October 11, 2023 • 34 mins
Today, we're shining a spotlight on the formidable Lissette Lahoz, a breast cancer survivor whose strength and determination are a testament to human resilience. Strap in as Lissette takes us on an emotional roller coaster, from the first moment of her diagnosis, through the trials of her treatments, to her ultimate triumph over this formidable adversary.
As we navigate Lissette's journey, we also uncover the invaluable work of the Promise Fund, an organization dedicated to serving low-income and minority women who are at high risk for breast and cervical cancer. Lissette, now the Director of Patient Navigation & Community Engagement for The Promise Fund, gives us an intimate look into the essential support they provide. The episode is brimming with insights on the importance of early screening, self-advocacy, and community support. So, buckle up for a ride filled with tears, laughter, inspiration, and most importantly, hope.
Lissette and The Promise Fund of Florida are helping me Change The World, One S.M.I.L.E. At A Time by advocating for early detection in all walks of life.
➡️If you or someone you know would like to be a guest on our podcast, please email SMILE@shannonburrows.com
➡️If you have any real estate needs anywhere in the world, please email shannonburrowsrealtor@gmail.com
Reach Lissette Lahoz and The Promise Fund of Florida at:
● Lissette Lahoz Email: Lissette@promisefundofflorida.org
● The Promise Fund Website: The Promise Fund
● The Promise Fund Instagram Page: The Promise Fund
● The Promise Fund Facebook Page: The Promise Fund
Follow us at:
● Personal Instagram: @shannonmburrows
● Podcast Instagram Page: @bustinoutofbreastcancer
● Personal Facebook: Shannon M Burrows
● Podcast Facebook Page: Bustin' Out of Breast Cancer Podcast
Don’t forget to Follow, Subscribe and Share this podcast so you can help us Change The World, One S.M.I.L.E. At A Time!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey there and welcome to Bustin Out of Breast Cancer,
the podcast that educates,empowers and inspires those
impacted by breast cancer.
I'm your host, shannonBurroughs, a realtor who found
her purpose at the intersectionof passion and pain while
navigating her own breast cancerjourney, and loves giving back
to the community.
Having worked with many breastcancer survivors and their
families, I understand thechallenges they face and the
importance of raising awarenessabout this disease and bridging
(00:21):
the gap between the medical andfitness industries.
Join us as we share stories ofsurvivors, caregivers and
healthcare professionals who aremaking a difference in the
fight against breast cancer.
Our goal is to raise awareness,provide resources and create a
community of support for thoseaffected by this disease.
I have a mission of changing theworld one smile at a time.
So, whether you're a breastcancer survivor, a loved one, a
friend or just interested inlearning more, this podcast is
(00:42):
for you.
Let's bust out of breast cancertogether and make a difference
in the lives of those affectedby this disease.
All right well, welcome to thisepisode of Bustin Out of Breast
Cancer.
I'm super excited for you tolisten to Lissette LaHaus' story
and how she navigated her ownbreast cancer journey, but what
she's doing now to be able togive back to those affected by
(01:04):
this disease in a community thatis not really talked about.
So I think it's really superimportant.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
So welcome, lissette, thank you.
Thank you, shannon.
Did I pronounce your last name,right?
I hope yes.
Okay, I was like I probablyshould have asked that before.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Hello, here we are.
This is real raw conversations.
Here we are.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Thank you.
It's like since I met you.
You are full of energy andpassionate.
I remember my firstconversation with you.
We really love a lot, which isimportant in this journey, and
we connect immediately.
So I was like talking to you tosee how we can actually connect
in different ways within thefoundation and I realized I
(01:48):
already knew like from the verybeginning that I met you, what
you need, where you needed to befor the Promise Fund.
So thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Oh, that's so nice.
I remember our first timemeeting too, so fun fact for
those listening.
So I met Lissette because I ama stalker and I'm just super
passionate about those thingsthat I want to be involved in.
And after I left making strides, I wanted to find an
(02:16):
organization that I could giveback to in the local community.
I didn't want it to be global,I wanted it to be local, to help
those that are local, and Ifound the Promise Fund.
Actually, a mom at Bradley'sschool had told me about the
Promise Fund and I hadn't heardof it.
So I looked at it in research,at whatever, and then I was like
, oh, I want to learn more aboutthis.
So then I like, I called, Iemailed, I did the chat, I did
this.
I'm like, oh my God, thesepeople don't want me.
(02:36):
What is happening?
Like blah, blah, blah.
So, yes, I stalked you.
And then we met a Panera bread,which we did.
We totally connected right offthe get go and what we thought
was going to be a quick likehour meeting I think we must
have been there for like two,three hours and we laughed.
And if I remember correctly, itwas FunPan Friday.
Yeah, yes.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
And yes, you look amazing.
I was like I like her a lot.
She's real.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
I am I'm real wrong Kind of crazy.
That's all good, whatever youonly live once.
Right, I feel like that's cliche, that's saying it's so cliche,
but it's so true.
Anyway, so that's how we met,and so you never know, whenever
I meet you or whenever you meetme, whenever we connect, like
you never know where our journeyis going to take us together.
And I think our journey hasbeen fantastic and I think your
journey is amazing and I thinkit needs to be shared.
(03:23):
So let's talk about when youfirst got diagnosed, because
when we met, you were a newsurvivor, correct.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Correct.
So we, that was back a year.
Well, I get, I get, I getdiagnosed, like in March, and
then at the end of March andthen in May I got my surgery, I
got lumpectomy of my left breast.
But before that the journey was, I needed to know more, needed
(03:52):
to make sure that while I wasgoing into this journey, that
that I had the best right,because I knew, working for a
foundation, what are the adsRight?
I work for a foundation cancerfoundation and I am encouraging
and I'm passionate encouragingwomen.
(04:12):
Just go and get your screenings.
It's so important for you toget your screening.
So I go and get my regularscreening mammogram.
And guess what, when theradiologist gone and say to me I
need to do a biopsy, I'm like Iexactly knew what he meant when
he say a biopsy.
I'm like why?
(04:32):
Why do you need to do a biopsy?
You know, you know it was likeafter COVID, I just wanted to
make sure that this is notsomething you know.
And I'm like, okay, and then heexplained to me and of course I
was knowledgeable and sometimesyou know, the more information
you have, the more right.
It's scary.
It's like what is this guy?
(04:54):
What does?
He wants to do biopsy.
But anyway, moving forward, theoutcomes were great.
I got, you know, really reallygood surgeon.
I got a great oncologist, oldwoman, and I love them.
They are so amazing.
They are as passionate as I amand I think one of the questions
that my surgeon asked me shegoes because she's very involved
(05:17):
with the foundation.
She goes, so least set.
I'm sure that this experienceis going to change how you do
things now and I say, oh my gosh, yes, absolutely.
So I was like, like you say,like a stalker, like right, like
after people, but now I feellike I'm like, everywhere I go,
(05:41):
I can stop, I cannot stoptalking about why screening is
important.
Sure, yeah.
So I think that everywhere I goand I work with many women, you
know I am a woman of faith andI encounter, I lead a group of
women, and so everywhere I go, Italk a lot about why it's so
(06:06):
important.
You know, shannon, I'm sure youknow, breast cancer is 99%
survival rate.
So if you do your screeningearly, you're going to be fine.
You're going to be fine.
So of course it's scary becausewhen you hear that word, right,
cancer is like when they call meand gave me the results and say
(06:30):
the same guy who told me thathe needed to do the biopsy.
