57 Melanie Young A Survivors Guide to Staying Fearless and Fabulous in the Face of Breast Cancer.mp3: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

57 Melanie Young A Survivors Guide to Staying Fearless and Fabulous in the Face of Breast Cancer.mp3: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Speaker1:
Hi and welcome to the Cancer Secrets podcast. I am your host and guide, Dr. Jonathan Stegall. Cancer is like a thief who has come to steal, kill and destroy. I have personally seen it wreak havoc on patients, friends and even my own family. But I am on a mission to change the cancer paradigm. Who? The practice of integrative oncology cancer treatment that integrates the best of conventional medicine with the best of alternative therapies backed by science and personalized to each patient. You need a positive voice you can trust. This podcast will share valuable information to give you practical hope for a better outcome. So I invite you to join me on this journey as we seek to change the cancer paradigm together. Hello and welcome back to the Cancer Secrets Podcast. I'm your host, Doctor Jonathan Stegall. This is season four and episode number 57. In today's episode, I have a very special guest, Melanie Young. We will be discussing how to best approach a breast cancer diagnosis and treatment decisions. As always, I encourage you to listen with a loved one or a friend. Today's episode is going to be wonderful. Our guest, Melanie Young, is an author, host of two nationally recognized podcasts and a certified health coach. She's also a breast cancer survivor who helps those who have been diagnosed with cancer to help them navigate their cancer journey. Her book, entitled Getting Things Off My Chest A Survivor's Guide to Staying Fearless and Fabulous in the Face of Breast Cancer is a helpful, practical guide that helps women diagnosed with breast cancer make informed, confident decisions about managing their diagnosis, treatment, self care and everyday life with insights from survivors who have been down the road and credible experts. Melanie is a frequent panelist and speaker on the topics of self care and body positivity turning stumbling blocks into stepping stones and reclaiming your life after cancer. Melanie, welcome to the show.

Speaker2:
Hi. It's great to be here.

Speaker1:
We're so glad to have you today. And I'm really excited because I know that our listeners are going to really get a lot from our time together today. Well, I'd like to start by discussing your background in food and wine. I thought that was really interesting to learn about you. So what drew you to that as a career choice?

Speaker2:
Well, I've always loved to eat and drink since I was a little girl. Interestingly, I rarely cook, but I like to dine out. It was part of the joys in my family was to go to restaurants. I fell into public relations and marketing for fine wines, food, spirits through my love of writing and storytelling, which I still do now. Originally, I ran a my own company in New York that was a marketing and culinary events production agency with global clients. And I closed that company in 2010 and started the Connected Table to focus on event production and storytelling. I have my show, The Connected Table Live, which focuses on profiling thought leaders in food, drink and hospitality. But since my diag breast cancer diagnosis, I also wanted to make sure that we focused on health and nutrition to create a balanced life. Which is what fearless, fabulous year my second show is about, and a big focus of my book, getting things off my chest. So I believe in indulging and imbibing with responsibility and eating well to eat healthy.

Speaker1:
I love that because, you know, I in my in my oncology practice, you know, I run into patients a lot who want to do everything right when it comes to nutrition, because the thought, of course, being I can control this is something I can I can do a good job at. But but what I've found is that nutrition is extremely stressful for patients. And they they're constantly in this battle of trying to be perfect in what they eat and really denying themselves a lot in terms of being able to enjoy food like they'd like to. And so I love that you're you're balancing those things. I think that's so important. Well, you mentioned your breast cancer diagnosis. I mean, tell us more about that and how how you kind of react it to that.

Speaker2:
Well, Jonathan, as you as I mentioned, I was busy traveling the world, eating and drinking with global clients. And basically when I was in Italy on a business trip, I discovered a lump in my dress breast. I was doing a manual examination, which I did every month, and I found it. And when I came back to New York for my already scheduled annual OB-GYN appointment, I said, I think there's a problem. And she said, Yeah, I think so too. When she felt the breast, we went for diagnostics and it turned out to be early stage breast cancer. My staging was stage two, a estrogen positive, HER2 negative, and my consults, the three surgeons, advised me to have a double mastectomy. I chose reconstruction, I underwent chemotherapy, not radiation. And that was about a year and a half of my life.

