Episodios

  • Day 25: Stop Asking Me How I’m Feeling [Dr. Tita Gray]

    Day 25: Stop Asking Me How I’m Feeling [Dr. Tita Gray]
    Jul 16 2024
    Triple negative breast cancer means aggressive chemo, and for Tita, dealing with everyone else's worry on top of it is too much. With her first chemo session completed, she's determined not to let cancer overshadow her gratitude for the good things in her life.

    After her mom's death and some family issues, Tita found a lump in her breast, leading to a biopsy that confirmed breast cancer. In season 3 of Breast Cancer Stories, Tita shares her journey through a triple-negative breast cancer diagnosis, aggressive chemo and immunotherapy, and choosing to go flat after a double mastectomy.

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    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
    Production Assistant: Mary Ellen Clarkson
    Cover Art Designer: Shawn Hiatt
    Assistant Producer: Hannah Burkhart

    Breast Cancer Stories is a production of The Axis.

    PROUDLY MADE IN AUSTIN, TEXAS
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    30 m
  • Day 1: A Horrifying Diagnosis [Dr. Tita Gray]

    Day 1: A Horrifying Diagnosis [Dr. Tita Gray]
    Jul 9 2024
    Following the loss of her mother and some traumatic family drama that came with it, Dr. Tita Gray discovered a lump in her breast.

    Scared but determined, she moves quickly to get a biopsy and finds out she has breast cancer. Further scans show it’s worse than initially thought, so her doctor recommends aggressive chemo ASAP.

    Links

    How Not to Die by Dr. Michael Greger

    Breast Cancer Stories is a podcast about what happens when you have breast cancer, told in real time. Whether you’ve just been diagnosed with breast cancer or love someone who has, this podcast is here to help you through the shock of diagnosis and treatment.

    In season 3 of Breast Cancer Stories, Dr. Tita Gray shares her story in real time as she navigates a triple negative breast cancer diagnosis, undergoes aggressive chemo and immunotherapy, and ultimately chooses to go flat following a double mastectomy.

    Connect with us

    Breast Cancer Stories is an all-time Top 10 Medicine podcast on Goodpods.

    Connect with us and learn more about the show at breastcancerstoriespodcast.com

    Follow Breast Cancer Stories on Instagram @breastcancerstoriespodcast

    Support the Breast Cancer Stories podcast by subscribing to our Substack or click to donate any amount via PayPal.

    Sponsorship opportunities available. For our media kit or to contact us visit breastcancerstoriespodcast.com.

    Co-Host: Kristen Vengler & Dr. Tita Gray
    Executive Producer: Eva Sheie
    Assistant Producers: Hannah Burkhart & Mary Ellen Clarkson
    Editor and Audio Engineer: Daniel Croeser
    Theme Music: Them Highs and Lows, Bird of Figment
    Cover Art Designer: Shawn Hiatt

    Breast Cancer Stories is a production of The Axis.

    PROUDLY MADE IN AUSTIN, TEXAS
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    37 m
  • Kristen Update: I’d Prefer to Have a 2nd Type of Cancer

    Kristen Update: I’d Prefer to Have a 2nd Type of Cancer
    Jun 27 2024
    The results of Kristen's PET scan showed two lymph nodes lighting up, one in the gastro-hepatic area of her abdomen and the other in the lining of her esophagus.

    While it could just be inflammation, Dr. Ali wants her to see a gastroenterologist but the earliest appointment is almost two months away.

    Puzzling through the scenarios (as if she has a choice), Kristen hopes for a second, new kind of cancer rather than stage four, metastasized breast cancer.

    Support the Breast Cancer Stories podcast

    Subscribe to our newsletter

    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
    Production Assistant: Mary Ellen Clarkson
    Cover Art Designer: Shawn Hiatt
    Assistant Producer: Hannah Burkhart

    Breast Cancer Stories is a production of The Axis.

    PROUDLY MADE IN AUSTIN, TEXAS
    Más Menos
    25 m
  • Kristen Update: Shouldn’t I Be in the Hospital?

    Kristen Update: Shouldn’t I Be in the Hospital?
    May 29 2024
    After a fiasco in Escondido involving multiplying rodents and toxic air quality, Kristen’s on the move again.

    The pulmonologist found ground glass lungs and an enlarged heart, then Dr. Ali found an enlarged lymph node between her liver and stomach and asked for a PET scan.

    With recurrence always lurking, we play the old, familiar waiting game.

    ====

    Season 3 is coming soon and we need your help!
    Tita Gray’s story is different, but the same. Listen for a preview of what’s to come in June 2024.

