May 5, 2025 • 24 mins
Dr. Sarah Friend, a medical oncologist specializing in breast cancer, introduces her innovative cancer coaching service called My Friend MD designed to provide personalized support throughout the cancer journey. She created this service after recognizing that traditional 15-minute doctor visits don't allow enough time for patients to fully discuss their concerns, fears, and questions.
• My Friend MD offers personalized one-hour coaching sessions tailored to individual needs at any stage of the cancer journey
• Services include preparing questions for doctor appointments, analyzing treatment plans, or developing health and wellness strategies for survivors
• Dr. Friend serves as an advocate working with medical teams, not replacing them
• The service helps patients make informed decisions rather than fear-based choices
• Coaching sessions provide a safe space to address concerns that might not fit into standard medical appointments
• Family members of cancer patients can also receive guidance on how best to support their loved ones
• Dr. Friend plans to expand services to include resources and networks for the cancer community
Visit myfriendmd.com to learn more about personalized cancer coaching services.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, north Atlanta,
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, stacey Risley.
Hello friends and neighbors,welcome to North Atlanta's Good
Neighbor Podcast.
I am so excited about today'sguest.
Today we're here with Dr SarahFriend.
She is a medical oncologist whospecializes in breast cancer
(00:24):
and she's the founder of myFriend MD.
Welcome, dr Friend.
I'm so excited to have you on.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Thank you so much, Stacey.
I'm so happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Well, we just had the listeners don't know, but we
just had our pre-interview,which we have with all of our
guests.
I am just so excited tointroduce you to my Friend MD,
and Dr Friend herself, becauseshe spoke to my heart just
through the pre-interview.
This is such a great missionand I'll now turn it over to you
(00:55):
, Dr Friend, and tell ourlisteners a little bit about
your business.
Tell us about my Friend MD.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
So my Friend MD is a cancer coaching service that is
going to offer personalizedcoaching to fit the needs of
anybody going through theircancer journey, and it could be
from a new diagnosis.
After a diagnosis is made, wecan do a session to help you
prepare a question list for yourdoctor's appointment.
(01:22):
That's upcoming, or we couldanalyze a treatment plan that's
already been made.
Or, if you're in survivorship,we can go through a health and
wellness and exercise plan thatfits your needs.
So it's really going to betailored to the needs of the
individual.
One-hour sessions allows usenough time to really go deep
(01:43):
and offer the time to exploreall of your fears and concerns
and all of the other things thatpatients may not have the
opportunity to discuss withtheir medical team just due to
time constraints.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Yeah Well, I loved everything that you shared with
us prior to this interview and Ireally am excited about you
telling us your journey, becausethis is you're going to be
impressed with this folks.
Her journey into this is justone led by passion and a desire
to help others, and I am I'mjust, I admire her already.
(02:22):
I am I'm just, I admire heralready.
So tell our listeners aboutyour journey from full-time you
know, a practicing medicaloncologist, you know into doing
this coaching aspect of thispart-time.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
So I've been a medical oncologist and I
absolutely love my job.
I love my patients, I love mystaff, absolutely love my job.
I love my patients, I love mystaff.
But what I realized is that Itended to spend a lot more time
with each individual than wasallotted, so as I became more
(02:55):
efficient and more busy, Ididn't have the amount of time
that I wanted to explore reallyimportant issues that patients
were having.
On the flip side, when arelative or loved one or a
friend was diagnosed with cancer, I had the opportunity to go on
really long walks with them andgive them, you know, hours upon
(03:17):
hours of time where we reallyanalyzed all the different
options and we explored theirconcerns, their fears and all
the things that they didn't havetime or space to discuss with
other people.
And when I realized that myloved ones would find our
sessions extremely helpful, Irealized there was a real big
(03:40):
need for this for someone tohave an advocate and an ally in
their court who could help themto really explore those issues
that the traditional 15 to20-minute office visit just
doesn't have time for.
So it's not a substitution forthe traditional healthcare
system.
It's really supplementing itand giving the time and space to
(04:02):
unpack their diagnosis in asafe space and with someone who
you know understands whatthey've gone through and
understands the treatmentoptions.
And I feel like from thoseconversations with friends and
family, I really recognize thatI wanted to make a service that
(04:23):
allows me to have those deepconnections that I love so much,
but also allow me to extend theum, extend myself beyond just
my medical community and myfriends and family and really
(04:44):
and really start a website foranyone who wanted to reach out
and have this in their backpocket.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Yeah, I just I can't even imagine just how valuable
that service would be.