Speaker1:
Wow. Okay. And then was the hormonal piece of dress, I'm guessing as well, Tamoxifen or something like that?

Speaker2:
Yes. Following my treatment, chemotherapy, I was on Tamoxifen. And then once I went into full menopause, I went into anastrozole and I was on an aromatase inhibitor for about five years. And then we made a decision to take me off. I am now going to be a 12 year cancer survivor in August.

Speaker1:
Wow. Congratulations.

Speaker2:
What has happened? I have a lot of wisdom and perspective now that I have a little more distance from my diagnosis, which I think is something really important for helping people live their life with good health, without fear on the long term.

Speaker1:
Excellent. And now you talk a lot about about sort of communicating a diagram. Noses with loved ones and friends and being very intentional in that in that communication. So so what advice do you have for our listeners about sort of breaking that news to others?

Speaker2:
Well, first of all, I come from a communications background, so it was just a natural instinct to have a communications plan. I was running a business. I had many friends, I had family. I wanted my message to be different for each because I wanted to control. I didn't have control over getting cancer. I wanted to control as much as I could in my life. So I think you divide it that way with friends and loved ones. You I do believe in hiring and not hiring, but assigning someone to be your spokesperson to handle the onslaught of caring calls and emails and texts that you will get when people find out you're diagnosed. My husband did that. He did a great job. He did updates. I have relatives who've done Caring Bridge. There are some wonderful sources like that where people can post. It's important because your mind is swimming. While you appreciate all the well-wishers, you need to have time and space to make the decisions about your health. So that's your personal family and understand and be aware and don't take it personally. If some of your friends or loved ones are distanced themselves, they may not be comfortable with how to handle it themselves.

Speaker2:
Do not take it personally. Cancer affects everyone around you as much as it affects you in terms of your business. A lot depends on if you're employed by a company or if you're self employed. In my case, I was self employed and I made the decision not to inform my clients and to keep my cancer diagnosis that I said close to my chest. That's the book is called Getting Things Off My Chest. When I revealed I had cancer almost two years later, that was my decision because I continued to run my business and I didn't want my clients just heading for the hills thinking I was incapacitated. I was not. I was less 150% usual, but I was not incapacitated. However, if you were employed by a company, you should inform your boss or H.R. about what you're going through so they can make reasonable accommodations for you. And there are laws to protect employees with certain sized companies, so it is your right to be protected. So I think that's really important if you're choosing to continue to work. And I want to underscore it's your choice to say I need some time off or I want to keep going.

Speaker1:
Right? Excellent. Now, you got your diagnosis. You kind of had a communication plan in place, but you also had to focus on choosing the best treatment for yourself. And you alluded some to your treatments earlier, but you talk a lot about choosing the right doctor. How did you go about sort of choosing the best oncologists for you?

Speaker2:
That's a great question. I referrals. I asked people who had gone through cancer treatment, breast cancer treatment or recommendations. Of course, I also went to a wonderful resource called Cher. Cher cancer support dot org. It is a nonprofit with a national hotline that does peer to peer mentoring for women facing a diagnosis of breast or ovarian cancer. So you you basically are mentored by a peer who can help you along the way. They don't make doctor recommendations, but they will help guide you and what to ask. Obviously, your health insurance is important. You need to find out which hospitals and which doctors and which diagnostic labs participate in your health insurance because you can really get tripped up on that. And suddenly getting a bill, as I recently did from a diagnostic lab, not in your health network, health insurance network. I have an extensive chapter on understanding your health insurance and what to ask, because it is really quite the web to navigate when you're trying to make decisions about your health and suddenly have to make decisions about your financial health as well.

Speaker1:
Thank you for mentioning that, because, you know, in integrative oncology, you know, our services are not in-network with insurance. And, you know, some patients can get some reimbursement and some won't. But, you know, we're very upfront about that because, you know, we tell our patients to basically, you know, allow for the fact that it's going to be out of pocket. And if you get any reimbursement, that's that's gravy. It's a nice bonus because we've heard so many horror stories from patients who who did go through who what they thought were in-network doctors. And it ended up costing them an incredible amount of money. So and it's just not patient friendly. It's not easy to navigate that on your own. So I'm glad you mentioned that.