He said radiologist and he's.
I say you can call me, I don'tneed to come back here.
So he called me and he said youknow, I have, I have bad news.
And as soon as he said okay,and I was with my husband at
that time, and when he said youhave cancer, and I said okay, I
(06:54):
need more information, and hestarted saying you stay zero.
So the good news within the badnews is that it's very, it's
caught very, very on time.
So as soon as he say that, I'mlike I'm going to be fine.
And then, in fact, when I hungup the phone, my husband and I
look at each other and we saywe're going to be fine, we're
(07:16):
going to be fine.
You know, my husband, four yearsbefore, you know, before I was
diagnosed, survived two cancers,right.
So he survived colon cancer andhe survived lung cancer.
So for us this is not new.
Our faith kept us, you know,going.
But also, like I always tellpeople you know, particularly my
(07:39):
woman, I say you need to doyour due diligence.
You cannot say, oh, you knowGod is going to say no, you know
.
That's why you haveprofessionals, you have doctors,
you have people like us, thePromise Fund Foundation, to tell
you and to guide you, tonavigate you, because it's scary
, yes, but we have great patientnavigators who guide you from A
(08:04):
all the way to Z.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Okay.
So before we go into, I knowpeople are like what's the
promise on?
What's the Promise Fund?
We're going to get into that.
I want to hear more about yourjourney, your diagnosis and
things like that and then we'llget into how that was really
incorporated into the PromiseFund, this organization that
you're working with, becausethis is who I'm on the advisory
board as well, the advisorycouncil and it is.
It's really kind of crazy howyou're like okay.
(08:28):
So again, I kind of tie in.
Like my purpose is I was that.
You know, I found my purpose inintersection of passion and
pain and I know that sounds kindof like how are you passionate
about them?
No, I'm just super passionateabout like what been being in
control of their own lives,their own health, their own
destiny, their own journey,their own life.
Right, you're the CEO of yourlife and pretty much as your mom
you're pretty much you're a CEOof, you know your family, what
(08:50):
not, or business, or whateverthat is.
So you were.
That was March of 2022, right?
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Or 21, 2022.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
So you were DCIS?
Yes, okay, that's DCIS, stagezero.
Excuse me, I just choked on myown spit For those, for those
that you know may be diagnosedwith, you know, a stage one, two
, three, four, and you'rethinking, you know, dcis, stage
zero is that nothing is inanything, because there's a lot
of controversy in the sense of,like you know, do you do
(09:20):
anything, do you not do anything.
Unfortunately, I've literallyjust had two girlfriends who
were just, you know, earlystages diagnosed, one actually
they both went through one backto me.
One was last Friday on my sixyear cancer free and the other
one was like a month before thatand she was, I think, stage one
when they went in there.
But they also did lumpback to meas well and there was concern
(09:42):
about, you know, the one is very, very, very much wanting to do
like a holistic approach and shehasn't had kids yet, and I get
that.
So it's kind of scary becauseyou want to navigate your own
health.
So did you have to do radiationor any other treatment or just
a lumpback to me?
Sure.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
So here the options that they gave me at that time
were like, because I was stagezero and some terms that they
use that they threw out there.
It's like it's pre-censuouscells, right, right, but in
reality if it's diagnosed, ifit's within cancer, it is cancer
(10:20):
, you know.
So the options were I went, ofcourse, for my genetic test and
I wasn't at risk, right, becauseI didn't have any family
members, I didn't have a history, what they call a history, and
so the options were lumpback tome.
We never talked aboutmastectomy, just because it was
(10:44):
stage zero and I wasn't you knowtriple negative or BRCA, all
those terms that they throw outthere.
So I didn't have that concern.
And then they didn't want.
They explained.
I love it the way my oncologist, when I visit her, she goes
Lisette, pretend that you knownothing about cancer.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Yeah, that's her.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
It's very hard because you are, you know, I'm
educating, I'm an educator, likeI constantly educate people
about this.
So I'm like I have to kind ofopen my mind and say, okay, I
know nothing, she's gonna teachme.
And she explained the whole,she did diagrams and the whole
and she said this is myrecommendation lumpback to me
(11:30):
You're not gonna needchemotherapy, but we're
recommending radiation.
And then she explained to mebecause of course I said, wait a
minute, why do I need radiation?
If you're gonna do lumpectomy,you're gonna make sure that no
cells cancer cells stays in mybreast, right, and she's like
absolutely.
(11:50):
And then she went on and sheexplained I'm gonna go with that
margin that they referred to.
I'm gonna go even beyond thatto make sure you know.
And she was really really good.
And then I say and do I have anoption for radiology?
Because I, you know radiation.
I'm sorry, I don't wantanything that I don't.
(12:12):
You know that I don't have todo so then I say I consulted, I
have all my doctors, I'mconsulting with all of them,
which is why it's so importantthat you have a patient
navigator who help you.
I was my own, even though theyassigned one because I was
knowledgeable about cancer.
So I went on and said I want totalk to my primary care.
Why, Shannon?
(12:33):
Because primary care they'relike our family, right?
I say I need I'm a woman too.
I say I need to talk to mydoctor.
I wanted to ask her.
So I went to her and I said,okay, no, you're gonna tell me.
I need you to tell me what willyou do if it was you, because
it's easy, you know, for you tosay don't do this or but what
will you do?
And I will never forget thewords of coming out of her mouth
(12:57):
.
She said I will do anything totake any cancer cells from away
from my body.
Anything is set, and that I sayokay.
So I found exactly the samething.
I don't want anything on mybody that it doesn't belong
there.
So I went back, you know, and Italked to my surgeon.
(13:19):
I said okay, I want them backto me and now I need you to, I
want to see what options arethere.
So I went and I did my ownresearch.
I went to different facilitiesand I talked.
Remember my cancer was on myleft breast, which I had to be
very careful because of my heart, and radiation can damage your
(13:39):
heart.
I was like I want to know, youknow what are my options.
And I found a great place.
I mean, during the radiationchannel.
They put I love music, so theyput music and I had, you know,
worship music.
It was like so peaceful andthat's what I needed and like.
And even when I I never forget,when I went through my first
(14:01):
radiation, the words of the sonsthat I was listening to.
It was like you're going to befine, you know it's like, and I
remember like I was like layingdown in the bed and I was just
crying and my tears were comingthrough the, you know, radiation
(14:23):
.
I'm like, oh my God, I'm goingto cause an explosion or
something, but it was like itwas.
For me, that was a sign that Iwas at the right place and
something that I I don't know ifI shared this with you before
Shama, but something for me itwas very peculiar.
It was during my process, evenbefore I was diagnosed.
(14:45):
I was sitting on my you know,by my, by my pool, in my house,
and butterflies.
I had a pool for my, for mypool and butterflies kept coming
and I was asking my husband howare they getting in.
You know, why are they gettinginto, like you know, beyond the
screen?
(15:05):
And he was like, oh, I don'tknow.
So you know.
And then when I got diagnosed,you know I remember the
butterfly.
And then I asked, I talked toGod and I said I need a
confirmation, I need a sign thatthe place that I'm going to
choose for my treatment is theright.
I walk in into the place andthere's a wall full of
(15:31):
butterflies.
Oh my gosh, for me that was thesign.
That was the goosebumps.
Yes, that was the sign.
This is the right place, youare at the right place.
And then my oncologist was fromthere, my surgeon was from there
.
