Meet Your Canadian Stage 4 Breast Cancer Friend, Elly
(metastatic breast cancer)
Meet Elly Blackhart. She was a 2x cancer survivor living in Ontario, Canada. After finishing her cancer treatments in 2019, she found post-cancer difficult with increased pain, brain fog, and difficulty in daily activities. Her cancer came back in 2021, and she was diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer. In this episode, Elly shares her cancer journey and the helpful practices that she feels have contributed to her being in remission.
We recently found that Elly passed away in September 2022. We are airing this episode in remembrance of her and to share her story. Rest in Power Elly.
In honor of her memory, her friends and family would like donations to be made to the Ottawa Hospital Breast Cancer Centre or to the Red Cross to help the people of Ukraine, which are linked below.

Meet Rosalina and Shauna, two young millennials living on separate coasts who share real stories about their breast cancer diagnosis. We created this podcast to bring awareness of this disease to young women and create a supportive space where no one is alone on this journey. We dive deep into our treatment plans, journeys, struggles, and mental health while navigating life in this “new” normal. With every episode, our mission is to educate, empower, connect, and bring laughter. We are open and honest about our experiences and committed to learning and growing right alongside you. Welcome to our community! Join us for new episodes every Thursday! Any questions or thoughts, contact us through tyftspodcast@gmail.com or follow us on Instagram, @tyftspodcast. Visit our website at http://www.tyftspodcast.com Special thanks to Brooke Chislock @Soul_Designco for our cover art.

Resources
- https://www.fredhutch.org/en/news/center-news/2014/10/stage-4-metastatic-misunderstood-breast-cancer.html
- https://www.pennmedicine.org/cancer/types-of-cancer/breast-cancer/types-of-breast-cancer/metastatic-breast-cancer
- https://www.metavivor.org/ (100% of every donation and 100% of proceeds goes into research grants.)
- https://medical.rossu.edu/about/blog/us-vs-canadian-healthcare
- https://cancer.ca/en/get-involved/advocacy/what-we-are-doing/health-system-funding
- Canadian Breast Cancer Network – https://cbcn.ca/en/what-is-breast-cancer
- Breast Cancer Canada – https://breastcancerprogress.ca/
- Rethink Breast Cancer – a Canadian charity – https://rethinkbreastcancer.com/
Transcript
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In May of this year, we had the pleasure of interviewing Elly, a stage four thriver.
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After the launch of season two, we tried to contact Elly, but our emails and Facebook messages went unanswered.
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We were both worried and felt like something wasn’t right.
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In September of this year via Facebook, we found out she had passed away.
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Elly created a program where she helped survivors rebuild and regain energy after treatment.
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Although the program is no longer active, we felt like it was important to share Elly’s story.
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She was an incredible, good-spirited woman.
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If you would like to make a donation in her honor, her family asked that donations be made to the Ottawa Hospital Breast Cancer Center
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or to the Red Cross to help the people of the Ukraine, which will be linked in the show notes.
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Hi everyone. Welcome to season two. This is Shauna.
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And this is Rosalina. And we’re your hosts for Too Young for This Show podcast.
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This podcast is not just about boobs, but our journey with cancer.
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We are young millennials open about giving you our raw and unfiltered look into our lives.
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We are in no way medical professionals, nor are we offering medical advice.
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Any medical references are cited directly from public websites or form our personal diagnosis.
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Some topics and stories may be triggering to those who are fighting, have felt, or have loved someone with cancer.
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Hi everyone. Welcome back. This is Rosalina.
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And this is Shauna. Hi guys. I’m really excited for today.
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Our guest today is Elly Blackheart. She’s a stage four breast cancer thriver.
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And on this episode, she’ll share her cancer journey and the program she started for survivors.
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So hi Elly. Thanks so much for joining us. I’m so happy you’re here.
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Hello. I am thrilled to be here. Thank you so much for inviting me.
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Of course.
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Yeah, we’re really excited. And Elly, tell the listeners like a little bit about yourself. Where are you from?
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Sure. Yeah. So I live in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, which is the capital of Canada.
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I am 41 years old. I’m an engineer. I work in the high tech industry.
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I’m also just to give you a little bit more about myself. I’m a hands-on person and a very active person.
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So hobbies around the house or just hobbies in general, or doing DIY around the house, gardening, landscaping.
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And then for physical activities, I’m really into rollerblading, cycling, playing beach volleyball,
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hiking in the summer months. And then in the winter months, I’m into skating and skiing. So that’s it for me.
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I haven’t rollerbladed in years. Now you make me want to go by.
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I know. Yeah, same. I feel like during the pandemic, everyone bought rollerblades.
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Or a bike.
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Or a bike. Yes, that’s true.
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So Elly, you’re a two-time breast cancer survivor, but first we want to know the time you discovered your lump.
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Like, can you give us like how, when, and where, kind of like a little timeline on that?
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So when I was 37, I found a lump in my armpit, in my right armpit, and I had it checked out.
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And that turned out to be a cyst based from an old sport injury. And that was fine.
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But then what my family doctor did, which was really remarkable, is he said, no, no, no, you know,
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just to make sure I’m going to send you to get a mammogram, I’m going to send you to get checked.
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Because it was so close to my breast and so close to the lymph nodes.
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So he sent me to the breast health clinic and there I met with a surgeon. I did the mammogram.
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The mammogram showed just a little bit of calcification in the right breast and really nothing in the armpit.
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And they confirmed that the cyst or whatever I had in my armpit was benign.
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However, they were worried about the calcification spots.
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And six months later, they called me back to do another mammogram.
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And I did this mammogram. And again, the calcification spots were there, but they had moved.
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And so they were very worried about that.
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All in all, what happened is it ended up being the tail end of a really large tumor.
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And that’s how this whole thing started. It was just based off of a sport injury.
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And my tumor, which I know now, but at the time didn’t know, was four and a half centimeter by two and a half centimeter by three centimeters.
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And the breast surgeon couldn’t even feel it. So that’s really big for something you can’t feel.
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Definitely. Yeah, that’s very big.
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Yeah, that’s huge.
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Yeah.
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So the whole thing was very shocking for me at the beginning because I went in, I’m being told I’ve got a sports injury.
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And I come out with a huge breast cancer diagnosis.
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I was completely demoralized with the whole thing. And it took, this was over many, many months.