Speaker2:
Yeah. I mean, I could go on about health insurance. I mean, basically the frightening thing is that medical costs result in more bankruptcies, that just about anything else. And that's tragic. I also think it's terribly wrong and unfortunate that integrative oncology is not covered by health insurance. I'm a big believer that prevention. Wellness is the best medicine. And I also believe integrative oncology is a wonderful way to help complement the Western medicine that you're going through. I did not do it because I didn't have insurance and I was so cautious about it was already expensive, trust me. But if I were to ever be diagnosed again, hopefully never. I would definitely consult with an integrative oncologist.

Speaker1:
Thank you. Thank you for saying that.

Speaker2:
I'm a big believer.

Speaker1:
So let's talk a little bit about how patients can can optimize their health know preceding and certainly going through treatment. What kinds of advice do you have for that?

Speaker2:
Well, I had a mantra, of course, as you know, my background is food and beverage. So I approached that aspect of managing my cancer with a lot of questions and enthusiasm, like how and what I can eat. And I have a huge chapter in getting things off my chest just about diet, nutrition and exercise. My mantra was this hydrate, drink, lots of water, herbal teas. You do avoid dehydration. It can make you sick. The drugs can dehydrate you. It actually can help you with your energy and also the results of chemotherapy. So hydrate, gyrate, exercise, water, whatever you can do to move it will help combat the fatigue, the soreness, the pain. You've got to keep moving every day of your life. Masticating. So that's chewing. Eating. Eat the rainbow. Eat healthy. Try to avoid anything that could aggravate your mouth, your stomach, spicy foods, garlic. This is a time to really focus on the best ingredients, safe food handling and simple preparations of food that are healthy. Start with vegetables, lean proteins, fiber. You're going to need a lot of fiber because a lot of the cancer drugs constipated. It's so important. Watch your dairy. It can irritate your stomach. Everybody has a personal memory of the food that they ate while they're going through cancer that stuck with them. It's not too different, as I've been told from pregnancy. When you crave things and you want to combat the nausea, finally meditate. This is a time to really have some headspace to aim for calm, whether it's napping, meditation, quiet time. It's so important right now because you've got to wrap your head around a lot of things. So create that mental space for yourself and allow it every day, much in the same way you allow movement every day with every 20 to 30 minutes of movement and have 20 to 30 minutes of calm.

Speaker1:
I love that it's so important. And as you know, there are so many studies out there that show a very positive link and association between our mindset and our and our physiology and our treatment outcomes.

Speaker2:
Absolutely. And this is not just to do while you're undergoing cancer treatment or a treatment for another major illness. This is how you should be living every day. If cancer taught me anything, it taught me to slow down and reprioritize and do all the things that I talk about, getting things off my chest but do it every day. It's not easy because you go back into your old ways very easily, but you'll find if you follow those simple lifestyle changes, they will help you for the rest of your life.

Speaker1:
I love that, especially since, you know, our world is just so negative anyway. In general, it's it's so busy. It can be negative. It can it can really bring people down. And then you throw a diagnosis on top of that of cancer and all the treatment and everything. It's it's a lot. So thank you for mentioning that.

Speaker2:
Well, this is a time I'll be honest with you. This is a time to weed your garden of toxic friends. You're going to have enough toxicity with the drugs. You don't need negativity around you. I mean, we should be doing that anyway. But, you know, don't allow yourself to become a pity party or a Debbie Downer and don't let people around you be that, keep it upbeat and it doesn't mean rah rah. You don't have to be the cancer princess warrior hero either. I always said I didn't have a halo on my head. I had a tiara. That was the way I handled it. It was my cancer my way. Don't tell me what to do. Although I had to listen to my oncologist and doctors. But you've got to kind of form your own path and don't let people sway you here and there that are not. They're giving you the wrong advice. It's maybe what's right for them, but maybe not for you.

Speaker1:
That's good. That's very good. So so for those listeners who maybe have gotten a diagnosis and they're they're awaiting treatment to start, what advice do you have for them? For for what to expect from treatment. I mean, I know it can differ from regimens or regimen, but but you talk a lot about having proper expectations for treatment. So so share some of that with us, please.

