The Burn

Jessica Wajda was 32 when she was diagnosed with Stage III Triple Negative breast cancer.  Today, Jessica reads her piece “I Still Love You” from Wildfire Magazine’s 2020 “Body” issue. This is not a mainstream cancer story, or one that people are used to hearing.  Jessica says doctor’s gave her just 4 years to live if she didn’t do the rigorous treatment of chemo, surgery, and radiation...

Today we are going to hear a story about flipping the script with Jen Pogue.  Jen is an actor and producer living in Toronto, Canada. She was diagnosed at 37 with Stage IV Triple Negative metastatic breast cancer.  She reads her piece “My Life is a Movie” from Wildfire Magazine’s 2021 “MBC: Stage IV Survivorship” issue. What happens when cancer comes along and startles you into a starrin...

Certified resilience and leadership coach Melanie Childers was diagnosed at 34 with Stage II, hormone-positive breast cancer.  Today, Melanie reads her piece “No” from Wildfire Magazine’s 2018 “(In)fertility” issue. A decade ago, cancer made Melanie’s fertility choices final. A cancer diagnosis that affects reproductive organs that comes well after menopause is not going to land the same way...

Erin Stodola was 28 when she was diagnosed with Stage I Triple Negative breast cancer.  She carries the BRCA1 gene.  Today, Erin reads her piece “The Moments Between” from Wildfire Magazine’s 2020 “Identity & Aftermath” issue.  Erin never gave her breasts much thought or considered them as part of her identity - until she was diagnosed with breast cancer.  Then she thought...

Mila Knight was 38 when she was diagnosed with Stage II hormone-positive breast cancer.  In this episode Mila reads her piece “Crawling in My Skin” from Wildfire Magazine’s 2021 “Body” issue.  Mila has always turned to music for solace in hard times, so it was no wonder that music also lifted her up while going through cancer treatment. Her journaling turned to song-writing, and then she...

Natalie Bello Silva was diagnosed at 27 with Stage II hormone-positive breast cancer. In this episode Natalie reads her piece “Street Light” from Wildfire Magazine’s 2022 “Changemakers” issue.  This issue centered on the ones who have experienced breast cancer themselves, and how that experience has inspired a business to serve the community, making the cancer experience easier for the next p...

Ann Camden was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer at 38. She then had a Stage IV recurrence at 45.  Now at 51, she was diagnosed with leptomeningeal disease - fluid of the brain, spine and many other organs.  She is currently undergoing aggressive treatment.  Ann is a mother of twin teenage girls and married to her college sweetheart, Jeff.  In this episode, Ann reads her p...

Note of warning for sensitive listeners, this episode touches on suicidal ideation. Jen Rozenbaum is a photographer and author who was diagnosed at 41 with Stage IIb hormone-positive lobular breast cancer. In this episode Jen reads her piece “The Search to Feel Alive” from Wildfire Magazine’s 2021 “Grief & Acceptance” issue. Jen tackles the hard subject of suicidal ideation, and the difference...

Tracy Cushing had been practicing emergency medicine for 19 years and then one day that shifted and she became a cancer patient. In this episode, Tracy reads her piece “What My Medical File Won’t Tell You” from Wildfire Magazine’s 2021 “Body” issue.  Tracy was diagnosed at 45 with Stage 2 lobular breast cancer. This is the story of one woman taking back her medical file to fill in the gaps, a...

Whitney was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder called the Li-Fraumeni Syndrome. She has been diagnosed with breast cancer twice – the first time at 30 and then again at 32.  While her diagnosis of Li-Fraumeni Syndrome provided the hint to a cancer mystery, it also gave Whitney a built-in support system because the gene ran in her family. In this episode, Whitney reads from her piece “The...

Tamira Jubber was 29 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her story is one about finding meaning in life experiences that spanned from a childhood in Zimbabwe to a sudden departure to the US, and then to a breast cancer diagnosis that ran parallel to her sister donating a kidney to a stranger. This is the story of one woman asking why her life path has led where it has, and discovering some...

Megan-Claire Chase was diagnosed with lobular breast cancer at 39 after watching her mother go through her own cancer.  Her mom was still very much in need of caregiving when Megan was diagnosed and this led to some hard truths about being a daughter and a caregiver to a parent. What do you do when you need love and nurturing while at the same time being that for a parent? In this episode, Me...

Sondra Price was diagnosed at 20, 24, and 28 with malignant phyllodes tumors that led to two lumpectomies, a bilateral mastectomy, implant reconstruction, and an explant to flat closure. She found her way to flat closure on her chest the long way around, and because of that, she’s now a fierce advocate for others to truly know what their breast surgery options are. Because the truth is, if you don...

