October 27, 2025 • 33 mins
Hey Warriors, it’s your girl Lady ReShell!
October may be coming to an end, but let me tell you — breast cancer doesn’t take a break.
Awareness is great, but awareness without action changes nothing.
So what does action look like?
It looks like scheduling your mammogram.
It looks like checking in on your health.
It looks like supporting a survivor or volunteering in your community.
Join me today at 6 PM CST on Warriors TALK as we close out Breast Cancer Awareness Month and talk about how to move beyond awareness toward action.
Tune in live on Facebook, YouTube @warriorstalk1 or IntellectualRadio.com.
Because the fight doesn’t end in October — it continues with you.
#WarriorsTalk #LadyReShell #BeyondThePink #AwarenessToAction #KeepFightingEveryday”
October may be coming to an end, but let me tell you — breast cancer doesn’t take a break.
Awareness is great, but awareness without action changes nothing.
So what does action look like?
It looks like scheduling your mammogram.
It looks like checking in on your health.
It looks like supporting a survivor or volunteering in your community.
Join me today at 6 PM CST on Warriors TALK as we close out Breast Cancer Awareness Month and talk about how to move beyond awareness toward action.
Tune in live on Facebook, YouTube @warriorstalk1 or IntellectualRadio.com.
Because the fight doesn’t end in October — it continues with you.
#WarriorsTalk #LadyReShell #BeyondThePink #AwarenessToAction #KeepFightingEveryday”
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Lady Rachelle.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Good Evening, Warriors. Welcome to another episode of Warriors Talk.
I am your host, Lady Rochelle, and October is known
worldwide as Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but awareness without action
is just information. So tonight we're talking about what it
means not only to take action, but do what year
(00:48):
round and make an impact. So here's the truth. Breast
Cancer Awareness Month doesn't just end with October, but November,
December and every month after that. The question is what
will you do with what you have learned this month?
So go ahead, grab your tee, your water, in your
journals and join in on this life saving conversation. On
(01:13):
the last episode of Warriors Talk, doctor Michelle Meeks and
I discuss hyper thyroidism and hype bo thyroidism and how
your thyroids can tip the scale. So hit on over
to YouTube and type in Intellectual Radio and stay connected
for any episodes you may have missed. Our quote of
(01:36):
the day is awareness without action is like planting a
seed and not watering it. If you are tuned in
on any form of social media, please like the show,
share the show, and invite someone else in on the
show that you feel may benefit from this valuable information.
I'm so grateful for my sponsor. On today, we have
(01:57):
Pastor Michael Richardson with the Emmanuel Church of God in
Christ who has a special message for us.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Greetings. I am Pastor Michael Richardson.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
And I am first Lady Anna Station Richardson from the
Emmanuel Church of God in Christ. We're located at thirty
to fifty eight West Van Buren in Chicago, Illinois. We
are building upon a solid foundation.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
And we're inviting you to join us every Sunday morning
on Facebook Live Emmanuel Kojik at ten fifteen Central Standard Time.
So view our videos on our YouTube channel at Emmanuel
Kojik dash Mr. Once again, this is Pastor Michael Richardson and.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
First Lady Anna Station Richardson, and we are from the.
Speaker 4 (02:51):
Emanuel of God in Christ.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
We are building upon a solid foundation.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
I am not you laugh on YouTube. Okay, I'll just
keep going unless you want me to start from the top. Okay,
let me press it. On today's episode, we're talking about
(03:21):
what we're gonna do after the month of October. Now
that we are winding down to the end of October,
which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, what are you going
to do with all of that information that you've just
learned about breast cancer, about awareness, how do you take
(03:42):
that information and transform it over into your life to
where you're making daily actions? What kind of actions can
you take? So today we're going to talk about that
awareness versus action. What is awareness? Awareness is known as
just knowing what breast cancer is, knowing that it exists,
(04:05):
and action is doing something about the awareness that you
have just learned. So wear your pink, But what are
you going to do after that? What type of choices,
what type of commitments are you going to make to
take action beyond October? So I will give you some
(04:26):
examples of awareness that you can take. Number one, you
can schedule your mammogram and you can also encourage someone
else to do the same. Take a friend with you
if you are nervous to get a mammogram. Sometimes we
talk to other people about mammograms and we frighten them
(04:48):
and next thing you know, they're like, oh no, I'm
not going to get no mammogram. Because my friend Susie
said when she got a mammogram, they smashed her breast
and she was hurting for days. She was just in pain.
And so take a friend with you if you think
that you may be afraid or you don't have the
courage to do it. Sometimes when you do it with somebody,
(05:10):
you know you're more opt to do it. So I
encourage you to go and then encourage someone else to go.
Another action you can take is learn your family history
and your genetic risk. What type of cancer, not just
breast cancer, but what type of cancer is running your
family and what does that history look like. Is it
(05:32):
a mother, a father, is it a distance your grandmother,
your grandfather, or an aunt uncle like, what does it
look like, and then think about your risk. If it's
an immediate family member, then you know that your risk,
your risk increases and you need to be talking to
your doctor about that risk. Always tell my girls, I
(05:54):
was diagnosed at forty three, so add thirty three, which
is ten years before my diagnosis. They should be talking
to their doctors about screening or whenever you go to
the doctor, dy'll they normally ask you questions and it
lists what runs in your family. Be honest about what
runs in your family so that you can start having
(06:15):
a conversation about when it's necessary for you to screen
and when it comes to genetic risk. You may need
to get genetic testing. If breast cancer does run in
your family, then you may want to start talking about
genetic testing to see what percentage puts you at risk
for breast cancer. There's the Bronco one in the Braco
(06:38):
two gene. If you test positive for either one, then
we know it increases your chance of breast cancer as
well as ovarian cancer. So you want to be having
those conversations with your family as well as with your doctor.
Another way to take action is to support organizations year round, organizations,
(07:00):
especially local ones that are in your community. You can volunteer,
you can donate, You can advocate. When you see an
organization share a post on Facebook, whether they're having an
event or they're just sharing information, share that postyle as well.