Speaker2:
That's a great question. I have a really good friend going through treatment right now, and she's going through hell because she has extreme mucositis. I mean, she can't even talk because her mouth is just blistered. I was lust. The worst thing that happened to me was bone pain and something I didn't expect, which was chemo brain. Okay, so I'm going to start with that because that was the one that walked me. Nobody ever tells you a lot of stuff about what to expect when you go through treatment. And I'm going to specifically talk about chemotherapy right now because that's what I went through. Although I have a big chapter of radiation written by a radiation oncologist, I did not expect I was told I would feel sore. Sore is not the same as bone pain, right? Okay. Sore is not bone pain. Bone pain is when you just can't stop moving to relieve the pain. So you will want to ask what kind of appropriate painkillers you can take that are non-addictive. But again, I did it. I did a lot of stretching and movement and got in the pool and swam and that helped me a lot. Chemo brain is like a brain fog. It does happen. Everyone admits to it and you want to know what's going on with my head.

Speaker2:
All the things I said to do, eating properly, exercising, getting enough rest, giving yourself time will help you with the chemo brain. I actually played Scrabble and did word games to keep my mind focused because I really thought I was losing it. I felt like I had a low grade flu for several months. Wow. So I treated myself like I had to look good. I tried to not push myself. It is very important also to understand that the day you get chemo is not necessarily the worst day. The worst day can come three days later, when they have something called the steroid slump, they give you steroids, which are like artificial up uppers to help with it. Then they wear off. And everybody I know basically says you become fierce and grumpy. And I mean, I was as fierce and grumpy as you could ever imagine. So I knew to schedule chemotherapy on an evening on a Thursday so that by the weekend I could be away from people. When I became just, it came out and I was not a nice person. I was just grumpy and raising my voice and didn't even know I was doing it.

Speaker1:
That's hard to imagine.

Speaker2:
It was. My husband actually emailed me and said it was because it was. I still had my staff and it was he's like, You're yelling at everybody. You know, I was you know, my voice was raised. So it everybody is affected differently. The one thing that does happen if you're going through Adrian, myosin and cytokine, which is like chemo cocktail number one, and you will lose your hair, most people do. There are some cold cap methods that are now approved by the FDA, but everybody who did them still has hair loss. So what do you do? You plan ahead. You go out and you make sure you get a script from your doctor for a cranial prosthesis, which is the medical term and the insurance term, to get your wig paid for by insurance, make sure that's possible and then go by yourself with the best head of hair possible. I call mine the Rolls-Royce. It was like $3,000, but insurance pay for it, so who cares? And it was like movie star hair and go to a hairdresser and say, could you get this hair, which is too much for my face ready for me. So get prepared before you start treatment. Get your bedroom ready with lots of pillows, get your refrigerator stocked, get the house cleaned and sanitized, get your dogs cleaned and send your pets because you have reduced your auto immune compromised. So I put all of this in getting things off my chest, but there's a lot of you to prepare yourself, your house. If you think there's going to be financial issues, contact your credit card companies and say, increase my limit. Let people know what you're facing. You won't believe how many wonderful good Samaritans there are who will cut you a break and give you a chance to just have a breather. On paying bills, on doing chores. It's it's amazing.

Speaker1:
That's a good point. We don't we don't talk about that enough, but thank you for mentioning that. So so we've kind of touched on this a little bit, but you talk a lot about managing side effects and helping patients to look and feel their best. And, you know, I think that's unfortunately something that doesn't get discussed enough because it's it's almost like this, oh, you're being too selfish or too vain if you if you care about your appearance while you go through this or you talked about the wig and do you have any other pieces of advice for our listeners on on that topic?