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It wasn’t just, you know, you go in and bing bang, boom, it’s all settled because it was quite hidden.
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And I really remember because the mammogram wasn’t showing well, because it was just showing the bottom tail of the tumor.
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It wasn’t until I did an ultrasound with a specialized doctor and she put the ultrasound over the tumor.
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And then suddenly I remember the screen of the ultrasound screen became like a blizzard of snow.
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And the doctor got became really quiet. I just, I think my jaw dropped. I was like, oh my gosh, I’m there’s a big problem right now.
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And then that’s really how this whole event started. It was, yeah, it was very traumatizing to go through that.
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Yeah, absolutely. I remember that day.
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Yeah. I remember that day. Sure. Yeah. It’s beyond trauma.
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Right. I mean, good for your family doctor though, to just say, hey, let’s just check this just in case if it’s anything.
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And then it led to the breast cancer diagnosis months later.
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I was thinking the exact same thing. Like, yeah, like just even out of the precaution just to send you and didn’t dismiss it based off of ages. Amazing.
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A hundred percent agree. It was, I would say, very, very lucky. There is no reason for him to have done that other than just wanting to be extra safe.
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Definitely. Since finding out your diagnosis with breast cancer, can you tell us like the type of breast cancer you had and your surgery and what the treatment plan was for it?
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So I am hormone positive, meaning ER positive and PR positive.
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At first, the doctors thought they were catching it at an early stage because my cancer, like I just spoke, was kind of undetectable.
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But after my surgeries, it was revealed that it was actually stage 3B, which is quite advanced.
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And so we really caught it late, to be honest with you. And this is at the age of 38. So it was quite advanced for my age.
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What type of surgery did you have?
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So I had a lumpectomy with a sentinel node dissection at first.
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And when the biopsy came back for my sentinel node and for the cancer bed, tumor bed, they realized that my cancer was a lot more than they had anticipated.
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All the nodes were filled with cancer. So they rushed me back for a second surgery for a right axilla node dissection.
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And those all came back, nine nodes out of nine came back all full of cancer.
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And the scary bit is that before both those surgeries, I had an MRI and the MRI didn’t reveal any cancer.
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The MRI actually showed that I was clean and I had no cancer.
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So I thought I was going in these surgeries as unnecessary, almost like, OK, well, you’re telling me I have no cancer.
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Why am I doing this?
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And turns out that all my lymph nodes had cancer and we’re talking one centimeter size tumors and the MRI didn’t pick it up.
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So I went from another huge shock.
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Actually, before surgery, I did three rounds of FEC chemo, the FEC chemo.
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And I thought that that had cleared everything because we had done the MRI and everything was clean.
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And then to be told, no, no, you’re still full of cancer.
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You got to go back to chemo is hugely traumatizing.
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And then I was sent back.
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I did I was supposed to do three rounds of docytaxel chemo after the surgeries, but I was only able to complete two rounds because my neuropathy became too bad.
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And then after that, they sent me to radiation and I did 25 rounds of radiation.
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It was planned to do 30, but they had to.
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Well, they stopped after 25 because of the location of my cancer.
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The doctors determined that there would be more damage to my body if they continued.
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So I stopped at 25 rounds.
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I had a similar situation with my MRI telling me he had what lymph nodes weren’t affected.
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And I went in thinking, oh, like, good, great.
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Like, thank God.
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And then then came out and was told I had a second surgery.
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And that was almost worse than being told I had breast cancer.
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It was like, oh, I don’t know, like a disappointment like I’ve never felt before.
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And I was pissed.
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And I don’t know if you felt the same, but I was like very caught off guard by that.
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Absolutely.
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It’s hugely caught off guard.
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You go into the mode of I’m recovering.
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I’ve beat it.
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I you know, you’re into a different mindset and you’re brought back to a hugely traumatizing knowledge of you’re actually not OK.
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You’re really not OK.
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My family doctor said it the best.
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He said it to me.
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It’s the same as if your finish line keeps moving farther and farther away from you.
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So every time you think you’re reaching the finish line, you’re actually not there.
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And it’s way, way, way over there.
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And it’s very demoralizing mentally.
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And the more mentally drained you are, the worse it is or the harder it is for your body to recover.
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That phrase that he just said to you, it’s so accurate, so accurate.
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Like, I feel that a lot of women out there who have been diagnosed with breast cancer can totally relate because I would say I felt that way, too.
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Kind of like love that term.
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And even though it’s like not obviously something like you want to experience, but to have like a name for that, like have, you know, kind of that visual depiction of like, yeah, it is.
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It is it is like almost like demoralizing in a way.
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Yeah, I agree.
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100 percent.
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You just spoke obviously about being caught off guard by that and then obviously having to go back and, you know, do more chemo after you thought you were finished.
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Like, what was the lowest point of your cancer diagnosis?
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I think there are a few.
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The journey’s been long.
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So I’m going to say the two that I’ve already spoken about was one was the one where I saw the blizzard of snow on like what looked like a blizzard of snow on the ultrasound screen.
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That was hugely demoralized.
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And that was really putting reality in my face.
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Like, no, no, you’ve got a really big problem right now.
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The second one was being told you’re, you know, within weeks, you’re cancer free to know actually stage three B.
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Like, that’s hugely demoralizing.
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And then the third one that I would say would be when my cancer came back, that was also a really bad blow.
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So those three things have been really difficult to manage.
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So, you know, you had said, you know, your cancer did end up coming back.
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How long between your 25 rounds of radiation to like, how long was it between that and finding out that your cancer had returned?
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It was just over a year.
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I’m going to say 13 or 14.
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And how did you discover that it did return?
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I had a swollen lymph node under my left armpit, which was the other side this time.
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And after going through everything I’d gone through on the right side, I just knew right away it was a lymph node and it was swollen.
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And I didn’t know anything more other than to report it to my medical team.
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Did you like just like, I know that this is back or were you really optimistic that this, like, you know, like, I don’t know, I feel like some of us know our bodies.
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No, I’m laughing because I get you.
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We know our bodies.
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Like I knew right away it was a swollen lymph nodes, but I was praying so hard that it wasn’t cancer.
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It was just, I was really trying to be optimistic.
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No, it’s just whatever.
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It’s just a swollen lymph node.
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Whatever.
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It’s fine.
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It’s fine.
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And, but I also, at the same time, being very realistic said to myself, I’ve got to get this checked out.