That's one way of helping to spread the word. You
(07:21):
can call them up and ask how can you volunteer
with them? If they're having an event, they may need
more hands. Call up and say, hey, I see that
you have a gala coming up. How can I be
useful If you have a donation. Sometimes people think donations
always equal money, and it doesn't. Sometimes you can donate items.
(07:41):
Sometimes you can donate time and then sometimes you can
donate money. Just figure out what it is that you
can do, what you're capable of doing, but do something.
Another action you can take is to adopt a healthier
diet and lifestyle. This will help read your risks of
cancer period, not just breast cancer, but cancer and other
(08:06):
life threatening diseases. If you're not moving, if you're not exercising.
We know that exercising reduces your risks of breast cancer.
It also reduces your risks of having a real currence
of cancer. Make sure that you're eating the right foods
that would fuel your body to destroy those cancer cells.
(08:26):
Find out what type of foods. There's blueberries, there's broccoli
that you can eat, this's avocados that you can eat,
different type of fruits. But the berries I heard that
they have to be frozen berries in order for you
to get the benefit, the full benefit of those berries.
So find out what type of foods that you can
(08:47):
eat that would help fuel your system so that you
can decrease your risk of breast cancer and overall live
a healthier lifestyle. You know they talk about alcohol increase
to your risk of breast cancer. So if you know
you're having more than one or two drinks a day.
Then you know that your chances of getting breast cancer
(09:10):
will go up. So make sure you're even decreasing your alcohol,
making sure when it comes to smoking, you're not smoking.
We know that smoking contributes to lung cancer as well.
Another way to reduce your risks or to take action
when it comes to breast cancer. Moving from awareness towards
(09:31):
action is having an open conversation about health period with
love ones. A lot of times we're afraid to have
these conversations, number one, because they're scary and we don't
want to hear it. We don't want to hear about
people being sick. We don't want to know. A lot
of times people pass away and they may not even
say what they passed away from. They may keep it
(09:52):
a secret and tell other people in the family start
getting these diseases, and then all of a sudden, you're like, oh, yeah,
so and so passed away from, and you just like, what,
why didn't nobody tell me this? Like, it's important for
us to have conversations because it empowers us to have
this information, because then you know how to really move
(10:13):
forward in your life. You know that if diabetes running
your family then okay, it runs in your family, doesn't
necessarily mean you have to get diabetes. But I always
say that your lifestyle it loads the gun. Whatever you're doing,
you're fueling it, right, you're lowering that gun. But then
you can also pour the trigger just by the daily
(10:34):
things that you do. So just make sure that you know, Okay,
diabetes running my family, and I know if I do
certain things that it put me at an increased risk
for diabetes, So then you take those necessary actions, necessary
steps to decrease your risk. Diabetes is one of those
things that run in my family, type one and type two.
(10:57):
But we know type one is lifestyle, Type two is
more autoimmune. So type two would be the one that
I would watch out for as far as what I eat,
me getting moving, and just basically watching my overall health
because I know that it runs in my family. Awareness
(11:18):
plants the seed, so we get this awareness information every October,
and I feel like Breast Cancer Awareness Month does an
excellent job at awareness, an excellent job at planting the
seed at Breast cancer Awareness. But it's the action that
you take that actually waters that seed. And without that
(11:41):
next step, then we can't grow. Change can't happen. You
have to be able to take what you learned and
turn it into action. So what do you need to
do with year round action? How does year round action
looks when it to awareness again, getting out of that
(12:03):
month of October and doing more with what you have learned.
Know your risk factors. Know that as you increase with age, ladies,
that so does breast cancer. Genetics affect more than eighty
five percent of women who get breast cancer do not
have a family history. It's that fifteen to twenty percent.
(12:24):
It's only only have that familiar risk, that genetic link.
So don't feel like, oh, well, you know breast cancer
doesn't run in my family, so I really don't have
to worry about it. Well according to research, according to statistics,
eighty five percent of women who are diagnosed don't have
that family history. So whether you have a family history
(12:47):
or not, you should know what the risk factors are
when it comes to age with breast cancer. And nowadays,
younger and younger women are being diagnosed with breast cancer.
They tell you to get a memory gram at forty,
but a lot of women are being diagnosed way before forty,
way before forty, So don't let the age criteria fool
(13:09):
you into thinking that, oh, I don't have to worry
about my breast until I get of this age. No,
younger women are being diagnosed all the time. Make sure
that you are performing your monthly self checks just so
you would know what your normals are, so that when
something is not normal, then you're able to identify it,
(13:30):
and if it's lasting more than three weeks, you're talking
to your doctor about it. So if you're doing your
monthly checks, then you know what your normal feel shape
of your breast feel like before and after your period,
and then you can determine if something is not normal.
But if you're not doing those normal checks, as soon
(13:51):
as you feel something, you can be like, ooh, I
think this is negative. I think I may have breast cancer. No,
you should be touching your breasts every single month so
that you know what your normal feel like. When it
comes to routine screenings, this conversation should start with your
doctor because sometimes when you're younger, they try to steer
(14:14):
you away from being screen But if you have issues
with your breast, if you have breast cancer that runs
in your family, especially if someone was diagnosed younger, then
you should be having those conversations with your doctor about
what does routine screening looks like for me? When should
I start routine screenings, when should I start the clinical exams,
(14:38):
and what does it look like for me moving forward
as it relates to routine screenings. For some people, if
you're younger, they do the clinical exams once a year.
If nothing's there, they may just want to monitor you,
just check in with you, just because it may run
in your family. If you don't have any issues, they
(15:00):
may say, oh, okay, well you can do it every year.
