Episode 006: Survivor Stories Make You Feel Less Alone

In this episode, I'm talking to Karen Barrow, a New York Times journalist who has put together a truly unique and inspiring project to tell the story of what happens when the treatment ends. This book should be on every cancer patient's coffee table for those dark times when you don't know if there's a light at the end of all this... Stay strong, you can get through it! Here's what we talk about in this interview: Why survivor stories make you feel less alone The universal emotions through cancer we all can relate to The importance of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel How you deal with cancer is a choice Why some people reject the term “survivor” The naturally occurring shift in priorities when you get cancer Links Picture Your Life After Cancer (Amazon) Picture Your Life After Cancer (New York Times) Well Blog (New York Times) Karen's Work at New York Times Full Transcript Joe:                 Hey, this is Joe Bakhmoutski and welcome to Simplify Cancer podcast.  Today, we’re going to hear from Karen Barrow, who’s put together this incredible, this inspiration books called: Picture Your Life After Cancer.  It’s really amazing and I hope you check it out.  Let’s get into it.  Karen, thank you so much for doing this.  I really appreciate your time. Karen:              No problem. Joe:                 Karen, your book puts cancer in a really different light.  I guess in many ways, people find positives, a new appreciation of life, is that something that you expected? Karen:              Just a little background, we stated Picture Your Life After Cancer online, as a digital project, in 2010.  It was primarily a way of collecting images of people who were dealing with cancer, who considered themselves after cancer.  After cancer for a lot of people could be after diagnosis, or after treatment, or after cure, or after accepting death or a relevant death.  I didn’t really know what I would get.  It was amazing to see the percentage of stories that came in, that were very positive and that were stories of people who found spins to put on their experiences that helped them appreciate life more, helped them appreciate friends and family more, and help them appreciate their own health more. Joe:                 Absolutely, because it’s given – I’ve seen a lot of books and I’ve tried to find a lot of resources online, offline and everywhere.  I think your book really captures a voice that is missing, a voice that hasn’t been heard before.  Do you feel that voice is heard out in the greater community, like do people have maybe a better sense of what cancer is about?  I know it started as an online project and turned into a book later, do you think people have a better sense of what it’s like? Karen:              I think within the book, people can find stories that they relate to, and that helps them feel less alone in the process of going through cancer, because if you’re going through treatment, it’s very individualized, it’s very specific to you, the kind of cancer you have, the treatments you’re choosing, how you’re choosing to deal with side-effects, but the impact it has on your mental psyche and your family and your friends is more universal than I think people realize.  If you go through the book and you read stories from other people, you’ll find some that you have nothing in common with, but you’ll find plenty that resonate with you and it makes your experience feel less unique and, in that way, easier to understand. Joe:                 Yes, absolutely, because I find when I was going through it, I remember that there wasn’t really much out there that is positive, because there is a lot of academic resources and there are a lot of biographies and things like that.  There really isn’t anything that is positive, that is in the title of your book, Picture Your Life After Cancer.  You can say, “Wow, I’m going through all of this horrible stuff right now,