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It’s better to know than not know and, you know, have cancer come back and not being controlled or not have meds or anything like that.
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Because at that time I was off all medication.
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Yeah.
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And so if cancer was coming back, then I needed a game plan.
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So the realistic side of me is like, get your game plan going, know what’s going on.
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And then the optimistic side was, no, no, everything’s fine.
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You talked about that you weren’t taking any medication after radiation.
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Was that because your doctor didn’t want you on any meds?
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You chose not to.
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Yeah.
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So after the radiation, I was put on tamoxifen and they wanted me to continue Zoladex.
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Unfortunately for me, after all the, I’m going to say trauma that had happened throughout that year, I was completely demoralized.
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I was mentally broken, emotionally broken.
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I was crying all the time.
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I just had no quality of life.
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Yeah.
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And there was a decision to start taking me off of these because all that was happening was I was in bed crying every single day.
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And there was no quality of life.
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So after a few months, there was a decision to take me off because I wasn’t a functioning human being.
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Shauna, that sounds so similar to you.
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I’m literally, I feel you.
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Yeah.
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Just like I’m listening to this when I’m like, post-cancer has not been easy for me and just crying all the time and just feeling like there is no quality of life.
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And what did I do this for?
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I mean, I understand completely.
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Like it breaks my heart to like, you know, other people have experienced this, they’re going like, feel this after too.
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I just, I get like emotional thinking about it, you know?
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Yeah, it’s extremely tough.
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Yeah.
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I don’t know.
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It’s just after everything.
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It’s just like, why?
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Like, why is this still so hard?
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You know, I was still experiencing all of this and it’s just like not fair.
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It’s so unfair.
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Because for me, I went from being a really active, hands-on person, really out there, like outdoorsy person to being bedridden.
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And I’ve never sat in my bed so long that like my bum was sore.
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Like I’ve never had that in my life.
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It’s just, and you’re crying all the time.
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You can’t go to the store without just bursting out in tears and you can’t go to the store without, you know, just feeling horrible.
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Like it’s just, so you just stay in bed demoralized.
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Yeah.
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When you said just like a broken person, like that’s how I’ve said that about myself in the last probably five, six months.
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Like I just feel like I’m such a broken person and it’s, then you have to get out of it.
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Like having to try to get your life back and try to get out of that.
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And now, you know, you didn’t have a quality of life and now you find out your cancer has returned and metastasized.
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Like what was going through your mind?
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So there were two things going through my mind.
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The first one is because of my engineering background and my knowledge of statistics, when my dad, my doctors initially told me that, you know, everything was done.
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I was cured.
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I didn’t really believe them because all the nodes came that were removed were filled with cancer.
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So that’s nine out of nine.
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So the chances of another node in my body having cancer to me were extremely high.
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I didn’t, from a realistic point of view, I didn’t believe the doctors because mathematically it didn’t make sense.
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From an optimistic point of view, I said, okay, they tell me I’m clean.
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I’m going to live my life like I have no cancer.
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I’m not going to let cancer define me.
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So when the cancer came back, it was just, it was like, it sucked.
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Like it just really sucked.
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It was hugely disappointing because I thought I was doing the right things.
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But at the same time, I had already kind of pep talk myself months ago or told myself months ago that the reality statistically speaking is that there are high chances that I am actually stage four, not stage three B.
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Like they’re saying it’s such a fine line, right?
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It’s like it’s a hair away from and, and the MRI wasn’t good at picking up my cancer to begin with.
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So the chances of it being elsewhere were extremely high.
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So I was kind of prepared, but it sucked.
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Like there’s no tomorrow.
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Like that’s the last thing you want to hear, especially just 13 or 14 months after I was just finally starting to feel better.
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I was finally starting to be able to feel alive and get out of bed and have energy and being able to do stuff.
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And then it’s like, okay, here we go again.
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But I’ll just tell you my cancer journey since I found the lymph node, the swollen lymph nodes.
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So when, when I found the swollen lymph node in my left armpit, I was really lucky when I went to get the ultrasound, the doctor decided to biopsy it right away.
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There was a two or three months wait time for that biopsy.
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But because I had a background with cancer, the doctor didn’t take a chance.
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And I knew right away, which was actually extremely lucky because once cancer came back, it came back really aggressively and really quickly.
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Within months, I had cancer in my bones.
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I had cancer in my liver.
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I had cancer in my lungs.
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I was having trouble speaking and breathing at the same time.
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It was, it went in my eyes.
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There was my right eye.
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I was starting to see gray.
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Like it was really bad.
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And that was within two months.
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It was super quick.
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And so I’m thrilled that because of this biopsy that was done, I think two or three months earlier than it should have been,
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I got thrown into the medical system to get the ball going on.
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Okay.
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What tests need to happen now to see what’s going on.
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And every time, every month I went to get a new test, it was always getting worse and worse and worse because it went from just a lymph node to lungs being full to bones being fractured to now it’s in your liver.
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Now it’s in your eyes.
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Then it went in my shoulders and went my hips.
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And so luckily I got all these tests done that I was able to get onto these medication.
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Because again, through all these tests, I wasn’t on any medication.
250
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And then finally, after all the tests were done, I was able to get on the, this cocktail of medication and it’s called endocrine therapy for me, meaning very strong estrogen blocking drugs.
251
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That’s really what it is.
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So it’s a cocktail of Palbo cyclab, which is also known as Ibrans, full vestrand and Zoladex.
253
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And you didn’t tolerate the tamoxifen well.
254
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So how are you tolerating this cocktail now?
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I’m doing it really well, actually tolerating it.
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Surprisingly, I’m surprising myself.
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I’m surprising the doctors.
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And I’m going to say that that’s because I have changed my lifestyle and I do daily mental, emotional and physical activities.
259
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I really integrated into my life a way to feel better.
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And as a side effect of that, the meds aren’t doing much.
261
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I still have chemo brain.
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I still have low white blood cell counts.
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But other than that, I don’t have all these other major side effects that people have.
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Like I don’t have, I don’t know, I don’t have mouth sores.
265
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I don’t have skin rash.
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I don’t have, there’s a list and listen, my hair is not thinning.
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There’s a list of side effects that I’m not getting.
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And I really attribute it to living a healthy lifestyle and helping my immune system be strong.
