, and I love that there are resources out there and I will include those in the show notes. And I also want to reiterate you know you're in the fitness industry, you own kind of fitness and I got four locations. There are people who go there who've had breast cancer, who've known people who has breast cancer, who know the importance of keeping your body healthy, your bone you know bone health, you know you know as healthy as possible. So I know that I was very healthy when I got breast cancer and people were very surprised when and come to find out healthy people can get breast cancer.
Speaker 1:But the important part is is that the healthier you are, the better and you are able to move through cancer treatments and all of that.
Speaker 1:It's not easy, but it's certainly a whole heck of a lot easier than if you are unhealthy.
Speaker 1:So I think it's great that you are so involved in fitness and that you've done, you know, fundraisers for, you know, breast cancer, whatever nonprofits out there, and I am actually trying to build my nonprofit as much as I can to get enough funds that when people apply for funds from me, that they might be able to take some of that and go get a mammogram or help them with their surgery or, you know, get a wig or something like that, whatever they need for their journey. So I always, you know, appreciate donations from my audience and the public and things like that. So I just thank you for what you do and I really appreciate your sharings this deep, really emotional story. I know that you said that you have not read that essay in 27 years and I'm going to read, you know, through the rest of it just to, you know, kind of absorb who you are and who you were, and I just appreciate your opening up and being vulnerable with me and our audience.
Speaker 2:I really appreciate it. I think you know. I think one of the things that you know we'll probably come to is eventually reading that essay. For sure, everything comes in time when you feel ready for it. It's a little different when it's me who wrote it and it's me, who's kind of similar to like when I, when there's an on demand workout, I don't take my own. It's a little funky, I don't want to be by myself. It's a little weird.
Speaker 2:Breast cancer it's something that any cancer, any health ailment youment. It really can turn someone's world upside down and it's not just the patient, it's the whole family, it's the spouse, it's the children, and there is no guidebook blueprint on exactly how to navigate those relationships and how these things should go. What we knew about things back in the 90s is so like a fraction of everything that we know and the types of treatments and things that exist now. The conversations surrounding things now so much more hush hush back then as well. And I think at the end of the day, you know really choosing where it feels good and right to be transparent with those you care about the most if you're undergoing a diagnosis, because at the very least, you should not feel alone. I think that's really key, you know, for really the most part of my mom's battle with breast cancer, she isolated herself to feel alone by not sharing that with me and not sharing it with many people, and that can still happen to this day. So if there's a word of encouragement, you know, from a child who has lost someone to breast cancer and was kept in the dark, anything that can be shared and given that sense of empowerment to that child to really help that person not feel alone, that is something that they can absolutely take with them for the rest of their life, no matter how that diagnosis turns out.
Speaker 2:If it is terminal, obviously there's a lot of emotions going on there and what you should say or not. But no matter what happens, we're all going to pass one way or another at some point and at the very least, we should always empower the ones we care about the most to have only the best memories, the most empowering memories of I was able to do this with my and I was able to say these things, I was able to appreciate the time, I was able maybe to video more, take more photos or simple things, and it all adds up and I think the main thing is don't suffer alone, even if you're in, maybe you don't have children, maybe you're not married, whatever it looks like like, don't suffer alone. Find your tribe, because you absolutely are out there and everyone is rooting for you to not just be healthy, but truly to be a part of this community, any community that you find home and beyond.
Speaker 1:That's fantastic. Well, I actually in the show notes I do have Chi Fitness, all of your social media, how to reach you and all of that. So if you're in the Reno Sparks area and you're looking for a fitness program, I would highly recommend you reach out and check out what you know that's out there for kind of fitness, and I've heard so many good things anyway. So, and I've known it's been around for a long time and stuff like that. Now, okay, but even more importantly, can I see your dog?
Speaker 1:Yes, all right, he's been waiting for this moment I'll get, I'll bring griselda over here too.
Speaker 2:Come on hi, griselda, here we are. Hello, you have a ball in your mouth.
Speaker 1:Oh, hello griselda. Oh, I was. What's his name? His name?
Speaker 2:is jigsaw or Jiggy. Whatever, he has a half eaten purple ball in his mouth to replicate my hair, I guess.
Speaker 1:I love it. Well, I was trying. I was going to get my dog Griselda. Griselda, come, come Drop it. She might actually be outside. I was thinking maybe they could meet each other. Yeah, have a little play date. But she's, she's clear. I think she's out back. But I remember us talking saying that you have a dog and that you were afraid that you know he'd be making sounds.
Speaker 2:He's so tall, he can just shove. I had a chair blocking this whole time Cause he he hears excitement or here's emotion and he just comes right over and uh, you know, we love our dogs.
Speaker 1:They're part of our family and I've had my granddaughter on screen before and our dogs, so I, you know, this is such a down to earth, you know, conversation that like we're sitting in each other's living room, so I think it's great, and I have my mom's photo just over my head.
Speaker 2:Oh good, one of the trying not to have too much. Oh, she's beautiful. Wow. So that was, that was me and her. She definitely went bright red for the last few years of her life, so I did have red hair myself for a very long time, but about eight years ago I went purple so. But her favorite colors are purple and green, so it all works out.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, so it's a good memory. I love it and you, and obviously you got her your hair from her. She's, she had gorgeous hair.
Speaker 2:It worked out. She used to take me to the to the hairstylist so her they could match her blonde to my natural blonde. Love it, but I'm 99% sure that is not my hair color anymore. I'm sure it's very, at this point, not as sexy.
Speaker 1:Well, it's amazing how mine came back. You know, I lost all my hair and I always had long blonde hair for forever and then it grew back, really dark and curly, and then I did put some highlights in it, but I don't think that these are necessarily them right here. It's it. I think this is actually my normal colored hair right now and I'm just keeping it like that. So, anyway, well, thank you very much, Karen. This has been such a nice conversation and I just really appreciate again for you being vulnerable and telling your story and introducing us to your dog and maybe your husband in the background.
Speaker 2:Fiance, your fiance, fiance, your fiance Fiance is walking around with my charging course in case my computer dies.
Speaker 1:Yep, sometimes my husband gets in the background. I'm like, hey hon. Well, just so you know, that's my mother's blouse. My mother passed away five years ago and I keep her blouse in the background. It's a piece that she bought when I was a cabbie consultant, and so I keep it on there, and then my pink boxing gloves. I've got my pink boxing gloves on there, so yeah. So memories of mom.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes.
Speaker 1:Okay, well, anyway, to my audience. I really appreciate your joining us again on this episode of Tesla's breasts and again if you head over to your favorite platform and rate and review this podcast. It always does help get the word out and I hope that you all enjoy this episode with Karen Roblin and visit her social media and go to Kaia Fitness and all the things. So thank you, thank you very much, and we will see you next time on the next episode of Test those Breasts. Bye for now, 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.