You know, because those, thoseloved ones of yours who are
fortunate, fortunate enough tohave you as a loved one or as
their best friend, or as theirfamily member, they are getting,
(05:16):
like you said, so much more ofyou that you're able to provide
them.
That don't necessarily fit intothe 20 minute window that
you're allotted to have withthis patient before it's on to
the next.
You know and that's a very I'mnot, I'm not at all trying to
downplay the importance of thatyou know diagnosing.
You know diagnosing physician,but in this role you're not
(05:38):
really acting as a physician.
You know, as you know theirphysician, you're acting as
their friend, who also happensto be a very qualified,
experienced.
You know medical oncologist.
You know like, so that's,that's a very distinct
(05:58):
difference that now they have afriend who's going to behave as
a friend and in a friend roleand, like you said, you can go
and you can analyze theirtreatment plan.
You know, if you think thatthey might need a second opinion
, you could recommend you.
You, you have the network torecommend great doctors, but
you're not actually having toact in that role.
(06:21):
You know with within thisposition.
So I understand it's two verydistinctly different roles, but
one is very integral to theother.
It's just a wonderful thingthat you're doing and, as
someone who doesn't have amedical doctor in my family, if
(06:46):
I were to get the diagnosistomorrow, I you know I would
just absolutely take advantageof this service, and you are
among the only that I am awareof, you know.
That's part of why I was sosuper excited to have you on.
This is this is very unique andsuch a great service that
(07:06):
you're offering.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Yeah, thank you for understanding it and getting it
almost immediately, because youknow even when, I'm able to
explain the way a traditionalchemo day would be or what they
can expect if their loved one isdiagnosed.
So I mean, in addition tooffering services for people
going through their journey, I'malso happy to provide services
(07:28):
for families.
So if your loved one isdiagnosed with cancer and
they're in another state and youdon't know, do I need to quit
my job and go move in with them?
Like, what does this mean?
I'm happy to go through thealgorithms with you and offer
alternatives like, well, maybeon really important days, maybe
(07:51):
just block your schedule andoffer a Zoom call or a phone
call at the same time as yourloved ones in the visit, but
also explain whether it's reallyimportant that you should go be
there right now.
So just every question that, um, that we that can be answered,
that's not doesn't maybe makeyour top five list.
(08:13):
Maybe your top five questionsregarding the diagnosis will be
left for your medical team, butthere's probably another five,
10, 20 questions that you mighthave, but they may not make that
15 minute visit, and so I'mhere for those 15 questions.
You know the ones that may notbe the most important questions
you know.
I'm happy to not be the mostimportant questions, you know.
I'm happy to try to answerthose as well, but if you really
(08:36):
want to know, is it okay foryou to work on chemo or do I
really have to do the chemo?
What are my options and howabout diet nutrition Like?
What else can I do that I can'tcontrol?
Speaker 1 (08:48):
And.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
I'm happy to go down any you know sort of you know
rabbit hole with patients whotend to want to really think
through what, the what ifscenarios, and I'm happy to do
that with them, and that's wherethis platform will give us the
time and space to do that.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Yeah, and when, and you know, when you get a
diagnosis like cancer, you knowand you know that this journey
is ahead of you and you don'tknow anything about what that
journey looks like.
I mean to have someone who canhelp you navigate not just
someone, but you know, to havesomeone with your qualifications
(09:25):
navigate through them.
And it's coincidental that herlast name is friend, but it fits
very well into her businessmodel and just having met her a
couple of hours ago to now, shetruly is.
I can tell you it's going tofeel like you have your best
(09:48):
friend that's there to help younavigate through the most
difficult and challengingjourney that maybe you've faced
in life so far.
And and I just I am so happythat you're doing this, dr
Friend, this is she's so easy totalk to y'all, she's so nice
and she knows everything.
So that's like really allaspects of the cancer journey.
(10:13):
I mean you know she's been onon all sides of that.
So like I just I am so excitedthat you're you're doing this.
And I think we've kind oftouched on the next question.
But the next question istelling us about or clearing up
any myths or misconceptions thatpeople may have about your
business.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
No, thank you so much for that.
And I agree, the biggestmisconception is that in the
cancer coaching role I wouldserve in the traditional doctor
setting.
I'm going to be serving more asa coach and more as a friend,
just like you said.
So someone who's going to helpwork with your medical team.
I'm certainly not going to besomeone that's working against
them.
I'm going to be your advocateand their advocate.
(10:53):
So you know, I'm going to helpexplain, maybe, a plan that they
put into place and explain whyit's the best thing for you.
So I am certainly supposed tobe.