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And so since then, so it’s been about six months since then, that in combination, I’m going to say with a healthy lifestyle.
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So I’m not going out eating junk food.
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I have a really strict way that I eat.
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I have supplements that I take.
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So it’s a full body, mind and soul approach.
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It’s not just drugs, but the drugs have helped.
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Within six months, I went from all this cancer in my body to really not being functional again,
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to now being, now having undetected cancer with the imaging.
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I still believe though that there’s probably some cancer inside of me for some time that it’s just not detectable.
278
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As long as I’m in control right now, or as long as I, with this cocktail and with what I’m doing,
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my immune system stays stronger than the cancer, then I’m happy.
280
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That’s how I see it.
281
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As long as cancer hasn’t taken over, I’m happy.
282
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You said you do a strict diet.
283
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What is the diet?
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Do you want to get like a general?
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Yeah, the diet is a low carb, low sugar diet.
286
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And if I eat animal products, I eat organic and lots of fish, lots of shrimp.
287
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And keeping the carbs low has been really helpful.
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So that seems to be an approach that’s working for me right now.
289
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So I’m going to keep doing what’s working right now.
290
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Yeah, absolutely.
291
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I wanted to ask this.
292
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I’m like just so curious about like universal health care.
293
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Like it’s, I just don’t understand how it works.
294
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I feel like all Americans like wondering about that.
295
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You know, obviously it wasn’t easy to, you know, three months is a long time.
296
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To wait for a biopsy.
297
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I mean, especially based off of like how, you know, quickly from you go from like a
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sonogram to mammogram to a biopsy.
299
00:21:45,920 –> 00:21:47,440
I mean, mine was in less than a week.
300
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I don’t know how long, how long was yours?
301
00:21:49,520 –> 00:21:51,120
Yeah, mine was just a week basically.
302
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Yeah.
303
00:21:51,680 –> 00:21:58,960
Is it easy to like book appointments with specialists or is it not like, how does this work?
304
00:22:00,960 –> 00:22:04,000
So I just want to say that two to three months wait for biopsy.
305
00:22:04,000 –> 00:22:07,840
That was because of COVID because too many women were coming in with swollen lymph nodes
306
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because it was also the time that the vaccine had started coming out and lots of people
307
00:22:11,360 –> 00:22:14,320
were getting swollen lymph nodes because of the vaccine.
308
00:22:14,320 –> 00:22:17,600
So there was a larger amount of people to be tested.
309
00:22:17,600 –> 00:22:25,520
That’s why typically before then, before COVID, it was a, it was about two, three weeks wait
310
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time, which is I think very appropriate.
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Right.
312
00:22:28,320 –> 00:22:33,600
But, but yeah, I was kind of lucky in that situation because the, the, the, the, the
313
00:22:33,600 –> 00:22:37,040
doctor knew that the wait time was, was ridiculous if it was cancer.
314
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So that’s why she kind of did it right away.
315
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So, okay.
316
00:22:40,640 –> 00:22:41,920
Universal health care.
317
00:22:41,920 –> 00:22:46,240
So the way it works is once you’re diagnosed, you’re essentially kind of put in the system.
318
00:22:46,240 –> 00:22:48,800
It’s not that you have to go out and book appointments.
319
00:22:48,800 –> 00:22:54,960
It’s not that you get to pick a physician, pick a specialist, you get put in the system
320
00:22:54,960 –> 00:23:00,400
and you get called instead and you get told where to go, when to go, who you’re seeing.
321
00:23:00,400 –> 00:23:05,520
It’s, it’s a very well organized system from a, I’m going to say a cancer point of view.
322
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I was very impressed by it, to be honest with you.
323
00:23:08,560 –> 00:23:11,280
I always hear about lots of wait times and everything like that.
324
00:23:11,280 –> 00:23:12,640
I did not wait with cancer.
325
00:23:12,640 –> 00:23:18,320
I think if you’re in a life or death situations, the hospitals here in Canada work extremely
326
00:23:18,320 –> 00:23:18,960
well.
327
00:23:18,960 –> 00:23:23,360
If you are in a situation where you just kind of hurt yourself, then yes, there are lots
328
00:23:23,360 –> 00:23:28,160
of delays, but if you’re in a life or death situation, I had no wait really.
329
00:23:28,160 –> 00:23:36,720
Within a week, I had an appointment to get imaging and within a, another week I, I had
330
00:23:36,720 –> 00:23:42,560
an appointment with my specialist and, and the system basically it’s all online and it
331
00:23:42,560 –> 00:23:44,880
tells you where to go, when to go, who you’re seeing.
332
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It’s really simple.
333
00:23:45,920 –> 00:23:51,280
The only flip side to that is it’s very regimented because of the process.
334
00:23:51,280 –> 00:23:55,040
So if I want to go see my specialist another time, I can’t.
335
00:23:55,040 –> 00:23:58,320
You have designated times to see the specialist.
336
00:23:58,320 –> 00:24:02,640
You can see like for chemo, for example, my oncologist, I can only see him every second
337
00:24:02,640 –> 00:24:03,200
chemo.
338
00:24:03,200 –> 00:24:05,200
I couldn’t see him after every chemo.
339
00:24:05,200 –> 00:24:10,240
That’s because those are the rules and the government’s paying, so they get to set the
340
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rules.
341
00:24:10,640 –> 00:24:11,440
Interesting.
342
00:24:11,440 –> 00:24:15,520
And do you have to see like a primary care physician to be able to see specialists?
343
00:24:15,520 –> 00:24:20,960
Do you need referrals or can I, you could just say like, I want to see like a gastroenterologist.
344
00:24:20,960 –> 00:24:22,240
So I want to see this doctor.
345
00:24:22,240 –> 00:24:25,680
Like you could just book it.
346
00:24:25,680 –> 00:24:26,560
You need to refer.
347
00:24:26,560 –> 00:24:31,920
You need to go to your family doctor first and the, and then the family doctor will refer,
348
00:24:32,560 –> 00:24:35,360
but you can, you can request for some stuff.
349
00:24:35,360 –> 00:24:38,880
You can, for some procedures, you can request to your family doctor.
350
00:24:38,880 –> 00:24:40,800
I’d like to see this specialist.
351
00:24:40,800 –> 00:24:48,400
You can do that once for the MSA for the cancer set up or the cancer clinics, there is no
352
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picking specialists.
