Amy’s survived her surgery much to her charming anesthesiologist’s surprise. Stef’s onto a new treatment regimen, and so far it’s NOT a tough pill to swallow. In letters we’ve hit the gold mine…( or maybe we just mined it?): when a listener is feeling cornered by the calendar, we’re once again asking, where is the comfort in NEAD? In RATS we ponder if it’s nature, nurture or maybe a sweet synthetic compound? Could cancer actually be cured and we’re just the last to know? (Spoiler: Even the Lyme ...
Feb 18, 2025•57 min•Season 1Ep. 71
New Year, new health insurance? Amy’s finally getting that free boob job people are always talking about, but does she even want it? And hey—you know what else has no co-pay? Your letters! We want to hear about your insurance woes. In hair news, Stef’s contemplating wigs while Amy’s reunited with her long lost barber. An e-mail tease named Chad offers up his list of ways to support folks with MBC, and after losing a friend to ALS, Stef gently reminds us that support for anyone with a life-limiti...
Jan 08, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 70
Did you catch the NPR article about us? Cancer people, that is. Or…one cancer person, whose life was—get this—changed by cancer. Amy’s also noticing that the Health section of the newspaper is…well, extremely healthy. Those of us with uninspirational stories would like some media representation, if you don’t mind! A listener—ahem, our new best friend—says it’s hard to mask as a muggle when all you can think about is the big C. And when anxiety gets the best of you, will the benzos betray you wit...
Dec 13, 2024•42 min•Season 1Ep. 69
Ring ring! It’s Stef on line 2. Treatment line, that is. Sorry to leave you on hold, but we’re finally picking this thing back up. Speaking of being backed up, you may wish we’d stayed gone when Stef explains what happens when your digestive system clocks out early. Someone get this massage hating woman a massage already. Lately Amy’s been trying to side-step some side-effects, but “Not on my watch!” says…well her watch. And it’s been a minute since we complained about hormones—or Trump Supporte...
Nov 12, 2024•40 min•Season 1Ep. 68
Ding dong, The Juice is (still) dead! Of cancer! But speaking of juice: how do steroids work? Afterschool specials didn’t prepare us for this. A letter asks how to find a cancer bestie when you’re a queer 40-something cancer person. Have we mentioned lately that we have a Facebook group? If you need a pal, we have some excellent candidates. Is an over sharing Cancer Kathy justified in feeling so burned from her radiation techs? See you tomorrow…or next Tuesday, maybe? In still more letters, let’...
Jul 20, 2024•58 min•Season 1Ep. 67
Scans abound in Cancerland. What’s up with Stef? (Is a question many ask unrelated to cancer, but this time it’s relevant!) Then, is Diet Coke the new menthol cigarette? Let’s ask Amy’s nurse. That blasted jerk Glioblastoma has a new foe, as does melanoma. How do we know? Three little birds told us! In Letters, a listener asks what’s up with Olivia Munn’s confusing cancer characterization. Can Luminal B stand on its own when you’re dealing with the big C? You know what else is confusing? Colon c...
Jul 05, 2024•49 min•Season 1Ep. 66
Extra! Extra! Stef’s coming out of the Emetophobia closet—just as Amy’s out of the bathroom holding the dreaded bowl. In even more disgusting news, we’re telling you about the Portland pathologist whose benign results are anything but. Grab your barf bags for this news report. (Note: the count is now up to 12 patients.) Then, Letters hurls us into the guilt, recurrence fear, and uncertainty of survivorship. One thing is certain, though: RATS have infested Amy’s (other) ducts and the only thing s...
Apr 18, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 65
Alert! Alert! This is NOT a test of the emergency cancer broadcast system. Tumour has it that the worst club with the best members has a new recruit from across the pond and we’re having a chin wag about it. The gals share differing opinions on keeping an illness under royal wraps, but we can all agree that nobody’s hiring Kate’s PR team. What do other cancer commoners think about all this? Well, we’ll tell you. From triggered to intrigued, our listeners’ responses run the gamut. And what’s the ...
