October 1, 2025 • 37 mins
Welcome to this special episode of Off-Balance in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Breast cancer affects 1 in 8 women in the U.S., with over 316,000 new invasive cases expected this year. Sadly, more than 42,000 women and 500 men will lose their lives to this disease.
Behind every number is a story of courage, loss, and hope — and today, we honor the story of Laura Reutter.
What defines a woman when cancer takes parts of her body? Laura Reutter faced this question head-on after her 2016 breast cancer diagnosis led to a bilateral mastectomy, fundamentally changing her life's trajectory.
"Everything gets flipped upside down," Laura explains, describing how cancer reshapes not just your body, but your entire existence, from where you live to who remains in your life. The phenomenon of "ghosting" left her isolated as her 14-month treatment plan made maintaining friendships nearly impossible. When treatment ended, she faced an identity crisis: "I had to figure out what defined me."
Laura's journey from patient to certified senior patient navigator reveals profound insights about healing. Now having supported nearly 700 individuals through breast cancer, she shares startling truths, like how 85% of breast cancer cases have nothing to do with genetics, while offering practical wisdom for anyone facing life's unexpected challenges.
The conversation takes a fascinating turn when Laura describes discovering dragon boating, an ancient Chinese sport that has become a global competitive outlet for breast cancer survivors. The paddling motion, once discouraged for women who had lymph nodes removed, actually helps prevent lymphedema. Through this community, Laura found purpose, friendship, and competitive joy, even qualifying for international competitions.
Laura's perspective on "aesthetic flat closure" challenges conventional narratives about wholeness after mastectomy. Her powerful tattoo art transformed what society might view as loss into beautiful self-expression. "I wanted to look in the mirror in the morning an
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Intro (00:01):
You're listening to the Off Balance Podcast, where faith
, family and business collide,hosted by Brooke Stemming,
doctor of BusinessAdministration, business Coach
and Resilience Expert.
Each episode features real-lifeconversations to help
entrepreneurs like you buildresilience and lead with
(00:22):
confidence.
Dr. Brooks (00:38):
Welcome back to Off Balance.
I'm your host, dr Brooks.
A breast cancer diagnosis canleave women feeling afraid,
isolated and unsure ofthemselves.
Today's conversation is aboutfinding courage in the journey
and embracing wholeness on yourown terms.
My guest today, Laura Reuter,embodies resilience and purpose.
After her breast cancerdiagnosis in 2016, laura chose
to face life not with fear, butwith boldness.
(00:58):
She's a certified seniorpatient navigator who has walked
alongside nearly 700individuals through their own
breast cancer journeys, offeringboth wisdom and compassion.
A passionate advocate foraesthetic, flat closure, laura
proudly embraces the fabulous,flatty lifestyle, breaking
stereotypes and helping othersfeel whole just as they are.
(01:21):
Laura, welcome to Off Balance.
Laura Reutter (01:24):
Thank you for the wonderful intro.
Thank you.
Dr. Brooks (01:27):
Thank you so much for joining us today.
I am so excited to have you.
Before we get started, can youjust tell our listeners exactly
who you are and what it is thatyou do?
Laura Reutter (01:38):
Yes, as you stated, I'm a senior certified
patient navigator about fiveyears experience, now five and a
half years.
So I speak with women, some menit is unfortunately becoming
more prevalent in men now.
I speak with them all the wayfrom diagnosis throughout the
treatment plan, set expectationsI help them out with like
insurance, finances, sometimesjust the listening ear.
(02:01):
Sometimes they just need totalk or vent and I say you can
vent away, just let me grab acoffee.
Absolutely so, just trying tomake an impact.
After what I went through, Iwant to make sure that I just do
my best to try to help othersand bring them along.
Dr. Brooks (02:15):
So you actually walked alongside nearly 700
people through their owndifficult journeys.
How has witnessing theirexperience shape your
understanding of the confidence,and what does reclaiming it
look like in real life for you?
Laura Reutter (02:30):
Yeah, reclaiming , I really had to dig deep to
find those bits of joy.
To find those bits of joy everyday.
It doesn't have to be somethingover the top, but just finding
something every day that made mesmile.
And trying, just doing my bestto when I was going through my
(02:55):
treatment, just trying to findthat joy was extremely hard.
It really dig deep with myfaith and my faith.
I tend to keep that private,mainly because I work with as a
navigator.
I work with people from alleducation lives, all financial
aspects, all different faiths,and I want to make sure that I'm
respectful of that and talkwith them about their faith and
(03:17):
not necessarily impose mybeliefs on anybody, but holding
strong through all that, that'sfor sure.
Dr. Brooks (03:24):
Yes, I can only imagine.
So can you take us back to whenyou were first diagnosed and
how did you feel in real time?
Laura Reutter (03:32):
It's a shock.
It's an absolute shock whenyou're diagnosed.
I was relocated to Austin, wasliving a very.
I was married for 25 years anddivorced for five years, and so
a brand new life and just reallyenjoying it here in Austin, and
suddenly I've got a breastcancer diagnosis.
What are you talking about?
It has nothing to do withgenetics.
(03:53):
As I found out later, 85% ofbreast cancer has nothing to do
with genetics.
It just comes as a shock, andwhat you learn real quick when
you're diagnosed is thateverything that you have known
gets flipped upside down.
Everything gets flipped.
I ended up with a differenthouse.
I ride a motorcycle differentmotorcycle.
(04:16):
There's a phenomenon calledghosting.
Unfortunately, what happensit's breast cancer.
Any type of cancer can beisolating, very isolating,
because your entire life getstaken over by a team of doctors,
all kinds of appointments, andso your friends and family.
You can't keep up.
Sometimes they invite you andthey invite you, and then pretty
soon you don't get the invites.
(04:37):
It isn't that they don't loveyou, it isn't that they don't
have intentions good intentionsit's just like my diagnosis or
my treatment plan excuse me, itwas 14 months long, so that's a
long time, and so I had to.
Part of my healing processafterwards was as a grown adult.
I had to go find new friends.
Like I'm like how do you, wheredo you even start with new
(04:58):
friends?
Because my hobbies changed tooand I'm like I don't even know
where to even start with friends.
So yeah, you got to take littlesteps along the way and heal
yourself.
Try to keep a sense of humorabout it.
Dr. Brooks (05:10):
I had no idea that the majority of cancer was not
hereditary, because a lot of thetimes when you are even
screened for breast cancer, ifyou don't have a family history
or if you're not at high risk,then they'll let you actually
start getting your mammograms atthe recommended age.
So I'm so glad that you broughtthat to the conversation,
because I was not aware of that.
(05:30):
You said that you wereinitially in shock.
What was a specific moment whenyou started to shift and
embrace the journey that youwere on?
Laura Reutter (05:39):
It wasn't until I was after I was done with my
treatment.
So all the way through mytreatment which is somewhat
common you're in the fight,everybody that loves you, you
got to fight, you got to fight,you got to stay in the fight,
which is beautiful, so I call itarmor up emotionally.
And so I'm just like we're notdealing with emotions, we're
(06:00):
just fighting all the waythrough, we're just fighting,
fighting.
And then I got done with mytreatment and the physician said
the team of doctors all wentaway and they said we'll see you
in three months for a follow-up.
And I'm like, okay, I'm good.
And then, about four monthslater, because I thought I had
it not my faith, my spirit, notmy, I just thought I had it.
(06:23):
And then I didn't know anythingwhen I was done.
Again I had no, no friends, Ihad a real big motorcycle.
I couldn't getting it's amatter of physics trying to get
thing and in and out of thegarage I had to.
Basically, I walked into asupport group the community, so
important.
I walked into a support groupand just said I don't know what
I'm doing.
I don't know because all thatarmor there was nothing to fight
(06:43):
for All that armor fell off,and so now it was time to really
find my emotional balance afterthat and find out what was.
What did I want my life to looklike after what I had been
through?
Dr. Brooks (07:02):
I can imagine that was scary.
What gave you the confidence togo to a focus group?
Laura Reutter (07:07):
I don't know if that was really confidence or I
was just wore down emotionally,like I had nothing left in the
gas tank, just like I gotnothing.
The confidence during therebuilding process was there's
some moments there of confidenceof, first of all, just looking
at my body again.