353
00:24:49,440 –> 00:24:52,480
You’re just putting the system and whoever can take you takes you.
354
00:24:52,480 –> 00:24:52,960
Okay.
355
00:24:52,960 –> 00:24:53,520
Got it.
356
00:24:53,520 –> 00:24:53,760
Yeah.
357
00:24:53,760 –> 00:24:58,000
I mean, that’s like similar to, I mean, by having to need a referral, that’s like similar
358
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to America.
359
00:24:58,720 –> 00:25:03,200
I mean, based off of your insurance, like, you know, some insurance, you do need referrals
360
00:25:03,200 –> 00:25:04,160
to go see specialists.
361
00:25:04,160 –> 00:25:05,920
Like I don’t have that in my insurance.
362
00:25:05,920 –> 00:25:09,920
So like if I, you know, I’m having stomach issues, I can just book an appointment with
363
00:25:10,800 –> 00:25:12,560
my gastro with a gastro doctor.
364
00:25:12,560 –> 00:25:16,000
Like I don’t need that referral, but some health insurance, I don’t know if Rosalina’s
365
00:25:16,000 –> 00:25:18,400
is, but you need that referral in order to see.
366
00:25:18,400 –> 00:25:18,720
Yeah.
367
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Certain specialists.
368
00:25:19,360 –> 00:25:20,560
So that’s like the similar.
369
00:25:20,560 –> 00:25:25,120
Now, I know you said with, you know, with COVID, obviously it backed up a lot of stuff.
370
00:25:25,120 –> 00:25:28,640
Like, did it back up all doctors appointments?
371
00:25:28,640 –> 00:25:31,440
In New York, we got hit so hard by COVID.
372
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Like it was terrible.
373
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It didn’t, people weren’t leaving their homes.
374
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And I think people are still scared and like are now finally just feeling comfortable to
375
00:25:40,240 –> 00:25:44,960
like go see their doctors and get like, you know, their yearly colonoscopy and things
376
00:25:44,960 –> 00:25:45,280
like that.
377
00:25:45,280 –> 00:25:51,120
And, and so between that and then the lack of like workers now in hospitals, like a lot
378
00:25:51,120 –> 00:25:54,560
of people COVID, especially in New York, made people like leave their jobs.
379
00:25:54,560 –> 00:25:56,480
Like, did you find it even harder now?
380
00:25:56,480 –> 00:25:58,560
Like everything’s backed up even more.
381
00:25:59,440 –> 00:26:04,720
So I’ve heard that our system is backed up because of COVID for the cancer center.
382
00:26:04,720 –> 00:26:08,080
I mean, I’ve not really seen any issues.
383
00:26:08,800 –> 00:26:10,000
The nurses are still there.
384
00:26:10,880 –> 00:26:11,920
The doctors are still there.
385
00:26:11,920 –> 00:26:16,480
Yeah. From the cancer center point of view, it’s not really COVID has not really affected
386
00:26:16,480 –> 00:26:18,560
the system for other systems.
387
00:26:18,560 –> 00:26:20,720
Yes. COVID has definitely affected it.
388
00:26:21,200 –> 00:26:26,320
The only right, like imaging and like procedures and things like that probably.
389
00:26:26,320 –> 00:26:26,560
Right.
390
00:26:26,560 –> 00:26:26,800
Yeah.
391
00:26:26,800 –> 00:26:31,920
The only thing that’s really been affected for me is my reconstruction surgery.
392
00:26:32,560 –> 00:26:34,320
I’ve now been waiting two years.
393
00:26:34,320 –> 00:26:41,200
And the reason for that is because during COVID, during high peaks of COVID, I’ve been
394
00:26:41,200 –> 00:26:42,400
waiting to get the second surgery.
395
00:26:42,400 –> 00:26:42,660
So like perhaps, especially because of my ignore the
396
00:26:42,660 –> 00:26:44,180
summer break, and I was getting that first one.
397
00:26:44,180 –> 00:26:45,940
Then during January, also was waiting.
398
00:26:45,940 –> 00:26:46,440
Fifth surgery.
399
00:26:46,440 –> 00:26:50,120
I have not gotten it to come, any, our system didn’t work gritty time.
400
00:26:50,360 –> 00:26:52,020
We went by supplies that we cannot do better.
401
00:26:52,020 –> 00:26:53,380
And then finally I sat in the Chair office.
402
00:26:53,380 –> 00:26:56,380
I have been in the Chair for many, many months now, which is an splinter in my head,
403
00:26:56,560 –> 00:26:57,280
but yeah, no problem.
404
00:26:57,900 –> 00:26:59,040
So my Wandering Chef.
405
00:26:59,040 –> 00:27:02,500
That remarkable loss is now kind of here a little more than I imagined it,
406
00:27:02,840 –> 00:27:04,580
but it has been Android Magic.
407
00:27:04,580 –> 00:27:10,340
the future? The reconstruction I’m planning on getting is fat grafting in addition with
408
00:27:11,780 –> 00:27:16,900
implants. Yeah and I’m going to be going with over the muscle instead of under the muscle.
409
00:27:16,900 –> 00:27:21,780
Unfortunately that’s a two operation approach versus a one operation approach because you can’t
410
00:27:21,780 –> 00:27:27,380
do the fat graft and put the implant over the muscle at the same time because there’s too much
411
00:27:27,380 –> 00:27:32,660
risk of damaging the implant with the fat grafting. I didn’t know that. Yeah however I’ve picked that
412
00:27:32,660 –> 00:27:37,780
just because I am a very active person. I use my arms a lot. I’m always especially with the
413
00:27:37,780 –> 00:27:43,860
gardening I’m always lifting heavy stuff and I need my muscles to be physiologically in the right
414
00:27:43,860 –> 00:27:50,820
place. Not under no sorry not over an implant. I want the implant to be over the muscle. Yeah I
415
00:27:50,820 –> 00:27:58,260
felt the same way too. I did it because I’m super active as well. I didn’t want the implant to be
416
00:27:58,260 –> 00:28:03,620
under the muscle because I just hear like weird things happening where it’s just like it like
417
00:28:03,620 –> 00:28:11,380
goes to the side when like you’re lifting or you know doing yoga it kind of like freaks me out
418
00:28:11,380 –> 00:28:17,140
just like hearing about that. I wish I don’t have the options of the amount of skin I have so
419
00:28:17,140 –> 00:28:22,580
unfortunately I have to go under but um I have to make do but yeah I wish I wish I was able to have
420
00:28:22,580 –> 00:28:27,700
that choice and make that choice so I’ve only been educating myself about under the muscle implants
421
00:28:27,700 –> 00:28:32,740
and what that means and things like that but I wish I wish I had the uh the option to pick.