And then, you know, I wantedthe best for my radiation, so I
(15:52):
needed to go to Miami.
But this facility actually hada place that it has been open
for one year and it had the bestequipment.
You know what do they call that?
The?
Oh my God, something with topof the art, something to that
effect.
But it was great.
(16:14):
So Ani was in plantation closeto my.
You know, it's about 35 minutesaway from me.
So I was like so I decided togo there.
So everything has been really,really good my treatment,
everything.
So I decided to do radiationand it was supposed to be
(16:34):
originally 20 sections ofradiation but the last four, as
they explained to me, were moregear toward exactly where they
took the cells out, where theydid the lumpectomy, like right
in there.
But they couldn't.
The surgeon did such an amazingjob that they couldn't find
(16:55):
where it was.
They couldn't find.
They say you don't need thoselast four sections.
I'm like okay.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
So yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Yeah, so you did 16 rounds.
16, yes, and they had to be,you know, back to back.
Like every day, I had to go tothis place to do my radiation 16
.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
You know what made me think when you're talking about
butterflies?
Oh well, first of all, I thinkthat's really cool, because I do
.
I every time I see a butterfly,it puts a smile on my face,
because I know it's a sign, it'sa symbol, and it just reminded
me of the song Butterfly Kisses.
Do you remember that song?
Uh-huh, uh-huh.
Yeah, I don't know why.
I just made me think about itlike this is.
But whatever, I feel likethat's a wedding song, but
anyway, that's amazing.
(17:38):
You're very lucky and I'm sureit had to be really challenging
being in the space of you know,really preaching.
You know get your screen and soon and so forth.
You know what's going to happenafter you get that diagnosis.
So like to just kind of liketurn everything off and just
listen is really really, reallyhard.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Yes, absolutely.
But I never forget, while I wasgoing through treatment, I was
doing something for thefoundation and we were doing
this project.
I was working very, very hardon this project and we needed to
do some interviews with cancerpatients that were going through
(18:16):
treatment.
So I met this amazing woman andshe shared with me some of her
journey and while she was there,she says something to me.
She goes after chemotherapy, atreatment of chemotherapy.
My husband is taking me backhome and our car broke down and
(18:38):
she lived.
She was coming from someplaceand she lived in West Palm Beach
and she said it took her Afterthink about this, shana, after a
chemotherapy session, how youget very tired is very hard.
It took her like nine hours toget home, oh my gosh, because
(19:00):
she couldn't find anybody tohelp her.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
The courses were limited and when I heard that I
started crying.
I couldn't, I couldn't.
I remember that we were wearingmasks, so I was like, oh my God
, thank God that I have a mask.
So she's not because I'm thereto support her, to listen, like
you said, to listen to her.
And here I am going through myprocess.
(19:25):
She doesn't know what is goingon, you know what, and I say she
needs to hear what.
But the process, what I'm goingthrough right now, because
that's going to make herstronger Right, rather than be
like, no, I'm the director ofthe mammography screen center, I
(19:46):
need to be strong.
No, I say this woman I need.
She needs to know that what sheshared with me make me feel
that I need to fight harder forresources out there for the work
that we serve, because I wasprivileged.
So I felt like I felt kind ofguilty, I was like you know, so
(20:10):
I did, I said, and then shehugged me and she shared
everything is going to be okay.
So like I was receiving supportfor a woman that my
organization was helping.
So we were able to.
You know what, after that day,everywhere, you know, when I
talk to her, when I say, or whenshe hears about what we're
(20:33):
doing.
I never forget that beautifulface and she was with her
daughter.
So our experience were what weshare in front of her daughter
is going to impact that daughterand every woman after that,
because this little girl here,two women in that space talking
(20:54):
about how cancer you know breastcancer impact your life, but we
were there to support eachother.
So always there's hope andthat's what we need to tell
people.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
And that's exactly why I have this platform is to
be able to, you know, havepeople share their experiences,
share their journeys, whatthey're going through.
Yes, you might have the samediagnosis, but your experience
is not going to be the same.
Like, for example, I had DCISas well, but guess what?
I went through an archetypetest and that result came back
super high, which resulted in mehaving a double mastectomy.
The first oncologist was likeNope, you should just go ahead
(21:27):
and do radiation and alumpectomy.
And I was like Dude, like Ihave a super high rate of this
returning and I'm 45 at thispoint and I'm totally not
interested in this coming back.
Thank you very much.
So, like it's, but it's like yousay, like you talk about it,
you share the experiences and itmakes the other person feel
like, oh, my god, I'm not alone.
Okay, yes, your experiencemight be different.
(21:47):
Thank you much.
Thank you so much for sharing,but, like you said, like even
her daughter being there toexperience the two of you
sharing a story.
And that's why I love to havethis platform for other women to
come on, share their experience, because somebody who's
listening you know whetherthey're just newly diagnosed,
they're going through their ownexperience, whether it's a loved
one, caregiver, whatever youknow it's, you need to know that
(22:10):
there's other people out therethat have gone.
You're not alone.
We've all gone through thisdiagnosis, this journey, this
experience.
That may be different.
Maybe you can resonate withsome person, maybe not an other,
and that's okay.
It's okay, but I want this tobe a safe place for hope, for
love, for laughter, to be ableto share that and share with
others so we can continue togive back.
(22:31):
I do want to go ahead and takea quick break, real quick, just
for our sponsor, and then I wantto dive a little bit deeper
into this promise fundorganization that we keep
talking about, because I knowyou're super excited and
passionate about wanting to toshare about it, and I think it's
an amazing organization and Ithink it's really important that
our listeners hear it as well.
So we will be back in just amoment.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
This podcast is sponsored by the Shannon
Burroughs Real Estate Group,where we are committed to
changing the world one smile ata time and giving back to breast
cancer in our communities.
Did you know that ShannonBurroughs, our founder and lead
realtor, is a breast cancersurvivor?
Shannon found her purpose atthe intersection of passion and
pain while navigating her ownjourney and wants to give back
(23:10):
and help others.
At the Shannon Burroughs RealEstate Group, we're dedicated to
providing exceptional serviceto our clients while also making
a positive impact in ourcommunity.
For every home sold, a portionof our commission goes towards
supporting breast cancerorganizations to help women on a
local level and be a resourcethrough their journey.
We believe that everyonedeserves a safe, comfortable and
(23:33):
happy home, and we're here tohelp make that a reality.
Whether you're buying, sellingor investing in a real estate
will be with you every step ofthe way, and when you're working
with us, you will not only besupporting your own goals, but
also helping others throughtheir breast cancer.
So, shannon's the ShannonBurroughs Real Estate Group
where you can trust that yourdreams and values are in good
(23:55):
hands, no matter where you live.
We can help you.
Visit our website atShannonBurroughscom or give us a
call today at 561-494-6389 tolearn more.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
All right well, welcome back.
I'm so excited.
I hope you guys enjoy Barley'svoice.
I feel like I need to do a redoon that.
She doesn't sound as excited asI always sound in my pockets.
Anyway, let's jump into talkingabout and learning more about
the Promise Fund.
So the Promise Fund is a localorganization right here in
Florida and it's pretty amazingand I think that listeners are
(24:31):
going to be like, oh my gosh,like this is not just about your
standard, like hey, let's dosome raise some money for
research and whatnot.
Like everybody's raising moneyfor research and I think I've
shared with you my feelings onthat and many others.
But, um, anyway, let's let'sdive into the Promise Fund.