You know, you just try toignore it.
Some women don't.
(07:28):
First of all just looking at mybody again, you know, you just
try to ignore it.
Some women don't look at all,don't have mirrors, others just
embrace it right away.
Again, it's very individual,but for me that wasn't my plan
to be flat.
Some women choose to be flat.
Aesthetic, flat closure is theproper term.
To go flat right out of thegate.
Many athletes will do that therunners, swimmers, golfers.
They're like I'm done with mybreasts.
That's fine, but with me Iwanted to go larger.
(07:50):
I was supposed to be.
I'm like I'm done with B cups,let's go with C or D.
And my low point was basically Idid chemo first and then had a
bilateral mastectomy.
I had to have a singlemastectomy.
I chose to have a doublebecause I wanted everything the
same aesthetically not cancerbut aesthetically.
And my low point was I had thebilateral mastectomy within a
(08:12):
week and a half.
Infection happens in 20%post-surgery infection and I
basically had to go in for whatthey call an explant.
They have they had expandersput in which are like implants
but they're flatter, and thenthey expand them to expand your
skin to a certain size and thenyou go for a secondary surgery
to swap it out for an implantthat would be in your body for
10 years and with that infection, yeah, I basically had to go
(08:37):
explant, go back into surgeryand have the expander taken out.
And I remember being in thehospital just crying with my
plastic surgeon saying all theplastic surgeons have beautiful
books of before and after shotsand I'm like I'm not going to
make your boobie book am.
I.
So it was horrifying because Ilost my second set of breasts.
I'm like I'm not even growingup enough to handle one, let
(08:58):
alone two.
I'm like how could I lose twosets of breasts?
So that was probably my lowpoint and my confidence After
all.
That was probably my low pointand my confidence after all that
was said and done.
At the very end I said I'm justgoing to go, whatever you can
do with flat.
So it wasn't.
My chest is not nice and neat,it's a little lumpy, bumpy.
So in the beginning, yeah, itwas very difficult and my
confidence had to come fromtrying on different clothes for
(09:19):
anything women's blouses,dresses, any nice clothes.
They're made with certain forms.
Yeah, I couldn't wear those.
What do I even wear when I wantto go out in the evening?
So, trying on new clothes andgiving myself the grace and love
to say you know what?
I'm going to power shop for theday.
I'm going to try on 30different things, grab stuff
(09:41):
that I've never worn before andjust rifle through and if I come
home with one, that's okay,that's okay.
So there's a little bit ofconfidence with that.
And looking at the scars andsome women believe their scars
are, they would never hide theirscars with tattoos because
that's what they've been throughthe battle scars.
Much respect, that's beautiful.
(10:02):
For me, I have an artistic sideand I wanted to look in the
mirror in the morning and get myswagger back and look at
something beautiful.
I didn't want to look at thescars.
To me, my artwork, which Idesigned, makes me look
beautiful and that really gaveme my confidence.
But it's that every little bitof trying new things, getting
that confidence of all newmotorcycle riding friends.
(10:24):
I went out online and foundthree or four groups showed up
and said, yes, I wanted to bewith this group.
No, I don't know.
Again, that goes back to how doyou even find friends as an
adult?
And the one, the group that Idid find these ladies, I just
love riding with them.
The acceptance because I showedup with my chest full of ink.
I'm like, yeah, look at me, gonow.
(10:46):
And they're like bikers, theyall have ink.
They're like, okay, that'sbeautiful, but sit down.
So it was acceptance.
And also like acceptance tojust treat me like everybody
else.
They just think I keep in touchwith people but it's not the
same.
It's not the same and that'sokay, and that's okay and that's
(11:07):
okay.
People grow.
I don't know if people reallychange too much in life, because
everybody has their corebeliefs and values, but it's
okay to grow and learn newthings.
I didn't know what dragonboating was.
I had no idea what dragonboating was.
So after I went through mytreatment and I volunteered
volunteering is important to me,it's a bit passed down from my
(11:29):
mom to give back to thecommunity.
I've always volunteered and soI went to a Mama Jama, which is
like a fundraiser for bicyclistslocally here in Austin, and was
recruited to go try it.
Just go try it.
Come in the boat, try it.
With dragon boating.
It's all breast cancer.
There's a whole internationalcommunity of dragon boat racers.
So you can't get in our boatunless you've had breast cancer.
(11:49):
That's the motto, basically.
A giant canoe with a 40-footcanoe with 20 people in it.
You know paddling.
I'm like dragon boat, what isthis?
But I had to try Again.
It's a confidence building.
I'm going to try it.
If it's not my gig, okay, butI've learned something new.
I've met some new people.
Even if it's not my cup of tea,that's okay.
(12:12):
Trying those little things tobuild confidence and, as it
turns out, I never left.
I tried it and it's been fiveyears later and I still love the
team.
We've traveled we went toVancouver this last year for
international and we're going toFrance next year.
So it's been a wonderfulbonding experience Because one
of the things when you're goingthrough treatment and maybe it's
like this for other cancers,I'm just not familiar but all
(12:33):
those emotions that you feel andall the different expectations
that you're talking aboutphysically with the physician,
you can talk to your loved ones,your spouses, your friends, and
they'll listen to you and theylove you.
But it's a different kind ofdiscussion when you're talking
with another survivor.
I can talk with somebody aboutbeing flat.
(12:56):
A big discussion was am I awoman?
A year before I was diagnosed,they actually had a hysterectomy
for different reasons, forother reasons, and I was like,
okay, leave my hysterectomy fordifferent reasons, for other
reasons, and I was like, okay,leave my ovaries, that way I
won't get breast cancer.
And then a year later I getbreast cancer and it's not.
There's different types ofbreast cancer and it's not a
(13:20):
hormone-based hormone, erpr whatthey call ERPR positive, which
is like a hormone positivebreast cancer.
Mine had nothing to do.
My breast cancer did not careat all about my hormones.
So now I've already had myuterus removed, now I've got
both my breasts gone and I'mlike, okay, am I even?
I think that's a misconceptionthat people have all the time is
what truly makes a woman awoman.
I hear I have that discussion, yeah, Often
(13:41):
with women, because our societyand I don't think it's anything
that we've done, but it's ourperception of ourselves from
what society, what we see out inmarketing Football season it's
beer and hoops.
I don't want it to be that way.
But again, reality what is andworking within that and finding
(14:01):
your own path.
So, yeah, I really had tofigure out what defined me, how
I define myself.
Dr. Brooks (14:08):
That takes a while it's a process, if someone is
listening and they're in thatsame situation and they may be
questioning, if they are still awoman, what would you tell them
?
Laura Reutter (14:18):
Give yourself grace and love.
First of all, there's so manyunknowns, it's all many aspects
are you've never even workedwith or dealt with in your life
and it's okay to fail.
It's okay to try and to fail,learn and then try something
else, just like with my clothes.
I need to try all new thingsand fail, cry and then get back
(14:43):
up and try again.
It's oh.
You just have to keep chippingaway because it's not a.
It's not.
To me, it was not a destination.
It's like I woke up one morningand went now I'm confident,
yeah, I have arrived.
No, it's just that slow processof accepting all those little
(15:05):
wins and all those lessons andthose failures.
It's okay to fail, try again,it's okay, you're going to find
it.
You're going to find yourgroove.
But just love yourself alongthe way and celebrate every
little win along the way.
Don't wait to the end tocelebrate.
You say at the end of chemoradiation you get to ring the
(15:26):
bell.
No, just ring it every Tuesday.
If you want to ring the bell,you showed up.
That's a win.
You got here.
That's a win.
Don't wait till the end.
Dr. Brooks (15:36):
Yeah, that's good advice Because, as you was going
on your journey 14 months, solooking back, would you have
done anything different as faras it relates to your mindset or
just how you approached?
Laura Reutter (15:47):
your journey.
Big thing.
Yes, I was not a navigator.
I was just another personrunning around having fun in
life, enjoying life.
And so when I was, when I got myinitial treatment plan as I had
mentioned, bilateral mastectomywas involved and I was already
what I call brain locked in I'mlike doing this, I'm getting
(16:10):
bigger breasts.
I'm doing this, I'm just goingto let's tear this up Whole new
set of clothes with breasts.
