MBC Advocacy: Finding Purpose in Adversity
After a Stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC) diagnosis, patients and the people around them are often left reeling and looking around to figure out how to make some sort of meaning from the trauma. The guests and representatives from LBBC and METAvivor on this episode share how finding purpose in the midst of adversity has helped them to truly LIVE with MBC. Don’t forget to listen all the way to the end as guest producer, Abigail Johnston, has some specific calls to action to share!
Systemic Racism and MBC in Clinical Trials
Jumping hurdles to get the treatments you want is the reality for people living with MBC. Add systemic racism into the healthcare mix and it’s clear that more needs to happen, and soon, to create equity and greater diversity in one of the most important tools in the MBC toolbox: clinical trials. In this episode, we check in with Stephanie Walker, who led the BECOME project and spearheads the Black Wo(Men) Speak Symposium, patient advocate and clinical trial participant Rev. Dr. Tawana Davis, and Patient Navigator Valarie Worthy. How does systemic racism affect what Black patients learn about MBC clinical trials? And how can those who need it most break down barriers to the best care?
Lara MacGregor: How To Decline Well With Hope
This is an interview that doesn’t shy away from the hard conversations that we have when diagnosed with a terminal disease, and gives Lara the opportunity to tell us what it has all felt like for her.
Black History & Health Equity Every Month, Every Day
We believe that Black History Month should always be celebrated but let's agree that it should not be just for one month but every month and every day.
November Trailblazer and A Dash of Joy
The Season of Giving is upon us. Purely by chance, we may be starting a new tradition here on the Trailblazer series - guests bearing gifts. This gift will be symbolically unwrapped during this interview with this month’s Trailblazer - national nonprofit United for HER and Susan Weldon, Founder and CEO.
Road to a Cure - use of immunotherapy
This week we are visiting Dr Stephanie Goff at the NIH in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr Goff is a surgical oncologist and a senior member of a research team led by Dr. Steven A. Rosenberg, a man widely regarded as the father of immunotherapy. A friend, who knows a thing or two about this place. is joining us on this trip. Her name is Judy Perkins, and she is the first MBC patient who has been cured by a revolutionary immunotherapy treatment, known as adoptive cell therapy, that was administered by Dr Goff and her colleagues at the NCI.
MBC Around the World
Grab those negative covid tests and passports because we travel around the world in this episode! Oh yeah, get your proof of vaccination and N95s too since this thing ain’t over yet sadly. We wanted to learn how others living with and advocating for MBC deal with it all in other places. So we travel virtually to Canada, Japan, Kuwait, Egypt, Australia, Portugal, Kenya, Nigeria, and the UK. Co-hosts Natalia Green, Sheila McGlown, Lisa Laudico, and Anne Woodward find out what it’s like to get a second opinion in Europe & Canada, or why MBC is called Advanced Breast Cancer in some places, or how getting drugs in some countries is like applying for a car loan, or the debilitating stigma of cancer and so much more.
Trailblazers of Charlotte
We begin the Season 3 Trailblazers with a twist. We’re taking Trailblazer on the Road! Our first stop will be the wonderfully, philanthropic city of Charlotte, NC. Join us as we speak with representatives of two truly grassroots organizations, dedicated to supporting the Charlotte breast cancer community in two very different ways. Interestingly enough, both organizations were started by women living with Metastatic Breast Cancer.
Twisted Pink and a Dash of Joy
We are ending season 2 on a positive note with a dash of joy from Dar Finkelstein and a conversation with our Trailblazer of the Month Caroline Johnson, founder of Kentucky-based non-profit organization Twisted Pink whose sole mission is to raise funds for MBC. Even though there is still no cure, our odds of getting to a cure through better funded research and science are improving because of the contributions of allies like Caroline Johnson.
Introducing the BECOME Project & Survey
The MBC Alliance asks the question “How can we ensure Black people are better represented in cancer research? Finding the answer starts with patient voices.” The BECOME Project is positioned to do just that. BECOME project lead Stephanie Walker and committee member Sheila Fuhs join Lisa Laudico to talk about the important initiative and how YOU can get involved.
April Trailblazer & Dash of Joy
Welcome to the Episode 2 of the Trailblazer series. Have you ever asked yourself if Wonder Woman was real? Ask no more. She lives and her name is Jamil Rivers. She is also our Trailblazer of the Month. Jamil was diagnosed with MBC at age 39. She is a mother of three, a caregiver, a full-time CEO of a non-profit organization , the board president of METAvivor and if that’s not enough, she has recently embarked on a new venture—The Chrysalis Initiative, a project dedicated to eliminating disparities in outcomes for Black women with breast cancer. Also in this episode is a Dash of Joy from Our MBC Life’s own Dar Finkelstein. Dar is committed to living a life of joy and she shows us all how to do it. An episode full or hope, inspiration and joy.
Policy and the Power of Patient Advocacy
“I see so much in the metastatic community this idea of just paying it forward, this idea of, yeah, this might not actually help me right now, but I'm still going to bring it up and I'm still going to advocate for it because it will help somebody else.” This is the story about the power of advocacy. Meet some of the individuals and organizations who are advocating for metastatic breast cancer every day wherever the work takes them.
A conversation with Judy Perkins
Judy Perkins joins co-host Victoria Goldberg to share her incredible story. She is a unicorn and a clinical trial success. Judy tells the whole story - the good, the bad, the joyful, the difficult, the grief, the friendship. And when asked is MBC chronic - well we don’t bleep out her reaction.
Trailblazer and Dash of Joy
Our first season 2 trailblazer focuses on the patient - providing them with free services that enable them to focus on healing and time with their families. Through their Thriver Fund, 305 Pink Pack also provides dedicated to support to those living with metastatic breast cancer. Meet Rosemary Carrera of 305 Pink Pack and come south with us to Miami. Also in this episode is a Dash of Joy from Our MBC Life’s own Dar Finkelstein. Dar is committed to living a life of joy and she shows us all how to do it. An episode full or hope, inspiration and joy.
Meet our Season 1 Trailblazers
Meet our season 1 Trailblazers. These amazing women are making a difference in their communities. Finding inspiration from their own cancer experiences they have created organizations to support others, close gaps, and give back.
A conversation with Carol Evans
On this bonus episode hear our entire conversation with Carol Evans, CEO and Exec Dir. at SHARE Cancer Support. Carol joined us on two episodes last season - Working while Living with MBC and our December episode on the #inclusionpledge. Our talk with her covered much more and we want to share that with all of you.