So tell us about the PromiseFund, how long you've been with
them, what they do, how peoplecan learn more and all that good
(24:52):
stuff.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
Sure, so Promise Fund is what I call Boots on the
Ground.
Why do I call this organization?
First of all, the founder.
She is amazing and you know howpeople talk oh I will do this
and.
And they just talk.
She is a woman that reallywalked the talk and she all the
(25:15):
people that work for thefoundation are women who are
very passionate.
We only have one guy, so I haveto say that he is a CFO, but
other than that, all women whosomehow we all have been
impacted by cancer, whether itis through family or ourselves,
and it has been um, it's anorganization that cares about
(25:37):
women, about low income women,women who have don't have the
resources that they should writelike they are uninsured, some
of them are undocumented and wewe don't care.
We want to help women, period,and we actually help men too,
but our focus is women andminority women are really at
(25:58):
higher risk because of differentthings, right, but the
important thing is that we havewhat I call is the niche of the
organization, which is thepatient navigation.
I am, I have the honor to be,to supervise the entire program.
Patient navigation is like weassign somebody, a woman, who is
(26:20):
going to help that woman from Ato C, how well they.
You know many, many times womenin our community who don't even
know that they're.
They are primary care clinics.
They are there to help them,right.
So even less for them to whenyou tell them that you're going
(26:41):
to have somebody who's going totake care of them their life.
There's something wrong here.
What's the catch?
Right, it's trust.
So these patients have to startfrom scratch.
They have to build that trust,even though we want, of course,
because the foundation focus isscreening for mammograms and
(27:03):
also breast and cervical health.
But we need to start very, youknow, baby steps.
We connect with the person inthe community, we talk to them,
we ask questions Do you haveprimary care?
And if they don't, we connectthem to primary care.
And then after that, when wasyour last mammogram?
We start asking those questions, but we don't refer them.
(27:25):
We don't say, here, take thisnumber and go ahead and call no.
We walk with them through theprocess.
We make the appointment forthem.
You know it's patient center,we.
It's based on what they wantwhen they need it.
Right, we're not taking care ofthem.
We don't take care of them,right, right, because what
(27:46):
happens you and I, we're, youknow, we take care of everybody
else, sometimes right, exceptourselves.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Right, because we're others, we're, why we're
girlfriends we're, you know,we're girl, bosses, boss babes,
that's what we are.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
We're busy, we're busy.
But now, when somebody is goingto take care of us, we're like,
you're the girl.
Yeah, I got this and I thinkthat's what we need.
And then you know we make that,those connections and if there
(28:16):
is, you know, for their testingneeded we pay for we're going to
get you need a biopsy, we'regoing to pay for the biopsy unit
and MRI, we're going to pay forthat.
And then if, unfortunately, butnews comes, you know, with a
diagnosed, you know who's goingto get infected with that.
You know.
You know with the biopsy unitand oncologist and all that who
(28:43):
worked with promise from Florida, and we make sure we provide
that treatment.
And when, when we tell that topeople and we have people had
that, patient navigators whohave gone through the process
and it's amazing, those patientnavigators really play a big
role in their life.
When I train them, when theyfirst just come part of you know
(29:03):
being become patient navigators, I always tell them I'm not
here to scare you, but I'm hereto tell you that your role is
the most important but it's alsothe most difficult one.
I want you to give you theheads up.
So if you, if you think youcannot do this, you can.
You can leave.
But you know, honestly, becauseyou, they are the educator.
(29:25):
I don't want them to only bethe one making appointment,
because you know anybody can dothat.
But they need to advocate Ifthere's no treatment.
How long, let me tell you.
They advocate, they drive mecrazy.
They call me and say they saidI am not getting this.
You know this test on time.
They said I'm not getting this.
So it's a lot of advocatingthey have to do.
(29:47):
They translate, they interpretbecause they most of our patient
navigators speak more than twolanguages.
That's great, that's important.
And they also, like if thatwasn't enough, they're also kind
of looking in the community.
Our motto is very differentthan others, as you know, and we
(30:08):
are in the community, active inthe community, where we want
the woman low income.
You know, social, economic,they are not.
They don't hear about promisefrom I.
We have been existing only forfive years.
I have been with theorganization for three years and
a half and it was also in May.
So May has a special right myheart like.
(30:31):
September does for me, yep, soMay.
And then we have been likereally boots on the ground.
We're everywhere.
We have now 18 patientnavigators.
We have 11 partnerorganizations who have patient
navigators.
That that really do our model.
We have patient navigatorslocated in clinics, but we also
(30:55):
have patient navigators in thecommunity.
So they are constantly lookingfor places, you know, whether
it's restaurants or supermarketsor just events, health fair or
any place.
They are knocking at doors.
They are connecting you know to, and I think what is so
important is that we arereaching to different
(31:16):
generations.
So within our conversation, wehave grandma, we have mom, we
have the daughter, you know.
So it's just.
And they are now.
They're talking about Promisefun, promise fun, and when?
So sometimes when I interviewthem and I say, forget about
about promise fun, tell me aboutyou, I want to hear more about
(31:37):
you they all come back promisefun because they see promise fun
like an organization who isreal, that is-.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
And cares yeah.
Yeah well, I have my pink bootsand I wear them on the ground
and I love my little pink rainboots.
I got them as soon as I joinedthe organization.
I was like that's so cute bootson the ground.
I'm like I need pink boots, andwho doesn't want another pair
of pink?
My pink rain boots.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
And it matches all my Lily Justice.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
So that's fun.
I love it.
Sorry, excuse me.
So to learn more about thepromise fun and how amazing they
are, we are just currently herein Florida right now, but we
are going to be expanding.
That's the, that's the plan isto have create that playbook to
be able to do plug and play, youknow, in different areas.
So to learn more about thepromise fun, you can find them
(32:22):
on social media.
You can find them atpromisefundofflordaorg, and then
there's also a toll free number.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
Yes, and that is 877-427-7664.
Again, 877-427-7664.
Speaker 1 (32:40):
And I'll put all that contact information in the show
notes so you guys can reach out, but I highly recommend
following them on social mediaFacebook, instagram.
Go to the website, check it out.
Maybe there's somebody that youfeel like is in need and
doesn't know anything abouthaving any resources or
treatment.
If they're uninsured, ifthey're not documented, you can
make a donation to them as well.
It's really just about gettingout there in this community, so
(33:01):
we need you to get your boots onthe ground, too, and help us
change the world, because that'smy mission of changing the
world, one smile at a time, andright now, we both, we all need
your help to do that.
So this has been an amazing,amazing interview.
Thank you so much, lissette.
You're so nice.
Thank you.
And I'm so glad that you wereable to.
We were finally able to get thetime to do it because we're
(33:21):
both super busy, but it's beenamazing.
So thank you so much.
Again, thank you to the PromiseFund for everything that they
do.
I am gonna get Nancy on herefor an interview someday
eventually to talk more about it.
In the meantime, you can followLissette.
I will put her social medialinks on there.
She's not really into thesocial media so much, but would
you prefer that they email you?
Speaker 2 (33:44):
No, actually we now have a team that is following
social media, so they will getback to me.
So that's oh perfect, yes, yes,absolutely.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
Yes, so I will put her name in there.
Lissette, you go follow her ifyou have any questions or
anything further, or maybe youhave somewhere that you feel
like we need to reach out to.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
Absolutely.
Thank you so much for thisopportunity, anything that to
reach out to the community I'mhere for.
So thank you so much You'reawesome.