Denise Archer was diagnosed with Triple Negative breast cancer at 45. She is a maker that has been sewing since she was 15 years old. Denise reads her piece “The Uneven Thread of Synchronicity” from the 2020 “Survivorship” issue of Wildfire Magazine. This is the story of a woman using hobbies as a lifeline to carry us through survivorship. Her story is about works in progress: the sewing in your h...

Our guest today is Meaghan Calcari Campbell from San Francisco who was diagnosed at 32 with Stage 2 Triple Positive breast cancer.  She is reading a piece she wrote titled “Dear One” from the 2021 “Bay Area Young Survivors” issue of Wildfire Magazine.  It is a story about a life transformed by what cancer took away.  It is our first about another path to motherhood. A circuitous pat...

Today we are going to hear a piece about legacy - breast cancer as legacy, storytelling as legacy. Whether it is a gift received or a gift given, something passed knowingly or subconsciously.  The power of storytelling as legacy is important for the teller and the recipient.   Our guest is Lisa Laudico, reading her piece “Legacy” from the 2020 “Family” issue of Wildfire Magazine.  I...

Our guest today is Jessica Lynne who was diagnosed with breast cancer at 43. After she was diagnosed, she learned certain thoughts and patterns no longer served her. She grew up with a strong family story of independence. An independence worn like armor to protect against life’s bumps and bangs. That is until one day she learned it was the one thing hurting her more than anything else. When she re...

Our guest today is Tova Wolking, an attorney from Oakland, California.  She is reading her piece “Swim” from Wildfire Magazine’s 2021 “Bay Area Young Survivors” issue. In the wake of Tova’s mom passing away, breast cancer took root in her body. She was diagnosed with stage 3, hormone positive breast cancer at age 43.  She also discovered she was positive for the BRCA 2 gene mutation.&nbs...

In this episode, our guest Dana Donofree reads her piece “10 Years Learning to Love a New Body” from Wildfire Magazine’s 2020 “Body” issue. Some of the hardest aspects of being diagnosed with breast cancer come long after chemo, surgeries, or radiation.  For many, the trauma of what was just endured begins to affect our mental health profoundly and needs to be talked about more - like the lon...

Our guest today is Erica Fitch. Erica was 12 when her mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. Two decades later at 30, she was diagnosed with DCIS: stage 0, estrogen positive breast cancer when her own daughter was 2.  She carries the BRCA2 mutation. Her story today is about growing up with intimate knowledge of illness and the parallels when you face it yourself. And how to write about deeply...

Today’s guest is Stefanie LeJeunesse, who was diagnosed at 39 with stage IV lobular metastatic breast cancer.  She is reading her piece titled “My Jiminy Cricket” from Wildfire Magazine’s April/May 2021 “Grief & Acceptance” issue. It is a story that is on the one hand a eulogy and on the other hand asks some pretty big questions about the cancer experience.  Experience with cancer fr...

Today’s guest is Stephanie Kinkel reading her piece from Wildfire Magazine’s February 2021 issue called “Bay Area Young Survivors.” Stephanie was diagnosed with breast cancer at 39. She carries the gene mutation ATM. Stephanie and her sister were quite young when they lost their parents to cancer. Thus, Stephanie says, she was not altogether surprised to discover her own lumps or the genetic predi...

Today’s guest is Nikki Leigh Mckean from Canada. The piece she is reading is titled “I’ll Meet You in the Field'' from Wildfire Magazine’s 2020 issue “Identity & Aftermath.”  Nikki was diagnosed with cervical cancer at 34.  A second cancer diagnosis came two years later - stage II breast cancer. Nikki describes what it means to throw out the “Cancer Binder'', to become fully the hero...

Our guest today, Anna Crollman, was diagnosed at age 27 with stage II breast cancer. Anna writes beautifully about post-cancer depression in Wildfire Magazine’s 2018 “Mental Health” issue.  Anna found herself enveloped in depression following her breast cancer treatment. Having faced depression in her life before, she knew the warning signs, but that didn’t save her from having to go through...

Today, Tracy Ward joins us from the United Kingdom to read a piece from Wildfire Magazine’s 2020 “Family” issue.  She was diagnosed at 36 with stage II hormone positive breast cancer. She shares her story about holding precious placeholders in the hopes of a post-cancer baby.  This is the story of one woman asking what her fertility path will ultimately reveal and does she have the stren...