My Sister's Cancer

Today marks our 50th and final episode! We’ve been creating the My Sister’s Cancer podcast for a year. Like we always say, it’s a pity so many of us carry the heavy burden of cancer alone, so let’s make it a party and carry it together. Thanks for carrying it with us this past year. For our full show notes, visit the podcast page at our website: https://www.mysisterscancer.co/podcast Note: This co...

Today’s podcast episode is packed full of resource recommendations for the survivorship season. As we prepare to take a break from producing new episodes, we wanted to leave you with ideas for how you can continue to process your cancer experience. For our full show notes, visit the podcast page at our website: https://www.mysisterscancer.co/podcast Note: This content is for informational purposes...

Today we are joined by our parents! You’ve heard them mentioned on the show time and again and today they get to tell the story from their perspective. We are so grateful for their love and support. For our full show notes, visit the podcast page at our website: https://www.mysisterscancer.co/podcast Note: This content is for informational purposes only and does not provide any medical advice. Con...

Today we are joined by our two favorite people: our husbands. For the last year they’ve supported us as we record the podcast weekly, and for years before that they supported us through cancer and its aftermath. Today we get to hear how cancer has affected their lives, too. For our full show notes, visit the podcast page at our website: https://www.mysisterscancer.co/podcast Note: This content is...

While surviving a life-threatening situation calls for celebration, it comes with a heaping helping of guilt on the side. Why did some of my friends die and not me? Or why did my loved one get sick and not me? Today on the podcast we discuss the lingering effects of survivor’s guilt. For our full show notes, visit the podcast page at our website: https://www.mysisterscancer.co/podcast Note: This c...

Life is, by nature, precarious. None of us knows when our last day will be. But if you’ve had a life-threatening illness, this truth feels a lot more real. On today’s show we discuss the way that you never really lose a sense of life’s precarity after cancer. For our full show notes, visit the podcast page at our website: https://www.mysisterscancer.co/podcast Note: This content is for information...

Even when you’ve been a survivor for years, cancer can still affect your daily life. We’ve talked about lasting physical side effects; today, we tackle lasting mental and relational changes that sprung from our cancer experience. For our full show notes, visit the podcast page at our website: https://www.mysisterscancer.co/podcast Note: This content is for informational purposes only and does not...

Issues of fertility and reproduction are fraught even in the best of scenarios. And for many AYA cancer survivors, their fertility and reproductive health were not addressed during the course of their cancer treatment in the way they had hoped. On today’s show we hold space for that disappointment and explore this often overlooked part of being a young survivor. For our full show notes, visit the...

Everyone knows that many cancer patients go bald and spend a lot of time throwing up. Fewer people understand that there are many physical side effects that stay with cancer survivors for years, decades, or their entire lives. On today’s show, we discuss the side effects that just don’t leave. For our full show notes, visit the podcast page at our website: https://www.mysisterscancer.co/podcast No...

Believe it or not, it’s been four years since the COVID-19 pandemic first swept the globe. On today’s episode, we discuss the parallels between pandemic and cancer experiences, and explore how it felt for Ella as a still-recovering cancer survivor to navigate that polarized and isolating season. For our full show notes, visit the podcast page at our website: https://www.mysisterscancer.co/podcast...

It’s (kind of) spring, and here at My Sister’s Cancer we are ready to talk about survivorship. On today’s episode we relate Michigan springs - unpredictable, stop and start, beautiful and cold - to the experience of emerging into cancer survivorship and lay the groundwork for all there is to talk about in this upcoming season. For our full show notes, visit the podcast page at our website: https:/...

Today we get the pleasure of bringing you our second guest episode. Mom of two Trish shares her family’s right-now, real-life experience with her son’s leukemia. Parents of tweens - or anyone with tweens in their life - might find this episode particularly helpful! We thank Trish for her openness with their story as it plays out in real time. For our full show notes, visit the podcast page at our...