Speaker 1 (34:11):
Well, thank you so much for joining us on Bustin'
Out of Breast Cancer.
We hope you found our podcastinformative, uplifting and
inspiring.
We want to remind you that youare not alone in this fight
against breast cancer.
If you or someone you knowneeds support, please reach out
to a healthcare professional,breast cancer support
organization or me.
I'm always happy to listen,chat and help any way I can
Remember.
Early detection is key, soplease schedule your regular
(34:31):
cancer screenings.
Also, if you're in the marketfor a new home, looking to sell
or start investing, don'thesitate to contact me for that
as well.
You're a favorite fun realtorand podcast host.
Together, we can make your realestate dreams a reality and
make a difference in the fightagainst breast cancer.
If you or someone you knowwould like to be a guest, please
reach out to us at smile atShannonBroscom and thank you
again for listening and we'llsee you next week on Bustin' Out
(34:52):
of Breast Cancer.
Hey there and welcome to Bustin Out of Breast Cancer,
the podcast that educates,empowers and inspires those
impacted by breast cancer.
I'm your host, shannonBurroughs, a realtor who found
her purpose at the intersectionof passion and pain while
navigating her own breast cancerjourney, and loves giving back
to the community.
Having worked with many breastcancer survivors and their
families, I understand thechallenges they face and the
importance of raising awarenessabout this disease and bridging
(00:21):
the gap between the medical andfitness industries.
Join us as we share stories ofsurvivors, caregivers and
healthcare professionals who aremaking a difference in the
fight against breast cancer.
Our goal is to raise awareness,provide resources and create a
community of support for thoseaffected by this disease.
I have a mission of changing theworld one smile at a time.
So, whether you're a breastcancer survivor, a loved one, a
friend or just interested inlearning more, this podcast is
(00:42):
for you.
Let's bust out of breast cancertogether and make a difference
in the lives of those affectedby this disease.
All right well, welcome to thisepisode of Bustin Out of Breast
Cancer.
I'm super excited for you tolisten to Lissette LaHaus' story
and how she navigated her ownbreast cancer journey, but what
she's doing now to be able togive back to those affected by
(01:04):
this disease in a community thatis not really talked about.
So I think it's really superimportant.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
So welcome, lissette, thank you.
Thank you, shannon.
Did I pronounce your last name,right?
I hope yes.
Okay, I was like I probablyshould have asked that before.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Hello, here we are.
This is real raw conversations.
Here we are.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Thank you.
It's like since I met you.
You are full of energy andpassionate.
I remember my firstconversation with you.
We really love a lot, which isimportant in this journey, and
we connect immediately.
So I was like talking to you tosee how we can actually connect
in different ways within thefoundation and I realized I
(01:48):
already knew like from the verybeginning that I met you, what
you need, where you needed to befor the Promise Fund.
So thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Oh, that's so nice.
I remember our first timemeeting too, so fun fact for
those listening.
So I met Lissette because I ama stalker and I'm just super
passionate about those thingsthat I want to be involved in.
And after I left making strides, I wanted to find an
(02:16):
organization that I could giveback to in the local community.
I didn't want it to be global,I wanted it to be local, to help
those that are local, and Ifound the Promise Fund.
Actually, a mom at Bradley'sschool had told me about the
Promise Fund and I hadn't heardof it.
So I looked at it in research,at whatever, and then I was like
, oh, I want to learn more aboutthis.
So then I like, I called, Iemailed, I did the chat, I did
this.
I'm like, oh my God, thesepeople don't want me.
(02:36):
What is happening?
Like blah, blah, blah.
So, yes, I stalked you.
And then we met a Panera bread,which we did.
We totally connected right offthe get go and what we thought
was going to be a quick likehour meeting I think we must
have been there for like two,three hours and we laughed.
And if I remember correctly, itwas FunPan Friday.
Yeah, yes.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
And yes, you look amazing.
I was like I like her a lot.
She's real.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
I am I'm real wrong Kind of crazy.
That's all good, whatever youonly live once.
Right, I feel like that's cliche, that's saying it's so cliche,
but it's so true.
Anyway, so that's how we met,and so you never know, whenever
I meet you or whenever you meetme, whenever we connect, like
you never know where our journeyis going to take us together.
And I think our journey hasbeen fantastic and I think your
journey is amazing and I thinkit needs to be shared.
(03:23):
So let's talk about when youfirst got diagnosed, because
when we met, you were a newsurvivor, correct.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Correct.
So we, that was back a year.
Well, I get, I get, I getdiagnosed, like in March, and
then at the end of March andthen in May I got my surgery, I
got lumpectomy of my left breast.
But before that the journey was, I needed to know more, needed
(03:52):
to make sure that while I wasgoing into this journey, that
that I had the best right,because I knew, working for a
foundation, what are the adsRight?
I work for a foundation cancerfoundation and I am encouraging
and I'm passionate encouragingwomen.
(04:12):
Just go and get your screenings.
It's so important for you toget your screening.
So I go and get my regularscreening mammogram.
And guess what, when theradiologist gone and say to me I
need to do a biopsy, I'm like Iexactly knew what he meant when
he say a biopsy.
I'm like why?
(04:32):
Why do you need to do a biopsy?
You know, you know it was likeafter COVID, I just wanted to
make sure that this is notsomething you know.
And I'm like, okay, and then heexplained to me and of course I
was knowledgeable and sometimesyou know, the more information
you have, the more right.
It's scary.
It's like what is this guy?
(04:54):
What does?
He wants to do biopsy.
But anyway, moving forward, theoutcomes were great.
I got, you know, really reallygood surgeon.
I got a great oncologist, oldwoman, and I love them.
They are so amazing.
They are as passionate as I amand I think one of the questions
that my surgeon asked me shegoes because she's very involved
(05:17):
with the foundation.
She goes, so least set.
I'm sure that this experienceis going to change how you do
things now and I say, oh my gosh, yes, absolutely.
So I was like, like you say,like a stalker, like right, like
after people, but now I feellike I'm like, everywhere I go,
(05:41):
I can stop, I cannot stoptalking about why screening is
important.
Sure, yeah.
So I think that everywhere I goand I work with many women, you
know I am a woman of faith andI encounter, I lead a group of
women, and so everywhere I go, Italk a lot about why it's so
(06:06):
important.
You know, shannon, I'm sure youknow, breast cancer is 99%
survival rate.
So if you do your screeningearly, you're going to be fine.
You're going to be fine.
So of course it's scary becausewhen you hear that word, right,
cancer is like when they call meand gave me the results and say
(06:30):
the same guy who told me thathe needed to do the biopsy.
He said radiologist and he's.
I say you can call me, I don'tneed to come back here.
So he called me and he said youknow, I have, I have bad news.
And as soon as he said okay,and I was with my husband at
that time, and when he said youhave cancer, and I said okay, I
(06:54):
need more information, and hestarted saying you stay zero.
So the good news within the badnews is that it's very, it's
caught very, very on time.
So as soon as he say that, I'mlike I'm going to be fine.
And then, in fact, when I hungup the phone, my husband and I
look at each other and we saywe're going to be fine, we're
(07:16):
going to be fine.
You know, my husband, four yearsbefore, you know, before I was
diagnosed, survived two cancers,right.
So he survived colon cancer andhe survived lung cancer.
So for us this is not new.
Our faith kept us, you know,going.
But also, like I always tellpeople you know, particularly my
(07:39):
woman, I say you need to doyour due diligence.
