stupid cancer

We first met the incredible Sharde Fultz in our very first season of Marrow Masters,  back in 2019.  We wanted to reconnect with her as one our our "survivors who thrive" this season.

In 2009, Sharde was a college student, living on campus as a dance major with big dreams. Then she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.  Following chemotherapy and radiation, Sharde received an an allogeneic bone marrow transplant in 2011.  Having to leave school, she immersed herself in online support forums for young adult cancer patients.

When Sharde returned to school, between her recovery and chronic GVHD, she had to come to terms with some physical limitations.  While she still had a passion for dance, she'd need to pivot.   Her time interacting with fellow cancer survivors really sparked something in her.   She wanted to be able to related to not just other patients, but also people who looked like her.   She could fight against some of the inequities in our health care system.

Sharde connected with an organization called Next Step, which sends people on "campferences" - part camp, part conference.  She attended a campference in 2010, and now works for the organization.  Speaking engagements turned into a facilitator role for young adult cancer camps.  She's now the conference director, and is working toward a degree in social work.

Sharde's advice for fellow cancer survivors is to change how you think about time, and don't compare your journey to anyone else's progress.

Next Step Fund website: https://www.nextstepnet.org/

Cassie Hines Shoes Cancer: https://cassiehinesshoescancer.org/

Stupid Cancer: https://stupidcancer.org/

First Descents: https://firstdescents.org/

Camp Mak-A-Dream: https://www.campdream.org/

Other Resources

National Bone Marrow Transplant Link - (800) LINK-BMT, or (800) 546-5268.

nbmtLINK Website: https://www.nbmtlink.org/

nbmtLINK Facebook Page:  https://www.facebook.com/nbmtLINK

nbmtLINK YouTube Page can be found by clicking here.

Thank you to our sponsors. This season is supported by a healthcare contribution from Sanofi  and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

https://www.sanofi.com/

https://www.lls.org/patient-support

Amanda is a badass human being. Her tagline tells it like it is. #notdeadyet

While you'd be tempted to think this conversation is all about cancer. It is really about how our circumstances define us, and what it really means to be ALIVE. 

At 29 years old, living in San Francisco, with her dream job,  a husband, and travel, she was taken, quite literally, to her knees by the big-bad C-word,  ovarian cancer.  Now, at 41 years old, she has been in and out of remission countless times, and lives with the diagnosis of terminal cancer and weekly treatments to prolong the inevitable.

What makes Amanda so incredible is far-reaching beyond her cancer chronicles, it is how she has chosen to show up.  While we would all like to imagine the person we'd become when shit hits the fan on repeat, Amanda is who I would aspire to be. She is hilarious, joyful, fierce, and has found powerful ways to create a meaningful life. She is an advocate, an activist, a public speaker, a patient advocate and the kind of person who sends you a hand-made card in the mail to say thanks.

I am honored to have spent time with Amanda in conversation, laughter, reflection and mutual respect. I hope you enjoy her energy and learn from her story.

And remember Amanda's sentiment, while cancer in many ways defines and rules her life, her autonomy, her body, it is in no way the totality of who she is. No one thing is the totality of you.

Where you can connect with her:
acrowell@post.harvard.edu 

Twitter: @MIShouldTalk

IG: MIManda 

Helpful links about ovarian cancer....

https://ocrahope.org/

https://www.ovarian.org/

Helpful links for young adults with any cancer...

https://firstdescents.org/

https://stupidcancer.org

Some of my inspiration...

https://gostanford.com/news/2017/6/21/track-field-the-magic-of-tyrone-mcgraw.aspx

http://web.stanford.edu/class/engr110/2020/AlexTung.html

Join me on the Fall Retreat in Northern Michigan November 2-5th. 

More info @ annfancy.com/retreat

Check out my Fall Retreat: annfancy.com/retreat

For more information check out our website: www.CancerOnTheSide.com

Or Follow us on Social Media by searching

@CancerOnTheSide on IG and Twitter

“Life With A Side of Cancer” on Facebook

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Episode 2 Summary

APPETIZER: Vinnie talks about how discussing the podcast influences UBER passengers (1:31) and Sierra talks about coming clean about cancer to her new employer (4:23).

MAIN COURSE: The Co-Hosts then begin to discuss family and relationship dynamics, and how their diagnosis influenced those interactions. (9:23) The conversation leads Sierra and Vinnie to the question of choice, the boundaries that were created or discovered, and how each initially communicated about their cancer experience (14:54).

TAKE OUT: How did you choose to play your cancer card in the past? Has it changed since? (35:51) Email us with your responses, questions, or feedback at CancerOnTheSide@gmail.com

NUGGETS

• Word Of The Day: Cancer Card (5:22)
• “Sometimes teachers announced to the class that I had cancer without giving me a heads up. The intention I believe is that they wanted me to have help…” - Sierra (18:27)
• “I chose to handle those challenging days by making light of them. I think part of it was for me. But I think part of it was for people around me.” - Vinnie (22:00)
• Subscribe to our podcast and email us with your name and shipping address and we will send you a Stupid Cancer Cancer Card on us. (36:39)

MUSIC CREDIT:

Big thanks to Holly Gottlieb! Check out her music on YouTube

Dave Fuehrer started his career as the opposite of Conscious Capitalism. After receiving college degrees and winning a New York State athletic title, Dave was convinced life was about individual achievement… But being diagnosed with cancer twice in his twenties and then losing his father to cancer, caused a profound EVOLution: now, Dave’s beliefs about business and about life are more accurately represented by the African Proverb: “if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

Dave is now the co-founder and CEO of GRYT Health: The first healthcare company started and run by young adult cancer survivors and caregivers. GRYT’s purpose is the empowerment of individual decision-making. They are making healthcare more human by giving people information to make decisions that reflect their life, not just their disease. And through GRYT’s award-winning free app, called Stupid Cancer, they are empowering people in every state and across 80 countries with information to live on their terms.