Down There Aware

This week Alex and Mary sit down to talk about stress, how to spot it, how to treat it, and the role it plays in our lives. Stress can serve as a motivator, but more times than not it has a negative impact on our lives. Learn how to recognize the stress in your life and various ways to manage it.

This week Alex and Mary discuss feminine hygiene and the conflict between Science and big corporations. The medical community, in particular those who deal with the female anatomy, recommend basic good hygiene in taking care of our bodies. However, big corporations have launched numerous marketing campaigns, targeting teens and preteens, planting the seed in their growing minds that their bodies s...

This week Alex and Mary sit down to reflect on their own menstruation stories, share some facts from an interesting article, and discuss some of the feelings and reactions to starting a period, having a period, and no longer dealing with periods at all.

This week Alex and Mary sit down to discuss some of their best laid plans, how those plans have been interrupted, and how they responded to those interruptions. They have discovered that, oftentimes in hindsight, it’s easy to laugh at how they have responded to change, but when reacting in the moment, a sudden and unexpected detour can cause a lot of heartache, often unnecessarily. They have learn...

This week Alex and Mary sit down to discuss some of their experiences that could have (and should have) been handled better by the medical community. Their intent  is not to disparage those who work in the medical field, but rather to share these experiences and how they were resolved, hoping to be of some help to our listeners.

This week Alex and Mary sit down to discuss disparities in health care. They share data from various resources that highlight the progress we’ve made to narrow the gaps in health outcomes but also sheds light on the fact that the goal must be to eliminate health care disparities, completely.

This week Alex and Mary sit down to discuss cervical cancer, in recognition of January as Cervical Cancer Awareness Month. They share some current research and encouraging statistics regarding cervical cancer and HPV.

This week Alex and Mary sit down to reflect a bit on their first season and to look ahead at Season Two and some new and exciting things to look forward to as their podcast continues to grow and develop.

In the last episode of their first season, Mary and Alex discuss some factors to consider when choosing where to make year-end donations.  We will see you back for season two on Monday, January 4, 2021!

This week Alex and Mary sat down together to discuss what they have learned since starting the podcast in February of 2019. The past 10 months have truly been a learning experience for both Alex and Mary and they talk about what that has meant to them in the midst of a global pandemic.

This week Alex and Mary sat down together to discuss why they began the podcast, almost a year ago. They talk about what went into making the decision and how they have managed to keep it going during a global pandemic.

This week Mary and Alex sat down with Courtney, one of their sorority sisters, who lives in Atlanta, GA. Courtney shares some valuable information about Turner Syndrome, a chromosomal abnormality, and how that diagnosis, when she was an infant, has affected her life and her path to motherhood.

This week Mary and Alex sat down with Nicole, an FSU graduate and fellow sorority sister. Nicole discusses her experience with abnormally heavy periods, severe cramping, and suffering with the pain of huge fibroid cysts. These conditions resulted in her needing to undergo a hysterectomy at the age of 35, having never had the opportunity to birth a baby.

This week Mary and Alex sat down with Mandy, who lives in Nashville, TN. Mandy shares her experience with multiple miscarriages, being dismissed by some in the medical community, and the tangible ways she honors the babies she never held in her arms, but will forever carry in her heart.

This week Mary and Alex sat down with Nishaa, a performer, teacher and music advocate based in Orlando, FL.  Her journey with infertility began in 2014, when she was unable to conceive again after a miscarriage. She went on to go through 3 rounds of IVF, however  was unsuccessful in carrying a baby to term. She is currently 36 weeks pregnant after a truly miraculous conception. This podc...

This week Mary and Alex sat down with Sarah, a stay at home mom who homeschools her five children, one girl and four boys, ages one to ten. Sarah shares the difficulties she and her husband experienced while trying to conceive early on in their marriage, the subsequent gift of several children, and the heartbreak of loss in the midst of those blessings.

This week Mary and Alex sat down with Jennifer. Jennifer is the Director of Graduate Programs at FSU’s College of Business and a self-proclaimed “hippie”. Jennifer and her husband, Paul, journeyed through pregnancy loss together and now have two adult children. Jennifer shares what she learned about the physical damage of a miscarriage and subsequent D & C years after she endured both. Her per...

This week Mary and Alex sat down with Trisha. Trisha is a clinical social worker, musician, nature-lover, and arts enthusiast out of North Carolina. She has a specialty in working with people experiencing eating disorders and body image distress, practicing from a Health At Every Size approach. Through many years of unexplained symptoms, pain, and three pregnancy losses, Trisha has battled to find...

This week Mary and Alex sat down with Dana Starr Ball.  Dana is 34, a wife, and a mother to two wild boys. She is a Licensed Massage Therapist in the Charleston, SC area and has been practicing since 2008. She teaches Kinesiology, Myology and Clinical Massage techniques in a Massage Therapy training program and continuing education courses for LMTs as well.  Dana was diagnosed with cervi...

This week Mary and Alex sat down with Lauren Felter, best known for her surprisingly candid commentary on all the things your parents told you not to talk about.  After spending her 20s treating happiness like a checklist, she has redesigned her career to help others reject the “shoulds” of life.  This summer, she launched the first course in her Get Your Sh*t Together course suite, whic...

This week Mary and Alex sat down with small cell cervical cancer survivor and advocate, Shannon Villalba.  Shannon's cancer went undiagnosed for some time, and when it was finally diagnosed it was grade 4.  With the help of chemo, radiation, and a wide array of holistic treatment, Shannon was able to fight her cancer and is nearing the ever important 5 year no evidence of disease marker.

This week Mary and Alex sat down with two-time gynecologic cancer survivor and advocate, Mariette Peeters.  Several years after battling endometrial cancer, Mariette was  diagnosed with endometrioid ovarian cancer.  Due to her previous diagnosis, she had been more closely surveilled by her physicians and was able to catch her ovarian cancer in stage one - something that is practical...

To kick off Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month, Mary and Alex sat down with vulvar cancer survivor and advocate, Yohanna Hoehler.  After waiting seven years for a diagnosis, Yohanna wanted to help advocate for the rare condition and founded the Vulvar Cancer Awareness Forum, a non-profit organization. VCAF focuses on raising awareness and educating on all things Vulvar Cancer and provide supp...

This week Mary and Alex reflect on the last 14 months and how cancer has changed them.  Turns out, there have been both some expected and unexpected changes in how we've lived and learned since July 2019.

Mary and Alex took advantage of some rainy weather and watched Netflix documentaries and movies focused on cancer.  In this episode, the mother-daughter duo reflects on these unique stories of different people and their experiences living with, and dying from cancer.