Now I got to change clothes forthe other way.
It's kind of like that feelingwhen somebody loses weight or
something.
Maybe there's a purpose to it.
Okay, I'm going to lose threepounds a week.
You have a purpose, mission.
And I was like, okay, I'm goingto get, I have to go through
cancer treatment.
(16:30):
This is it, this is my purpose.
And what happens?
180 the other way and trying tostay.
So my biggest piece of advice isjust trying to stay agile or
flexible in your mind, becausethings change, especially during
a cancer diagnosis thing.
Unknowns come in all the time,and so you've got to be flexible
.
Just that will.
(16:52):
The more flexible you are, orthe more agile you are, and just
taking things as is instead ofthose expectations that you've
built up in your mind, it's lesscrying.
It's going to be a whole loteasier If you just go into it
like, okay, things could change.
This is kind of where I want tobe, or what the doctors told me
(17:14):
.
I'm going to be in six, eight,10 months, but if things change,
I'm going to be okay with that.
So just try to stay a littlemore flexible in your thought
process and not bring in allthose expectations like I have.
Dr. Brooks (17:28):
Yes, and you are a patient navigator.
Can you explain what your roleis to those recently diagnosed?
Laura Reutter (17:36):
Yeah, absolutely so navigate.
And I am non-clinical in nature, so I'm not a doctor or a nurse
.
Ok, chw, community healthworker, trained breast advocate,
trained, certified, butnon-medical.
So what I do, my associates do,is that if somebody comes to
our doorstep, we go ahead and wewalk with them all the way
(17:56):
through the process.
So we set expectations.
It could be as simple as oh,you're going to have a bilateral
mastectomy, you're going tohave T-Rex arms.
Don't plan on using from hereto here on your arm for a good
week.
So heads up with where you putthe toilet paper.
Heads up, it's just.
Sometimes it's as simple asthings.
You're going to need a wedgepillow, you're going to need a
drain shirt.
Setting expectations Sometimesit's just listening and
(18:29):
listening to people's pain andwhat they're going through.
Sometimes it's very much morefunctional as far as hey, if you
need your insurance changed ormaybe job loss in the middle of
your treatment plan, which meansmost likely your insurance will
change your health insurance.
So now, working with localnonprofits, try to help them
line up new health insurancefinancial assistance.
I'm with the Breast CancerResource Center here in Austin
(18:49):
and we work with the local fivecounties.
So it's a very small nonprofit.
We work with those fivecounties here and so we have a
little bit of support money thatwe can try to help out with
just to kind of get peoplethrough, but again pointing them
to other resources, whetherthey're national resources or
local resources, if they havechildren.
(19:10):
How do you talk to your kids?
Well, there's a wonderfulresource, wonders and Worries,
here in Austin, and that's whatthey do.
They talk with children.
They work with children whoseparents are going through
treatment of any type of cancer.
So again, just one-on-one withpeople, setting expectations and
then lining them up with otherorganizations as much as
(19:30):
possible to try to help themthrough the whole process.
And if there's a little bit ofeducation, early stage what the
physicians call early stage iszero through three.
Stage four is also known as ametastatic breast cancer.
So zero through three isconsidered curable either
through radiation, chemo surgerymethods.
(19:52):
Stage four then becomes amanaged disease, because that
means it's gone to maybe yourbones, your liver, it's migrated
to other parts of your body.
So at that point it becomes amanaged disease.
And those are hardconversations to have, hard
conversations.
But I will tell you a funnystory.
And those are hardconversations to have, hard
conversations.
But I will tell you a funnystory.
When I first came on board, Istarted February of 2020.
(20:13):
So what happened in 2020?
Covid.
So I come on board, we have anoffice and I still have to get
my education and mycertifications, but I was asked
to sit in our metastatic supportgroup.
Just don't say anything.
We know you don't know what youdon't know yet.
Just observe Great 10, 12 womencome in the height or just the
very beginning of COVID.
(20:33):
So there's a lot of fear becauseyour immune system is just
rocked, especially if you'remetastatic because of different
lines of treatment.
And the woman come in the roomand she's just one of those
personalities that's like largerthan life, like she's tall and
she just encompasses the wholeroom.
She comes in and she's superhappy and I don't know what to
expect.
I'm sitting with a whole groupof women that will be on
(20:55):
medications the rest of theirlife and somebody she sits down,
somebody talks about.
They start handing out themasks Okay, we have COVID now
and here's your mask and shestarts laughing and she says are
they afraid?
This is going to kill us?
I'm like, I'm mortified becauseI don't know what to expect and
they just fall out.
They were laughing so hard theycould not Because, again,
(21:16):
finding that humor is justimperative.
Oh, I'm sorry, are we going todie from COVID?
Okay, we're sitting in asupport group here, so the humor
almost gives you permission forthat grace along the way.
That was an important momentfor me of learning that it's
(21:38):
okay these discussions have tobe had and sensitivity is
obviously imperative, but ifsomebody is going to laugh about
their situation, I'm going tobe right there with them.
It's okay, we're going to havethese talks.
Dr. Brooks (21:55):
So if someone is listening and they're on this
journey but they don't knowanything about a patient
navigator, how would they findout if that's available to them
in their local area?
Laura Reutter (22:05):
I would say, through their local hospital or
their infusion center wherethey're going.
That's the first stop is askthem.
Many hospitals or infusioncenters will have support groups
and it's more common now at thehospital to have either a nurse
navigator or a patientnavigator.
So that would be my first stop.
There is also case managers andpatient navigators with
(22:26):
different insurance companies.
Check with your insurancecompany they may have.
Now, obviously that's not goingto be face-to-face, but it's
going to be somebody that canhelp you get through the process
, because it's absolutelyoverwhelming in the beginning.
It's a whole different language, so just learning all the
acronyms.
There are national groups.
So there's Susan G.
Coleman has their nationalgroup and I believe that they
(22:48):
have patient navigators on staff.
Now, again, if you're in theAustin area Central Texas area
Breast Cancer Resource Center,so check out online.
Metavivor group for somebodythat's stage four or metastatic.
There's a wonderful resourcefor women that are 45 and under
See that way too many timesthese days, which is just
(23:10):
heartbreaking.
Young Survival Coalition youcan find them online also and
it's a wonderful.
Many of the nationalorganizations have more support
groups than patient navigators.
But patient navigation field,especially clinical nurse
navigators, is really coming onstrong in the last couple of
years.
Field, especially clinicalnurse navigators, is really
coming on strong in the lastcouple of years.
So that would be my first stopis ask for patient navigation
(23:30):
within that organization andthen go from there.
Dr. Brooks (23:35):
Yeah.
So if someone is listening andthey are like, wow, you are on
the other side of this.
How do you hope sharing yourstory will impact them if
they're just in the middle oftheir journey or in the
beginning of their journey?
Laura Reutter (23:50):
I want to give them hope.
I want to give them hopebecause it's there can be dark
days and know that it'stemporary, you're going to get
through it.
It's not going to be the same.
You got to give yourself somegrace and love that again.
It may be different on theother side, but it doesn't mean
(24:12):
it's bad.
Different doesn't mean bad.
It's going to be totallydifferent.
But my daughter and I bought ahome together.
I'm closer now to her than Iever was.
So there are some silverlinings out there.
But just keep the hope going.
If you start losing hope andhaving those dark days, just
reach out.
Find a support group, reach out.
(24:34):
The community is here tosupport you.
Dr. Brooks (24:38):
Yeah, community is so important, because a lot of
times when we go throughsituations, I think the instinct
is to isolate just to try toget through it.
But in isolation sometimes welet our thoughts become bigger
than the situation.
So I'm so glad that you arepreaching community and that you
are practicing community,because I feel that is so
important, regardless of whatyou're going through in life.
(25:00):
Yeah, community is so important.
And so, when it comes to theactual paddles with a purpose,
can you tell us how you justdove right in once you got
introduced to that group?
Laura Reutter (25:13):
I was brought up in playing sports all the time
and so anything I used to beback in the day.
I used to be back in the day.
I used to be considered like agym rat.
Probably not so much anymore,but yeah, once I went to the
first practice I was hookedbecause just being on the water,
I love being on the water.
I just absolutely love,especially the early morning
practices, 8.30 in the morning.