Or you're not, it's not time for you to do
the mamogram yet, wait until you're forty. So it just
depends on your history and if you haven't any type
of ongoing issues with your breast, eat for prevention, eat
more plants and less processed foods. Processed foods is just
(15:25):
not as it relates to just breast cancer, but any
type of disease, your your diabetes, your heart disease, as
it relates to stroke, high blood pressure. Like eating more
plant based eating less processed foods, it's going to have
less sodium. If you're cooking more at home, you know
(15:45):
what you're putting in your food, and you can fix
it to where you can do less sodium. They have
all different types of seasoning out here that does not
contain salt to where you can seizon your food to
where it could take really good. So you just have
to make sure that if you need to get a nutritionist,
get a nutritions and say, hey, these are the things
(16:08):
that I'm concerned about, and I would like to see
how I can eat so that I can prevent these
certain diseases. And the more and more good feel that
you put in your body, the more good results that
you're gonna have. Year round action looks like organization participation.
(16:32):
I just talked about this and to local events. Don't
be afraid to participate these big organizations. Trust me, they
have people donating to them all the time, so they
probably won't even see your name come across. When you
donate money, it goes right into the pot. But when
you donate to these local organizations, they really appreciate it
(16:55):
that money goes directly to most of the time the
people that they are helping. We just warriors talk with
our ninth annual Survivor Celebration a Reflection Gala this past
October eighteenth, we donated one thousand dollars to individuals that
was dealing with metastatic breast cancer. And you just don't know.
(17:16):
I mean, a thousand dollars may not seem like a
lot to these big organizations, but to an individual that
is day to day, that may not have a job,
that may be trying to get to and from treatment,
that may need medicine or maybe just need food, a
thousand dollars can be a lot of money. And we
were able to put the check in her hand right
(17:38):
at the event. And trust man, when I say, tears
was flowing, tears was flowing. And I wish that I
could do more, and I know in the future that
I will, but I feel like I just had to
do something because someone out here needs that money. You
can support someone that's in treatment. You can buy a
(17:59):
UBERC card and give it to someone that may not
have a car and that may need to get back
and forth to treatment, and you can put it right
in their hands. You can order groceries to come to
their house. You don't necessarily have to be like, ah,
I'm gonna take your grocery shop and no. You can
talk to them and see what it is that they
like to eat and have the groceries delivered right to
(18:22):
their house, like things that you can do to make
sure that you're making a direct impact on these individuals.
Sometimes people just need encouragement. It doesn't necessarily have to
be that you're giving them anything. Call them and see
how they're doing. Check on them. Hey, you're on my
mind today. I hope all this well, you know, keep going,
(18:42):
keep fighting. You know, I'm thinking about you. You got this.
Sometimes people just need encouragement. They don't necessarily need anything
where they're going through. One of the things that I
wish people would do is to share credible information when
people are going through their cancer journeys. A lot of
(19:03):
times we don't. We hear all these different myths, the
stories about different things that are going on. Oh so
and so when on an all celery diet and they
were able to cure their cancer. And you tell these
people that, and you make them feel some type of
way because that's not the way that they want to
(19:24):
do it. Now. It may have worked for that person,
but it may not work for everybody. Everybody's everybody's body
is different, everybody diagnoses different, everybody treatment may be different.
Although we may have the same cancer. The treatment may
affect my body different than it may affect your body.
So if you're going to give somebody some information, make
(19:45):
sure that it's credible and that you avoid these different
myths that are out here that would make someone feel
less than because they choose to do something else. You
can partner with the community health centers to help spread information.
A lot of times they have different events going on. Again,
(20:05):
you can share it whatever they're sharing it on Facebook,
whatever events they have coming up. You can share the
information to any any individual that you know that's dealing
with cancer, that's not dealing with cancer, to share the
information out. The more people that have the information, the
better it is. We perish for the lack of knowledge.
(20:26):
A lot of times we just don't know. We don't know. Okay,
this information is out here, but a lot of times
in our community we don't like to share the information.
Sometimes it be a lot of free stuff in our
community as well. We'll go get it and we won't
call anybody else and say, ooh girl, yeah they was
giving out these colts, brand new coats. Girl up the street.
(20:48):
We'll go get the colts, go home, and won't even
call nobody else and say, girl, go get you a colt.
They like share the information. It doesn't hurt. You can
also contact your legislator to support breast cancer research funding.
Pick up the phone, send an email. It's so easy
to do. You can join me when I go to Washington.
(21:10):
I'm going in January and I'll be back again in April.
You can join me in Washington and we meet with
the legislators face to face. You can do it right
here at home. You can go to their town hall
meetings and you can talk to them. You can ask
questions again. You can send a letter, you can write
an email. You can post something on your Facebook and
(21:30):
you can tag them in it, call them out, like
I need you to support some of these, you know,
cancer fundraising initiatives. We bote these people in We need
to hold them accountable. You can join support advocacy groups
like the National Breast Cancer Coalition. They train advocates so
(21:51):
that we can hit the front lines and we can
be equipped to talk to our legislators. We could be
equipped to go out in the community and spread information
to individuals in our community. Again that may not know
all of the things that we have in the community,
that would help an individual go through their cancer journey
(22:12):
with support so that they don't feel like they're alone.
A lot of times people feel like they alone, they
don't have any support, any resources, and it doesn't have
to be that way. It's so many different resources out here,
different platforms that are doing different things that would help
support you alone in your cancer journey. You can attend
(22:34):
summits and webinars to help stay informed. That's what I do,
and that's the main reason for me going to Washington
in May is so that I go to the seminars.
I go to the summits so that I can get information,
I can stay up to date on everything as it
has to do with breast cancer. I can't call myself
an advocate and I'm not out there educating myself so
(22:56):
that I would be able to help individuals that are
going through You have to be able to educate yourself,
get this information, and then share what you have learned
with other people. Don't keep it to yourself. True action
is not a one time event, but it is. It's
a lifestyle. So it's something that I wouldn't say that
(23:18):
you have to do it every single day, but it's
something that should be consistent, especially when it comes to
breast cancer. So the cost of stopping just at awareness.
