Breast Cancer Stories
Kristen Vengler & Eva Sheie
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Day 160: Cancer Free But Now What?
It’s been two weeks since Natasha’s lumpectomy and because no evidence of cancer was found during surgery, she has been declared “cancer free” by her surgeon. The day of surgery was long and a little emotional from the anesthesia, but recovery has been less painful than expected. Food has flavor again and in her words, “it’s about bloody time!” The road ahead includes more hormone blocker infusions every three weeks, radiation in two weeks, and going back to work next week. As she problem solves how to fit daily radiation into her work routine, she recognizes a new and deeper understanding of the fear and challenges her patients feel. Links Support the Breast Cancer Stories podcast: https://www.breastcancerstoriespodcast.com/p/donate/ Subscribe to our newsletter here: https://breastcancerstories.substack.com/subscribe About Breast Cancer Stories Breast Cancer Stories follows Natasha Curry, a palliative care nurse practitioner at San Francisco General Hospital, through her experience of going from being a nurse to a patient after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Natasha was in Malawi on a Doctors Without Borders mission in 2021 when her husband of 25 years announced in a text message that he was leaving. She returned home, fell into bed for a few weeks, and eventually pulled herself together and went back to work. A few months later when she discovered an almond-sized lump in her armpit, she did everything she tells her patients not to do and dismissed it, or wrote it off as a “fat lump." Months went by before Natasha finally got a mammogram, but radiology saw nothing in either breast. It was the armpit lump that caught their attention. Next step was an ultrasound, where the lump was clearly visible. One painful biopsy later, Natasha found out she had cancer; in one life-changing moment, the nurse became the patient. This podcast is about what happens when you have breast cancer, told in real time. Host and Executive Producer: Eva Sheie Co-Host: Kristen Vengler Editor and Audio Engineer: Daniel Croeser Theme Music: Them Highs and Lows, Bird of Figment Story Editor: Mary Ellen Clarkson Assistant Producer: Hannah Burkhart Cover Art Designer: Shawn Hiatt Breast Cancer Stories is a production of The Axis. PROUDLY MADE IN AUSTIN, TEXAS
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