(25:33):
You're out there, the fog stillcoming off the water, it's just
a wonderful feeling.
And all the women in the boatare all different ages, got some
young ones and their kids comeand cheer.
And that's a double-edged swordfor me as a navigator, because
nobody should be 32 diagnosedwith cancer.
But they're strong, holy smokes, they're strong.
(25:53):
So their kids are there tocheer and they've really and
just the laughter with themAgain, just the community and
the dragon.
I was just hooked.
I love it because you've got 20people in the boat.
During a race, it's all aboutsync.
You all have a paddle.
If you get out of sync, you'resmacking paddles and you're not
winning.
(26:14):
You're not winning.
You are bringing on no medalsif you're smacking into each
other.
So it's all about.
It's not necessarily aboutstrength.
We're about about sync, and youneed to work together, or
you're just fighting each otherin the boat.
Even just a little shift inweight, you can feel it.
You can feel it in the boat.
What are you doing over there?
You can feel it, yeah, and it'san awesome feeling to bring
(26:41):
home a few medals along the waytoo.
It's yeah, just thatcompetition.
Yeah, I'm not.
I might be broken, my lymphaticsystem might be a mess, I may
have breast or not, or one ornew ones, but I'm still here and
I'm getting this.
All my arms, my upper body I'mstill here.
I'm still competing.
So let's do this, yeah.
Dr. Brooks (27:01):
Yeah, I saw your story on the local Austin news
where you won the championship.
So what teams do you competewith?
Is it like all local teams, oris it teams from across the
country?
Laura Reutter (27:11):
There are.
Initially, when we started thegroup and I was probably I was
not one of the OGs, I wasprobably five months out started
the group and I was probably.
Intro (27:19):
I was not one of the OGs .
Laura Reutter (27:20):
I was probably five months out but I'm going to
throw myself in there as an OG.
But we had just started andthen COVID hit.
So for two years we're just upand down the lake practicing and
then, once COVID hit or lifted,the restrictions started
lifting.
Then we could start to race.
So Houston has a team, dallashas a team, kansas, city,
oklahoma.
So we went to Miami last yearand then this past year, say in
(27:43):
June, we went to Vancouver forthe International Dragon Boat
Festival.
So what's neat is that dragonboating itself has been around
for 2,000 years.
It's a very traditional Chinesesport, chinese sport.
But in 1994, I believe it was,there was a physician up in
(28:03):
Vancouver that did a study witha bunch of breast cancer
survivors, because almost everyone of us have had some form of
surgery One way or the other,lymph nodes removed.
There's something calledlymphedema, that if you have
lymph nodes removed, those areusually underneath your arm,
around your neck area, on yourgroin area, but the ones
underneath your arm are.
If your breast cancer is goingto move around your body, it
(28:24):
typically will go through thoselymph nodes.
That's why they're so important.
You could, when too many lymphnodes are removed, you could
have secondary issues of whatthey call lymphedema, which
means that fluid underneath yourskin doesn't, it gets blocked.
It's like having a damunderneath your arm.
And so your arm, your handsswell up, your arms swell up,
and different degrees ofseverity with that.
(28:45):
Well before his study,physicians would tell women
don't use that arm anymore.
We took out 10 lymph nodes justfor the rest of your life, just
relax, don't do too much withit.
And with his study found wasthat the paddling motion.
That motion of paddling waslike a pump, and it was 180.
It was like, no, get out thereand use that arm, Use it.
(29:05):
And so that's where the breastcancer division started in
Vancouver, canada, and then,over the last 30 years, had
spread to an international sport.
And so in France next yearthere's a tournament that
happens once every four years.
It's not technically theOlympics, but it's big time for
the breast cancer world.
Yeah, so this in August of 2026, there will be a tournament
(29:27):
over in France which our teamwill be bring 24.
There's a whole lot of womenthere with breast cancer, and so
it's just going to be.
I'm so excited about that eventbecause it's not only have I
not been to Europe before.
So I'm excited about going toEurope, but also with my friends
(29:50):
competing against women fromall over the world, it's just
really, really unique because weall can speak, even though we
speak different languages.
We all know.
Dr. Brooks (30:01):
Well, we're going to be rooting for you, ladies,
to win.
That would be so amazing.
So, now that you are fullcircle with your journey, what
does living with intention looklike for you?
Laura Reutter (30:14):
I intentionally oddly enough, I intentionally
make sure that I save time forfun and joy and just make it
carving out that time, Becauseprior to that I was a corporate.
Just go busy, Pause, Pause, Bethankful and be grateful and
(30:36):
know that you're blessed.
And again, the volunteeringI've volunteered for.
Every year at the Austin Rodeomy fourth year of volunteering
there.
Be thankful and be grateful andknow that you're blessed.
And again, the volunteeringI've volunteered for.
Every year at the Austin Rodeomy fourth year of volunteering
there they're selling souvenirsto help the kids in our rural
communities.
Volunteered for OperationTurkey a couple of years in a
row.
So I don't know if cleaningturkeys on Thanksgiving morning
that was 300 turkeys I'm like,okay, I need a shower, so I need
(30:58):
to clean up.
But anything that I can dointentionally to help others on
a broader scale brings me joy.
And then on a daily scale, justagain intentionally, make it so
that I'm just loving it.
I just give myself that loveand say you're okay, You're okay
(31:19):
, You're okay.
Why am I so awesome?
Why Just give myself thatpermission to say you're okay,
You're missing a few parts, butit's okay.
Dr. Brooks (31:30):
It's okay.
Yeah, that's good advice.
You shared so many things todaythat I didn't know about breast
cancer and just about yourjourney in general.
So, as you wrap up, what is onemessage or a piece of advice
that you would like to leavewith the listeners who may be
navigating their own journeyright now?
Laura Reutter (31:50):
Please be flexible in your mindset and
again, that's not exclusive tobreast cancer.
It could be any type of canceror any type of trauma.
Just try to stay as flexible asyou can.
Try not to get brain locked inof tunnel vision of this is how
it's going to be.
Just have that flexibilitybecause it's cancer.
(32:10):
Typically the cancer doesn'tchange but with each step there
could be new information thatthe doctors get and it could
confirm your existing treatmentplan or your treatment plan
could go right or left andthat's hard, that's very hard.
And having those honestconversations with other people
(32:32):
in the community Like it's apretty raw community.
There's no gaslighting Likethis is cancer.
We're working with cancer hereto say what it is.
And it's pretty raw community.
There's no gaslighting Likethis is cancer.
We're working with cancer hereto say what it is and it is what
it is and that's okay.
Accepting that can be difficult.
Acceptance can be difficult.
Give yourself grace and timebecause that's a process.
It's not a destination.
It's definitely a process andeverybody goes at their own pace
(32:55):
.
You can't compare yourself toother people when they're going
through treatment and everybodygoes at their own pace.
Dr. Brooks (32:59):
You can't compare yourself to other people when
they're going through treatment.
Yeah, I can imagine thatcomparison is something that
comes up, especially if you arewatching someone else on their
journey, so I'm so glad that youtold us not to compare.
Laura Reutter (33:09):
That's really good, it's so easy to do because
you're in the, you listen toother conversations in the
infusion rooms, other friends orfamily that are telling their
stories to you and you couldhave virtually the same
(33:30):
diagnosis and have a muchdifferent treatment plan.
Neither one are wrong, but it'svery specific.
Even though it's broad breastcancer, the treatment plans can
be very specific to you.
So in your body, what's goingon with your body?
What's going on with yourinsurance?
Let's face it, you knowinsurance and finances, cancer
(33:51):
is expensive.
So sometimes those factors alsoaffect your treatment plan,
where they may not affectsomebody sitting in two chairs
down in an infusion room.
So please try not to compare.
Stay flexible in your mindsetand just know what you have to
go through and not compare withothers.
Dr. Brooks (34:07):
That's really great advice.
I appreciate you so much forjoining today.
Again, you brought so muchwisdom and gems that I just did
not know exist, much wisdom andgems that I just did not know
exist, and so I am so glad andI'm sure that our listeners is
going to get a lot ofinformation just from listening
to this episode.
So if they would like tocontact you, how could they
(34:27):
reach out?