Speaker2:
I do. First of all, I want this really underscore this message. You have the right to look as great as you want and treat yourself as wonderful as you choose to. You did not. Choose cancer. You can choose to take care of yourself. I chose to look and feel the best I could every day of my experience. You know, I wore beautiful clothes to chemo. I did continue to work because I wanted to be I wanted to have an income and it was my business. So I had to look good. I had to have meetings. So a couple of things. No one really tells you how chemotherapy and radiation impact your skin, and that's really important. You need to protect your skin. You're going to be more sensitive. You will be prone to rashes. You may get rosacea. Your skin is going to be so sensitive it can tear and bruise easily. You will have needle marks if you don't have a port, you need to consult with your doctors, consult with your dentist about possible mouth sores, get your teeth examined and clean before you start chemotherapy. Get an eye exam to make sure you're prepared for your eyes and get a check after your eyesight can change, go to your dermatologist and have a skin care plan. You will never understand that. Like breast cancer, you think it's all about taking off a breast, get a new breast reconstruction. It's your whole body is affected. It really is. I sought the aid of a physical therapist because I was having mobility issues with my arms and recovering after reconstruction. So it really is head to toe. If you do plan to go out, you know, go to contact someone who specializes in makeup for women going through cancer. There's some really great organizations that will give you free makeovers and teach you how to put your eyebrows back on. It's amazing what's out there for you if you choose it. I chose it. I wanted to look as though my best and I think it helped me get through my own journey with more ease and comfort.

Speaker1:
Good. Sounds like that made a real powerful difference for you.

Speaker2:
Everybody, I advise, I mentor a lot of women going through cancer all thanked me for that because they don't think about that because they're afraid. They're being selfish. They're worried about their children. They're worried about their husband. Yes. You have to worry about them, too. But you've got to make yourself priority number one. You're the one who's been diagnosed with cancer. So you've got to be you've got to admit that it's okay to be selfish.

Speaker1:
Absolutely. And I can guarantee that those women who are listening right now, your your spouse, your children, they want you to to take care of yourself, too. They they want you to have some some enjoyment and some some pampering. So it's not it's not relinquishing your duties as wife and mom to work on those things.

Speaker2:
Not at all. And actually, they will be happy to see you feeling better about yourself because they feel helpless. They don't know what to do. You know, they're going to want to see how can I help? And, you know, playing with your kids, going on outings with them, spending time cuddling up at home, there's wonderful things you can do. Goodness. We just went through a pandemic where we did all those things anyway. Right?

Speaker1:
Right, exactly. Well, I'd like to shift gears a little bit and talk about anxiety surrounding a diagnosis. I mean, we've all heard the the the stories of people who right when they heard those words, you have cancer, they're their world changed. All these emotions kind of flooded in. What advice do you have for our listeners about about that anxiety that surrounds the diagnosis?

Speaker2:
It will be a rollercoaster. It comes and goes in waves. It did for me, and it still does. You always live with some level of anxiety that it may return. Or when you hear a dear friend has been diagnosed, your anxiety comes up. I go back to my mantra, you know, rest, take care of yourself, exercise. Another thing is do something to project away from your anxiety. Go take a walk, call a friend, play with your kids, play with your dog paint. Keep a journal, whatever it takes to release your anxiety. We all have anxiety. You will have anxiety every time you go to chemo. It's an anxiety ridden moment because you don't know what's going to happen. It's anxiety in the waiting room to go into treatment. It's anxiety going into surgery. It's anxiety coming out of surgery. There will be anxiety and there will be anxiety long after it all ends. Because you will wonder every time you go in for surveillance or tests or your annual physicals, you wonder, is this it? Is it coming back? Every ache and pain, you'll be like, Oh my God, that's it. It's in my bones. You got to you got to let it go. You've got to let the anxiety go and not not dwell on it. And if you're having trouble with that, I do believe it is a sign of strength. Say I need help and go to a mental health counselor. We live in the most anxiety ridden times of our lives right now. People toss their anxiety onto you. So I find a professional counselor. I did not do that. I wish I had. I had anxiety. I had a lot of anxiety that lasted much longer than I thought. Actually, it was what I would call post-traumatic stress about two years later. Totally hit me. Did not expect it. Seek help. It's perfectly okay. And a sign of strength to say I need help.

Speaker1:
Excellent. Well, you know, you're hitting on the what I've heard said. I think it's so true. Cancer is a lifelong diagnosis, and that doesn't mean you have to be actively under cancer treatment the rest of your life, but there's definitely an awareness there that needs to be there. You know, you need to be vigilant. You need to do all the right testing and follow up and be aware and make good decisions. But obviously balancing that with not letting it spill over into anxiety and and fear and all those kind of things. It's a fine line.