I'm intending to work with yourteam and to help make your life
easy and to help you navigateyour decisions and empower you
to make treatment choices thatare to help you navigate your
decisions and empower you tomake treatment choices that are
(11:14):
great for you and your care.
So I'm going to be working withyour team.
I will not be the oneprescribing medications, I will
not be the one you know beingyour primary physician, but I
will be a physician that'sserving in a physician advocate
role to be behind the scenes,helping you to make treatment
(11:36):
choices that are great for you.
So I think in the coaching role,yes, I'm a doctor, but I'm a
doctor that's working for you asa coach, in the same way that
you might need a coach forvarious things in life.
You know, a counselor, we needhour-long sessions when we do
our counseling sessions andthat's why I think an hour is
needed.
(11:56):
You know, we can't shortcutthis, because this is we're
going to try to go deeper andreally unpack some of your fears
and concerns and anxieties thatnaturally come along with a
diagnosis of cancer, because itis scary.
It is scary and I think thatsometimes having the knowledge
and the power and theunderstanding of the disease and
(12:17):
being able to have a safe spaceto unpack it may hopefully make
it a little bit less scary orat least empower you to make
treatment choices that you won'tregret later.
So before you, you know, makeany decision that maybe you'll
regret, whether it be nope, notdoing that, you know, maybe.
Well, let's talk about it more.
(12:38):
you know, let's go deep on thisand really explore your concerns
, and often, when we give youthe time and space to have those
important conversations, itdoes lead to better care,
because people are able to makedecisions that are right for
them and really not just makedecisions based on fear.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Yeah, and fear-based decisions are just never good,
you know, and I love what yousaid about that you were serving
, you know.
As for patient advocacy anddoctor advocacy, you know, like
you're you're there.
You're a part of the team who'sthere to support, but that's
just a great.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Absolutely.
I mean, I'm happy to work withthe doctor.
You know I'm not taking theirpatient from them.
I'm working with them to helpsupport their patients so they
can continue doing certainserving great care and the
capacity that they're doing it,because they're the.
The doctors are really doinggreat things in the community,
so I'm here to support them.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Absolutely Well, and then you being one of them as
well.
So that's fantastic.
So we're going to shift gearsbecause part of our purpose with
this podcast is to get to knowthe person behind the business,
you know.
So when we're not talking aboutDr Friend MD, like, we're
(14:02):
talking about my friend MD, butDr Friend, in that regard, let's
talk about Sarah Friend.
So what is Sarah doing when sheis not working?
Speaker 2 (14:16):
my favorite things yes, no, it's great.
My favorite things to do arespend time with my family.
I have two girls and an awesomehusband and I just enjoy
spending time with all of them,and we love to go to the theater
and watch their shows.
They're both in performing artsand it's just a lot of fun.
So we have a great timetogether.
(14:38):
And the other hobby I have thatis more alone time is gardening,
although lately my youngestdaughter has been joining me, so
we love to go to the plantstore and to pick out the latest
plants and grow them and just,you know, determine which ones
are going to come back everyyear and which colors do we like
.
And so gardening has beensomething that has really been a
(15:02):
way for me to practiceself-care, where I can sort of
clear my head from a very, youknow, sad day or a very intense
day of practice and just allowme to connect with nature and
just have that time to think andthe space to try in my own
world to grow something.
(15:23):
And sometimes I fail, which isokay, because I just find out
which plants like our Georgiasoil, so Love it.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
I find you are not actually the first physician
that we've had on the show.
Who who has had a love forgardening?
And I think that's a piece ofthat nurturing, you know, like
that, that nurturing somethingand watching it grow and
watching it, yeah, so I thinkthat's so rewarding it's so
(15:53):
rewarding.
Yeah, absolutely, and I lovethat you said get back to nature
after an intense day.
I share some of those sameneeds living in the city and
working in the city, and notmedically, but getting back to
nature just really helps ground,ground and it's, it's something
for everyone who has likestress or intensity.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
You know it's, and this is something important that
I always tell you, know, my, myclients, is just the importance
of self-care, because you knowyou really want to try to keep
yourself full and complete andat your best in order to help
others and, you know, even getthrough your day and and make
the best decisions for you.
(16:36):
So self-care is so importantand that's been something that
has been easy for me, um, topick as my go-to.
You know some people enjoyexercise.
I, I like it.
Okay, I mean, I do exercise,but I don't know that.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
I would say enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
It's mandatory and it's really important to do that
.