If we decide to just say, okay, we're just gonna
stop at awareness. Breast Cancer Awareness Month has passed and
(23:40):
I'm done with that. I wore my pink, I purchased
something in pink, I share a post, and now Breast
Cancer Awareness Month is over. Like I've done what I
was supposed to do well. According to statistics, it says
an estimated three hundred ten seven and twenty new cases
a breast cancer will be diagnosed in women in the
(24:02):
US in twenty twenty five. That's according to the American
Cancer Society. That's a lot of women who will be diagnosed.
And if we just stay at awareness, then that number,
that one in eight of women diagnosed with breast cancer
in the US is going to stay at that or
(24:23):
either it's going to stay at that or either it's
going to the number will go down. It may be
one in six. So roughly out of that number, forty
three seven hundred women are expected to die from breast
cancer in the US in twenty twenty five. I don't
(24:43):
care if it's one person one one person is one
too many, is one too many. Early detection through screening
can loure deaths by up to thirty percent. If you
notice they always push early detection. Never hear them say cure.
We never really hear them say prevention. But the focus
(25:06):
is always on early prevention. And I always said early
prevention is just means that you have breast cancer. They
just caught it early. It just means that your treatment
may be less invasive, you may have more treatment options,
you may not have to go through all of the
invasive treatment that someone may have to go through at
(25:27):
a stage three, or your treatment options at stage four
may be less. So early detection screening save lives. So
when it's time for you to get your mammograms, just
go and get the mammogram. And if you have dense breast,
dense breast is when the tissue in your breast looks
(25:51):
just like breast cancer, so it's hard for them to
tell if they see cancer on a regular mammogram. So
you have to make sure if they ever mentioned that
you have dense breasts, that you should be getting a
different type of mammogram and not the regular mammogram. If
you have to get the mriight one to where they're
able to see in detail past that that dense tissue
(26:15):
in your breast, then that's what you need to do.
Whenever they say dense tissue, you know that you should
not be getting the normal mammogram. And black women, we
are forty percent more likely to die from breast cancer
then white women, even though our incident rate is the
same when it comes to us being diagnosed. So it's
(26:37):
not that Black women are being diagnosed more. It's just
that when we're diagnosed, we're more likely to die from
the disease. And that can come from a number of reasons.
It could be maybe limited access to care. It could
be maybe we're not following up more. When the doctors
send us a letter and say, hey, we saw something suspicious.
You need to come back in, We're like, yeah, no,
(27:00):
not going. I don't want to know. I don't want
to know. Or we may put it off, put it off,
we may feel something, and then because we tend to
take care of everybody else but ourselves, a lot of
time until we don't have any other choice but to
go in. And then when we do go in, we're
being diagnosed at later stages. So that's really where the
(27:23):
majority of the forty percent come in. Is that a
lot of times we may go get mammograms and maybe
the machines that they're using may not be up to date,
machines may not be able to catch the mammograms on
those machines. Or again, you have to make sure that
(27:44):
we are following up. This is your You get one body,
one tempo, and make sure that you are following up.
Don't put it off, don't deny, but verify it. And
so those numbers remind us that this isn't just about awareness.
It's about action that saves lives, early screening conversations, and
even policy changes. All love it counts, all love accounts.
(28:09):
Don't discount one and say, oh, it's not my job
to talk to you know, my legislature about anything to
do with breast cancer. They should know, no, No, these
people you have voted in. You have a right to
voice your opinion. Your voice matters. So I have a
(28:29):
call to action for warriors. To every warrior that's listening,
choose one action that you can take before the end
of the year, whether it be scheduling your mammogram, inviting
a friend to join you, volunteer with an organization, or simply,
(28:52):
if you have had breast cancer and you just share
your story with someone, what action are you going to
take as it relates to moving beyond October? Because what
happens when October is over? We go back to business
as usual? But think about it. What type of action
(29:13):
can you take? You could drop it in the comments.
What type of action can you take to move beyond
awareness towards taking action when October has ended? And remember,
as we close our Breast Cancer Awareness month, awareness just
opens the door, but we know action helps us walk
(29:36):
through that door. So let's not just wear pink, but
let's make sure we're living beyond that pink with prevention,
with education, with advocacy, and with the action that we're taken.
And again, it doesn't have to be on a daily basis,
but it should be something that we incorporate into our life.
(29:58):
It should be a lifestyle. Living healthy should be a lifestyle.
Making healthier choices should be a lifestyle. Getting moving should
be a lifestyle. Talking about health should be a lifestyle.
So what type of action are you going to take?
(30:19):
Is me challenging you beyond Breast Cancer Awareness Month? All right,
you guys? So there you have it. What happens after October.
You let me know what happens after October. You let
me know what type of action you're gonna take once
this month has ended. I want to highlight my closing sponsor,
(30:39):
which is Gloria Dotson with Mary Kay and she's catering
to all of your beauty needs from head to toe.
You can go to Marykay dot com, slash g dot
s N and let her know that warriors Talk sent you.
Warriors Talk is always looking for individuals to share their
story on warriors Stale. If you have been through a
(31:02):
life altering diagnosis or just an event in your life
and you want to encourage someone else, I encourage you
to contact me via email warristalone at gmail dot com,
or you can send me in an inbox on Facebook
and let me know you want to share your story.
You can purchase my journal. This is a guided journal
(31:25):
for healing, faith and empowerment, and this is you taking
charge of cancer. Remember, cancer is a diagnosis that changes everything,
but it doesn't have to define who you are. So
this journal is for individuals who are in the cancer
battle and you could take it with you the treatment
and you can journal your whole treatment and After that
(31:50):
you can begin to write your book if that's what
you want to do. Warriors Talk just released our second anthology,
when Warrior Talk, Faith Emerges, letting go and letting God
transform our journeys, and I have four new authors that
talked about surrendering to God and allowing him to just
(32:14):
guide them through their cancer journey and how their faith
was renewed because of it. So if you know someone
that's going through a life altering journey or situation, this
would be a good book for them to read. It
would definitely give you some encouragement and it would help
you to uplift your faith. All Right, you guys, that
(32:36):
has been our episode of Warriors Talk today. I will
leave you with these words of wisdom. Awareness is only
as powerful when it leads to action, So make sure
you join me next Monday right here at six pm
on Intellectual Radio. As always, thank you for tuning in
(32:56):
to Warriors Talk with author and founder Lady Rochelle, where
we are changing lives one warrior at a time.