Laura Reutter (34:28):
Yeah, if you're going through breast cancer, you
can reach out at bcrctxorg,which will get you to our breast
cancer universities.
There's some wonderful videosout there.
Again, if you're in the centralTexas area, you can reach out
on that same website to on thesame site, for a one-on-one
navigation.
I do also do public speaking,so you can find me on a broken
(34:50):
couragecom If you'd like me tocome and talk with your
organization.
Dr. Brooks (34:55):
And I would make sure I have all of that
information in the show notes.
So again, Laura, thank you somuch.
You have been a pleasure.
Laura Reutter (35:02):
It's been wonderful.
Thank you so much for having mehere today.
It's been a great experience.
Intro (35:09):
Thanks for listening.
Please rate this episode andshare it with your family and
friends.
To learn more about your hostor to book a coaching session,
visit wwwbrooksdemmingcom.
Until next time, rise.
You're listening to the Off Balance Podcast, where faith
, family and business collide,hosted by Brooke Stemming,
doctor of BusinessAdministration, business Coach
and Resilience Expert.
Each episode features real-lifeconversations to help
entrepreneurs like you buildresilience and lead with
(00:22):
confidence.
Dr. Brooks (00:38):
Welcome back to Off Balance.
I'm your host, dr Brooks.
A breast cancer diagnosis canleave women feeling afraid,
isolated and unsure ofthemselves.
Today's conversation is aboutfinding courage in the journey
and embracing wholeness on yourown terms.
My guest today, Laura Reuter,embodies resilience and purpose.
After her breast cancerdiagnosis in 2016, laura chose
to face life not with fear, butwith boldness.
(00:58):
She's a certified seniorpatient navigator who has walked
alongside nearly 700individuals through their own
breast cancer journeys, offeringboth wisdom and compassion.
A passionate advocate foraesthetic, flat closure, laura
proudly embraces the fabulous,flatty lifestyle, breaking
stereotypes and helping othersfeel whole just as they are.
(01:21):
Laura, welcome to Off Balance.
Laura Reutter (01:24):
Thank you for the wonderful intro.
Thank you.
Dr. Brooks (01:27):
Thank you so much for joining us today.
I am so excited to have you.
Before we get started, can youjust tell our listeners exactly
who you are and what it is thatyou do?
Laura Reutter (01:38):
Yes, as you stated, I'm a senior certified
patient navigator about fiveyears experience, now five and a
half years.
So I speak with women, some menit is unfortunately becoming
more prevalent in men now.
I speak with them all the wayfrom diagnosis throughout the
treatment plan, set expectationsI help them out with like
insurance, finances, sometimesjust the listening ear.
(02:01):
Sometimes they just need totalk or vent and I say you can
vent away, just let me grab acoffee.
Absolutely so, just trying tomake an impact.
After what I went through, Iwant to make sure that I just do
my best to try to help othersand bring them along.
Dr. Brooks (02:15):
So you actually walked alongside nearly 700
people through their owndifficult journeys.
How has witnessing theirexperience shape your
understanding of the confidence,and what does reclaiming it
look like in real life for you?
Laura Reutter (02:30):
Yeah, reclaiming , I really had to dig deep to
find those bits of joy.
To find those bits of joy everyday.
It doesn't have to be somethingover the top, but just finding
something every day that made mesmile.
And trying, just doing my bestto when I was going through my
(02:55):
treatment, just trying to findthat joy was extremely hard.
It really dig deep with myfaith and my faith.
I tend to keep that private,mainly because I work with as a
navigator.
I work with people from alleducation lives, all financial
aspects, all different faiths,and I want to make sure that I'm
respectful of that and talkwith them about their faith and
(03:17):
not necessarily impose mybeliefs on anybody, but holding
strong through all that, that'sfor sure.
Dr. Brooks (03:24):
Yes, I can only imagine.
So can you take us back to whenyou were first diagnosed and
how did you feel in real time?
Laura Reutter (03:32):
It's a shock.
It's an absolute shock whenyou're diagnosed.
I was relocated to Austin, wasliving a very.
I was married for 25 years anddivorced for five years, and so
a brand new life and just reallyenjoying it here in Austin, and
suddenly I've got a breastcancer diagnosis.
What are you talking about?
It has nothing to do withgenetics.
(03:53):
As I found out later, 85% ofbreast cancer has nothing to do
with genetics.
It just comes as a shock, andwhat you learn real quick when
you're diagnosed is thateverything that you have known
gets flipped upside down.
Everything gets flipped.
I ended up with a differenthouse.
I ride a motorcycle differentmotorcycle.
(04:16):
There's a phenomenon calledghosting.
Unfortunately, what happensit's breast cancer.
Any type of cancer can beisolating, very isolating,
because your entire life getstaken over by a team of doctors,
all kinds of appointments, andso your friends and family.
You can't keep up.
Sometimes they invite you andthey invite you, and then pretty
soon you don't get the invites.
(04:37):
It isn't that they don't loveyou, it isn't that they don't
have intentions good intentionsit's just like my diagnosis or
my treatment plan excuse me, itwas 14 months long, so that's a
long time, and so I had to.
Part of my healing processafterwards was as a grown adult.
I had to go find new friends.
Like I'm like how do you, wheredo you even start with new
(04:58):
friends?
Because my hobbies changed tooand I'm like I don't even know
where to even start with friends.
So yeah, you got to take littlesteps along the way and heal
yourself.
Try to keep a sense of humorabout it.
Dr. Brooks (05:10):
I had no idea that the majority of cancer was not
hereditary, because a lot of thetimes when you are even
screened for breast cancer, ifyou don't have a family history
or if you're not at high risk,then they'll let you actually
start getting your mammograms atthe recommended age.
So I'm so glad that you broughtthat to the conversation,
because I was not aware of that.
(05:30):
You said that you wereinitially in shock.
What was a specific moment whenyou started to shift and
embrace the journey that youwere on?
Laura Reutter (05:39):
It wasn't until I was after I was done with my
treatment.
So all the way through mytreatment which is somewhat
common you're in the fight,everybody that loves you, you
got to fight, you got to fight,you got to stay in the fight,
which is beautiful, so I call itarmor up emotionally.
And so I'm just like we're notdealing with emotions, we're
(06:00):
just fighting all the waythrough, we're just fighting,
fighting.
And then I got done with mytreatment and the physician said
the team of doctors all wentaway and they said we'll see you
in three months for a follow-up.
And I'm like, okay, I'm good.
And then, about four monthslater, because I thought I had
it not my faith, my spirit, notmy, I just thought I had it.
(06:23):
And then I didn't know anythingwhen I was done.
Again I had no, no friends, Ihad a real big motorcycle.
I couldn't getting it's amatter of physics trying to get
thing and in and out of thegarage I had to.
Basically, I walked into asupport group the community, so
important.
I walked into a support groupand just said I don't know what
I'm doing.
I don't know because all thatarmor there was nothing to fight
(06:43):
for All that armor fell off,and so now it was time to really
find my emotional balance afterthat and find out what was.
What did I want my life to looklike after what I had been
through?
Dr. Brooks (07:02):
I can imagine that was scary.
What gave you the confidence togo to a focus group?
Laura Reutter (07:07):
I don't know if that was really confidence or I
was just wore down emotionally,like I had nothing left in the
gas tank, just like I gotnothing.
The confidence during therebuilding process was there's
some moments there of confidenceof, first of all, just looking
at my body again.
You know, you just try toignore it.
Some women don't.
(07:28):
First of all just looking at mybody again, you know, you just
try to ignore it.
Some women don't look at all,don't have mirrors, others just
embrace it right away.
Again, it's very individual,but for me that wasn't my plan
to be flat.
Some women choose to be flat.
Aesthetic, flat closure is theproper term.
To go flat right out of thegate.
Many athletes will do that therunners, swimmers, golfers.
They're like I'm done with mybreasts.
That's fine, but with me Iwanted to go larger.
(07:50):
I was supposed to be.
I'm like I'm done with B cups,let's go with C or D.
And my low point was basically Idid chemo first and then had a
bilateral mastectomy.
I had to have a singlemastectomy.
I chose to have a doublebecause I wanted everything the
same aesthetically not cancerbut aesthetically.
