S**t We Deal With Shorts: Time Burden with Dr. Jill Tirabassi
"You hear things like, 'living with cancer is a full-time job.' And actually this was an interesting study where we looked to see what truly is the time burden for people living with either metastatic breast or ovarian cancer... The time spent waiting and traveling for care often exceeded the amount of time receiving care. Most days, participants had a home cancer-related task to do—80% of days. The median was about 209 minutes per week doing cancer related tasks at home."
— Dr. Jill Tirabassi explores new research quantifying the invisible labor of living with metastatic cancer
Podcasters Roundtable: Change Your One Thing with Gary Thompson
We don't have to change everything. We just have to change our one thing. And if we each indeed change our one thing, then we will have changed everything. My ideal audience is someone looking for their one thing and realizing that whatever it is, whenever they find it, to just follow their heart, follow their passion, and go for it. We as an individual person have the capacity to create great change. Love is neither big nor small. It's always enough
Symptoms Spotlight: Insomnia with Abigail Johnston and Melanie Sisk
One of the things a doctor said early on to me was to think about sleep as one of my medications. Part of my treatment plan was how much sleep I was getting. That's been something that I've tried to think about—that it's not just the thing that you do last, or it's not just the thing that you are irritated about and just get through, maybe drink some extra coffee and push through, which is kind of how I dealt with any times I had disruptions in sleep prior to cancer. But thinking about it as part of my treatment plan has helped me place the right importance on it
Live Chat: From Devastating Diagnosis to Distinction with Lesley Stephen MBE
Imagine this: You're a mother of four. You think you have a chest infection, but it turns out to be stage four metastatic breast cancer—in your lungs, liver, and bones. The nurse sitting across from you has tears in her eyes. You're given one, maybe two years to live. Treatment after treatment fails. Finally, your doctor says the words no one wants to hear: "You need to get your affairs in order."
So you take your kids to New York for one last family vacation.
But when you come home, there's one spot left on a clinical trial in Glasgow. You take it. And against all odds, it saves your life—for seven years.
That's the beginning of Lesley Stephen's story. Twelve years later, she's not only alive and cancer-free—she's just been honored by the British Royal Family with an MBE. Princess Anne herself presented Leslie with her medal at Windsor Castle for her extraordinary work transforming how metastatic breast cancer patients access clinical trials and cutting-edge care.
Symptoms Spotlight: Constipation with Abigail Johnston and Melanie Sisk
Hosts Melanie Sisk and Abigail Johnston have an honest conversation about constipation—a common but often unspoken side effect of cancer treatment. They discuss how to recognize constipation beyond the obvious symptoms, share practical remedies like MiraLax, Colace, and the "prune juice slider," and emphasize the importance of movement for digestive health. The duo also addresses the challenge of swinging between constipation and diarrhea, offering advice on when to troubleshoot on your own and when to seek help from your medical team or a GI specialist.
Symptoms Spotlight: Diarrhea with Abigail Johnston and Melanie Sisk
Melanie Sisk and Abigail Johnston discuss managing diarrhea from cancer medications—a common but often embarrassing side effect. Learn practical strategies for treatment, when to seek specialist help, and how to advocate for better quality of life during cancer treatment.
Podcasters Roundtable: Melissa Berry on Fashion Meets Cancer Advocacy
Melissa Berry, founder of Cancer Fashionista and host of "Dear Cancer, I'm Beautiful," joins us to discuss building beauty and wellness resources for cancer patients. From her background as a fashion publicist to creating an evergreen podcast library, Melissa shares why looking like yourself matters, how she selects topics, and what keeps her connected to advocacy. We explore inclusive language for metastatic patients, financial toxicity, intimacy after cancer, and the power of podcasting as a tool for community building.
Symptoms Spotlight: Fatigue with Abigail Johnston and Melanie Sisk
Join hosts Melanie Sisk and Abigail Johnston as they shine a light on the real experiences of managing cancer symptoms. In each episode of the Symptoms Spotlight series of short episodes, we explore different symptoms caused by cancer or its treatment, sharing practical insights and hard-won wisdom directly from patients who've been there.
Melanie and Abigail share their experiences managing cancer-related fatigue over 5+ years of treatment. They discuss practical solutions including exercise programs like LiveStrong and Two Unstoppable, Medicare fitness benefits, medication options like Ritalin, and the importance of nutrition, hydration, and monitoring vitamin levels.
Live Chat: Shining a Light on MBC with Tami Bowling
When a life-changing diagnosis led Tami Bowling to advocacy, she fueled the movement to Light up MBC. In this episode, Tami shares her personal experience, the origins of LightUp MBC and LightUp MBC Live, and how lighting up landmarks is bringing hope, awareness, and vital research funding to the metastatic breast cancer community.
Podcasters Roundtable: Samira Daswani, Host of The Patient from Hell
In this episode, hosts Victoria Goldberg and Abigail Johnston sit down with Samira Daswani, host of "The Patient From Hell" podcast, for a candid and insightful conversation about patient advocacy, storytelling, and the evolving landscape of cancer care. Samira shares her path from reluctant podcast guest to passionate host, highlighting the importance of amplifying patient voices and democratizing information for those navigating cancer diagnoses—especially in communities where open discussion is rare.
The discussion delves into the challenges of reaching diverse audiences, the power of authentic, minimally edited conversations, and the need for both scientific and personal perspectives in patient-centered content. The trio reflects on the shifting attitudes in cancer communities, the critical role of support networks, and the ongoing mission to educate and empower patients worldwide. The episode wraps up with ideas for future collaborations and a shared commitment to making a meaningful impact through storytelling and advocacy.