Cancer Actually F**king Sucks

Christie Finley was diagnosed with Leukemia at 28, had 2 recurrences within 16 months, and is a bone marrow transplant survivor. She’s been in remission for almost 16 months! Christie shares all the details of how she was diagnosed, living life in the hospital for the majority of her treatments, and all of the ins and outs of what is involved in a bone marrow transplant. She shares the different s...

This week’s guest is Rachel Engstrom, author of Wife, Widow, Now What, certified health coach, blood cancer advocate, and social worker. Rachel opens up about about being her late husband’s caregiver as he battled Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and what inspired her to write her book Wife, Widow, Now What? Rachel talks about how she felt as the wife both during and after her husband’s experience wit...

On this week’s episode Maddy talks to Peyton Adams about her story with ovarian cancer. Peyton was just finishing college and about to start a new job in Arizona when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She talks about how weight loss was a big symptom and how that led to body image challenges, not being taken seriously by doctors because of her age, being misdiagnosed and doing chemo for no re...

 This week's guest is Rachael Johnson, a Stage IV Hodgkins Lymphoma survivor, health and fitness coach, podcast host of Life As You Thought You Knew It and soon to be published author! At only 19 years old Rachael was diagnosed with Lymphoma during the Covid-19 pandemic. We discuss how It was doing treatment and appointments during Covid, how she accepted that she had cancer before treatment...

This week’s guest is Shannon Cury, Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma survivor, writer and comedian. At the time of the interview Shannon was waiting to get her follow up scan after chemo to see whether to not she would need to do radiation, but she is officially NED (no evidence of disease) now! Shannon explains the whirlwind she went through to discover her diagnosis, how her mass was so large that it broke...

We're changing things up on this week's episode of Cancer Actually F***ing Sucks! Brandi Benson from the previous episode is interviewing host Madison Pollack! Maddy dives deeper into her experience with Hodgkins Lymphoma, how she was diagnosed in the first place, her chemo routine, getting her port in and side effects. They also discuss life after cancer, and how that can be even harder than when...

This week I'm speaking with Brandi Benson, a Ewing Sarcoma survivor, US Veteran, Author of The Enemy Inside Me, Public Speaker and Founder of Resume-Advantage! Brandi was just 24 years old and fighting for our country in Iraq when she was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma, and her prognosis was not a positive one. Listen in to hear how she was misdiagnosed at first, dealing with depression and how find...

This week's guest will have you laughing the entire time! Lauren Tarpley is a current HER2+ Breast Cancer patient and at the time of recording with her, she had just finished chemo and was waiting to start immunotherapy and have a double mastectomy. We talk about how there are so many different types of breast cancer and endless choices to make with the disease, the "Previvor Movement," how cancer...

On this week of Cancer Actually F***ing Sucks, Maddy is talking to Samantha Martin. Sam was diagnosed with cervical cancer at just 26 years old in 2020 and has been NED since November 2020. She was diagnosed after a routine check up and explains how important It is for women to advocate for their health and go to their gynecologist regularly. She also opens up about what It was like getting a hyst...

We’re talking to Chantal Firouz this week and we’re so excited!! Chantal was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in August 2020 and just recently finished chemo treatment a few weeks ago. She opens up about how she discovered the cancer, continuing to be active and move her body throughout treatment, how much more powerful she feels now than before cancer and cultivating a stronger relationship w...

Episode 30 is out now!!! We can't believe we've already had 30 incredible guests on this show! This week you're hearing from Kelly Pyle, a fellow Hodgkins Lymphoma survivor. Kelly has had no evidence of disease since May 2020! She highlights how cold capping saved both her hair, confidence and identity throughout treatment and afterwards, and why our hair is more than "just hair." We chat about th...

We’re speaking with Vanessa Pettjohn this week, a two time Rhabdomyosarcoma survivor, limb loss survivor and  a licensed clinical social worker providing emotional support to patients at an outpatient cancer center. Vanessa opens up about her experience getting diagnosed with a rare childhood cancer at just 15 years old, the recurrence she had at 17, losing her arm to the disease and how she...