Speaker2:
So it is. I just went for 12 doctor's appointments and exams, you know, all my annuals and physicals. 12. In a matter of eight days. That was anxiety getting to the point, which was anxiety just getting to the point. But it was all. But I did it and I'm glad I did. There were some long term side effects of treatment. I have been diagnosed with osteoporosis that kind of hit me between the eyes. I'm addressing that now. How to counter the effects. I went in. I had so I had last year my breast implants removed and replaced. Why? Because the Food and Drug Administration recalls my breast implants due to a link to a rare form of lymphoma. There was a high risk. It was a rare risk, but it meant annual surveillance. They were also causing me difficulty. They were painful. I had a lot of scar tissue. So I, after consulting with my surgeon and also getting approval from my health insurance, I had them removed or replaced with saline. And I don't have to go through the surveillance anymore. But I did have my annual exam this June. And, you know, you do go back and you have all that anxiety as you lie there and have tests and scans. But you have to do that. You've been diagnosed with cancer or any major illness. You're going to have to be more on top of your health than ever before for the rest of your life. That's just the way it is. You should always be doing that anyway, but right now and forever, that will be your message. Take better care of yourself and don't put off appointments.

Speaker1:
Right. Right. I agree 100%. Absolutely. So we talked a little bit earlier about about body image and we talked about some some things that that women can do. But do you have any more advice about about just maintaining a positive body image, especially maybe you'll say someone's gone through a surgery that's caused some disfiguring or or maybe a treatment related side effect from skin rash, something like that. I mean, what kind of advice do you have for that that we haven't already touched upon?

Speaker2:
Well, you know, obviously, a disfiguring surgery can be traumatizing. And I honestly can't speak to what it would be like if I lost a limb to bone cancer. I don't know. I know that the women and men that I've met who have have adapted, they have prosthetics. They're doing everything possible to reclaim their life and doing physical therapy. They don't give up. They don't give up on themselves. They don't give up on their bodies because you only have one body. Okay? So you may be missing some parts. You will have some scars. You learn to live with them. You know, I always laugh. I don't need to go get tattoos. I have them, you know, why do I need more tattoos? I got nice tattoos. I have tattooed breasts. You learn to live with it. It is weird when you go to that first appointment with the doctor or the dressing room, the public restroom or the gym, and you're changing clothes. And suddenly you. There was a point where I was hiding and I didn't want people see my reconstruction. I don't care. I don't care. They look great. My doctor Joseph did such an awesome job and I actually feel that my courage and confidence to show my breasts the way they are now can help other women reclaim a positive body image. I mean, you know, I'm you know, we're all getting older. A lot of women have to deal with that anyway. You know, I'm now putting on more weight now that I'm in full flow menopause. It's been tough. You have to make adjustments to deal with and accept the. That your body will never be the same. It will be different. But you've got to love it. It's your only body. You got to love it.

Speaker1:
Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, Melanie, how can our listeners learn more about you and connect with you?

Speaker2:
Well, I have a website, Melanie Junction. I have a radio show called Fearless Fabulous Shoe. It's live Wednesdays at 12 on the Women for Women Network, which you can hear anytime on iHeart, Spotify, Apple Podcasts. It's called Fearless Fabulous Shoe. I interview a lot of women who are survivors of cancer but also trauma, who have reimagined their lives and reset how they want to live. Many of them are now entrepreneurs. I also interview authors I just interviewed Cynthia Hayes. It's a big ordeal. We're survivors, share stories and do whatever I can to help any woman who has faced, faced a setback and is looking to reclaim their journey. I do want to really underscore this. While many of the women that I interviewed, cancer survivors that are successful entrepreneurs, having cancer does not mean you have to go out and start a foundation, start a charity, put on a pink to to be rah, rah, rah every October. You know it over time. You may not want to do that. It depends on how you want to live your life. What cancer does is, is your chance to say, I'm writing the ticket to my next journey, my way, my highway, not the cancer highway.