You cannot say, oh, you knowGod is going to say no, you know
.
That's why you haveprofessionals, you have doctors,
you have people like us, thePromise Fund Foundation, to tell
you and to guide you, tonavigate you, because it's scary
, yes, but we have great patientnavigators who guide you from A
(08:04):
all the way to Z.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Okay.
So before we go into, I knowpeople are like what's the
promise on?
What's the Promise Fund?
We're going to get into that.
I want to hear more about yourjourney, your diagnosis and
things like that and then we'llget into how that was really
incorporated into the PromiseFund, this organization that
you're working with, becausethis is who I'm on the advisory
board as well, the advisorycouncil and it is.
It's really kind of crazy howyou're like okay.
(08:28):
So again, I kind of tie in.
Like my purpose is I was that.
You know, I found my purpose inintersection of passion and
pain and I know that sounds kindof like how are you passionate
about them?
No, I'm just super passionateabout like what been being in
control of their own lives,their own health, their own
destiny, their own journey,their own life.
Right, you're the CEO of yourlife and pretty much as your mom
you're pretty much you're a CEOof, you know your family, what
(08:50):
not, or business, or whateverthat is.
So you were.
That was March of 2022, right?
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Or 21, 2022.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
So you were DCIS?
Yes, okay, that's DCIS, stagezero.
Excuse me, I just choked on myown spit For those, for those
that you know may be diagnosedwith, you know, a stage one, two
, three, four, and you'rethinking, you know, dcis, stage
zero is that nothing is inanything, because there's a lot
of controversy in the sense of,like you know, do you do
(09:20):
anything, do you not do anything.
Unfortunately, I've literallyjust had two girlfriends who
were just, you know, earlystages diagnosed, one actually
they both went through one backto me.
One was last Friday on my sixyear cancer free and the other
one was like a month before thatand she was, I think, stage one
when they went in there.
But they also did lumpback to meas well and there was concern
(09:42):
about, you know, the one is very, very, very much wanting to do
like a holistic approach and shehasn't had kids yet, and I get
that.
So it's kind of scary becauseyou want to navigate your own
health.
So did you have to do radiationor any other treatment or just
a lumpback to me?
Sure.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
So here the options that they gave me at that time
were like, because I was stagezero and some terms that they
use that they threw out there.
It's like it's pre-censuouscells, right, right, but in
reality if it's diagnosed, ifit's within cancer, it is cancer
(10:20):
, you know.
So the options were I went, ofcourse, for my genetic test and
I wasn't at risk, right, becauseI didn't have any family
members, I didn't have a history, what they call a history, and
so the options were lumpback tome.
We never talked aboutmastectomy, just because it was
(10:44):
stage zero and I wasn't you knowtriple negative or BRCA, all
those terms that they throw outthere.
So I didn't have that concern.
And then they didn't want.
They explained.
I love it the way my oncologist, when I visit her, she goes
Lisette, pretend that you knownothing about cancer.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Yeah, that's her.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
It's very hard because you are, you know, I'm
educating, I'm an educator, likeI constantly educate people
about this.
So I'm like I have to kind ofopen my mind and say, okay, I
know nothing, she's gonna teachme.
And she explained the whole,she did diagrams and the whole
and she said this is myrecommendation lumpback to me
(11:30):
You're not gonna needchemotherapy, but we're
recommending radiation.
And then she explained to mebecause of course I said, wait a
minute, why do I need radiation?
If you're gonna do lumpectomy,you're gonna make sure that no
cells cancer cells stays in mybreast, right, and she's like
absolutely.
(11:50):
And then she went on and sheexplained I'm gonna go with that
margin that they referred to.
I'm gonna go even beyond thatto make sure you know.
And she was really really good.
And then I say and do I have anoption for radiology?
Because I, you know radiation.
I'm sorry, I don't wantanything that I don't.
(12:12):
You know that I don't have todo so then I say I consulted, I
have all my doctors, I'mconsulting with all of them,
which is why it's so importantthat you have a patient
navigator who help you.
I was my own, even though theyassigned one because I was
knowledgeable about cancer.
So I went on and said I want totalk to my primary care.
Why, Shannon?
(12:33):
Because primary care they'relike our family, right?
I say I need I'm a woman too.
I say I need to talk to mydoctor.
I wanted to ask her.
So I went to her and I said,okay, no, you're gonna tell me.
I need you to tell me what willyou do if it was you, because
it's easy, you know, for you tosay don't do this or but what
will you do?
And I will never forget thewords of coming out of her mouth
(12:57):
.
She said I will do anything totake any cancer cells from away
from my body.
Anything is set, and that I sayokay.
So I found exactly the samething.
I don't want anything on mybody that it doesn't belong
there.
So I went back, you know, and Italked to my surgeon.
(13:19):
I said okay, I want them backto me and now I need you to, I
want to see what options arethere.
So I went and I did my ownresearch.
I went to different facilitiesand I talked.
Remember my cancer was on myleft breast, which I had to be
very careful because of my heart, and radiation can damage your
(13:39):
heart.
I was like I want to know, youknow what are my options.
And I found a great place.
I mean, during the radiationchannel.
They put I love music, so theyput music and I had, you know,
worship music.
It was like so peaceful andthat's what I needed and like.
And even when I I never forget,when I went through my first
(14:01):
radiation, the words of the sonsthat I was listening to.
It was like you're going to befine, you know it's like, and I
remember like I was like layingdown in the bed and I was just
crying and my tears were comingthrough the, you know, radiation
(14:23):
.
I'm like, oh my God, I'm goingto cause an explosion or
something, but it was like itwas.
For me, that was a sign that Iwas at the right place and
something that I I don't know ifI shared this with you before
Shama, but something for me itwas very peculiar.
It was during my process, evenbefore I was diagnosed.
(14:45):
I was sitting on my you know,by my, by my pool, in my house,
and butterflies.
I had a pool for my, for mypool and butterflies kept coming
and I was asking my husband howare they getting in.
You know, why are they gettinginto, like you know, beyond the
screen?
(15:05):
And he was like, oh, I don'tknow.
So you know.
And then when I got diagnosed,you know I remember the
butterfly.
And then I asked, I talked toGod and I said I need a
confirmation, I need a sign thatthe place that I'm going to
choose for my treatment is theright.
I walk in into the place andthere's a wall full of
(15:31):
butterflies.
Oh my gosh, for me that was thesign.
That was the goosebumps.
Yes, that was the sign.
This is the right place, youare at the right place.
And then my oncologist was fromthere, my surgeon was from there
.
And then, you know, I wantedthe best for my radiation, so I
(15:52):
needed to go to Miami.
But this facility actually hada place that it has been open
for one year and it had the bestequipment.
You know what do they call that?
The?
Oh my God, something with topof the art, something to that
effect.
But it was great.
(16:14):
So Ani was in plantation closeto my.
You know, it's about 35 minutesaway from me.
So I was like so I decided togo there.
So everything has been really,really good my treatment,
everything.
So I decided to do radiationand it was supposed to be
(16:34):
originally 20 sections ofradiation but the last four, as
they explained to me, were moregear toward exactly where they
took the cells out, where theydid the lumpectomy, like right
in there.
But they couldn't.
The surgeon did such an amazingjob that they couldn't find
(16:55):
where it was.
They couldn't find.
They say you don't need thoselast four sections.
I'm like okay.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
So yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Yeah, so you did 16 rounds.
16, yes, and they had to be,you know, back to back.