Mar 26, 2024•38 min•Season 1Ep. 64
It’s time for another Second Opinion! This one features friend of the podcast Flora, a metastatic PNET patient with an unexpected new living situation. First, hear the real deal about PNETs (Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor). She’ll tell us just how this wacky cancer functions, where you’ve heard of it, and why it’s an insidious foe. Then, put the mirrors on the ceiling and pop some pink champagne on ice! Flora generously tells us how surprising it is when hospice is (literally AND figuratively) ...
Mar 11, 2024•53 min•Season 1Ep. 63
Here’s the (sacred) dirt! Stef’s got a scan update, and it’s hard to node what to think! Is it cancer—or just a socially starved coworker? The trials and tribulations never end! Amy’s had a (don’t worry) breast biopsy (it’s not what it sounds like) and boy is this room dimly lit. Perhaps she needs an EMBER to light things up. In RATS, cancer cells in space grow at the figurative speed of light. Hey, some of us go to the moon to study cancer, and some of us just get cancer and go on NPR— guess wh...
Jan 20, 2024•57 min•Season 1Ep. 62
Close Your Bones In the final chapter of our ongoing financial roller coaster, a hero arrives—in a white coat, not a cape. It’s a bird, it’s a plane…actually, is that Air Force One?! Then, a letter from a rectal cancer survivor whose fertility didn’t make it. How do we honor that grief and explore closure (literally)? Stef outs herself as a full moon hippie (we knew it, didn’t we, listeners?) and Amy’s biting on others’ cultural rituals? Amy! We’ve talked about this! Then, a *deeply* touchy topi...
Dec 02, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 61
The Downward Spiral The cycle continues! Spin™️ Teachers — They’re Just Like Us! and Amy’s wheels are spinning. Stef’s got a twinge of doubt about how her upcoming scan will pan out, but two things are for sure: bills are high and morale is low going into this one. The gals remember a few fallen friends whose losses are looming large. Luckily, a letter writer brings us her ritual to combat scanxiety, along with a few examples of what not to say. RATS discusses new findings about cancer in 9/11 f...
Oct 25, 2023•52 min•Season 1Ep. 60
Ryze and shine, it’s ya gals and we’re talking scans, soccer, and sucralose. Maybe it’s a rant, but for real: when food is sneaky about taste or ingredients, it just makes us mad. Stef’s heading off to the Lobular Breast Cancer Symposium as a patient advocate. Will she see Dr. Otto Metzger and offer him a jar of her famous canned pears? Can he call Fred Hutch about her medical debt? Only time will tell. We’re throwing caution to the wind, splashing out and taking the Breast Cancer Caravan to the...
Sep 08, 2023•39 min•Season 1Ep. 59
What’s the recommended jail time for therapists who unexpectedly quit on their patients? Asking for Stef, who is in the dumps about being dumped. We hear from listeners about their therapy experiences good and bad (and we mean bad….). Is cancer the answer? Obviously not, but maybe slime is. Speaking of bad experiences, having cancer while fat might just take the cake. In letters, we get an update from Mama Mia’s daughter who Adi- poses the question: will Stef cover the protective quality of a li...
Jul 25, 2023•41 min•Season 1Ep. 58
Are you kitting? Stef is off to the YMCA with her locker full of accoutrements, and Amy’s off the sauce and full of fast ideas. Letters ask why cancer muggles are always lionizing squeaky clean marathon runners, and we ask back: why are centenarians celebrated for their daily dram of whiskey or pack of smokes while carcinomies are assumed to be sinning lushes? Finally, our pests remain uncontrolled (sorry Brandon), and they’re pumped about Dr Hadiya Nicole Green. Can boiling hot nanoparticles ki...