422
00:28:33,620 –> 00:28:40,980
I agree with you and I want to say for all the women out there that educate yourself on on this
423
00:28:40,980 –> 00:28:45,460
because my doctor didn’t give me the option at first he just went away and went right away to
424
00:28:45,460 –> 00:28:48,740
we’re putting it under the muscle this and that and this and that and then it was only that’s
425
00:28:48,740 –> 00:28:52,900
actually because of COVID there’s been such a delay I’ve actually had time to research I’m like
426
00:28:52,900 –> 00:28:57,300
oh wait a second what’s this over the muscle and then I ended up talking to my doctor about it.
427
00:28:57,300 –> 00:28:59,700
He said oh yeah you can do that I’m like why wasn’t this offered?
428
00:29:01,140 –> 00:29:03,940
Yeah. This is a better solution for me and it wasn’t offered.
429
00:29:04,580 –> 00:29:09,620
Yeah exactly like my plastic surgeon said oh I recommend under the muscle I’m like
430
00:29:10,660 –> 00:29:17,540
I kind of want to do over the muscle I want to do that choice not under the muscle so yeah I
431
00:29:17,540 –> 00:29:21,620
I agree with Yali like she didn’t even tell me about over the muscle I’m not sure why
432
00:29:22,420 –> 00:29:25,060
they do that but that could be another conversation.
433
00:29:25,060 –> 00:29:30,180
Is there a timeline for when they’ll be able to start doing those procedures again?
434
00:29:30,180 –> 00:29:34,340
No timeline they are so backlogged they cannot give me a timeline.
435
00:29:34,340 –> 00:29:37,940
They’re still not doing them or they’ve started there’s just now such a backlog.
436
00:29:37,940 –> 00:29:43,140
They’ve started there’s just so much of a backlog that they can’t yeah exactly so they started about
437
00:29:43,140 –> 00:29:50,420
two months ago at the same time they’re also ramping up doing these right so they had nobody was in the
438
00:29:50,420 –> 00:29:55,540
op these operating rooms for this so they have to set things back up and it’s just taking a long
439
00:29:55,540 –> 00:30:03,140
time and getting the staff to come back and so. I have a question about second opinion were you
440
00:30:04,100 –> 00:30:11,700
able to have that option to see another surgeon if you’re not happy with the current one
441
00:30:12,340 –> 00:30:18,420
that you have or like your oncologist? Yes we have that option here okay and typically again
442
00:30:18,420 –> 00:30:24,420
is through referrals to get a second opinion and I have a friend who wasn’t happy with her oncologist
443
00:30:24,420 –> 00:30:29,860
here and she asked for another oncologist and she was able to get another oncologist so they’re very
444
00:30:29,860 –> 00:30:37,460
open to basically giving you the care that you need and the best care that you need so from that
445
00:30:37,460 –> 00:30:45,460
point of view I like I’m very impressed with the health care I’ve received here in Ottawa.
446
00:30:45,460 –> 00:30:51,700
Do they also have like a program for cancer patients of like you can like see a therapist
447
00:30:51,700 –> 00:30:57,380
a program like with support groups I’m just curious if Canada gives you that option? Yes so
448
00:30:57,380 –> 00:31:04,500
depending on what it is so cancer yes they they will provide a social worker that you can go see
449
00:31:04,500 –> 00:31:11,140
if you requested and if you sign up for it and it depends some programs outside of cancer will
450
00:31:11,140 –> 00:31:16,340
have a social worker some don’t it really depends on the program and what the government’s decided
451
00:31:16,340 –> 00:31:24,260
has this available or not if not I have insurance through work and I can get it through my regular
452
00:31:24,260 –> 00:31:29,940
insurance. It’s so nice that they give you that option in Canada. Absolutely absolutely it’s
453
00:31:29,940 –> 00:31:34,340
wonderful not having to deal with insurance is wonderful like just being able to go and it’s
454
00:31:34,340 –> 00:31:39,140
free and you don’t need to sign here sign there send paperwork there’s none of that you just show
455
00:31:39,140 –> 00:31:44,260
up and it’s really wonderful because you’re at the time where you’re at your lowest your brain’s not
456
00:31:44,260 –> 00:31:49,700
functioning well you’re in a state of trauma that’s why you’re going and so you’re not thinking
457
00:31:49,700 –> 00:31:56,900
clearly so not having to have all this extra stuff to do with insurance is really wonderful actually.
