Breast Cancer Stories
Breast Cancer Stories is about what happens when you have breast cancer, told in real time. Whether you’ve just been diagnosed with breast cancer or love someone who has, this podcast is here to help you through the shock of diagnosis and treatment. After her mother died, Dr. Tita Gray found a lump and called her doctor at UCLA, but the earliest appointments were two months out. She frantically called around for a doctor who could get her in ASAP for a biopsy. Luckily, St. Mary's in Long Beach got Tita in right away, but the news wasn't good. When Tita later saw her oncologist at UCLA, they found more cancer than expected and recommended immediate aggressive chemo. In season 3 of Breast Cancer Stories, Tita shares her story in real time as she navigates a triple negative breast cancer diagnosis, undergoes aggressive chemo and immunotherapy, and ultimately chooses to go flat following a double mastectomy. Season 2 The second season follows Natasha Curry, a palliative care nurse practitioner at San Francisco General Hospital. Natasha was in Malawi on a Doctors Without Borders mission in 2021 when her husband of 25 years announced in a text message that he was leaving. A few months later when she discovered an almond-sized lump in her armpit, she did everything she tells her patients not to do and dismissed it, or wrote it off as a “fat lump." One painful biopsy later, Natasha found out she had cancer; in one life-changing moment, the nurse became the patient. Season 1 The first season of Breast Cancer Stories follows Kristen Vengler, a 56 year old single empty nester in San Diego, from her diagnosis of hormone positive breast cancer through chemotherapy, double mastectomy & breast reconstruction, radiation, and whatever happens after that. In 2020, Kristen moved from Austin to San Diego to start her life over after a life-shattering workplace trauma. A few months later she had that terrifying moment in the shower we all hope we never have. Connect with us Breast Cancer Stories is an all-time Top 10 Medicine podcast on Goodpods. Connect with us and learn more about the show at breastcancerstoriespodcast.com Follow Breast Cancer Stories on Instagram @breastcancerstoriespodcast Support the Breast Cancer Stories podcast by subscribing to our Substack or click to donate any amount via PayPal. Sponsorship opportunities available. For our media kit or to contact us visit breastcancerstoriespodcast.com.
Episodes
Her chest is healing, and she doesn’t feel like any less of a woman without breasts. Rather, it reminds her that she's alive and kicking.
She continues with regular immunotherapy, and it's doing wonders. Feeling more like herself, she’s working out without any joint pain, and her hair is growing back.
About Season...
Nothing could prepare her for the emotions of losing a part of her body. But her tumor is gone, and no cancer was found before it was removed.
Tita reflects that while chemo saves your life, it takes a piece of your life with it. She finds peace by focusing on her spiritual side to heal.
About Season 3
Afte...
Her mastectomy is coming up soon, and her oncologist is calling for radiation. She's not exactly thrilled about it, but she’s determined to never have to deal with this cancer again.
About Season 3
After her mom's death and some family issues, Dr. Tita Gray found a lum...
She shares what keeps her strong and optimistic: a job focused on helping others and a supportive circle of friends and family. She believes the key to staying positive is surrounding yourself with people who lift you up and share laughter.
About Season 3
After her mom's death and some family i...
The new schedule extends her treatments through May, leaving her mentally drained. Always perceived as strong and optimistic, it’s tough to be in tears. Empathy from her doctor is a huge help.
Although the lump is shrinking, it's still cancerous, so a double mastectomy i...
Dismayed to find out she needs two more months of chemo than expected, she schedules an appointment with a surgeon to discuss whether a double mastectomy can remove any remaining cancer.
About Season 3
After her mom's death and some family issues, Dr. Tita Gray fou...
The silver lining is that her oncologist can no longer find the lump. She checks herself regularly, hoping it stays gone.
Emotionally drained, she cuts all her hair off herself and thinks through her reasoning for wanting a double mastectomy when the time comes.
After her mom's death and some f...
After her mom's death and some family issues, Tita found a lump in her breast, leading to a biopsy that confirmed breast cancer. In season 3 of Breast Cancer Stories, Tita s...
Scared but determined, she moves quickly to get a biopsy and finds out she has breast cancer. Further scans show it’s worse than initially thought, so her doctor recommends aggressive chemo ASAP.
Links
How Not to Die by Dr. Michael Greger
Breast Cancer Stories is a podcast about what happens when you have...
While it could just be inflammation, Dr. Ali wants her to see a gastroenterologist but the earliest appointment is almost two months away.
Puzzling through the scenarios (as if she has a choice), Kristen hopes for a second, new kind of cancer rather than stage four, metastas...
The pulmonologist found ground glass lungs and an enlarged heart, then Dr. Ali found an enlarged lymph node between her liver and stomach and asked for a PET scan.
With recurrence always lurking, we play the old, familiar waiting game.
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Season 3 is coming soon and we need your help!
Tita Gray’s story is different, but the ...
Following her mother’s recent lung cancer diagnosis, Natasha worries more for her than she did for herself. Staying close to her, she plans to visit and help her navigate the impossible ...
Still unsure what to do next, Alicia is taking her time to decide. If she had known things would go the way they did, she believes she would’ve just stayed flat.
Support the Breast Cancer Stories podcast
Subscrib...
Although her mastectomy was over two years ago, Alicia’s re...
While she enjoys living alone and is back at work five days a week, advice from her oncologist has her rethinking her relationship with alcohol.
Fatigue sometimes holds her back, but she still makes the most of life knowing she’s ...
Kristen walks Andrea and her audience through her experience with stage 3 breast cancer, from finding her tumor in the shower, to chemo, her mastectomy and reconstruction, to radiation and beyond.
Listen to more episodes of Cancer U Thrivers
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On the heels of a brand new set of post-treatment horrors and indignities, Kristen returns to share the good, the bad, and the ugly, including why she moved *again* and how she ended up willingly living with roommate...
At work, she finds herself pushing patients much harder to advocate for themselves around symptom management and advises them not to accept puking...
Three and a half weeks of radiation end without any terrible burns or skin issues, but celebrating feels phony because it’s never really over. Transitioning back into work is feeling good, and she finds the experience o...
Missing her old pre-cancer life, but not necessarily the marriage, s...
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