Jun 23, 2023•42 min•Season 1Ep. 57
It’s a-me, Mario… wait no. It’s just us, Stef and Amy. While recovering from surgery—Stef’s on a side quest! Her new video game pastime is helping her heal in more ways than one. Another character (Amy) shares listener letters that cover everything from a Molly Shannon cancer flick review to more of that relatable scanxiety. Then, a diagnosing doc’s perplexing recommendation to a listener’s Italian mama has us hauling out our soapboxes once again. Mamma Mia, indeed! RATS sets aside the deep dive...
May 09, 2023•48 min•Season 1Ep. 55
When fate (or 23 and Me) intervenes at the eleventh hour, do you open your heart to new experiences or continue searching for an AirBnB to pass away in? It’s the premiere of Second Opinion: our conversations with the cancer people, experts and innovators that excite us. Up first: Holly Raines. A talented photographer, a cool mom, and a woman with end stage cervical cancer, Holly tells Stef about the stunning conversation that made her delay her choice to die with dignity in favor of living with ...
Apr 12, 2023•34 min•Season 1Ep. 54
Stef’s back from the YSC Summit and Amy has a giggle at the expense of Laughter Yoga. Fun in public really gets Stef’s goat. Then, what’s the deal with longevity? Perhaps the Seventh Day Adventists can spill the beans…or at least share them? Next, it’s our *privilege* to read a letter from a listener that holds a mirror up to cancer spaces and asks why we’re all so eager to get back to our old bodies—weren’t they trying to kill us?? Here’s the skinny; it’s time for everyone to start reading the ...
Mar 18, 2023•54 min•Season 1Ep. 53
The cat’s out of the bag and the co-host is in another state (we miss you, Amy!!), but we’re making it work with some pals old and new. If you can believe it, we nabbed Thriver Writer, survivor and recent divorcée (keep reading; it’s relevant) Meghan McCallum! Joining us too: producer, co-survivor and husband extraordinaire Nathan McGehee. The convo? Relationships of all flavors, with some live letters that brought the house down. How do you get your mojo back when the hormones aren’t flowing li...
Feb 20, 2023•59 min•Season 1Ep. 52
We’re on assignment, in the field, and coming to you LIVE…actually, RECORDED from the Young Survival Coalition Summit 2023! Charlotte, North Carolina aka The Queen City is swarming with breast cancer royalty! But wait just a ding dang minute: who’s that on the mic? To livestream the episode we’re recording at the summit, go HERE at 11am EST on Sunday Feb 19. https://summit.youngsurvival.org/schedule/ Can’t make it? No prob! The episode will show up in our feed soon! Hosted on Acast. See acast.co...
Feb 18, 2023•5 min•Season 1Ep. 51
Knock Knock, who’s there? Intrusive thoughts, and they’re living rent free. Amy’s brain won’t let her break up with breast cancer no matter how many private yoga sessions or massages she has in one day. Time to sublet her space in Cancerland! In letters, the gals read a helpful note from a longtime pal of the podcast who wants to make sure we’re giving religious listeners a fair shake. You can take the cancer out of the heathens, but you can’t take the heathens out of cancer. A promising science...
Feb 06, 2023•36 min•Season 1Ep. 50
It’s an update! We‘ve got episodes in the can and an explanation for our absence. Don’t worry, everything’s stable in cancer land! But Stef’s sudden indigestion? There’s an explanation for that, too. Young Survivors, assemble! The Summit is straight ahead, and we’re strapping on our gear. 2023, you’re a formidable opponent already. Meet us at the YSC Summit! https://summit.youngsurvival.org/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Feb 03, 2023•14 min•Season 1Ep. 49
Call the paps! Today we’ve got a smear campaign and it’s all about the CervicalCheck scandal. Our leading lady is whistleblower Vicky Phelan. A criminally incompetent lab in Texas and a negligent cover up that’s costing lives? Salt in the wound, indeed. And speaking of cancer scams (our Favre-ite kind of gossip), is sodium the cure-all or just another one of Stefano’s snake oils? Listener letters ask: why is real support so hard to find in a group? And is replacing a beloved care provider-turned...