Like every day, I had to go tothis place to do my radiation 16
.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
You know what made me think when you're talking about
butterflies?
Oh well, first of all, I thinkthat's really cool, because I do
.
I every time I see a butterfly,it puts a smile on my face,
because I know it's a sign, it'sa symbol, and it just reminded
me of the song Butterfly Kisses.
Do you remember that song?
Uh-huh, uh-huh.
Yeah, I don't know why.
I just made me think about itlike this is.
But whatever, I feel likethat's a wedding song, but
anyway, that's amazing.
(17:38):
You're very lucky and I'm sureit had to be really challenging
being in the space of you know,really preaching.
You know get your screen and soon and so forth.
You know what's going to happenafter you get that diagnosis.
So like to just kind of liketurn everything off and just
listen is really really, reallyhard.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Yes, absolutely.
But I never forget, while I wasgoing through treatment, I was
doing something for thefoundation and we were doing
this project.
I was working very, very hardon this project and we needed to
do some interviews with cancerpatients that were going through
(18:16):
treatment.
So I met this amazing woman andshe shared with me some of her
journey and while she was there,she says something to me.
She goes after chemotherapy, atreatment of chemotherapy.
My husband is taking me backhome and our car broke down and
(18:38):
she lived.
She was coming from someplaceand she lived in West Palm Beach
and she said it took her Afterthink about this, shana, after a
chemotherapy session, how youget very tired is very hard.
It took her like nine hours toget home, oh my gosh, because
(19:00):
she couldn't find anybody tohelp her.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
The courses were limited and when I heard that I
started crying.
I couldn't, I couldn't.
I remember that we were wearingmasks, so I was like, oh my God
, thank God that I have a mask.
So she's not because I'm thereto support her, to listen, like
you said, to listen to her.
And here I am going through myprocess.
(19:25):
She doesn't know what is goingon, you know what, and I say she
needs to hear what.
But the process, what I'm goingthrough right now, because
that's going to make herstronger Right, rather than be
like, no, I'm the director ofthe mammography screen center, I
(19:46):
need to be strong.
No, I say this woman I need.
She needs to know that what sheshared with me make me feel
that I need to fight harder forresources out there for the work
that we serve, because I wasprivileged.
So I felt like I felt kind ofguilty, I was like you know, so
(20:10):
I did, I said, and then shehugged me and she shared
everything is going to be okay.
So like I was receiving supportfor a woman that my
organization was helping.
So we were able to.
You know what, after that day,everywhere, you know, when I
talk to her, when I say, or whenshe hears about what we're
(20:33):
doing.
I never forget that beautifulface and she was with her
daughter.
So our experience were what weshare in front of her daughter
is going to impact that daughterand every woman after that,
because this little girl here,two women in that space talking
(20:54):
about how cancer you know breastcancer impact your life, but we
were there to support eachother.
So always there's hope andthat's what we need to tell
people.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
And that's exactly why I have this platform is to
be able to, you know, havepeople share their experiences,
share their journeys, whatthey're going through.
Yes, you might have the samediagnosis, but your experience
is not going to be the same.
Like, for example, I had DCISas well, but guess what?
I went through an archetypetest and that result came back
super high, which resulted in mehaving a double mastectomy.
The first oncologist was likeNope, you should just go ahead
(21:27):
and do radiation and alumpectomy.
And I was like Dude, like Ihave a super high rate of this
returning and I'm 45 at thispoint and I'm totally not
interested in this coming back.
Thank you very much.
So, like it's, but it's like yousay, like you talk about it,
you share the experiences and itmakes the other person feel
like, oh, my god, I'm not alone.
Okay, yes, your experiencemight be different.
(21:47):
Thank you much.
Thank you so much for sharing,but, like you said, like even
her daughter being there toexperience the two of you
sharing a story.
And that's why I love to havethis platform for other women to
come on, share their experience, because somebody who's
listening you know whetherthey're just newly diagnosed,
they're going through their ownexperience, whether it's a loved
one, caregiver, whatever youknow it's, you need to know that
(22:10):
there's other people out therethat have gone.
You're not alone.
We've all gone through thisdiagnosis, this journey, this
experience.
That may be different.
Maybe you can resonate withsome person, maybe not an other,
and that's okay.
It's okay, but I want this tobe a safe place for hope, for
love, for laughter, to be ableto share that and share with
others so we can continue togive back.
(22:31):
I do want to go ahead and takea quick break, real quick, just
for our sponsor, and then I wantto dive a little bit deeper
into this promise fundorganization that we keep
talking about, because I knowyou're super excited and
passionate about wanting to toshare about it, and I think it's
an amazing organization and Ithink it's really important that
our listeners hear it as well.
So we will be back in just amoment.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
This podcast is sponsored by the Shannon
Burroughs Real Estate Group,where we are committed to
changing the world one smile ata time and giving back to breast
cancer in our communities.
Did you know that ShannonBurroughs, our founder and lead
realtor, is a breast cancersurvivor?
Shannon found her purpose atthe intersection of passion and
pain while navigating her ownjourney and wants to give back
(23:10):
and help others.
At the Shannon Burroughs RealEstate Group, we're dedicated to
providing exceptional serviceto our clients while also making
a positive impact in ourcommunity.
For every home sold, a portionof our commission goes towards
supporting breast cancerorganizations to help women on a
local level and be a resourcethrough their journey.
We believe that everyonedeserves a safe, comfortable and
(23:33):
happy home, and we're here tohelp make that a reality.
Whether you're buying, sellingor investing in a real estate
will be with you every step ofthe way, and when you're working
with us, you will not only besupporting your own goals, but
also helping others throughtheir breast cancer.
So, shannon's the ShannonBurroughs Real Estate Group
where you can trust that yourdreams and values are in good
(23:55):
hands, no matter where you live.
We can help you.
Visit our website atShannonBurroughscom or give us a
call today at 561-494-6389 tolearn more.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
All right well, welcome back.
I'm so excited.
I hope you guys enjoy Barley'svoice.
I feel like I need to do a redoon that.
She doesn't sound as excited asI always sound in my pockets.
Anyway, let's jump into talkingabout and learning more about
the Promise Fund.
So the Promise Fund is a localorganization right here in
Florida and it's pretty amazingand I think that listeners are
(24:31):
going to be like, oh my gosh,like this is not just about your
standard, like hey, let's dosome raise some money for
research and whatnot.
Like everybody's raising moneyfor research and I think I've
shared with you my feelings onthat and many others.
But, um, anyway, let's let'sdive into the Promise Fund.
So tell us about the PromiseFund, how long you've been with
them, what they do, how peoplecan learn more and all that good
(24:52):
stuff.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
Sure, so Promise Fund is what I call Boots on the
Ground.
Why do I call this organization?
First of all, the founder.
She is amazing and you know howpeople talk oh I will do this
and.
And they just talk.
She is a woman that reallywalked the talk and she all the
(25:15):
people that work for thefoundation are women who are
very passionate.
We only have one guy, so I haveto say that he is a CFO, but
other than that, all women whosomehow we all have been
impacted by cancer, whether itis through family or ourselves,
and it has been um, it's anorganization that cares about
(25:37):
women, about low income women,women who have don't have the
resources that they should writelike they are uninsured, some
of them are undocumented and wewe don't care.
We want to help women, period,and we actually help men too,
but our focus is women andminority women are really at
(25:58):
higher risk because of differentthings, right, but the
important thing is that we havewhat I call is the niche of the
organization, which is thepatient navigation.