Speaker 5 (33:04):
Thank you for listening to this week's edition of Warriors
Talk with Lady Rochelle. To find out more about Warriors Talk,
follow at Warriors Talk The number one on all social
media outlets and Warriors Talk with Lady Rochelle on YouTube.
Please join us next week and every Monday evening at
(33:25):
six pm Central Standard Time on Intellectual Radio dot com
for Warriors Talk with Lady Rochelle, where we encourage, educate,
and empower you into action
Lady Rachelle.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Good Evening, Warriors. Welcome to another episode of Warriors Talk.
I am your host, Lady Rochelle, and October is known
worldwide as Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but awareness without action
is just information. So tonight we're talking about what it
means not only to take action, but do what year
(00:48):
round and make an impact. So here's the truth. Breast
Cancer Awareness Month doesn't just end with October, but November,
December and every month after that. The question is what
will you do with what you have learned this month?
So go ahead, grab your tee, your water, in your
journals and join in on this life saving conversation. On
(01:13):
the last episode of Warriors Talk, doctor Michelle Meeks and
I discuss hyper thyroidism and hype bo thyroidism and how
your thyroids can tip the scale. So hit on over
to YouTube and type in Intellectual Radio and stay connected
for any episodes you may have missed. Our quote of
(01:36):
the day is awareness without action is like planting a
seed and not watering it. If you are tuned in
on any form of social media, please like the show,
share the show, and invite someone else in on the
show that you feel may benefit from this valuable information.
I'm so grateful for my sponsor. On today, we have
(01:57):
Pastor Michael Richardson with the Emmanuel Church of God in
Christ who has a special message for us.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Greetings. I am Pastor Michael Richardson.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
And I am first Lady Anna Station Richardson from the
Emmanuel Church of God in Christ. We're located at thirty
to fifty eight West Van Buren in Chicago, Illinois. We
are building upon a solid foundation.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
And we're inviting you to join us every Sunday morning
on Facebook Live Emmanuel Kojik at ten fifteen Central Standard Time.
So view our videos on our YouTube channel at Emmanuel
Kojik dash Mr. Once again, this is Pastor Michael Richardson and.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
First Lady Anna Station Richardson, and we are from the.
Speaker 4 (02:51):
Emanuel of God in Christ.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
We are building upon a solid foundation.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
I am not you laugh on YouTube. Okay, I'll just
keep going unless you want me to start from the top. Okay,
let me press it. On today's episode, we're talking about
(03:21):
what we're gonna do after the month of October. Now
that we are winding down to the end of October,
which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, what are you going
to do with all of that information that you've just
learned about breast cancer, about awareness, how do you take
(03:42):
that information and transform it over into your life to
where you're making daily actions? What kind of actions can
you take? So today we're going to talk about that
awareness versus action. What is awareness? Awareness is known as
just knowing what breast cancer is, knowing that it exists,
(04:05):
and action is doing something about the awareness that you
have just learned. So wear your pink, But what are
you going to do after that? What type of choices,
what type of commitments are you going to make to
take action beyond October? So I will give you some
(04:26):
examples of awareness that you can take. Number one, you
can schedule your mammogram and you can also encourage someone
else to do the same. Take a friend with you
if you are nervous to get a mammogram. Sometimes we
talk to other people about mammograms and we frighten them
(04:48):
and next thing you know, they're like, oh no, I'm
not going to get no mammogram. Because my friend Susie
said when she got a mammogram, they smashed her breast
and she was hurting for days. She was just in pain.
And so take a friend with you if you think
that you may be afraid or you don't have the
courage to do it. Sometimes when you do it with somebody,
(05:10):
you know you're more opt to do it. So I
encourage you to go and then encourage someone else to go.
Another action you can take is learn your family history
and your genetic risk. What type of cancer, not just
breast cancer, but what type of cancer is running your
family and what does that history look like. Is it
(05:32):
a mother, a father, is it a distance your grandmother,
your grandfather, or an aunt uncle like, what does it
look like, and then think about your risk. If it's
an immediate family member, then you know that your risk,
your risk increases and you need to be talking to
your doctor about that risk. Always tell my girls, I
(05:54):
was diagnosed at forty three, so add thirty three, which
is ten years before my diagnosis. They should be talking
to their doctors about screening or whenever you go to
the doctor, dy'll they normally ask you questions and it
lists what runs in your family. Be honest about what
runs in your family so that you can start having
(06:15):
a conversation about when it's necessary for you to screen
and when it comes to genetic risk. You may need
to get genetic testing. If breast cancer does run in
your family, then you may want to start talking about
genetic testing to see what percentage puts you at risk
for breast cancer. There's the Bronco one in the Braco
(06:38):
two gene. If you test positive for either one, then
we know it increases your chance of breast cancer as
well as ovarian cancer. So you want to be having
those conversations with your family as well as with your doctor.
Another way to take action is to support organizations year round, organizations,
(07:00):
especially local ones that are in your community. You can volunteer,
you can donate, You can advocate. When you see an
organization share a post on Facebook, whether they're having an
event or they're just sharing information, share that postyle as well.
That's one way of helping to spread the word. You
(07:21):
can call them up and ask how can you volunteer
with them? If they're having an event, they may need
more hands. Call up and say, hey, I see that
you have a gala coming up. How can I be
useful If you have a donation. Sometimes people think donations
always equal money, and it doesn't. Sometimes you can donate items.
(07:41):
Sometimes you can donate time and then sometimes you can
donate money. Just figure out what it is that you
can do, what you're capable of doing, but do something.
Another action you can take is to adopt a healthier
diet and lifestyle. This will help read your risks of
cancer period, not just breast cancer, but cancer and other
(08:06):
life threatening diseases. If you're not moving, if you're not exercising.
