The Recovery Room Podcast

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:  No one should go through breast cancer alone! Though your cancer medical team can teach and help you with so much, the emotional and practical components of having cancer often go under addressed. ABCD – After Breast Cancer is an organization that provides free, one on one emotional support by a trained breast cancer mentor matched just for you! In this episode you’ll learn ho...

Sugar DOES NOT Feed Cancer - don’t add fear to your diet! ABOUT THIS EPISODE:  Social media and dime store gurus will profess with their fancy terms and scare tactics that sugar is going to feed cancer, create cancer and increase cancer risk! But is any of that actually true? In this episode of The Recovery Room Podcast we will answer these questions AND tell you why the answers are accurate! Does...

Ep: 18 Talking with an Exceptional Responder - living for a long time with metastatic cancer ABOUT THIS EPISODE: This is conversation with a woman who has been living with de novo metastatic breast cancer for a long time. We have an honest and hopeful conversation about guilt, life, stats, good days, bad days and icky side effects. Whether you have stage 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4 cancer, I think you will fi...

Cancer Recovery & Plant Based Eating - from science to your kitchen! ABOUT THIS EPISODE: From a science textbook to your kitchen table, in episode 17 of The Recovery Room Podcast we are talking about living better and longer after cancer by following a plant based eating pattern. Join in as I talk with registered oncology dietician, Mandy Mindin, MS, RD, CD about what plant based means, what d...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:  Genetic Counseling and Cancer – here’s what you should know! In this episode 16 we talk about what you need to know about the risks and benefits of genetic counseling for cancer survivors. If you were never tested at the time of your diagnosis years ago is there value in testing you now?  If you were tested years ago, should you be re-tested? And if so when? How can informatio...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: Incontinence is never normal. Yet, with some types of cancers incontinence and erectile dysfunction in men can be fairly common. But just because pelvic floor issues may be common after surgery, doesn’t mean it’s normal, that it should just be accepted, or that it shouldn’t be addressed and fixed. We welcome back to the show a national expert in pelvic floor rehab, Erica Vitek....

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:  If there is ever a time you need to advocate for yourself as a patient, it certainly is just after hearing the words, "You have cancer." Yet advocating for yourself may be easier said than done as chances are you may be scared, nervous, intimidated and possibly needing to make big decisions about things you know little about. So how do you best advocate for yourself in these s...

Ep 13 Scar Tissue after Cancer Surgery – oh the pain and tightness! ABOUT THIS EPISODE:  If you’ve had cancer surgery you may be familiar with the potential minimal to severe long term symptoms that can affect comfort, function and quality of life. Many of these symptoms can be precipitated by scar tissue. And that is what we are talking about today in The Recovery Room Podcast Episode 13, “Oh the...

Ep 12: Cancer Related Cognitive Impairment – what’s happened to my brain??? ABOUT THIS EPISODE:  Cancer and cancer treatment are notoriously hard on the brain, often leaving people with even more frustration, loss, anxiety and functional issues. Memory, concentration, word finding, brain fog and difficulties with attention are all fairly common symptoms. Today we talk with cancer survivor speciali...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:  Ep 11 Being Diagnosed with an Unpopular Cancer – there is no t-shirt for me When you add up the 4 most commonly diagnosed cancers breast, lung, prostate and colorectal, they still only make up around half of all cancer types diagnosed around the world. Leaving many people diagnosed with a less common or rare cancer. There is already enough potential baggage that comes with a c...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:  Ep 10 When the Medical Oncologist Becomes a Cancer Patient Welcome to the Recovery Room Podcast! In this episode we meet retired medical oncologist doctor Leona Downey. Dr. Downey dedicated her career and medical practice to the care of people with breast cancer… and then unfortunately she herself was diagnosed with breast cancer. Please join us in this insightful conversation...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:  Ep 9: We discuss how to have a positive mindset in the midst of extreme trauma and distress, as well as where is the line when a positive attitude turns into toxic positivity. For those facing a cancer diagnosis, treatment, and or recovery, a positive mindset can be incredibly helpful, because no matter how bad things get you need to find a way to be in the emotion and trauma,...

Ep 8: The Female Pelvic Floor – is yours working like it should? ABOUT THIS EPISODE:  You‘ve heard the words “pelvic floor,” yet do you know what it is and do you realize you actually have one? Like most body parts, if its working well you don’t think about it, yet if your pelvic floor is affected by disease, treatment, surgery or weakness it can be a huge quality of life issue! In this episode we...

Ep 6: Lymphedema Risk Reduction: yes, you can get a blood pressure on that arm ABOUT THIS EPISODE: There is no compelling evidence that blood pressures or blood draws in your involved arm increases your risk of getting lymphedema. It's true. Research has evolved over the years, changing the way we understand lymphedema risk and practice. Yet sometimes it takes a while for the accuracy to filter th...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:  Menopause Myth Busting – nope you can’t blame that on menopause! Whether you are pre, peri or post-menopause this is going to be a good one! This is episode number 7 of The Recovery Room Podcast: “nope you can’t blame that on menopause.” Being able to eat something to change hormone levels is a myth, the ability or need to balance your hormones is a myth, using plant based sup...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: When it comes to your cancer treatment, do you feel you are or were being treated as a disease or as a person? Did anyone on your medical team ask you about your goals? Did you feel part of the decision making process? Patient centered care and shared decision making focus on treating the whole person, therefore considering not just the disease but also your emotional and menta...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In health care there may be no more chilling 3 words than, “you have cancer.” Those words are associated with death, disease, disability, and horrific treatments. So traumatizing and stressful can those words be, they can send you into a fight or flight reaction and sometimes even mental parallelization. If you have heard those 3 words you, you may be breaking into a cold sweat...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: Remember the 1991 mega hit Let’s talk about sex by salt n Pepa? “Don't decoy, avoid, or make void the topic, Let's talk about sex.” Welcome to the Recovery Room Podcast and yes Salt and Pepa, that is what we are going to do. More specifically we’ll talk about how sex and sexual health may be impacted by cancer. We will define the differences between emotional intimacy and physi...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: An incredibly stressful time in cancer care is the time of treatment completion and the transition into cancer survivorship. This one catches people off guard. You’ve rung the bell, so exhaustingly and blissfully happy to be done with surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. But then you realize when it’s over, it’s not really over. You eventually realize you may not fit neatly int...

In this poignant episode of The Recovery Room Podcast we delve into one of the most prevalent and terrifying challenges faced by cancer survivors: the fear of recurrence. The psychological impacts of cancer recurrence anxiety can have profound effects on well-being and quality of life. Host Dr. Leslie Waltke and her guest, Mindfulness Specialist and cancer survivor Kimberly Macon, invite you to jo...