Dec 10, 2022•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 48
It’s baaaack…by popular demand! The very jewel of our franchise that drops but once a year, it’s the creepy, kooky, mysterious and spooky Escape from October! This time, we’ve escaped so thoroughly that it’s practically December! Gather ‘round: it’s time for one whole episode with no evidence of disease . This year we waste no time chilling you to the bone. Is that grandma giving you a jingle from the great beyond? Who is that judgmental presence refusing to let you play model trains in peace? I...
Dec 01, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 47
Fetch your earbuds! It’s time for a new episode of the pupcast—woof, we mean PODcast. But really, our dogs are barkin’ and for once that isn’t a euphemism for med-induced foot pain. No, we’re talking a beautiful Mitzvah, here! Then, Amy gets a wicked case of stage fright as she MyChart dives into some scan results that send her into a panic with nary a disco in sight, while Stef recaps her wedding to that same old guy and her scan with the same old results. Mazel tov! A listener letter has the g...
Nov 24, 2022•58 min•Season 1Ep. 46
Sometimes it’s cancer, sometimes it’s a bad burrito, y’all! Stef lives to tell the tale of her ascites scare. Turns out having a body is stressful…and expensive! The gals talk medical debt and financial toxicity. When insurance still makes you pay thousands for necessary care, how do you stay afloat? Speaking of grifts…we mean GRAFTS…Amy took a trip to her fat grafting surgery and all she got was this lousy dysmorphia. Do her boobs look great now, or is she their Only Fan? Then, to really bring ...
Sep 29, 2022•51 min•Season 1Ep. 45
Oh…my…god, Becky! Look at her…tumor? It’s the dog days of summer and Amy is fostering an awkward mix up. Never fear, she fetches her cancer card to pay the price. Letters brings us a manic pixie dream mom—make that MEAN mom—who’s tactlessly longing for a listener’s old hair. Then, a self sufficient carcinomie admits she is struggling. Does anyone have a spoon? RATS explores a rectal cancer study. (Yes, THAT one.) Then, we celebrate a special grad with a big ol’ correction. Send us your letters f...
Aug 27, 2022•42 min•Season 1Ep. 44
Listen, sometimes the summer just gets away from you and people start to be concerned that you’ve either quit your cancer podcast or died. If that’s you, no judgment. Amy and Stef, however, would NEVER abandon their loyal listeners for two months to live their best parasol-twirling, innertubing, redwood hugging, concert-in-the-parking, WNBA gaming (go Storm!!) lives. Salad days, amirite? (Seriously, am I?) So…anyway…the gals are back with new scan results and some dirt to dish. Stef’s kids are b...
Aug 16, 2022•51 min•Season 1Ep. 43
Dad’s mad and he’s taking it out on…cancer patients? Well, what else is new? The ASCO conference, that’s what! They didn’t let us report from the red carpet, but you know it was our DESTINY to get the hot goss on the presentations that brought down the house. And that’s a RATS. Then, what’s a gal to do after cancer derails her well thought out plans? Picking up the pieces can leave some of us feeling a little lost. Maybe we could all benefit from a lesson in habit stacking? In letters, a listene...
Jun 15, 2022•58 min•Season 1Ep. 42
Inna gadda da vida, baby: Amy’s got a sexy cold and a silly new anti-spiral technique, and Stef’s nether region is superlative. That’s to say the gals are in a good place right now, and we’re calling it “on base.” Can we enjoy the break before having to run for our lives (or the car) again? Maybe every cloud really does have a silver lining. Then, it’s the season of the con and the cancer community is not immune. From Hollywood hucksters to Facebook fakers, we like the stories but hate the moral...
May 18, 2022•55 min•Season 1Ep. 41
