breast cancer chemotherapy bre

Natasha is given three options for radiation treatment, but it’s a challenge since everyone has been making decisions for her up to this point. She decides on three and a half weeks of radiation to the breast and the lymph nodes in the armpit. Down to just 104 pounds, she feels like a scarecrow in her clothes. Hoping to gain 10 pounds by the end of the hormone blocker infusions, she finds high calorie meals, drinks shakes with over 500 calories, and chooses “Pepsi heavy” instead of diet. Now back to work with a new perspective, she feels guilty about getting upset over her own infusions when some of her patients are on chemo for life and frustrated with the stupidity of the disconnected healthcare system.

Support the Breast Cancer Stories podcast: https://www.breastcancerstoriespodcast.com/p/donate/
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About Breast Cancer Stories
Breast Cancer Stories follows Natasha Curry, a palliative care nurse practitioner at San Francisco General Hospital, through her experience of going from being a nurse to a patient after being diagnosed with breast cancer.

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. She returned home, fell into bed for a few weeks, and eventually pulled herself together and went back to work. 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."

Months went by before Natasha finally got a mammogram, but radiology saw nothing in either breast. It was the armpit lump that caught their attention. Next step was an ultrasound, where the lump was clearly visible. One painful biopsy later, Natasha found out she had cancer; in one life-changing moment, the nurse became the patient.

This podcast is about what happens when you have breast cancer, told in real time.

Host and Executive Producer: Eva Sheie
Co-Host: Kristen Vengler
Editor and Audio Engineer: Daniel Croeser
Theme Music: Them Highs and Lows, Bird of Figment
Story Editor: Mary Ellen Clarkson
Assistant Producer: Hannah Burkhart
Cover Art Designer: Shawn Hiatt

Breast Cancer Stories is a production of The Axis.
PROUDLY MADE IN AUSTIN, TEXAS

After Natasha and friends travel to Mexico to celebrate the end of chemo, it’s her turn to catch COVID which delays her lumpectomy surgery for a week. Her nerves are shot from constant fear of the unknown. Because there’s nothing visible on her most recent mammogram, she worries they’ll find all kinds of horrors during surgery and with chemo behind her she’s scared the tumor will grow back.

Links
Support the Breast Cancer Stories podcast: https://www.breastcancerstoriespodcast.com/p/donate/
Subscribe to our newsletter here: https://breastcancerstories.substack.com/subscribe

About Breast Cancer Stories
Breast Cancer Stories follows Natasha Curry, a palliative care nurse practitioner at San Francisco General Hospital, through her experience of going from being a nurse to a patient after being diagnosed with breast cancer.

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. She returned home, fell into bed for a few weeks, and eventually pulled herself together and went back to work. 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."

Months went by before Natasha finally got a mammogram, but radiology saw nothing in either breast. It was the armpit lump that caught their attention. Next step was an ultrasound, where the lump was clearly visible. One painful biopsy later, Natasha found out she had cancer; in one life-changing moment, the nurse became the patient.

This podcast is about what happens when you have breast cancer, told in real time.

Host and Executive Producer: Eva Sheie
Co-Host: Kristen Vengler
Editor and Audio Engineer: Daniel Croeser
Theme Music: Them Highs and Lows, Bird of Figment
Story Editor: Mary Ellen Clarkson
Assistant Producer: Hannah Burkhart
Cover Art Designer: Shawn Hiatt

Breast Cancer Stories is a production of The Axis.
PROUDLY MADE IN AUSTIN, TEXAS

Thanks to the incredible cold cap technology, Desert Essence shampoo, and seldomly using a brush, after six rounds of chemo Natasha still has her hair. Meanwhile, everything else is falling apart. Plans to celebrate at a fancy restaurant are wrecked when her date gets COVID and none of her friends can go. An insurance snafu just 2 days before her last chemo causes her to run out of Zofran and getting a refill requires some creativity. Natasha has another MRI to see if the chemo worked, and realizes only after reading the results alone that if it had been bad news she would have been in a dark place without support. As she reflects on chemo, she shares what could have been done differently. The End of Chemo, brought to you by DigniCaps cold caps (they didn’t sponsor us but probably should now!)

