"Breast Cancer is boring." You may have heard me mention this podcast before. It was one of the things I listened to obsessively shortly after I got my breast cancer diagnosis. Until that point, I had extensively researched and read everything I could get my hands on about hormone receptive invasive lobular breast cancer. I dried out my eyes reading online journals, scouring up to date databases with black and white charts, stats, and descriptions of treatment plans. The information was useful, it was important. It gave me the foundation for the questions I had for my Doctors and nurses. However, once that need was satisfied, I realized what my heart really needed was the voices of tough, authentic, vulnerable, and funny women who thrived after breast cancer treatment. I wanted a real-life perspective. I wanted to hear about the emotions and how other people dealt with it. I didn't want to feel alone. That's how I found Joselyn and Lauren. The title of the podcast "Breast cancer is boring" alone is funny because that statement is ironic. I love their bravery and grittiness. They make me laugh. Their individual stories and struggles also made me cry. Topics range from how shitty chemo is to how bougie things like La Mer body cream can sometimes make the whole thing tolerable. I'm a fan.
Even if our breast cancer origin stories are different, there is something about connecting with people that understand what I'm going through. So I did what any fangirl would do; I googled them, searched my Instagram, found Joselyn then followed her. Months later, I got a message from her. She, too, had seen me amongst her followers, looked into my feed, and read this blog. She asked me to be on her podcast. Putting my voice out there for all to hear was way out of my comfort zone, but I couldn't say no. How could I? From the beginning of this journey, I did not want to waste this (crappy) experience by keeping it to myself. I told Joselyn if I can give ONE person encouragement, then putting myself out there on a podcast despite my apprehension--will be worth it.
Given these COVID-19 times, the only way we could put a recording together was via skype video call. My home setup wasn't up to par for a studio-like recording, so; unfortunately, our meeting's sound quality wasn't excellent. Despite the technical difficulties, I so enjoyed meeting them for the first time. Just as I imagined, it was like having girlfriends over for cocktails. We laughed a lot. We complained about "all things cancer" and had a soulful conversation about living life "post breast cancer treatment." It was an honor to be with them. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcasts "Breast Cancer is boring: Episode 'Now" or use this link.