But I find I really, I reallyjust do enjoy my garden.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Well, okay, so shifting gears again into
something a little more serious,but describe a hardship or a
challenge that you have facedand that you can say, for having
been through that, you feelstronger or better for that
today.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
The hardest thing in the most recent future that I've
had to go through was make thedecision to leave my permanent
practice, where I had a group ofpatients and a group of like
just colleagues and amazingstaff that I just loved so much,
(17:39):
and making that decision toleave them to start my Friend MD
because I believe so stronglyin this idea.
It was really hard and it justit just it came with a lot of
pain.
I mean I don't like leavingpeople and so I was very sad to
(18:00):
leave them and also to chart aterritory that I don't think is
commonly done.
Most of the time when I hear ofphysicians doing new things, I
mean I don't.
I've never heard of anyone thatI know who has done something
like this, so it's a differentpath.
(18:23):
That's not.
There wasn't someone I couldfollow for this.
It was sort of deciding what Ithink is needed based on my
experience and based on just thepeople that I have met in my
life and why I thought that thisshould be a service that exists
in the world for people in mylife, and why I thought that
(18:45):
this should be a service thatexists in the world for people,
but it didn't currently existand only now, is existing, and
so the idea of how to put ittogether and you know how am I
going to leave to take this risk, to do a new thing it just,
it's just hard.
It was just really hard for me.
And now, you know, I feel this,this strong passion and force
leading me forward, but it'sinternal and it's driving me,
(19:05):
but there's no roadmap that hasbeen spelled for me or laid out
for me, and I think it wasreally hard.
So the last six months before Iactually made the step and, you
know, left my job, that was oneof the hardest times for me,
quite honestly.
That was some one of thehardest times for me, quite
honestly.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Well and, like you said there's.
So it's.
It's kind of the irony of that.
You are helping others.
You know you're you're helpingothers navigate through this
very difficult journey that theyhave, but there's not a roadmap
for you and there's not reallysomeone to navigate how to best
provide that service you know toto.
(19:46):
You know honor your, your gutinstincts that are telling you
that this is something that youneed to do.
You know and you want to.
You want to do that, you wantto give back, you want to help
people in this, in this capacity.
There are no guarantees toentrepreneurship at all.
Being an entrepreneur is alittle bit scary and in your
case, I would say you know morethan most because you were
(20:09):
leaving somewhere that you wereso super happy and and fulfilled
.
I just again applaud you forfor taking the leap of faith and
and trusting your own instincts.
You're going to help a lot ofpeople.
I just feel it, and you arestill a practicing oncologist,
so you do still have that aspect, you know.
It's just at a different level,you know.
(20:33):
Thank you for taking this on onbehalf of the rest of us.
So really, we're about to wrapup.
Is there anything else that youwould like our listeners to
know about my friend MD.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
Well, I think just pay attention to anyone in you
know, in your world, who isexpressing that they have more
questions and more time and moreneeds than they're feeling.
So anyone who's feeling maybethis, this pull between um,
between the traditional, thetraditional medical visits, and
(21:06):
is feeling like they really needthat more time and space to
discuss this diagnosis in moredetail.
And when people don't have theresources, think of
MyFriendMDcom, because as wefuture scale, we're going to
start to create resources forcancer patients and networks for
cancer patients that will havethe ability to find resources
(21:29):
that they need, whether it's nota one-on-one coaching session,
which is currently being offeredthrough the platform, but also
we will start to grow a networkand community, so there will be
the support that's needed.
So I would just say, to knowabout this and hopefully no one
who's listening will ever needto use this service.
(21:50):
Obviously, that's not myintention, but if there is
someone that is struggling withthe cancer diagnosis and really
just needs that right person totalk about this diagnosis with
and there's nothing that thefamily or the friends feel like
they can offer or they feel likethey need more, then that would
(22:12):
be the.
They just think of the service.
So that's what I would say.
If it might not be for everyone, especially if there's, you
know, if there's, if people feelsatisfied, but for anyone who
feels like they need to godeeper and they really need to
unpack their diagnosis in moretime and just need that extra
(22:32):
person to run things by, I'mhere.
I'm here for that, becausethat's the need I want to fill
in the world right now.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
That is so wonderful.
Thank you so much for followingyour calling and answering your
calling by doing this.
I am really excited about allthe people that you're going to
help.
You are top of mind for me, foranyone I know that will be
facing this challenge.
Well, if our listeners want tolearn more, if they have a
(23:04):
friend or a loved one who mayalready have had their diagnosis
but is in their journey andwould just like like that extra
support anyone who would like tolearn more, what's the best way
for them to get in touch?
Speaker 2 (23:16):
Dr Friend Visit my website at myfriendmdcom.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
That is an easy one to remember, guys.