458
00:31:56,900 –> 00:32:02,420
It must be so nice too to not have to basing your care off what you can afford you know there’s so
459
00:32:02,420 –> 00:32:06,500
many people that are like I can’t afford the imaging I can’t afford this and then you know
460
00:32:06,500 –> 00:32:12,740
their health ultimately pays the price of that and that must be so nice to not even just like
461
00:32:12,740 –> 00:32:17,700
have to have that be one of your first thoughts like how am I even going to afford to to have
462
00:32:17,700 –> 00:32:24,020
cancer basically cancer is expensive here in America. Oh yeah and yeah chemo is super expensive
463
00:32:24,020 –> 00:32:29,220
I know that I think every chemo here was valued at ten thousand dollars and I just get to walk in
464
00:32:29,220 –> 00:32:35,700
oh yeah I wave my little health card and I get to walk in sit down and you know I just have to repeat
465
00:32:35,700 –> 00:32:40,660
my date of birth and my name and they put it in the system and I’m done like this it’s wonderful
466
00:32:40,660 –> 00:32:46,820
from that point of view I find myself extremely lucky to not have all those extra bills to think
467
00:32:46,820 –> 00:32:52,420
of I don’t have this financial burden over my head of can I afford can I not afford I just
468
00:32:52,420 –> 00:32:56,740
go to the hospital and it’s all taking care of me and the system’s taking care of me it’s
469
00:32:56,740 –> 00:32:59,780
it’s very wonderful it’s regimented though and it’s got its flip side but it’s
470
00:32:59,780 –> 00:33:06,260
I’m going to say it’s more wonderful than than that. I have a question just with your friends
471
00:33:06,260 –> 00:33:15,060
and family while you were diagnosed with cancer or even when your cancer has come back did you
472
00:33:15,060 –> 00:33:21,220
have any support from your friends and family? I had lots of support everybody’s very
473
00:33:22,420 –> 00:33:28,500
positive everybody’s wanting was wanting to help me in whatever way that they could I found it hard
474
00:33:28,500 –> 00:33:34,580
to say what I needed because when the first time around I didn’t know what I needed so it was a
475
00:33:34,580 –> 00:33:38,820
bit tricky because people want to help but you don’t know how to let them help you don’t know
476
00:33:38,820 –> 00:33:44,500
what you need so that was the only thing but they were there to help me and there’s only a certain
477
00:33:44,500 –> 00:33:47,860
amount that they can help you emotionally because they don’t know what you’re going through so
478
00:33:47,860 –> 00:33:55,140
that’s the other hard bit sorry and so I would recommend a social worker definitely in the cancer
479
00:33:55,140 –> 00:34:00,500
program or that knows about cancer because it friends and family it’s too much for friends and
480
00:34:00,500 –> 00:34:05,140
family I found I had to go talk to other people even though they were there and they were very
481
00:34:05,140 –> 00:34:11,620
supportive. Oh that’s wonderful that’s like that’s like the best thing that you can even have
482
00:34:12,900 –> 00:34:18,260
apart from everything that was happening. It’s so true when you said like you don’t even know what
483
00:34:18,260 –> 00:34:24,660
you need in that moment and yeah like I know I needed to feel like I was in control like I
484
00:34:24,660 –> 00:34:30,100
needed to feel like I say you know that did you feel that way like you were like I am just like
485
00:34:30,100 –> 00:34:37,380
gonna take the reins and yes so a few times I tried to quit chemo and because it was just so
486
00:34:37,380 –> 00:34:44,260
hard it’s really hard and my family members were there to say no no no come back and really
487
00:34:44,260 –> 00:34:52,180
supported me on it’s hard because you’re like I’m willing to go poison myself this is mentally not
488
00:34:52,180 –> 00:34:56,740
okay but anyways it was good that they were there to help me come back and the same thing for radiation
489
00:34:56,740 –> 00:35:03,220
after I think round 10 I quit I was leaving I was just I’m done like this isn’t enough this is insane
490
00:35:03,700 –> 00:35:09,060
but then they were there to say no no the doctors are recommending this for a good reason
491
00:35:09,700 –> 00:35:19,780
you need to go back. Yes but they would never understand like how you felt in that moment. No
492
00:35:19,780 –> 00:35:23,780
no they don’t understand because they’re not going through it the best they can do is listen to the
493
00:35:23,780 –> 00:35:30,260
doctors and they unfortunately I think unless you go through it you don’t understand you really
494
00:35:30,260 –> 00:35:35,140
don’t understand that’s the hard bit and I find that that’s really hard with your partner significant
495
00:35:35,140 –> 00:35:42,340
other or whatnot is you’re in this new life and it’s really hard to convey how you’re feeling how
496
00:35:42,340 –> 00:35:48,580
what’s going on with you because it’s so extreme and they’re trying to support you in the best way
497
00:35:48,580 –> 00:35:53,700
that they know how but they’re not going through it so you’re it’s a bit of a fork in the road
498
00:35:53,700 –> 00:36:00,020
because you’re going through this new life process and they’re not and it’s actually quite hard.
499
00:36:01,700 –> 00:36:07,380
All right let’s talk about the program now. Sure. So since being diagnosed with breast cancer you
500
00:36:07,380 –> 00:36:13,940
created this great resource for women who have undergone cancer treatment and now looking to
501
00:36:13,940 –> 00:36:19,060
re-energize and rebuild their bodies and mind and can you tell the listeners how you started your
502
00:36:19,060 –> 00:36:26,820
program and why you felt like there was a need for it? Absolutely so after the first round of
503
00:36:26,820 –> 00:36:33,780
treatments after I had done the chemo the surgery the radiation I really felt broken weak fragile
504
00:36:33,780 –> 00:36:41,140
traumatized and scared and then I read that this was really typical and normal and and so I just
505
00:36:41,140 –> 00:36:45,860
went home and waited for time to heal like the doctors had recommended but instead I was getting
506
00:36:45,860 –> 00:36:53,060
worse and worse and worse and more depressed and my quality of life was getting worse and there was
507
00:36:53,060 –> 00:36:59,620
no quality of life really and so I started investigating and how how do I change this
508
00:36:59,620 –> 00:37:05,300
like this is not okay I’m this is not my new normal I’m gonna be better than this this is not
509
00:37:05,300 –> 00:37:12,260
acceptable so I started doing lots of researching lots lots of reading and then I started applying
510
00:37:12,260 –> 00:37:19,380
things and trying different techniques on myself until a few months later I figured out this routine
511
00:37:20,020 –> 00:37:27,300
for myself and I really felt alive again and it was bringing back my energy and I didn’t feel alone
512
00:37:27,300 –> 00:37:35,940
or ashamed anymore I didn’t feel broken anymore I stopped crying randomly and most of my treatment
513
00:37:35,940 –> 00:37:41,060
side effects were gone and I felt like wow finally like I’m super thrilled to be alive my quality of
514
00:37:41,060 –> 00:37:50,420
life is back and that’s how this whole program started is and what I created for myself which was
515
00:37:50,420 –> 00:37:58,100
basically daily stretches deep breathing some specific body strengthening some dancing some