And my low point was I had thebilateral mastectomy within a
(08:12):
week and a half.
Infection happens in 20%post-surgery infection and I
basically had to go in for whatthey call an explant.
They have they had expandersput in which are like implants
but they're flatter, and thenthey expand them to expand your
skin to a certain size and thenyou go for a secondary surgery
to swap it out for an implantthat would be in your body for
10 years and with that infection, yeah, I basically had to go
(08:37):
explant, go back into surgeryand have the expander taken out.
And I remember being in thehospital just crying with my
plastic surgeon saying all theplastic surgeons have beautiful
books of before and after shotsand I'm like I'm not going to
make your boobie book am.
I.
So it was horrifying because Ilost my second set of breasts.
I'm like I'm not even growingup enough to handle one, let
(08:58):
alone two.
I'm like how could I lose twosets of breasts?
So that was probably my lowpoint and my confidence After
all.
That was probably my low pointand my confidence after all that
was said and done.
At the very end I said I'm justgoing to go, whatever you can
do with flat.
So it wasn't.
My chest is not nice and neat,it's a little lumpy, bumpy.
So in the beginning, yeah, itwas very difficult and my
confidence had to come fromtrying on different clothes for
(09:19):
anything women's blouses,dresses, any nice clothes.
They're made with certain forms.
Yeah, I couldn't wear those.
What do I even wear when I wantto go out in the evening?
So, trying on new clothes andgiving myself the grace and love
to say you know what?
I'm going to power shop for theday.
I'm going to try on 30different things, grab stuff
(09:41):
that I've never worn before andjust rifle through and if I come
home with one, that's okay,that's okay.
So there's a little bit ofconfidence with that.
And looking at the scars andsome women believe their scars
are, they would never hide theirscars with tattoos because
that's what they've been throughthe battle scars.
Much respect, that's beautiful.
(10:02):
For me, I have an artistic sideand I wanted to look in the
mirror in the morning and get myswagger back and look at
something beautiful.
I didn't want to look at thescars.
To me, my artwork, which Idesigned, makes me look
beautiful and that really gaveme my confidence.
But it's that every little bitof trying new things, getting
that confidence of all newmotorcycle riding friends.
(10:24):
I went out online and foundthree or four groups showed up
and said, yes, I wanted to bewith this group.
No, I don't know.
Again, that goes back to how doyou even find friends as an
adult?
And the one, the group that Idid find these ladies, I just
love riding with them.
The acceptance because I showedup with my chest full of ink.
I'm like, yeah, look at me, gonow.
(10:46):
And they're like bikers, theyall have ink.
They're like, okay, that'sbeautiful, but sit down.
So it was acceptance.
And also like acceptance tojust treat me like everybody
else.
They just think I keep in touchwith people but it's not the
same.
It's not the same and that'sokay, and that's okay and that's
(11:07):
okay.
People grow.
I don't know if people reallychange too much in life, because
everybody has their corebeliefs and values, but it's
okay to grow and learn newthings.
I didn't know what dragonboating was.
I had no idea what dragonboating was.
So after I went through mytreatment and I volunteered
volunteering is important to me,it's a bit passed down from my
(11:29):
mom to give back to thecommunity.
I've always volunteered and soI went to a Mama Jama, which is
like a fundraiser for bicyclistslocally here in Austin, and was
recruited to go try it.
Just go try it.
Come in the boat, try it.
With dragon boating.
It's all breast cancer.
There's a whole internationalcommunity of dragon boat racers.
So you can't get in our boatunless you've had breast cancer.
(11:49):
That's the motto, basically.
A giant canoe with a 40-footcanoe with 20 people in it.
You know paddling.
I'm like dragon boat, what isthis?
But I had to try Again.
It's a confidence building.
I'm going to try it.
If it's not my gig, okay, butI've learned something new.
I've met some new people.
Even if it's not my cup of tea,that's okay.
(12:12):
Trying those little things tobuild confidence and, as it
turns out, I never left.
I tried it and it's been fiveyears later and I still love the
team.
We've traveled we went toVancouver this last year for
international and we're going toFrance next year.
So it's been a wonderfulbonding experience Because one
of the things when you're goingthrough treatment and maybe it's
like this for other cancers,I'm just not familiar but all
(12:33):
those emotions that you feel andall the different expectations
that you're talking aboutphysically with the physician,
you can talk to your loved ones,your spouses, your friends, and
they'll listen to you and theylove you.
But it's a different kind ofdiscussion when you're talking
with another survivor.
I can talk with somebody aboutbeing flat.
(12:56):
A big discussion was am I awoman?
A year before I was diagnosed,they actually had a hysterectomy
for different reasons, forother reasons, and I was like,
okay, leave my hysterectomy fordifferent reasons, for other
reasons, and I was like, okay,leave my ovaries, that way I
won't get breast cancer.
And then a year later I getbreast cancer and it's not.
There's different types ofbreast cancer and it's not a
(13:20):
hormone-based hormone, erpr whatthey call ERPR positive, which
is like a hormone positivebreast cancer.
Mine had nothing to do.
My breast cancer did not careat all about my hormones.
So now I've already had myuterus removed, now I've got
both my breasts gone and I'mlike, okay, am I even?
I think that's a misconceptionthat people have all the time is
what truly makes a woman awoman.
I hear I have that discussion, yeah, Often
(13:41):
with women, because our societyand I don't think it's anything
that we've done, but it's ourperception of ourselves from
what society, what we see out inmarketing Football season it's
beer and hoops.
I don't want it to be that way.
But again, reality what is andworking within that and finding
(14:01):
your own path.
So, yeah, I really had tofigure out what defined me, how
I define myself.
Dr. Brooks (14:08):
That takes a while it's a process, if someone is
listening and they're in thatsame situation and they may be
questioning, if they are still awoman, what would you tell them
?
Laura Reutter (14:18):
Give yourself grace and love.
First of all, there's so manyunknowns, it's all many aspects
are you've never even workedwith or dealt with in your life
and it's okay to fail.
It's okay to try and to fail,learn and then try something
else, just like with my clothes.
I need to try all new thingsand fail, cry and then get back
(14:43):
up and try again.
It's oh.
You just have to keep chippingaway because it's not a.
It's not.
To me, it was not a destination.
It's like I woke up one morningand went now I'm confident,
yeah, I have arrived.
No, it's just that slow processof accepting all those little
(15:05):
wins and all those lessons andthose failures.
It's okay to fail, try again,it's okay, you're going to find
it.
You're going to find yourgroove.
But just love yourself alongthe way and celebrate every
little win along the way.
Don't wait to the end tocelebrate.
You say at the end of chemoradiation you get to ring the
(15:26):
bell.
No, just ring it every Tuesday.
If you want to ring the bell,you showed up.
That's a win.
You got here.
That's a win.
Don't wait till the end.
Dr. Brooks (15:36):
Yeah, that's good advice Because, as you was going
on your journey 14 months, solooking back, would you have
done anything different as faras it relates to your mindset or
just how you approached?
Laura Reutter (15:47):
your journey.
Big thing.
Yes, I was not a navigator.
I was just another personrunning around having fun in
life, enjoying life.
And so when I was, when I got myinitial treatment plan as I had
mentioned, bilateral mastectomywas involved and I was already
what I call brain locked in I'mlike doing this, I'm getting
(16:10):
bigger breasts.
I'm doing this, I'm just goingto let's tear this up Whole new
set of clothes with breasts.
Now I got to change clothes forthe other way.
It's kind of like that feelingwhen somebody loses weight or
something.
Maybe there's a purpose to it.
Okay, I'm going to lose threepounds a week.
You have a purpose, mission.
And I was like, okay, I'm goingto get, I have to go through
cancer treatment.
(16:30):
This is it, this is my purpose.
And what happens?
180 the other way and trying tostay.
So my biggest piece of advice isjust trying to stay agile or
flexible in your mind, becausethings change, especially during
a cancer diagnosis thing.
Unknowns come in all the time,and so you've got to be flexible
.
Just that will.
(16:52):
The more flexible you are, orthe more agile you are, and just
taking things as is instead ofthose expectations that you've
built up in your mind, it's lesscrying.
It's going to be a whole loteasier If you just go into it
like, okay, things could change.
This is kind of where I want tobe, or what the doctors told me
(17:14):
.