We are so honored to be able to share our first guest episode on the show today. Jack Foster shares the story of his wife’s cancer, his daughter’s mental health, and the way he now sees his son was affected by it all. We thank him and his family for sharing their story with our community. Content warning: mental health struggles and suicide. For our full show notes, visit the podcast page at our w...

Ella turns 26 next week! To celebrate, the sisters are discussing the bittersweet significance of birthdays after a cancer diagnosis, and unpacking our culture’s attitude toward aging in general. For our full show notes, visit the podcast page at our website: https://www.mysisterscancer.co/podcast Note: This content is for informational purposes only and does not provide any medical advice. Contac...

Today’s episode is short but sweet, packed with lots of advice on how to show up for your people when someone can’t be there in person. Although we all may think we are pros at this post-COVID, there is a difference between the way things worked when we were “all in this together” and the way it feels to be the “only one” stuck at home. For our full show notes, visit the podcast page at our websit...

Mental health is vital to our overall well-being. We know this. But what are you supposed to do in a prolonged season of isolation or recovery when you can’t reach for your usual mental health boosts? Today on the podcast we discuss Ella and Kayla’s different experiences with mental health and the help they each sought. If you’re wondering if you should reach out to someone, this episode is for yo...

Are you (still) there, God? On today’s podcast, the sisters discuss the ways their faith shook, grew and changed throughout the course of Ella’s cancer. It’s complicated and personal when you start to ask the big questions about the universe and if there’s a loving God. But it’s worth it. For our full show notes, visit the podcast page at our website: https://www.mysisterscancer.co/podcast Note: T...

While sister stories are everywhere, it is rare to find a cancer memoir that focuses on the sister relationship between two adults. Elizabeth Lesser has filled that gap with her stunning memoir “Marrow” that chronicles her experience being a bone marrow donor for her sister, Maggie. Today on the podcast we share what we loved about the book - and why timing is sometimes everything when it comes to...

Cancer is unpredictable in nature and can drag on for months or years. Sometimes original timelines get extended, sometimes cancer returns, sometimes recovery takes a lot longer than anticipated. If you’re still dealing with cancer but feel like your support network has faded into the background, this episode is for you. For our full show notes, visit the podcast page at our website: https://www.m...

We’re not treading any new ground here when we say social media is controversial. It connects us… and it depresses us. It sparks our imagination… and leaves us feeling lonely. Today on the podcast, the sisters discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of social media and how it can be used during a time of isolation. For our full show notes, visit the podcast page at our website: https://www.m...

It’s no secret that January is the biggest month for self-improvement of all sorts. Today on the podcast the sisters unpack this messaging, discussing what’s helpful, what’s not, and how to adjust your perspective to accept the reality that we might not have as much control as we think we do. For our full show notes, visit the podcast page at our website: https://www.mysisterscancer.co/podcast Not...

‘Tis the season for… mixed emotions. If you’ve ever been going through something tough during the holidays, this episode is for you. The sisters remember the December Ella spent inpatient for her stem cell transplant and hold space for difficulties of all kinds around the holidays. For our full show notes, visit the podcast page at our website: https://www.mysisterscancer.co/podcast Note: This con...

Ella celebrates two birthdays every year - the day she was born, and the day that her stem cell transplant gave her another chance at life. Join us on today’s special episode as we commemorate Ella’s 6th “re-birthday” and discuss her transplant experience in more detail than ever before. For our full show notes, visit the podcast page at our website: https://www.mysisterscancer.co/podcast Note: Th...

Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, we all became a bit too familiar with what it’s like to stay away from other people. But years before this worldwide experience, cancer patients were isolated from friends and family for months on end as they tried to heal. In today’s episode, the sisters discuss Ella’s long road of isolation after her stem cell transplant, and what it was like physically, emotiona...

As the calendar turns from fall to winter, we too are turning from a focus on the treatment season of cancer to the isolation season that often follows it. As a final reflection on what cancer treatment was like, the sisters turn to the written word - both their own and that of other authors - for inspiration and closure. For our full show notes, visit the podcast page at our website: https://www....