We know that exercising reduces your risks of breast cancer.
It also reduces your risks of having a real currence
of cancer. Make sure that you're eating the right foods
that would fuel your body to destroy those cancer cells.
(08:26):
Find out what type of foods. There's blueberries, there's broccoli
that you can eat, this's avocados that you can eat,
different type of fruits. But the berries I heard that
they have to be frozen berries in order for you
to get the benefit, the full benefit of those berries.
So find out what type of foods that you can
(08:47):
eat that would help fuel your system so that you
can decrease your risk of breast cancer and overall live
a healthier lifestyle. You know they talk about alcohol increase
to your risk of breast cancer. So if you know
you're having more than one or two drinks a day.
Then you know that your chances of getting breast cancer
(09:10):
will go up. So make sure you're even decreasing your alcohol,
making sure when it comes to smoking, you're not smoking.
We know that smoking contributes to lung cancer as well.
Another way to reduce your risks or to take action
when it comes to breast cancer. Moving from awareness towards
(09:31):
action is having an open conversation about health period with
love ones. A lot of times we're afraid to have
these conversations, number one, because they're scary and we don't
want to hear it. We don't want to hear about
people being sick. We don't want to know. A lot
of times people pass away and they may not even
say what they passed away from. They may keep it
(09:52):
a secret and tell other people in the family start
getting these diseases, and then all of a sudden, you're like, oh, yeah,
so and so passed away from, and you just like, what,
why didn't nobody tell me this? Like, it's important for
us to have conversations because it empowers us to have
this information, because then you know how to really move
(10:13):
forward in your life. You know that if diabetes running
your family then okay, it runs in your family, doesn't
necessarily mean you have to get diabetes. But I always
say that your lifestyle it loads the gun. Whatever you're doing,
you're fueling it, right, you're lowering that gun. But then
you can also pour the trigger just by the daily
(10:34):
things that you do. So just make sure that you know, Okay,
diabetes running my family, and I know if I do
certain things that it put me at an increased risk
for diabetes, So then you take those necessary actions, necessary
steps to decrease your risk. Diabetes is one of those
things that run in my family, type one and type two.
(10:57):
But we know type one is lifestyle, Type two is
more autoimmune. So type two would be the one that
I would watch out for as far as what I eat,
me getting moving, and just basically watching my overall health
because I know that it runs in my family. Awareness
(11:18):
plants the seed, so we get this awareness information every October,
and I feel like Breast Cancer Awareness Month does an
excellent job at awareness, an excellent job at planting the
seed at Breast cancer Awareness. But it's the action that
you take that actually waters that seed. And without that
(11:41):
next step, then we can't grow. Change can't happen. You
have to be able to take what you learned and
turn it into action. So what do you need to
do with year round action? How does year round action
looks when it to awareness again, getting out of that
(12:03):
month of October and doing more with what you have learned.
Know your risk factors. Know that as you increase with age, ladies,
that so does breast cancer. Genetics affect more than eighty
five percent of women who get breast cancer do not
have a family history. It's that fifteen to twenty percent.
(12:24):
It's only only have that familiar risk, that genetic link.
So don't feel like, oh, well, you know breast cancer
doesn't run in my family, so I really don't have
to worry about it. Well according to research, according to statistics,
eighty five percent of women who are diagnosed don't have
that family history. So whether you have a family history
(12:47):
or not, you should know what the risk factors are
when it comes to age with breast cancer. And nowadays,
younger and younger women are being diagnosed with breast cancer.
They tell you to get a memory gram at forty,
but a lot of women are being diagnosed way before forty,
way before forty, So don't let the age criteria fool
(13:09):
you into thinking that, oh, I don't have to worry
about my breast until I get of this age. No,
younger women are being diagnosed all the time. Make sure
that you are performing your monthly self checks just so
you would know what your normals are, so that when
something is not normal, then you're able to identify it,
(13:30):
and if it's lasting more than three weeks, you're talking
to your doctor about it. So if you're doing your
monthly checks, then you know what your normal feel shape
of your breast feel like before and after your period,
and then you can determine if something is not normal.
But if you're not doing those normal checks, as soon
(13:51):
as you feel something, you can be like, ooh, I
think this is negative. I think I may have breast cancer. No,
you should be touching your breasts every single month so
that you know what your normal feel like. When it
comes to routine screenings, this conversation should start with your
doctor because sometimes when you're younger, they try to steer
(14:14):
you away from being screen But if you have issues
with your breast, if you have breast cancer that runs
in your family, especially if someone was diagnosed younger, then
you should be having those conversations with your doctor about
what does routine screening looks like for me? When should
I start routine screenings, when should I start the clinical exams,
(14:38):
and what does it look like for me moving forward
as it relates to routine screenings. For some people, if
you're younger, they do the clinical exams once a year.
If nothing's there, they may just want to monitor you,
just check in with you, just because it may run
in your family. If you don't have any issues, they
(15:00):
may say, oh, okay, well you can do it every year.
Or you're not, it's not time for you to do
the mamogram yet, wait until you're forty. So it just
depends on your history and if you haven't any type
of ongoing issues with your breast, eat for prevention, eat
more plants and less processed foods. Processed foods is just
(15:25):
not as it relates to just breast cancer, but any
type of disease, your your diabetes, your heart disease, as
it relates to stroke, high blood pressure. Like eating more
plant based eating less processed foods, it's going to have
less sodium. If you're cooking more at home, you know
(15:45):
what you're putting in your food, and you can fix
it to where you can do less sodium. They have
all different types of seasoning out here that does not
contain salt to where you can seizon your food to
where it could take really good. So you just have
to make sure that if you need to get a nutritionist,
get a nutritions and say, hey, these are the things
(16:08):
that I'm concerned about, and I would like to see
how I can eat so that I can prevent these
certain diseases. And the more and more good feel that
you put in your body, the more good results that
you're gonna have. Year round action looks like organization participation.
