Fighting is getting weaker (Brenda R, Breast Stage 3) We’ve all heard the aggressive vocabulary of survival: Fight the cancer. Kill the cancer. Overcome it. But what does "fighting" actually look like when you are deep in the trenches of treatment? My sister Brenda is pulling back the curtain on…
There is a version of this podcast I imagined making before I started. I thought I’d sit across from strangers, ask them to trust me with the hardest thing that ever happened to them, and maintain a clean line between us. This is not that episode. This is my sister,…
In April of 2013, Deborah was a busy mother of two young boys living in Brooklyn when a spot on her back came back positive for malignant melanoma. A sentinel lymph node biopsy was clear, but the pathology noted "melanoma in transit" — malignant cells already on their way to…
I spend my days looking at columns of numbers, trying to map out patterns of who gets sick, who survives, and why. I am trained to look at cancer through the objective lens of a dataset. But every once in a while, you meet someone who speaks your exact language—the…
We love to tell cancer patients that their health is entirely in their hands. Eat better. Exercise more. Reduce stress. But as a cancer epidemiologist, I’m here to tell you that this traditional public health framework is fundamentally flawed. We blame a patient's diet, but ignore local food deserts and…
When we talk about cancer survival statistics, we act like a percentage applies to everyone equally. But standard health statistics flatten reality. As an epidemiologist, I see the truth behind the data. The math lumps a patient in rural Montana who has to drive hours across mountain passes for treatment…
When we are thrown into a health crisis, our brains desperately search for certainty through anchors, maps, timelines, and data. In the United States, the absolute gold standard for tracking population-level oncology data is a public health system called SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) managed by the National Cancer…
When we talk about cancer, we often talk about it in isolation — as a private medical crisis. But cancer doesn't happen in a vacuum. It happens to people who live in specific communities, navigate specific systems, and face distinct structural realities. In this inaugural episode of The Epi Edit,…
"I don't want to be a burden." It’s the phrase almost every cancer patient says when the community shows up to help. When Aiona’s church congregation launched a relentless meal train to support her family through grueling Stage III chemotherapy treatments, her instinct was to try to politely call it…
"I don't want to be a burden." It’s the phrase almost every cancer patient says when the community shows up to help. When Aiona’s church congregation launched a relentless meal train to support her family through grueling Stage III chemotherapy treatments, her instinct was to try to politely call it…
Aiona came to California from Tonga when she was about a year old. She grew up in Sacramento, went on an LDS mission at twenty-one, came home, fell in love on what was essentially a second date, and eventually landed in Petaluma, CA — managing a Hampton Inn, raising two…
What happens when a life-threatening medical diagnosis comes wrapped in cultural silence and shame? Aiona is a card-carrying Tongan, a mother, and a hospitality manager from Petaluma who suddenly found herself facing Stage III breast cancer. But when she first felt that 11cm tumor, her immediate instinct wasn't just fear—it…
"The last one is maybe going to be the hardest. But I'll finish the race." The anxiety of a cancer diagnosis doesn't just evaporate when the clinical treatment plan ends. As my sister Brenda shares in the conclusion of her story, true survivorship means facing an entirely new set of…
"The anxiety comes with the not knowing... When you know the end of the story, maybe that's when the anxiety goes away. I don't have as much anymore... I've jumped over every single hurdle. The last one is maybe going to be the hardest. But I'll do it and I'll…
No Evidence of Disease. It’s the milestone every patient prays for, and the moment you think you finally get your life back. But for my sister Brenda, crossing that finish line was just the beginning of a completely different battle. If you haven’t listened to Part 1 yet, pause right…
We’ve all heard the aggressive vocabulary of survival: Fight the cancer. Kill the cancer. Overcome it. But what does "fighting" actually look like when you are deep in the trenches of treatment? My sister Brenda is pulling back the curtain on a reality that rarely gets talked about in public…
There is a version of this podcast that Dr. Randi Paynter imagined making before she started. She would sit across from strangers, ask them to trust her with the hardest thing that ever happened to them, and there would be a clean line between host and guest. This is not…
There is a version of this podcast I imagined making before I started. I thought I’d sit across from strangers, ask them to trust me with the hardest thing that ever happened to them, and maintain a clean line between us. This is not that episode. This is my sister,…
Rachel is a two-time ovarian cancer survivor, an 18-year veteran of the cancer journey, and the author of The No-Bull**** Guide to Dealing with Cancer (written with co-author Dr. Mercedes Castiel). She was 32 years old when persistent, progressing symptoms led her to an OB-GYN, an ultrasound, a CAT scan,…
Have you heard of ring theory? It might be the most useful framework for anyone supporting a loved one through cancer — or any crisis. Two-time ovarian cancer survivor and author Rachel breaks it down in our upcoming episode of Changed By Cancer. Episode drops 6/10/2026. #ChangedByCancer #RingTheory #CancerSupport #CancerCommunity…
Women are conditioned to be polite, to not make a scene, to be 'good girls' — even in the doctor's office. But as two-time ovarian cancer survivor Rachel reminds us: It is not more important to be good than it is to be alive. Rachel doesn't hold back on why…
Sasha's cancer was never supposed to be found when it was. Invasive lobular carcinoma — the second most common form of breast cancer — grows not in a lump, but in sheets and lines of cells. It only shows up on mammograms about thirty percent of the time. Sasha's first…
What does it look like when the system actually works for you — and it's still overwhelming? Sasha is a non-binary business owner, parent, and self-described science nerd living in San Francisco. When a routine mammogram missed their cancer entirely, it took a chance biopsy to find it. The diagnosis?…
Renee was 50 when her first mammogram came back with a diagnosis: ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). She had a lumpectomy, radiation, and got on with her life. Two years later, the DCIS was back -- same breast, more aggressive, with a feature called comedonecrosis that changed the calculus entirely.…