Myfriendmdcom.
Thank you so much for beinghere, dr Friend.
It has absolutely been apleasure.
Thank you so much for having me.
Well, that's all for today'sepisode.
Atlanta I'm Stacey Risley withthe Good Neighbor Podcast.
Thanks for listening andsupporting the local businesses
and nonprofits of our greatcommunity.
Thanks for listening to thegood neighbor podcast North
(23:45):
Atlanta.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses, visit GNP North
Atlantacom.
That's GNP North Atlantacom.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, north Atlanta,
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, stacey Risley.
Hello friends and neighbors,welcome to North Atlanta's Good
Neighbor Podcast.
I am so excited about today'sguest.
Today we're here with Dr SarahFriend.
She is a medical oncologist whospecializes in breast cancer
(00:24):
and she's the founder of myFriend MD.
Welcome, dr Friend.
I'm so excited to have you on.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Thank you so much, Stacey.
I'm so happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Well, we just had the listeners don't know, but we
just had our pre-interview,which we have with all of our
guests.
I am just so excited tointroduce you to my Friend MD,
and Dr Friend herself, becauseshe spoke to my heart just
through the pre-interview.
This is such a great missionand I'll now turn it over to you
(00:55):
, Dr Friend, and tell ourlisteners a little bit about
your business.
Tell us about my Friend MD.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
So my Friend MD is a cancer coaching service that is
going to offer personalizedcoaching to fit the needs of
anybody going through theircancer journey, and it could be
from a new diagnosis.
After a diagnosis is made, wecan do a session to help you
prepare a question list for yourdoctor's appointment.
(01:22):
That's upcoming, or we couldanalyze a treatment plan that's
already been made.
Or, if you're in survivorship,we can go through a health and
wellness and exercise plan thatfits your needs.
So it's really going to betailored to the needs of the
individual.
One-hour sessions allows usenough time to really go deep
(01:43):
and offer the time to exploreall of your fears and concerns
and all of the other things thatpatients may not have the
opportunity to discuss withtheir medical team just due to
time constraints.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Yeah Well, I loved everything that you shared with
us prior to this interview and Ireally am excited about you
telling us your journey, becausethis is you're going to be
impressed with this folks.
Her journey into this is justone led by passion and a desire
to help others, and I am I'mjust, I admire her already.
(02:22):
I am I'm just, I admire heralready.
So tell our listeners aboutyour journey from full-time you
know, a practicing medicaloncologist, you know into doing
this coaching aspect of thispart-time.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
So I've been a medical oncologist and I
absolutely love my job.
I love my patients, I love mystaff, absolutely love my job.
I love my patients, I love mystaff.
But what I realized is that Itended to spend a lot more time
with each individual than wasallotted, so as I became more
(02:55):
efficient and more busy, Ididn't have the amount of time
that I wanted to explore reallyimportant issues that patients
were having.
On the flip side, when arelative or loved one or a
friend was diagnosed with cancer, I had the opportunity to go on
really long walks with them andgive them, you know, hours upon
(03:17):
hours of time where we reallyanalyzed all the different
options and we explored theirconcerns, their fears and all
the things that they didn't havetime or space to discuss with
other people.
And when I realized that myloved ones would find our
sessions extremely helpful, Irealized there was a real big
(03:40):
need for this for someone tohave an advocate and an ally in
their court who could help themto really explore those issues
that the traditional 15 to20-minute office visit just
doesn't have time for.
So it's not a substitution forthe traditional healthcare
system.
It's really supplementing itand giving the time and space to
(04:02):
unpack their diagnosis in asafe space and with someone who
you know understands whatthey've gone through and
understands the treatmentoptions.
And I feel like from thoseconversations with friends and
family, I really recognize thatI wanted to make a service that
(04:23):
allows me to have those deepconnections that I love so much,
but also allow me to extend theum, extend myself beyond just
my medical community and myfriends and family and really
(04:44):
and really start a website foranyone who wanted to reach out
and have this in their backpocket.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Yeah, I just I can't even imagine just how valuable
that service would be.
You know, because those, thoseloved ones of yours who are
fortunate, fortunate enough tohave you as a loved one or as
their best friend, or as theirfamily member, they are getting,
(05:16):
like you said, so much more ofyou that you're able to provide
them.
That don't necessarily fit intothe 20 minute window that
you're allotted to have withthis patient before it's on to
the next.
You know and that's a very I'mnot, I'm not at all trying to
downplay the importance of thatyou know diagnosing.
You know diagnosing physician,but in this role you're not
(05:38):
really acting as a physician.