(16:32):
I just talked about this and to local events. Don't
be afraid to participate these big organizations. Trust me, they
have people donating to them all the time, so they
probably won't even see your name come across. When you
donate money, it goes right into the pot. But when
you donate to these local organizations, they really appreciate it
(16:55):
that money goes directly to most of the time the
people that they are helping. We just warriors talk with
our ninth annual Survivor Celebration a Reflection Gala this past
October eighteenth, we donated one thousand dollars to individuals that
was dealing with metastatic breast cancer. And you just don't know.
(17:16):
I mean, a thousand dollars may not seem like a
lot to these big organizations, but to an individual that
is day to day, that may not have a job,
that may be trying to get to and from treatment,
that may need medicine or maybe just need food, a
thousand dollars can be a lot of money. And we
were able to put the check in her hand right
(17:38):
at the event. And trust man, when I say, tears
was flowing, tears was flowing. And I wish that I
could do more, and I know in the future that
I will, but I feel like I just had to
do something because someone out here needs that money. You
can support someone that's in treatment. You can buy a
(17:59):
UBERC card and give it to someone that may not
have a car and that may need to get back
and forth to treatment, and you can put it right
in their hands. You can order groceries to come to
their house. You don't necessarily have to be like, ah,
I'm gonna take your grocery shop and no. You can
talk to them and see what it is that they
like to eat and have the groceries delivered right to
(18:22):
their house, like things that you can do to make
sure that you're making a direct impact on these individuals.
Sometimes people just need encouragement. It doesn't necessarily have to
be that you're giving them anything. Call them and see
how they're doing. Check on them. Hey, you're on my
mind today. I hope all this well, you know, keep going,
(18:42):
keep fighting. You know, I'm thinking about you. You got this.
Sometimes people just need encouragement. They don't necessarily need anything
where they're going through. One of the things that I
wish people would do is to share credible information when
people are going through their cancer journeys. A lot of
(19:03):
times we don't. We hear all these different myths, the
stories about different things that are going on. Oh so
and so when on an all celery diet and they
were able to cure their cancer. And you tell these
people that, and you make them feel some type of
way because that's not the way that they want to
(19:24):
do it. Now. It may have worked for that person,
but it may not work for everybody. Everybody's everybody's body
is different, everybody diagnoses different, everybody treatment may be different.
Although we may have the same cancer. The treatment may
affect my body different than it may affect your body.
So if you're going to give somebody some information, make
(19:45):
sure that it's credible and that you avoid these different
myths that are out here that would make someone feel
less than because they choose to do something else. You
can partner with the community health centers to help spread information.
A lot of times they have different events going on. Again,
(20:05):
you can share it whatever they're sharing it on Facebook,
whatever events they have coming up. You can share the
information to any any individual that you know that's dealing
with cancer, that's not dealing with cancer, to share the
information out. The more people that have the information, the
better it is. We perish for the lack of knowledge.
(20:26):
A lot of times we just don't know. We don't know. Okay,
this information is out here, but a lot of times
in our community we don't like to share the information.
Sometimes it be a lot of free stuff in our
community as well. We'll go get it and we won't
call anybody else and say, ooh girl, yeah they was
giving out these colts, brand new coats. Girl up the street.
(20:48):
We'll go get the colts, go home, and won't even
call nobody else and say, girl, go get you a colt.
They like share the information. It doesn't hurt. You can
also contact your legislator to support breast cancer research funding.
Pick up the phone, send an email. It's so easy
to do. You can join me when I go to Washington.
(21:10):
I'm going in January and I'll be back again in April.
You can join me in Washington and we meet with
the legislators face to face. You can do it right
here at home. You can go to their town hall
meetings and you can talk to them. You can ask
questions again. You can send a letter, you can write
an email. You can post something on your Facebook and
(21:30):
you can tag them in it, call them out, like
I need you to support some of these, you know,
cancer fundraising initiatives. We bote these people in We need
to hold them accountable. You can join support advocacy groups
like the National Breast Cancer Coalition. They train advocates so
(21:51):
that we can hit the front lines and we can
be equipped to talk to our legislators. We could be
equipped to go out in the community and spread information
to individuals in our community. Again that may not know
all of the things that we have in the community,
that would help an individual go through their cancer journey
(22:12):
with support so that they don't feel like they're alone.
A lot of times people feel like they alone, they
don't have any support, any resources, and it doesn't have
to be that way. It's so many different resources out here,
different platforms that are doing different things that would help
support you alone in your cancer journey. You can attend
(22:34):
summits and webinars to help stay informed. That's what I do,
and that's the main reason for me going to Washington
in May is so that I go to the seminars.
I go to the summits so that I can get information,
I can stay up to date on everything as it
has to do with breast cancer. I can't call myself
an advocate and I'm not out there educating myself so
(22:56):
that I would be able to help individuals that are
going through You have to be able to educate yourself,
get this information, and then share what you have learned
with other people. Don't keep it to yourself. True action
is not a one time event, but it is. It's
a lifestyle. So it's something that I wouldn't say that
(23:18):
you have to do it every single day, but it's
something that should be consistent, especially when it comes to
breast cancer. So the cost of stopping just at awareness.
If we decide to just say, okay, we're just gonna
stop at awareness. Breast Cancer Awareness Month has passed and
(23:40):
I'm done with that. I wore my pink, I purchased
something in pink, I share a post, and now Breast
Cancer Awareness Month is over. Like I've done what I
was supposed to do well. According to statistics, it says
an estimated three hundred ten seven and twenty new cases
a breast cancer will be diagnosed in women in the
(24:02):
US in twenty twenty five. That's according to the American
Cancer Society. That's a lot of women who will be diagnosed.
And if we just stay at awareness, then that number,
that one in eight of women diagnosed with breast cancer
in the US is going to stay at that or
(24:23):
either it's going to stay at that or either it's
going to the number will go down. It may be
one in six. So roughly out of that number, forty
three seven hundred women are expected to die from breast
cancer in the US in twenty twenty five. I don't
(24:43):
care if it's one person one one person is one
too many, is one too many. Early detection through screening
can loure deaths by up to thirty percent. If you
notice they always push early detection. Never hear them say cure.