I'm going to be in six, eight,10 months, but if things change,
I'm going to be okay with that.
So just try to stay a littlemore flexible in your thought
process and not bring in allthose expectations like I have.
Dr. Brooks (17:28):
Yes, and you are a patient navigator.
Can you explain what your roleis to those recently diagnosed?
Laura Reutter (17:36):
Yeah, absolutely so navigate.
And I am non-clinical in nature, so I'm not a doctor or a nurse
.
Ok, chw, community healthworker, trained breast advocate,
trained, certified, butnon-medical.
So what I do, my associates do,is that if somebody comes to
our doorstep, we go ahead and wewalk with them all the way
(17:56):
through the process.
So we set expectations.
It could be as simple as oh,you're going to have a bilateral
mastectomy, you're going tohave T-Rex arms.
Don't plan on using from hereto here on your arm for a good
week.
So heads up with where you putthe toilet paper.
Heads up, it's just.
Sometimes it's as simple asthings.
You're going to need a wedgepillow, you're going to need a
drain shirt.
Setting expectations Sometimesit's just listening and
(18:29):
listening to people's pain andwhat they're going through.
Sometimes it's very much morefunctional as far as hey, if you
need your insurance changed ormaybe job loss in the middle of
your treatment plan, which meansmost likely your insurance will
change your health insurance.
So now, working with localnonprofits, try to help them
line up new health insurancefinancial assistance.
I'm with the Breast CancerResource Center here in Austin
(18:49):
and we work with the local fivecounties.
So it's a very small nonprofit.
We work with those fivecounties here and so we have a
little bit of support money thatwe can try to help out with
just to kind of get peoplethrough, but again pointing them
to other resources, whetherthey're national resources or
local resources, if they havechildren.
(19:10):
How do you talk to your kids?
Well, there's a wonderfulresource, wonders and Worries,
here in Austin, and that's whatthey do.
They talk with children.
They work with children whoseparents are going through
treatment of any type of cancer.
So again, just one-on-one withpeople, setting expectations and
then lining them up with otherorganizations as much as
(19:30):
possible to try to help themthrough the whole process.
And if there's a little bit ofeducation, early stage what the
physicians call early stage iszero through three.
Stage four is also known as ametastatic breast cancer.
So zero through three isconsidered curable either
through radiation, chemo surgerymethods.
(19:52):
Stage four then becomes amanaged disease, because that
means it's gone to maybe yourbones, your liver, it's migrated
to other parts of your body.
So at that point it becomes amanaged disease.
And those are hardconversations to have, hard
conversations.
But I will tell you a funnystory.
And those are hardconversations to have, hard
conversations.
But I will tell you a funnystory.
When I first came on board, Istarted February of 2020.
(20:13):
So what happened in 2020?
Covid.
So I come on board, we have anoffice and I still have to get
my education and mycertifications, but I was asked
to sit in our metastatic supportgroup.
Just don't say anything.
We know you don't know what youdon't know yet.
Just observe Great 10, 12 womencome in the height or just the
very beginning of COVID.
(20:33):
So there's a lot of fear becauseyour immune system is just
rocked, especially if you'remetastatic because of different
lines of treatment.
And the woman come in the roomand she's just one of those
personalities that's like largerthan life, like she's tall and
she just encompasses the wholeroom.
She comes in and she's superhappy and I don't know what to
expect.
I'm sitting with a whole groupof women that will be on
(20:55):
medications the rest of theirlife and somebody she sits down,
somebody talks about.
They start handing out themasks Okay, we have COVID now
and here's your mask and shestarts laughing and she says are
they afraid?
This is going to kill us?
I'm like, I'm mortified becauseI don't know what to expect and
they just fall out.
They were laughing so hard theycould not Because, again,
(21:16):
finding that humor is justimperative.
Oh, I'm sorry, are we going todie from COVID?
Okay, we're sitting in asupport group here, so the humor
almost gives you permission forthat grace along the way.
That was an important momentfor me of learning that it's
(21:38):
okay these discussions have tobe had and sensitivity is
obviously imperative, but ifsomebody is going to laugh about
their situation, I'm going tobe right there with them.
It's okay, we're going to havethese talks.
Dr. Brooks (21:55):
So if someone is listening and they're on this
journey but they don't knowanything about a patient
navigator, how would they findout if that's available to them
in their local area?
Laura Reutter (22:05):
I would say, through their local hospital or
their infusion center wherethey're going.
That's the first stop is askthem.
Many hospitals or infusioncenters will have support groups
and it's more common now at thehospital to have either a nurse
navigator or a patientnavigator.
So that would be my first stop.
There is also case managers andpatient navigators with
(22:26):
different insurance companies.
Check with your insurancecompany they may have.
Now, obviously that's not goingto be face-to-face, but it's
going to be somebody that canhelp you get through the process
, because it's absolutelyoverwhelming in the beginning.
It's a whole different language, so just learning all the
acronyms.
There are national groups.
So there's Susan G.
Coleman has their nationalgroup and I believe that they
(22:48):
have patient navigators on staff.
Now, again, if you're in theAustin area Central Texas area
Breast Cancer Resource Center,so check out online.
Metavivor group for somebodythat's stage four or metastatic.
There's a wonderful resourcefor women that are 45 and under
See that way too many timesthese days, which is just
(23:10):
heartbreaking.
Young Survival Coalition youcan find them online also and
it's a wonderful.
Many of the nationalorganizations have more support
groups than patient navigators.
But patient navigation field,especially clinical nurse
navigators, is really coming onstrong in the last couple of
years.
Field, especially clinicalnurse navigators, is really
coming on strong in the lastcouple of years.
So that would be my first stopis ask for patient navigation
(23:30):
within that organization andthen go from there.
Dr. Brooks (23:35):
Yeah.
So if someone is listening andthey are like, wow, you are on
the other side of this.
How do you hope sharing yourstory will impact them if
they're just in the middle oftheir journey or in the
beginning of their journey?
Laura Reutter (23:50):
I want to give them hope.
I want to give them hopebecause it's there can be dark
days and know that it'stemporary, you're going to get
through it.
It's not going to be the same.
You got to give yourself somegrace and love that again.
It may be different on theother side, but it doesn't mean
(24:12):
it's bad.
Different doesn't mean bad.
It's going to be totallydifferent.
But my daughter and I bought ahome together.
I'm closer now to her than Iever was.
So there are some silverlinings out there.
But just keep the hope going.
If you start losing hope andhaving those dark days, just
reach out.
Find a support group, reach out.
(24:34):
The community is here tosupport you.
Dr. Brooks (24:38):
Yeah, community is so important, because a lot of
times when we go throughsituations, I think the instinct
is to isolate just to try toget through it.
But in isolation sometimes welet our thoughts become bigger
than the situation.
So I'm so glad that you arepreaching community and that you
are practicing community,because I feel that is so
important, regardless of whatyou're going through in life.
(25:00):
Yeah, community is so important.
And so, when it comes to theactual paddles with a purpose,
can you tell us how you justdove right in once you got
introduced to that group?
Laura Reutter (25:13):
I was brought up in playing sports all the time
and so anything I used to beback in the day.
I used to be back in the day.
I used to be considered like agym rat.
Probably not so much anymore,but yeah, once I went to the
first practice I was hookedbecause just being on the water,
I love being on the water.
I just absolutely love,especially the early morning
practices, 8.30 in the morning.
(25:33):
You're out there, the fog stillcoming off the water, it's just
a wonderful feeling.
And all the women in the boatare all different ages, got some
young ones and their kids comeand cheer.
And that's a double-edged swordfor me as a navigator, because
nobody should be 32 diagnosedwith cancer.
But they're strong, holy smokes, they're strong.
(25:53):
So their kids are there tocheer and they've really and
just the laughter with themAgain, just the community and
the dragon.
I was just hooked.
I love it because you've got 20people in the boat.
During a race, it's all aboutsync.
You all have a paddle.
If you get out of sync, you'resmacking paddles and you're not
winning.
(26:14):
You're not winning.
You are bringing on no medalsif you're smacking into each
other.
So it's all about.
It's not necessarily aboutstrength.
We're about about sync, and youneed to work together, or
you're just fighting each otherin the boat.