You know, as you know theirphysician, you're acting as
their friend, who also happensto be a very qualified,
experienced.
You know medical oncologist.
You know like, so that's,that's a very distinct
(05:58):
difference that now they have afriend who's going to behave as
a friend and in a friend roleand, like you said, you can go
and you can analyze theirtreatment plan.
You know, if you think thatthey might need a second opinion
, you could recommend you.
You, you have the network torecommend great doctors, but
you're not actually having toact in that role.
(06:21):
You know with within thisposition.
So I understand it's two verydistinctly different roles, but
one is very integral to theother.
It's just a wonderful thingthat you're doing and, as
someone who doesn't have amedical doctor in my family, if
(06:46):
I were to get the diagnosistomorrow, I you know I would
just absolutely take advantageof this service, and you are
among the only that I am awareof, you know.
That's part of why I was sosuper excited to have you on.
This is this is very unique andsuch a great service that
(07:06):
you're offering.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Yeah, thank you for understanding it and getting it
almost immediately, because youknow even when, I'm able to
explain the way a traditionalchemo day would be or what they
can expect if their loved one isdiagnosed.
So I mean, in addition tooffering services for people
going through their journey, I'malso happy to provide services
(07:28):
for families.
So if your loved one isdiagnosed with cancer and
they're in another state and youdon't know, do I need to quit
my job and go move in with them?
Like, what does this mean?
I'm happy to go through thealgorithms with you and offer
alternatives like, well, maybeon really important days, maybe
(07:51):
just block your schedule andoffer a Zoom call or a phone
call at the same time as yourloved ones in the visit, but
also explain whether it's reallyimportant that you should go be
there right now.
So just every question that, um, that we that can be answered,
that's not doesn't maybe makeyour top five list.
(08:13):
Maybe your top five questionsregarding the diagnosis will be
left for your medical team, butthere's probably another five,
10, 20 questions that you mighthave, but they may not make that
15 minute visit, and so I'mhere for those 15 questions.
You know the ones that may notbe the most important questions
you know.
I'm happy to not be the mostimportant questions, you know.
I'm happy to try to answerthose as well, but if you really
(08:36):
want to know, is it okay foryou to work on chemo or do I
really have to do the chemo?
What are my options and howabout diet nutrition Like?
What else can I do that I can'tcontrol?
Speaker 1 (08:48):
And.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
I'm happy to go down any you know sort of you know
rabbit hole with patients whotend to want to really think
through what, the what ifscenarios, and I'm happy to do
that with them, and that's wherethis platform will give us the
time and space to do that.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Yeah, and when, and you know, when you get a
diagnosis like cancer, you knowand you know that this journey
is ahead of you and you don'tknow anything about what that
journey looks like.
I mean to have someone who canhelp you navigate not just
someone, but you know, to havesomeone with your qualifications
(09:25):
navigate through them.
And it's coincidental that herlast name is friend, but it fits
very well into her businessmodel and just having met her a
couple of hours ago to now, shetruly is.
I can tell you it's going tofeel like you have your best
(09:48):
friend that's there to help younavigate through the most
difficult and challengingjourney that maybe you've faced
in life so far.
And and I just I am so happythat you're doing this, dr
Friend, this is she's so easy totalk to y'all, she's so nice
and she knows everything.
So that's like really allaspects of the cancer journey.
(10:13):
I mean you know she's been onon all sides of that.
So like I just I am so excitedthat you're you're doing this.
And I think we've kind oftouched on the next question.
But the next question istelling us about or clearing up
any myths or misconceptions thatpeople may have about your
business.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
No, thank you so much for that.
And I agree, the biggestmisconception is that in the
cancer coaching role I wouldserve in the traditional doctor
setting.
I'm going to be serving more asa coach and more as a friend,
just like you said.
So someone who's going to helpwork with your medical team.
I'm certainly not going to besomeone that's working against
them.
I'm going to be your advocateand their advocate.
(10:53):
So you know, I'm going to helpexplain, maybe, a plan that they
put into place and explain whyit's the best thing for you.
So I am certainly supposed tobe.
I'm intending to work with yourteam and to help make your life
easy and to help you navigateyour decisions and empower you
to make treatment choices thatare to help you navigate your
decisions and empower you tomake treatment choices that are
(11:14):
great for you and your care.
So I'm going to be working withyour team.
I will not be the oneprescribing medications, I will
not be the one you know beingyour primary physician, but I
will be a physician that'sserving in a physician advocate
role to be behind the scenes,helping you to make treatment
(11:36):
choices that are great for you.
