MINI: A reminder to be your own health advocate from the late Shonel Bryant

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
We're doing something a little bit different here at the
pickup today. We are making a really conscious effort to
try and raise more awareness surrounding breast cancer because we
know it is a disease that is very, very fatal
and very prevalent, and we want people to be checking
their breast morphone and more aware. And something that Laura

(00:20):
and I had the absolute privilege of doing was interviewing
one of our own lifers from our podcast Community Life Uncut.
Her name is Chanelle Bryant, and about two years ago,
Chanelle tragically passed away from triple negative breast cancer. Now,
she was a mum of two young kids, she was
a wife, and with only a few weeks left to live,

(00:43):
she gave us her precious, precious time knowing she had
such little amounts of time left with her family, and
she came on and did an interview with us, and
the point of that interview was to raise awareness to
everyone listening that this can happen to you, and to
advocate for your own health, to make sure you're checking
your breaths. And we're forever grateful that we got to

(01:04):
speak to Chanelle just weeks before she passed away, and
this conversation is to highlight the fact that if you
can remember on the first of every month, to make
it easier to check your breasts.

Speaker 2 (01:14):
All right, so let's roll this out. This is Chanel
Bryant from the Life on Cut podcast.

Speaker 3 (01:18):
I don't actually know how to ask. I'm just gonna ask,
what is your timeline looking like?

Speaker 4 (01:25):
So I've been told if I don't have treatment, I'll
be lucky to see Christmas. So that's weeks away. I'm
so sorry, Thank you, Like, what can you do? You
know it's it's fucked, But I can't control it. You know,
I can control writing letters to the kids. I can
control bringing forward our wedding vur and you'll to this
weekend as opposed to in five months time. I can

(01:46):
control my goodbyas and creating memories and traditions with the
kids now taking videos. So they're the things I'm controlling.
And you know that's that Mum and me and I'm
doing that, and that's all that I can do. So
then once I do that, I have to let go.
It's it's the ultimate lesson in surrender.

Speaker 5 (02:02):
Sanew you mentioned some of the things that you are
focusing on in the time that you have left. The
one thing you didn't mention, and it's something that is
I think cannot be overlooked, is how much work you
have done in creating a community around you with support
your girls and advocating not just now, but you know,
in the last couple of years, advocating for breast cancer awareness.

(02:24):
What is the legacy that you want to leave. What
is the message that you want people to know?

Speaker 4 (02:29):
Oh? Sorry, out it's so huge. I don't want people
to take their health for granted, but I also don't
want them to live in fear. Where I drop into
this space, I guess is I want people to create
a habit of checking their breasts every month. I think
creating a habit like pinching a punch first of the month,
you know, just just a habit, something that you think
of instinctively. On the first of the month. That's what

(02:51):
I do. I check my breast and if anything's unusual,
I go and get it checked out. So you're not
riddled with fear all the time I'm going to get cancer.
It's just something that you do, like your period once
a month, you know, just a normal thing. The conversation
stays open. I think if we can create and instill
that habit in people. It's going to be nothing but positive.
And then I think beyond that, it's just being your

(03:12):
own advocate. So if something comes up, a lot of
the time the doctors will say, oh, you're young, it's fine,
you know, don't worry. Come back in a year. If
it's still there, that's not okay. You need to be
your own advocate and go in there and say, no,
this is concerning me. I want an ultrasound or I
want a mammogram. You advocate for yourself. I think that
is really a huge take home message as well, because
no one else is ultimately going to do it. What

(03:34):
do you want your kids to know about you?

Speaker 3 (03:35):
Is there anything that you just I know that you've
written so many beautiful letters to them and you've told them,
but what do you want them when they look back
to think about you and to know that you did.

Speaker 4 (03:46):
I think for me, it's always been a feeling and
where my struggles in this space lie are. I just
I just don't want them to forget me. They will.
You were their whole world. I know that, and I'm
instilling that and doing everything that I can with that.

(04:09):
I just for me it's a feeling. And say this
to people all the time. It's like you don't remember
the intricacies of the moment. Sometimes you don't remember often
the things you say, you remember the way someone makes
you feel. And I just like to make people around
me feel good, feel loved, feel supported, feel howled, feel seen.
And that's where my focus has been, especially as I've

(04:29):
evolved as a woman. And I hope that with everything
that I've done for them in setting these things up,
and the memories that I've made, and the conversations that
I've had with friends and family and community around keeping
my memory alive, I hope that that's enough that they
can get a feeling of the woman that I was
when I was earthbound. And that's all that I want.

(04:51):
I just want them to be happy and loved and
feel me. Really.

Speaker 2 (04:56):
Hey, if you want to hear the full chat with
Chanelle Bryant, an incredible woman, you can search on the
life Uncut feed Right Brett, Yeah, absolutely, don't forget. Have
a squeeze of your boobs, have a feel. If you
feel something abnormal, go chat.

Speaker 4 (05:07):
To your doctor.

Speaker 2 (05:07):
Save your life all right. Back after this on the
pickup