Links
Shop Desert Essence shampoos https://www.desertessence.com/hair-care/shampoo

Support the Breast Cancer Stories podcast: https://www.breastcancerstoriespodcast.com/p/donate/

Subscribe to our newsletter here: https://breastcancerstories.substack.com/subscribe

About Breast Cancer Stories
Breast Cancer Stories follows Natasha Curry, a palliative care nurse practitioner at San Francisco General Hospital, through her experience of going from being a nurse to a patient after being diagnosed with breast cancer.

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. She returned home, fell into bed for a few weeks, and eventually pulled herself together and went back to work. 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."

Months went by before Natasha finally got a mammogram, but radiology saw nothing in either breast. It was the armpit lump that caught their attention. Next step was an ultrasound, where the lump was clearly visible. One painful biopsy later, Natasha found out she had cancer; in one life-changing moment, the nurse became the patient.

This podcast is about what happens when you have breast cancer, told in real time.

Host and Executive Producer: Eva Sheie
Co-Host: Kristen Vengler
Editor and Audio Engineer: Daniel Croeser
Theme Music: Them Highs and Lows, Bird of Figment
Story Editor: Mary Ellen Clarkson
Assistant Producer: Hannah Burkhart
Cover Art Designer: Shawn Hiatt

Breast Cancer Stories is a production of The Axis.
PROUDLY MADE IN AUSTIN, TEXAS

While leading a Doctors Without Borders mission in Malawi, Natasha’s husband of 25 years blindsided her by ending their marriage in a text message. She returned home, fell into bed for a few weeks, and eventually with the help of her friends she pulled herself together and went back to work. 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." Months went by before Natasha finally got a mammogram, but radiology saw nothing in either breast. It was the armpit lump that caught their attention. Next step was an ultrasound, where the lump was clearly visible. One painful biopsy later, Natasha found out she had stage 2 breast cancer; in one life-changing moment, the nurse became the patient. Not just any ordinary nurse practitioner, Natasha was a journalist and then a clinical psychologist before becoming a palliative care specialist at San Francisco General Hospital, where her patients are often homeless or addicted. Like Kristen (our host, and the subject of Season 1), Natasha discovered her tumor in the shower, it wasn’t caught by a mammogram either, and she navigated breast cancer treatment on her own. But as you’ll see, that’s about all they have in common.

Links
Support the Breast Cancer Stories podcast: https://www.breastcancerstoriespodcast.com/p/donate/ Subscribe to our newsletter here: https://breastcancerstories.substack.com/subscribe

About Breast Cancer Stories
Breast Cancer Stories follows Natasha Curry, a palliative care nurse practitioner at San Francisco General Hospital, through her experience of going from being a nurse to a patient after being diagnosed with breast cancer.

This podcast is about what happens when you have breast cancer, told in real time.

Host and Executive Producer: Eva Sheie
Co-Host: Kristen Vengler
Editor and Audio Engineer: Daniel Croeser
Theme Music: Them Highs and Lows, Bird of Figment
Story Editor: Mary Ellen Clarkson
Assistant Producer: Hannah Burkhart
Cover Art Designer: Shawn Hiatt

Breast Cancer Stories is a production of The Axis.
PROUDLY MADE IN AUSTIN, TEXAS

It’s the night before Kristen’s implant exchange surgery. After 9 long months, the painful, lopsided tissue expanders will be replaced with silicone gel breast implants and her constant pain will come to an end. At her pre-op appointment with Dr. Pacella, Kristen imagines choosing the new boobs will be like walking into a candy store and exploring an array of breast implants. Adding to the already full plate of post-chemo and post-radiation health issues, a series of surprisingly bad effects from the Zometa infusion leave her wondering what’s temporary and what’s regular living now? At an appointment with her oncologist, Kristen learns there’s a new pattern emerging of women who’ve had the vaccine experiencing bad reactions to the Zometa infusion in the past six to 12 months.