So I think in the coaching role,yes, I'm a doctor, but I'm a
doctor that's working for you asa coach, in the same way that
you might need a coach forvarious things in life.
You know, a counselor, we needhour-long sessions when we do
our counseling sessions andthat's why I think an hour is
needed.
(11:56):
You know, we can't shortcutthis, because this is we're
going to try to go deeper andreally unpack some of your fears
and concerns and anxieties thatnaturally come along with a
diagnosis of cancer, because itis scary.
It is scary and I think thatsometimes having the knowledge
and the power and theunderstanding of the disease and
(12:17):
being able to have a safe spaceto unpack it may hopefully make
it a little bit less scary orat least empower you to make
treatment choices that you won'tregret later.
So before you, you know, makeany decision that maybe you'll
regret, whether it be nope, notdoing that, you know, maybe.
Well, let's talk about it more.
(12:38):
you know, let's go deep on thisand really explore your concerns
, and often, when we give youthe time and space to have those
important conversations, itdoes lead to better care,
because people are able to makedecisions that are right for
them and really not just makedecisions based on fear.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Yeah, and fear-based decisions are just never good,
you know, and I love what yousaid about that you were serving
, you know.
As for patient advocacy anddoctor advocacy, you know, like
you're you're there.
You're a part of the team who'sthere to support, but that's
just a great.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Absolutely.
I mean, I'm happy to work withthe doctor.
You know I'm not taking theirpatient from them.
I'm working with them to helpsupport their patients so they
can continue doing certainserving great care and the
capacity that they're doing it,because they're the.
The doctors are really doinggreat things in the community,
so I'm here to support them.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Absolutely Well, and then you being one of them as
well.
So that's fantastic.
So we're going to shift gearsbecause part of our purpose with
this podcast is to get to knowthe person behind the business,
you know.
So when we're not talking aboutDr Friend MD, like, we're
(14:02):
talking about my friend MD, butDr Friend, in that regard, let's
talk about Sarah Friend.
So what is Sarah doing when sheis not working?
Speaker 2 (14:16):
my favorite things yes, no, it's great.
My favorite things to do arespend time with my family.
I have two girls and an awesomehusband and I just enjoy
spending time with all of them,and we love to go to the theater
and watch their shows.
They're both in performing artsand it's just a lot of fun.
So we have a great timetogether.
(14:38):
And the other hobby I have thatis more alone time is gardening,
although lately my youngestdaughter has been joining me, so
we love to go to the plantstore and to pick out the latest
plants and grow them and just,you know, determine which ones
are going to come back everyyear and which colors do we like
.
And so gardening has beensomething that has really been a
(15:02):
way for me to practiceself-care, where I can sort of
clear my head from a very, youknow, sad day or a very intense
day of practice and just allowme to connect with nature and
just have that time to think andthe space to try in my own
world to grow something.
(15:23):
And sometimes I fail, which isokay, because I just find out
which plants like our Georgiasoil, so Love it.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
I find you are not actually the first physician
that we've had on the show.
Who who has had a love forgardening?
And I think that's a piece ofthat nurturing, you know, like
that, that nurturing somethingand watching it grow and
watching it, yeah, so I thinkthat's so rewarding it's so
(15:53):
rewarding.
Yeah, absolutely, and I lovethat you said get back to nature
after an intense day.
I share some of those sameneeds living in the city and
working in the city, and notmedically, but getting back to
nature just really helps ground,ground and it's, it's something
for everyone who has likestress or intensity.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
You know it's, and this is something important that
I always tell you, know, my, myclients, is just the importance
of self-care, because you knowyou really want to try to keep
yourself full and complete andat your best in order to help
others and, you know, even getthrough your day and and make
the best decisions for you.
(16:36):
So self-care is so importantand that's been something that
has been easy for me, um, topick as my go-to.
You know some people enjoyexercise.
I, I like it.
Okay, I mean, I do exercise,but I don't know that.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
I would say enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
It's mandatory and it's really important to do that
.
But I find I really, I reallyjust do enjoy my garden.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Well, okay, so shifting gears again into
something a little more serious,but describe a hardship or a
challenge that you have facedand that you can say, for having
been through that, you feelstronger or better for that
today.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
The hardest thing in the most recent future that I've
had to go through was make thedecision to leave my permanent
practice, where I had a group ofpatients and a group of like
just colleagues and amazingstaff that I just loved so much,
(17:39):
and making that decision toleave them to start my Friend MD
because I believe so stronglyin this idea.
It was really hard and it justit just it came with a lot of
pain.
I mean I don't like leavingpeople and so I was very sad to
(18:00):
leave them and also to chart aterritory that I don't think is
commonly done.