    Support the Breast Cancer Stories podcast

    Subscribe to our newsletter

    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
    Production Assistant: Mary Ellen Clarkson
    Cover Art Designer: Shawn Hiatt
    Assistant Producer: Hannah Burkhart

    Breast Cancer Stories is a production of The Axis.

    PROUDLY MADE IN AUSTIN, TEXAS
    Más Menos
    30 m
  • Natasha Update: Recurrence is a Nonstop Obsessions

    Natasha Update: Recurrence is a Nonstop Obsessions
    Nov 7 2023
    About to turn 60, Natasha is in a dark place thinking of other things that can go wrong with her health if she’ll have to go it alone. Even though a routine MRI is clear, she obsesses about cancer spreading to other areas that aren’t being checked.

    Following her mother’s recent lung cancer diagnosis, Natasha worries more for her than she did for herself. Staying close to her, she plans to visit and help her navigate the impossible decisions that come with having cancer.

    Support the Breast Cancer Stories podcast


    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
    Production Assistant: Mary Ellen Clarkson
    Cover Art Designer: Shawn Hiatt
    Assistant Producer: Hannah Burkhart

    Breast Cancer Stories is a production of The Axis.

    PROUDLY MADE IN AUSTIN, TEXAS
    Más Menos
    27 m
  • Alicia’s DIEP Flap Reconstruction [Part 2 - After Surgery]

    Alicia’s DIEP Flap Reconstruction [Part 2 - After Surgery]
    Oct 23 2023
    5 months after her DIEP flap reconstruction surgery, Alicia returns with an update. Although the original plan was to do a DIEP flap on both sides, it didn’t turn out that way and she still has an expander on the other side.

    Still unsure what to do next, Alicia is taking her time to decide. If she had known things would go the way they did, she believes she would’ve just stayed flat.

    Support the Breast Cancer Stories podcast


    Subscribe to our newsletter here: https://breastcancerstories.substack.com/subscribe

    About Breast Cancer Stories

    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
    Production Assistant: Mary Ellen Clarkson
    Cover Art Designer: Shawn Hiatt
    Assistant Producer: Hannah Burkhart

    Breast Cancer Stories is a production of The Axis.

    PROUDLY MADE IN AUSTIN, TEXAS
    Más Menos
    35 m
  • Alicia’s DIEP Flap Reconstruction [Part 1 - Before Surgery]

    Alicia’s DIEP Flap Reconstruction [Part 1 - Before Surgery]
    May 11 2023
    With the BRCA mutation and a family history of breast cancer, the “clock” started ticking for Alicia with biannual screenings at age 30. She tried to keep up with the screening schedule, but had young children and decided to go to nursing school. Nine uneventful years went by until she was diagnosed with Stage 2 HER2 negative hormone positive breast cancer in March of 2021.

    Although her mastectomy was over two years ago, Alicia’s reconstruction had to wait because of the extreme damage done to her breast tissue by radiation. Her surgeon recommended the DIEP flap reconstruction, in which tissue and vasculature are taken from the stomach and reconnected into muscles under the breast.

    Days before Alicia’s DIEP flap reconstruction surgery and 5 night hospital stay, she has her fair share of fears, but is hopeful that the outcome will be better than what she’s going through now.


    About Breast Cancer Stories

    Breast Cancer Stories is about what happens when you have breast cancer, told in real time. Whether you’ve just been diagnosed with breast cancer or love someone who has, this podcast is here to help you through the shock of diagnosis and treatment.

    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
    Production Assistant: Mary Ellen Clarkson
    Cover Art Designer: Shawn Hiatt
    Assistant Producer: Hannah Burkhart

    Breast Cancer Stories is a production of The Axis.

    PROUDLY MADE IN AUSTIN, TEXAS
    Más Menos
    27 m
  • Natasha Update: Out, Dang Port!

    Natasha Update: Out, Dang Port!
    May 2 2023
    Natasha’s port is out and is huge, resembling a miniature computer mouse. She still believes getting a port was the best decision she’s ever made and now that it’s gone, she can wear her old clothes again.

    While she enjoys living alone and is back at work five days a week, advice from her oncologist has her rethinking her relationship with alcohol.

    Fatigue sometimes holds her back, but she still makes the most of life knowing she’s not getting any younger and recurrence will happen someday. On a whim, she decides to take a trip to Saudi Arabia.

    Support the Breast Cancer Stories podcast
    https://www.breastcancerstoriespodcast.com/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
    Production Assistant: Mary Ellen Clarkson
    Cover Art Designer: Shawn Hiatt
    Assistant Producer: Hannah Burkhart
    Breast Cancer Stories is a production of The Axis.

    PROUDLY MADE IN AUSTIN, TEXAS
    Más Menos
    31 m