516
00:37:58,100 –> 00:38:04,660
flexibility and some mind and soul modalities to really address all the emotional trauma
517
00:38:05,300 –> 00:38:11,700
and it would only take me about 45 minutes a day to do it and and I decided I’ve got to share this
518
00:38:11,700 –> 00:38:17,540
I can’t just keep this to myself this was so helpful to me I’ve got to put this out there I also
519
00:38:17,540 –> 00:38:22,980
searched for something like this when I was like before creating it for myself when I was
520
00:38:23,940 –> 00:38:28,500
not having when I my quality of life was so poor I couldn’t find anything so I thought well this is
521
00:38:28,500 –> 00:38:36,180
a real need out here because I can’t find it and it’s not just go do some meditation or just go do
522
00:38:36,180 –> 00:38:42,500
some yoga or just go dancing it’s really a full body mind approach I couldn’t find that and that’s
523
00:38:42,500 –> 00:38:49,300
really after you’ve gone through cancer treatment all three have been completely damaged and that’s
524
00:38:49,300 –> 00:38:55,540
why I feel the word broken is so valid it’s because everything is broken your physical has
525
00:38:55,540 –> 00:39:00,420
been destroyed your mental has been destroyed especially with the chemo fog brain fog and then
526
00:39:00,420 –> 00:39:08,580
your emotional self with all the trauma it’s it’s it’s a lot so to me having this entire self
527
00:39:08,580 –> 00:39:15,540
healing approach was really helpful to me and then I started sharing it with some people and it was
528
00:39:15,540 –> 00:39:20,740
helping with people sorry with other women that had undergone breast cancer and it was really
529
00:39:20,740 –> 00:39:25,860
helping them too and I thought oh my gosh like this is this is really helping people so let’s
530
00:39:26,420 –> 00:39:31,140
let’s share it and this is how it started it was very organic it just really started with just
531
00:39:31,140 –> 00:39:36,900
trying to help myself how long did it take you to find this combination of mental health and
532
00:39:36,900 –> 00:39:42,180
how did you define this combination of things that helped like was there a lot of trial and error
533
00:39:42,180 –> 00:39:47,620
were you finding some things worked and then didn’t work yeah it took it took about five or
534
00:39:47,620 –> 00:39:54,820
six months to get it down and I tried so many modalities I tried I also tried different experts
535
00:39:54,820 –> 00:40:00,180
so for the same modality I tried many experts and some experts I thought didn’t work for me at all
536
00:40:00,180 –> 00:40:08,820
but I found that doing lots of very beginner yoga was really good to re-elasticize the muscles I
537
00:40:08,820 –> 00:40:14,100
could find that the chemo and the radiation really tightens and just tenses us up completely
538
00:40:14,100 –> 00:40:19,220
which it’s almost like going back to basic and doing very beginner moves and and that’s what it’s
539
00:40:19,220 –> 00:40:25,540
all about it’s all about finding experts that can do or that do very beginner moves and that was hard
540
00:40:25,540 –> 00:40:32,660
to find at first yeah absolutely I think that it is really difficult especially when you have gone
541
00:40:32,660 –> 00:40:39,060
through all this treatment and your body just went through so much you’re like my body can’t do
542
00:40:39,780 –> 00:40:47,300
like very intense workout or like a yoga class it’s really difficult to find just for beginner
543
00:40:47,300 –> 00:40:54,100
base yeah or that are tailored to like mastectomy patients I had a hard time finding a yoga class
544
00:40:54,100 –> 00:41:00,100
for mastectomy patients I had a hard time finding you know like a post mastectomy like stretch or
545
00:41:00,100 –> 00:41:05,700
post mastectomy friendly workout I guess and you know it’s just that’s not like you’re right
546
00:41:05,700 –> 00:41:11,460
there there is not a ton of resources when it comes to that and I agree with you and that’s
547
00:41:11,460 –> 00:41:16,100
really well said it’s tailored to what we’ve gone through and our body’s got to start back from
548
00:41:16,100 –> 00:41:25,220
that so yeah that’s really good all right so just to wrap this up we ask our guests just a fun
549
00:41:25,220 –> 00:41:33,940
mystery question that’s not cancer related so Elly if someone was to visit Ottawa for their
550
00:41:33,940 –> 00:41:40,740
first time what are just the top five things that you would recommend people doing seeing eating
551
00:41:40,740 –> 00:41:46,660
that’s a lovely question and so Ottawa is not that big of a city it’s more of a government city so
552
00:41:46,660 –> 00:41:51,700
this is where we have federal provincial and municipal we have the three levels of government
553
00:41:51,700 –> 00:41:57,140
here so there’s the parliament which is the I guess would be the white house for you guys
554
00:41:57,140 –> 00:42:01,140
there’s the parliament here I would recommend visiting that in the downtown core that’s very
555
00:42:01,140 –> 00:42:06,020
nice we also have many beaches here in Ottawa so if you’re coming in the summertime I would
556
00:42:06,020 –> 00:42:12,100
highly recommend our beaches we have what’s called a green belt in Ottawa so there’s a
557
00:42:13,300 –> 00:42:18,660
around the city they’ve the government has blocked off areas where it’s only for wilderness and it’s
558
00:42:18,660 –> 00:42:24,340
only for you can’t build anything there it’s really for nature and so we’ve got this what’s
559
00:42:24,340 –> 00:42:28,580
called a green belt there’s lots of trails in the green belt that you can go hiking in there’s also
560
00:42:28,580 –> 00:42:33,540
across the river it’s called the Gatineau Park and you can go hiking there it’s really lovely there
561
00:42:33,540 –> 00:42:36,580
summertime is a good time to come for festivals and that kind of stuff if you want to
562
00:42:37,860 –> 00:42:44,820
come in the wintertime in the wintertime we have a canal so that they they lower the water
563
00:42:44,820 –> 00:42:50,580
and they allow it to freeze and they it’s the longest skating rink in the world so you can go
564
00:42:50,580 –> 00:42:55,780
skating there and it’s really wonderful well thank you so much for for coming on and we just
565
00:42:55,780 –> 00:43:00,900
we can’t thank you enough for for coming on and doing this with us well thank you for doing what
566
00:43:00,900 –> 00:43:05,620
you do and please keep doing what you’re doing we we need more of what you’re doing it’s amazing
567
00:43:05,620 –> 00:43:11,860
and thank you so much thank you all for listening and supporting our podcast sharing our stories
568
00:43:11,860 –> 00:43:17,700
with you has been incredibly healing for both of us and we hope it helps other women in their
569
00:43:17,700 –> 00:43:22,180
journeys through breast cancer ladies if you enjoyed this episode please share with your
570
00:43:22,180 –> 00:43:27,300
friends and fellow breasties help us reach more women by subscribing and rating us on apple
571
00:43:27,300 –> 00:43:34,980
podcast spotify and now on youtube you can follow us on instagram at tyfts podcast and email us at
572
00:43:34,980 –> 00:43:41,220
tyftspodcast.gmail.com we love hearing from you guys so shoot us a message we will link any
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00:43:41,220 –> 00:43:57,700
resources from the episode in our show notes