Most of the time when I hear ofphysicians doing new things, I
mean I don't.
I've never heard of anyone thatI know who has done something
like this, so it's a differentpath.
(18:23):
That's not.
There wasn't someone I couldfollow for this.
It was sort of deciding what Ithink is needed based on my
experience and based on just thepeople that I have met in my
life and why I thought that thisshould be a service that exists
in the world for people in mylife, and why I thought that
(18:45):
this should be a service thatexists in the world for people,
but it didn't currently existand only now, is existing, and
so the idea of how to put ittogether and you know how am I
going to leave to take this risk, to do a new thing it just,
it's just hard.
It was just really hard for me.
And now, you know, I feel this,this strong passion and force
leading me forward, but it'sinternal and it's driving me,
(19:05):
but there's no roadmap that hasbeen spelled for me or laid out
for me, and I think it wasreally hard.
So the last six months before Iactually made the step and, you
know, left my job, that was oneof the hardest times for me,
quite honestly.
That was some one of thehardest times for me, quite
honestly.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Well and, like you said there's.
So it's.
It's kind of the irony of that.
You are helping others.
You know you're you're helpingothers navigate through this
very difficult journey that theyhave, but there's not a roadmap
for you and there's not reallysomeone to navigate how to best
provide that service you know toto.
(19:46):
You know honor your, your gutinstincts that are telling you
that this is something that youneed to do.
You know and you want to.
You want to do that, you wantto give back, you want to help
people in this, in this capacity.
There are no guarantees toentrepreneurship at all.
Being an entrepreneur is alittle bit scary and in your
case, I would say you know morethan most because you were
(20:09):
leaving somewhere that you wereso super happy and and fulfilled
.
I just again applaud you forfor taking the leap of faith and
and trusting your own instincts.
You're going to help a lot ofpeople.
I just feel it, and you arestill a practicing oncologist,
so you do still have that aspect, you know.
It's just at a different level,you know.
(20:33):
Thank you for taking this on onbehalf of the rest of us.
So really, we're about to wrapup.
Is there anything else that youwould like our listeners to
know about my friend MD.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
Well, I think just pay attention to anyone in you
know, in your world, who isexpressing that they have more
questions and more time and moreneeds than they're feeling.
So anyone who's feeling maybethis, this pull between um,
between the traditional, thetraditional medical visits, and
(21:06):
is feeling like they really needthat more time and space to
discuss this diagnosis in moredetail.
And when people don't have theresources, think of
MyFriendMDcom, because as wefuture scale, we're going to
start to create resources forcancer patients and networks for
cancer patients that will havethe ability to find resources
(21:29):
that they need, whether it's nota one-on-one coaching session,
which is currently being offeredthrough the platform, but also
we will start to grow a networkand community, so there will be
the support that's needed.
So I would just say, to knowabout this and hopefully no one
who's listening will ever needto use this service.
(21:50):
Obviously, that's not myintention, but if there is
someone that is struggling withthe cancer diagnosis and really
just needs that right person totalk about this diagnosis with
and there's nothing that thefamily or the friends feel like
they can offer or they feel likethey need more, then that would
(22:12):
be the.
They just think of the service.
So that's what I would say.
If it might not be for everyone, especially if there's, you
know, if there's, if people feelsatisfied, but for anyone who
feels like they need to godeeper and they really need to
unpack their diagnosis in moretime and just need that extra
(22:32):
person to run things by, I'mhere.
I'm here for that, becausethat's the need I want to fill
in the world right now.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
That is so wonderful.
Thank you so much for followingyour calling and answering your
calling by doing this.
I am really excited about allthe people that you're going to
help.
You are top of mind for me, foranyone I know that will be
facing this challenge.
Well, if our listeners want tolearn more, if they have a
(23:04):
friend or a loved one who mayalready have had their diagnosis
but is in their journey andwould just like like that extra
support anyone who would like tolearn more, what's the best way
for them to get in touch?
Speaker 2 (23:16):
Dr Friend Visit my website at myfriendmdcom.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
That is an easy one to remember, guys.
Myfriendmdcom.
Thank you so much for beinghere, dr Friend.
It has absolutely been apleasure.
Thank you so much for having me.
Well, that's all for today'sepisode.
Atlanta I'm Stacey Risley withthe Good Neighbor Podcast.
Thanks for listening andsupporting the local businesses
and nonprofits of our greatcommunity.
Thanks for listening to thegood neighbor podcast North
(23:45):
Atlanta.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses, visit GNP North
Atlantacom.
That's GNP North Atlantacom.
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