Even just a little shift inweight, you can feel it.
You can feel it in the boat.
What are you doing over there?
You can feel it, yeah, and it'san awesome feeling to bring
(26:41):
home a few medals along the waytoo.
It's yeah, just thatcompetition.
Yeah, I'm not.
I might be broken, my lymphaticsystem might be a mess, I may
have breast or not, or one ornew ones, but I'm still here and
I'm getting this.
All my arms, my upper body I'mstill here.
I'm still competing.
So let's do this, yeah.
Dr. Brooks (27:01):
Yeah, I saw your story on the local Austin news
where you won the championship.
So what teams do you competewith?
Is it like all local teams, oris it teams from across the
country?
Laura Reutter (27:11):
There are.
Initially, when we started thegroup and I was probably I was
not one of the OGs, I wasprobably five months out started
the group and I was probably.
Intro (27:19):
I was not one of the OGs .
Laura Reutter (27:20):
I was probably five months out but I'm going to
throw myself in there as an OG.
But we had just started andthen COVID hit.
So for two years we're just upand down the lake practicing and
then, once COVID hit or lifted,the restrictions started
lifting.
Then we could start to race.
So Houston has a team, dallashas a team, kansas, city,
oklahoma.
So we went to Miami last yearand then this past year, say in
(27:43):
June, we went to Vancouver forthe International Dragon Boat
Festival.
So what's neat is that dragonboating itself has been around
for 2,000 years.
It's a very traditional Chinesesport, chinese sport.
But in 1994, I believe it was,there was a physician up in
(28:03):
Vancouver that did a study witha bunch of breast cancer
survivors, because almost everyone of us have had some form of
surgery One way or the other,lymph nodes removed.
There's something calledlymphedema, that if you have
lymph nodes removed, those areusually underneath your arm,
around your neck area, on yourgroin area, but the ones
underneath your arm are.
If your breast cancer is goingto move around your body, it
(28:24):
typically will go through thoselymph nodes.
That's why they're so important.
You could, when too many lymphnodes are removed, you could
have secondary issues of whatthey call lymphedema, which
means that fluid underneath yourskin doesn't, it gets blocked.
It's like having a damunderneath your arm.
And so your arm, your handsswell up, your arms swell up,
and different degrees ofseverity with that.
(28:45):
Well before his study,physicians would tell women
don't use that arm anymore.
We took out 10 lymph nodes justfor the rest of your life, just
relax, don't do too much withit.
And with his study found wasthat the paddling motion.
That motion of paddling waslike a pump, and it was 180.
It was like, no, get out thereand use that arm, Use it.
(29:05):
And so that's where the breastcancer division started in
Vancouver, canada, and then,over the last 30 years, had
spread to an international sport.
And so in France next yearthere's a tournament that
happens once every four years.
It's not technically theOlympics, but it's big time for
the breast cancer world.
Yeah, so this in August of 2026, there will be a tournament
(29:27):
over in France which our teamwill be bring 24.
There's a whole lot of womenthere with breast cancer, and so
it's just going to be.
I'm so excited about that eventbecause it's not only have I
not been to Europe before.
So I'm excited about going toEurope, but also with my friends
(29:50):
competing against women fromall over the world, it's just
really, really unique because weall can speak, even though we
speak different languages.
We all know.
Dr. Brooks (30:01):
Well, we're going to be rooting for you, ladies,
to win.
That would be so amazing.
So, now that you are fullcircle with your journey, what
does living with intention looklike for you?
Laura Reutter (30:14):
I intentionally oddly enough, I intentionally
make sure that I save time forfun and joy and just make it
carving out that time, Becauseprior to that I was a corporate.
Just go busy, Pause, Pause, Bethankful and be grateful and
(30:36):
know that you're blessed.
And again, the volunteeringI've volunteered for.
Every year at the Austin Rodeomy fourth year of volunteering
there.
Be thankful and be grateful andknow that you're blessed.
And again, the volunteeringI've volunteered for.
Every year at the Austin Rodeomy fourth year of volunteering
there they're selling souvenirsto help the kids in our rural
communities.
Volunteered for OperationTurkey a couple of years in a
row.
So I don't know if cleaningturkeys on Thanksgiving morning
that was 300 turkeys I'm like,okay, I need a shower, so I need
(30:58):
to clean up.
But anything that I can dointentionally to help others on
a broader scale brings me joy.
And then on a daily scale, justagain intentionally, make it so
that I'm just loving it.
I just give myself that loveand say you're okay, You're okay
(31:19):
, You're okay.
Why am I so awesome?
Why Just give myself thatpermission to say you're okay,
You're missing a few parts, butit's okay.
Dr. Brooks (31:30):
It's okay.
Yeah, that's good advice.
You shared so many things todaythat I didn't know about breast
cancer and just about yourjourney in general.
So, as you wrap up, what is onemessage or a piece of advice
that you would like to leavewith the listeners who may be
navigating their own journeyright now?
Laura Reutter (31:50):
Please be flexible in your mindset and
again, that's not exclusive tobreast cancer.
It could be any type of canceror any type of trauma.
Just try to stay as flexible asyou can.
Try not to get brain locked inof tunnel vision of this is how
it's going to be.
Just have that flexibilitybecause it's cancer.
(32:10):
Typically the cancer doesn'tchange but with each step there
could be new information thatthe doctors get and it could
confirm your existing treatmentplan or your treatment plan
could go right or left andthat's hard, that's very hard.
And having those honestconversations with other people
(32:32):
in the community Like it's apretty raw community.
There's no gaslighting Likethis is cancer.
We're working with cancer hereto say what it is.
And it's pretty raw community.
There's no gaslighting Likethis is cancer.
We're working with cancer hereto say what it is and it is what
it is and that's okay.
Accepting that can be difficult.
Acceptance can be difficult.
Give yourself grace and timebecause that's a process.
It's not a destination.
It's definitely a process andeverybody goes at their own pace
(32:55):
.
You can't compare yourself toother people when they're going
through treatment and everybodygoes at their own pace.
Dr. Brooks (32:59):
You can't compare yourself to other people when
they're going through treatment.
Yeah, I can imagine thatcomparison is something that
comes up, especially if you arewatching someone else on their
journey, so I'm so glad that youtold us not to compare.
Laura Reutter (33:09):
That's really good, it's so easy to do because
you're in the, you listen toother conversations in the
infusion rooms, other friends orfamily that are telling their
stories to you and you couldhave virtually the same
(33:30):
diagnosis and have a muchdifferent treatment plan.
Neither one are wrong, but it'svery specific.
Even though it's broad breastcancer, the treatment plans can
be very specific to you.
So in your body, what's goingon with your body?
What's going on with yourinsurance?
Let's face it, you knowinsurance and finances, cancer
(33:51):
is expensive.
So sometimes those factors alsoaffect your treatment plan,
where they may not affectsomebody sitting in two chairs
down in an infusion room.
So please try not to compare.
Stay flexible in your mindsetand just know what you have to
go through and not compare withothers.
Dr. Brooks (34:07):
That's really great advice.
I appreciate you so much forjoining today.
Again, you brought so muchwisdom and gems that I just did
not know exist, much wisdom andgems that I just did not know
exist, and so I am so glad andI'm sure that our listeners is
going to get a lot ofinformation just from listening
to this episode.
So if they would like tocontact you, how could they
(34:27):
reach out?
Laura Reutter (34:28):
Yeah, if you're going through breast cancer, you
can reach out at bcrctxorg,which will get you to our breast
cancer universities.
There's some wonderful videosout there.
Again, if you're in the centralTexas area, you can reach out
on that same website to on thesame site, for a one-on-one
navigation.
I do also do public speaking,so you can find me on a broken
(34:50):
couragecom If you'd like me tocome and talk with your
organization.
Dr. Brooks (34:55):
And I would make sure I have all of that
information in the show notes.
So again, Laura, thank you somuch.
You have been a pleasure.
Laura Reutter (35:02):
It's been wonderful.
Thank you so much for having mehere today.
It's been a great experience.
Intro (35:09):
Thanks for listening.
Please rate this episode andshare it with your family and
friends.
To learn more about your hostor to book a coaching session,
visit wwwbrooksdemmingcom.
Until next time, rise.
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