We're speaking with 17 year old Elodie on this week's episode who was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer at just 16. Elodie has had no evidence of disease since May 2020 and she speaks with us about how she discovered the 2.5 pound tumor inside her, trying to do school and be a "normal" teenager while also being forced to think about her mortality, and how she went to TikTok to find support and other p...

In this week's episode of Cancer Actually F***ing Sucks we're speaking with Anaelli Castro, a two time Rhabdomyosarcoma survivor, a rare form of sarcoma. Anaelli was diagnosed at 17 and then again 13 years later. We talk about feeling emotionally numb and in survival mode during chemo and radiation treatment, the depression and anxiety that comes after and how she was able to get out of It. She ex...

This week we're speaking with Stacy Davis, a registered dietician who has been in the field for over 15 years! As a health coach and someone who is struggling with her own health issues, Maddy and Paige have tons of questions for Stacy and if you geek out on nutrition like we do, you'll love this episode!  Stacy gives us so much info on how to both gain weight and maintain weight during chemo...

We are so excited about this week's guests Nick & Angie Giallourakis. This son and mother duo are the co-founders of Elephants & Tea Magazine - a publication dedicated to sharing real, honest stories of the AYA cancer community. They talk about how seeing Steven, Angie's son and Nick's brother, go through not only the physical side effects, but also mental side effects of cancer, such as P...

We are so thrilled to have Nina on this week's episode. At the time of recording, she was three days away from her three month scan (It came back clear and she's still in remission)! We talk about how those three months after treatment are some of the hardest any cancer survivor has to go through. We get deep into talking about scanxiety, how our minds play tricks on us from the fear that we have...

This week's guest is Simran Jatar, a childhood Ewing Sarcoma survivor and current med student studying to become a pediatric oncologist! Simran was diagnosed with a super rare form of sarcoma in her right heel bone at just 8 years old. After 14 rounds of chemo, 21 blood transfusions and radiation she has been in remission for 14 years. Simran opens up about how having cancer at such a young age ma...

We're back and starting 2021 off with Bethany Hart! Bethany was diagnosed with a rare form of cervical cancer 4 years ago and has had no evidence of disease since March of 2017. Bethany opens up about being diagnosed while pregnant with her first child and how she dealt with the loss of her daughter, how important It is for women to be on top of their health, PTSD after treatment and adopting her...

Paige and Maddy are giving some life updates on this bonus episode of Cancer Actually F***ing Sucks! Maddy shares how her health coaching career is going, her recommendations for eating clean, the moment she knew nutrition was her path after cancer, and how food affects everyone's bodies in different ways. Paige shares with us some residual health issues she's been dealing with since chemo, not be...

We are so excited about this week's guest! Summer Germann created Brave Gowns 10 years after losing her little brother to a medical error from fighting childhood leukemia. She knew that the hospital gowns that children patients were provided with could be so much better - more comfortable, practical, allow kids to have more privacy, and way more fun! Brave Gowns give patients hope, happiness, and...

This week we're talking to Kayla Szampruch, a health and wellness coach, soon-to-be Naturopath, and the Director of Academics at The Gerson Institute. We chat with Kayla about the different types of nutritional therapy that the Gerson Institute offers their patients who are looking for a nontraditional approach to recovering from cancer. She explains the details of the Gerson therapy, how it's an...

This week we're chatting with Sorabh Gupta, a Leukemia survivor who was diagnosed with cancer in the middle of his college career. Sorabh chats with Paige and Maddy about dealing with cancer as a college student, having to go through all the intense treatments necessary for Leukemia, including chemo for three years, tons of spinal taps, and having to get a hip replacement at 18 years old because o...

Stacie-Rae Weir is a woman of many talents and we're so excited to have her on the show! She talks to us about how her mother's fight with breast cancer led her to ultimately have a prophylactic mastectomy, which in turn caused her to create the A.R.T to help other people going through breast cancer to be able to have access to high quality, realistic, 3D nipple tattoos after mastectomies. Stacie-...

In this week's episode we're sitting down with Pasha Chaney to talk about her experience with Squamous Cell Carcinoma and writing her book, Through The Scars during her treatment in order to help other young adults not feel so alone in their cancer journey. Pasha reminds us what's truly important life, how to take a step back from our busy lives and remember all the things we need to be grateful f...