We never really hear them say prevention. But the focus
(25:06):
is always on early prevention. And I always said early
prevention is just means that you have breast cancer. They
just caught it early. It just means that your treatment
may be less invasive, you may have more treatment options,
you may not have to go through all of the
invasive treatment that someone may have to go through at
(25:27):
a stage three, or your treatment options at stage four
may be less. So early detection screening save lives. So
when it's time for you to get your mammograms, just
go and get the mammogram. And if you have dense breast,
dense breast is when the tissue in your breast looks
(25:51):
just like breast cancer, so it's hard for them to
tell if they see cancer on a regular mammogram. So
you have to make sure if they ever mentioned that
you have dense breasts, that you should be getting a
different type of mammogram and not the regular mammogram. If
you have to get the mriight one to where they're
able to see in detail past that that dense tissue
(26:15):
in your breast, then that's what you need to do.
Whenever they say dense tissue, you know that you should
not be getting the normal mammogram. And black women, we
are forty percent more likely to die from breast cancer
then white women, even though our incident rate is the
same when it comes to us being diagnosed. So it's
(26:37):
not that Black women are being diagnosed more. It's just
that when we're diagnosed, we're more likely to die from
the disease. And that can come from a number of reasons.
It could be maybe limited access to care. It could
be maybe we're not following up more. When the doctors
send us a letter and say, hey, we saw something suspicious.
You need to come back in, We're like, yeah, no,
(27:00):
not going. I don't want to know. I don't want
to know. Or we may put it off, put it off,
we may feel something, and then because we tend to
take care of everybody else but ourselves, a lot of
time until we don't have any other choice but to
go in. And then when we do go in, we're
being diagnosed at later stages. So that's really where the
(27:23):
majority of the forty percent come in. Is that a
lot of times we may go get mammograms and maybe
the machines that they're using may not be up to date,
machines may not be able to catch the mammograms on
those machines. Or again, you have to make sure that
(27:44):
we are following up. This is your You get one body,
one tempo, and make sure that you are following up.
Don't put it off, don't deny, but verify it. And
so those numbers remind us that this isn't just about awareness.
It's about action that saves lives, early screening conversations, and
even policy changes. All love it counts, all love accounts.
(28:09):
Don't discount one and say, oh, it's not my job
to talk to you know, my legislature about anything to
do with breast cancer. They should know, no, No, these
people you have voted in. You have a right to
voice your opinion. Your voice matters. So I have a
(28:29):
call to action for warriors. To every warrior that's listening,
choose one action that you can take before the end
of the year, whether it be scheduling your mammogram, inviting
a friend to join you, volunteer with an organization, or simply,
(28:52):
if you have had breast cancer and you just share
your story with someone, what action are you going to
take as it relates to moving beyond October? Because what
happens when October is over? We go back to business
as usual? But think about it. What type of action
(29:13):
can you take? You could drop it in the comments.
What type of action can you take to move beyond
awareness towards taking action when October has ended? And remember,
as we close our Breast Cancer Awareness month, awareness just
opens the door, but we know action helps us walk
(29:36):
through that door. So let's not just wear pink, but
let's make sure we're living beyond that pink with prevention,
with education, with advocacy, and with the action that we're taken.
And again, it doesn't have to be on a daily basis,
but it should be something that we incorporate into our life.
(29:58):
It should be a lifestyle. Living healthy should be a lifestyle.
Making healthier choices should be a lifestyle. Getting moving should
be a lifestyle. Talking about health should be a lifestyle.
So what type of action are you going to take?
(30:19):
Is me challenging you beyond Breast Cancer Awareness Month? All right,
you guys? So there you have it. What happens after October.
You let me know what happens after October. You let
me know what type of action you're gonna take once
this month has ended. I want to highlight my closing sponsor,
(30:39):
which is Gloria Dotson with Mary Kay and she's catering
to all of your beauty needs from head to toe.
You can go to Marykay dot com, slash g dot
s N and let her know that warriors Talk sent you.
Warriors Talk is always looking for individuals to share their
story on warriors Stale. If you have been through a
(31:02):
life altering diagnosis or just an event in your life
and you want to encourage someone else, I encourage you
to contact me via email warristalone at gmail dot com,
or you can send me in an inbox on Facebook
and let me know you want to share your story.
You can purchase my journal. This is a guided journal
(31:25):
for healing, faith and empowerment, and this is you taking
charge of cancer. Remember, cancer is a diagnosis that changes everything,
but it doesn't have to define who you are. So
this journal is for individuals who are in the cancer
battle and you could take it with you the treatment
and you can journal your whole treatment and After that
(31:50):
you can begin to write your book if that's what
you want to do. Warriors Talk just released our second anthology,
when Warrior Talk, Faith Emerges, letting go and letting God
transform our journeys, and I have four new authors that
talked about surrendering to God and allowing him to just
(32:14):
guide them through their cancer journey and how their faith
was renewed because of it. So if you know someone
that's going through a life altering journey or situation, this
would be a good book for them to read. It
would definitely give you some encouragement and it would help
you to uplift your faith. All Right, you guys, that
(32:36):
has been our episode of Warriors Talk today. I will
leave you with these words of wisdom. Awareness is only
as powerful when it leads to action, So make sure
you join me next Monday right here at six pm
on Intellectual Radio. As always, thank you for tuning in
(32:56):
to Warriors Talk with author and founder Lady Rochelle, where
we are changing lives one warrior at a time.
Speaker 5 (33:04):
Thank you for listening to this week's edition of Warriors
Talk with Lady Rochelle. To find out more about Warriors Talk,
follow at Warriors Talk The number one on all social
media outlets and Warriors Talk with Lady Rochelle on YouTube.
Please join us next week and every Monday evening at
(33:25):
six pm Central Standard Time on Intellectual Radio dot com
for Warriors Talk with Lady Rochelle, where we encourage, educate,
and empower you into action
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