I am, I have the honor to be,to supervise the entire program.
Patient navigation is like weassign somebody, a woman, who is
(26:20):
going to help that woman from Ato C, how well they.
You know many, many times womenin our community who don't even
know that they're.
They are primary care clinics.
They are there to help them,right.
So even less for them to whenyou tell them that you're going
(26:41):
to have somebody who's going totake care of them their life.
There's something wrong here.
What's the catch?
Right, it's trust.
So these patients have to startfrom scratch.
They have to build that trust,even though we want, of course,
because the foundation focus isscreening for mammograms and
(27:03):
also breast and cervical health.
But we need to start very, youknow, baby steps.
We connect with the person inthe community, we talk to them,
we ask questions Do you haveprimary care?
And if they don't, we connectthem to primary care.
And then after that, when wasyour last mammogram?
We start asking those questions, but we don't refer them.
(27:25):
We don't say, here, take thisnumber and go ahead and call no.
We walk with them through theprocess.
We make the appointment forthem.
You know it's patient center,we.
It's based on what they wantwhen they need it.
Right, we're not taking care ofthem.
We don't take care of them,right, right, because what
(27:46):
happens you and I, we're, youknow, we take care of everybody
else, sometimes right, exceptourselves.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Right, because we're others, we're, why we're
girlfriends we're, you know,we're girl, bosses, boss babes,
that's what we are.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
We're busy, we're busy.
But now, when somebody is goingto take care of us, we're like,
you're the girl.
Yeah, I got this and I thinkthat's what we need.
And then you know we make that,those connections and if there
(28:16):
is, you know, for their testingneeded we pay for we're going to
get you need a biopsy, we'regoing to pay for the biopsy unit
and MRI, we're going to pay forthat.
And then if, unfortunately, butnews comes, you know, with a
diagnosed, you know who's goingto get infected with that.
You know.
You know with the biopsy unitand oncologist and all that who
(28:43):
worked with promise from Florida, and we make sure we provide
that treatment.
And when, when we tell that topeople and we have people had
that, patient navigators whohave gone through the process
and it's amazing, those patientnavigators really play a big
role in their life.
When I train them, when theyfirst just come part of you know
(29:03):
being become patient navigators, I always tell them I'm not
here to scare you, but I'm hereto tell you that your role is
the most important but it's alsothe most difficult one.
I want you to give you theheads up.
So if you, if you think youcannot do this, you can.
You can leave.
But you know, honestly, becauseyou, they are the educator.
(29:25):
I don't want them to only bethe one making appointment,
because you know anybody can dothat.
But they need to advocate Ifthere's no treatment.
How long, let me tell you.
They advocate, they drive mecrazy.
They call me and say they saidI am not getting this.
You know this test on time.
They said I'm not getting this.
So it's a lot of advocatingthey have to do.
(29:47):
They translate, they interpretbecause they most of our patient
navigators speak more than twolanguages.
That's great, that's important.
And they also, like if thatwasn't enough, they're also kind
of looking in the community.
Our motto is very differentthan others, as you know, and we
(30:08):
are in the community, active inthe community, where we want
the woman low income.
You know, social, economic,they are not.
They don't hear about promisefrom I.
We have been existing only forfive years.
I have been with theorganization for three years and
a half and it was also in May.
So May has a special right myheart like.
(30:31):
September does for me, yep, soMay.
And then we have been likereally boots on the ground.
We're everywhere.
We have now 18 patientnavigators.
We have 11 partnerorganizations who have patient
navigators.
That that really do our model.
We have patient navigatorslocated in clinics, but we also
(30:55):
have patient navigators in thecommunity.
So they are constantly lookingfor places, you know, whether
it's restaurants or supermarketsor just events, health fair or
any place.
They are knocking at doors.
They are connecting you know to, and I think what is so
important is that we arereaching to different
(31:16):
generations.
So within our conversation, wehave grandma, we have mom, we
have the daughter, you know.
So it's just.
And they are now.
They're talking about Promisefun, promise fun, and when?
So sometimes when I interviewthem and I say, forget about
about promise fun, tell me aboutyou, I want to hear more about
(31:37):
you they all come back promisefun because they see promise fun
like an organization who isreal, that is-.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
And cares yeah.
Yeah well, I have my pink bootsand I wear them on the ground
and I love my little pink rainboots.
I got them as soon as I joinedthe organization.
I was like that's so cute bootson the ground.
I'm like I need pink boots, andwho doesn't want another pair
of pink?
My pink rain boots.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
And it matches all my Lily Justice.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
So that's fun.
I love it.
Sorry, excuse me.
So to learn more about thepromise fun and how amazing they
are, we are just currently herein Florida right now, but we
are going to be expanding.
That's the, that's the plan isto have create that playbook to
be able to do plug and play, youknow, in different areas.
So to learn more about thepromise fun, you can find them
(32:22):
on social media.
You can find them atpromisefundofflordaorg, and then
there's also a toll free number.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
Yes, and that is 877-427-7664.
Again, 877-427-7664.
Speaker 1 (32:40):
And I'll put all that contact information in the show
notes so you guys can reach out, but I highly recommend
following them on social mediaFacebook, instagram.
Go to the website, check it out.
Maybe there's somebody that youfeel like is in need and
doesn't know anything abouthaving any resources or
treatment.
If they're uninsured, ifthey're not documented, you can
make a donation to them as well.
It's really just about gettingout there in this community, so
(33:01):
we need you to get your boots onthe ground, too, and help us
change the world, because that'smy mission of changing the
world, one smile at a time, andright now, we both, we all need
your help to do that.
So this has been an amazing,amazing interview.
Thank you so much, lissette.
You're so nice.
Thank you.
And I'm so glad that you wereable to.
We were finally able to get thetime to do it because we're
(33:21):
both super busy, but it's beenamazing.
So thank you so much.
Again, thank you to the PromiseFund for everything that they
do.
I am gonna get Nancy on herefor an interview someday
eventually to talk more about it.
In the meantime, you can followLissette.
I will put her social medialinks on there.
She's not really into thesocial media so much, but would
you prefer that they email you?
Speaker 2 (33:44):
No, actually we now have a team that is following
social media, so they will getback to me.
So that's oh perfect, yes, yes,absolutely.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
Yes, so I will put her name in there.
Lissette, you go follow her ifyou have any questions or
anything further, or maybe youhave somewhere that you feel
like we need to reach out to.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
Absolutely.
Thank you so much for thisopportunity, anything that to
reach out to the community I'mhere for.
So thank you so much You'reawesome.
Speaker 1 (34:11):
Well, thank you so much for joining us on Bustin'
Out of Breast Cancer.
We hope you found our podcastinformative, uplifting and
inspiring.
We want to remind you that youare not alone in this fight
against breast cancer.
If you or someone you knowneeds support, please reach out
to a healthcare professional,breast cancer support
organization or me.
I'm always happy to listen,chat and help any way I can
Remember.
Early detection is key, soplease schedule your regular
(34:31):
cancer screenings.
Also, if you're in the marketfor a new home, looking to sell
or start investing, don'thesitate to contact me for that
as well.
You're a favorite fun realtorand podcast host.
Together, we can make your realestate dreams a reality and
make a difference in the fightagainst breast cancer.
If you or someone you knowwould like to be a guest, please
reach out to us at smile atShannonBroscom and thank you
again for listening and we'llsee you next week on Bustin' Out
(34:52):
of Breast Cancer.
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