Other Links
Support the Breast Cancer Stories podcast https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/breastcancerstories

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Support the show by sharing online or writing a review. Meet Kristen’s doctors: surgical oncologist Dr. Louis Rivera (https://www.scripps.org/physicians/31924-louis-rivera?tab=overview), hematologist and oncologist Dr. Sonia Ali (https://www.scripps.org/physicians/8669-dr-sonia-ali?tab=overview), plastic surgeon Dr. Salvatore Pacella (https://www.drpacella.com/), and radiation oncologists Dr. Anuradha Koka (https://www.scripps.org/physicians/4516-anuradha-koka-md?tab=overview) and Dr. Kenneth T. Shimizu. (https://www.scripps.org/physicians/5313-kenneth-shimizu)

About Breast Cancer Stories
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, mastectomy & breast reconstruction, radiation, and whatever happens after that. In 2020, Kristen moved from Austin to San Diego to be near family and 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. From her breast cancer diagnosis, through chemotherapy, breast reconstruction, and radiation, we experience each new milestone as it happens.


This podcast is about what happens when you have breast cancer, told in real time.

Host and Executive Producer: Eva Sheie
Co-Host: Kristen Vengler
Editor and Audio Engineer: Daniel Croeser
Theme Music: Them Highs and Lows, Bird of Figment
Story Editor: Mary Ellen Clarkson
Assistant Producer: Hannah Burkhart
Cover Art Designer: Shawn Hiatt

Breast Cancer Stories is a production of The Axis.
PROUDLY MADE IN AUSTIN, TEXAS

Weary and desperate for a break in the relentlessness of breast cancer treatment, Kristen makes the decision whether or not to proceed with radiation. While the medical team followed a tight protocol during chemo and surgery, suddenly now to receive advice, statistics, or data she has to ask the right person and the right questions to inform her next steps. Kristen describes the first radiation appointment, which is not a treatment but a team of “nerds” including a physicist who painstakingly measure and permanently mark her body with tiny dot tattoos. Like the laser dance scene from Oceans Twelve, the tattoos ensure the laser beam never misses its mark and only hits the cancer but can’t avoid the bones beneath, which might randomly also cause a broken rib someday.

Subscribe to our newsletter here: https://breastcancerstories.substack.com/subscribe

Miaderm (https://www.miaderm.com/product/miaderm-fragrance-free/?v=7516fd43adaa) used in the morning and after radiation treatments.

Aquaphor (https://amzn.to/3trd7Q7) used at night. My favorite tank tops (https://amzn.to/33vjyGN).

My favorite bra. (https://www.anaono.com/products/flat-soft-leisure-bra?variant=32106171138137)

How I stayed hydrated. (https://amzn.to/3FtAOda)

Meet Kristen’s doctors: surgical oncologist Dr. Louis Rivera (https://www.scripps.org/physicians/31924-louis-rivera?tab=overview), hematologist and oncologist Dr. Sonia Ali (https://www.scripps.org/physicians/8669-dr-sonia-ali?tab=overview), plastic surgeon Dr. Salvatore Pacella (https://www.drpacella.com/), and radiation oncologists Dr. Anuradha Koka (https://www.scripps.org/physicians/4516-anuradha-koka-md?tab=overview) and Dr. Kenneth T. Shimizu. (https://www.scripps.org/physicians/5313-kenneth-shimizu)

About Breast Cancer Stories 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, mastectomy & breast reconstruction, radiation, and whatever happens after that. In 2020, Kristen moved from Austin to San Diego to be near family and 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. From her breast cancer diagnosis, through chemotherapy, breast reconstruction, and radiation, we experience each new milestone as it happens.

This podcast is about what happens when you have breast cancer, told in real time.

Support the show by sharing online, writing a review, or donating at https://www.breastcancerstoriespodcast.com/p/donate/

Host and Executive Producer: Eva Sheie
Co-Host: Kristen Vengler
Editor and Audio Engineer: Daniel Croeser
Theme Music: Them Highs and Lows, Bird of Figment
Story Editor: Mary Ellen Clarkson
Assistant Producer: Hannah Burkhart
Cover Art Designer: Shawn Hiatt

Breast Cancer Stories is a production of The Axis.
PROUDLY MADE IN AUSTIN, TEXAS