Speaker2:
And that's how you have to look at it. And when I wrote Getting Things Off My Chest, because I am such a passionate traveler and the only journey I could take while I was going through treatment was when straight to the chemo. I mean, I fought with my oncologist about a trip to Asia, fought with her and gave it up. But I wrote Getting Things Off my Chest or Survivor's Guide, like it's a travel guide to the trip. You didn't plan, you don't want to take and you want a one way ticket back and you never want to return. And it's like everything you need to know to prepare for that journey and what to expect along the way. And that's how I think. So I look at my year of living surgically and chemically as a detour in the journey of my life. And I also look at as a way to rethink how I want to manage that journey moving forward.

Speaker1:
I like that. And I'm guessing not only yourself, but a lot of the women that you've interviewed, the cancer diagnosis, that journey has really been a springboard to reinventing yourself in a lot of ways or or redefining yourself, I should say.

Speaker2:
Oh, gosh, I've been redefining myself every couple of years. People don't know what to expect next. I mean, the pandemic made me do it all over again. I mean, it's just everything that's the great thing is you can and sometimes you must. Sometimes life leaves you behind careers. Sometimes you leave it behind. It just it's no longer right for you. It's no longer right for you. And you have to be in your marriage. I mean, some people, women divorce their husbands because they weren't very supportive. I've heard every possible story. It's your journey your way. However, the best advice you can get are people from people who've been down that path before. Listen to them. Don't go scroll on the Internet and don't get on social media. I'm very I'm not keen on a lot of social media chat groups because they can really pull you in and not be productive speaking up. That said, you can follow me at Mighty Melanie on Twitter and Melanie, fabulous on Instagram. I neglected to say that. Am I page Fearless? Fabulous, Melanie Young. But I'm not a big believer in getting lost in a lot of social media groups. You can do maybe one or two. It helps you, but if you find it's becoming a time sucker and energy sucker and it's just a giant negativity dump, get off it. Do something else with your life.

Speaker1:
Excellent. So, Melanie Young dot com is your website you mentioned your your social media and then where can our listeners get your book? Is that a through your website or.

Speaker2:
It's available on every it's on Amazon, it's on books and things on Barnes and Noble. It's obviously even though I love independent booksellers, you can get it easiest on Amazon. A couple of cancer sites like Cure Diva Sell it. Yes, you can get it on Melanie Icon. But right now I don't advise that because I'm in the process of relocating my life and I don't have books on me. I've like one. I've given them way to people who need them as gifts. So the easiest is to go to Amazon. My publisher is Cedar Fort. I do offer special discounts if I'm giving talks and doing fundraisers, people want to give them to people. It's a great gift. It really. As I wrote it with, I wrote it with seriousness, but also with what is my innate sense of humor, which you can see when I wrote Getting Things Off My Chest, I thought I was Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. I landed in this crazy place. It happens you The Wizard of Oz happens to where? My favorite movie. So there's a lot of references to and I actually referenced it in the book Feeling like Dorothy and the Land of Oz and the Great Oz was learning ecologists. And obviously there was the meanies and the poppy. There's a whole lot of imagery, but at the end I just wanted to go home again. Right, right.

Speaker1:
Right. I love that. That's great. I hope everyone will check out your book and connect with you on online because I just I love what you're doing and I thank you so much. I just I think it's so needed because it's it's easy to get bogged down with with a life changing diagnosis and everything that goes along with it. So thank you so much for everything that you're doing.

Speaker2:
Oh, thank you for everything you're doing. I'm a big supporter and I do have a section on integrative oncology in the book. I'm a big advocate and I think that your health is a holistic look at life. You've got to do everything holistically and look at every aspect.

Speaker1:
I love that. Well, thank you again for your time today. I'm really excited for our listeners.

Speaker2:
Well, thank you and thank you to the listeners of the Cancer Secrets podcast. I appreciate.

Speaker1:
It. Sure. And for those of you who are listening, if you're enjoying our podcast, please take a minute and provide a review on iTunes or Spotify wherever you listen to podcasts. And as a reminder, you can subscribe to the Cancer Secrets podcast and be notified when any new episodes are released. And as always, share it with your family and friends. Spread the good news and then let let them know that there's a lot of other options out there for treatment that they may not be aware of. Melanie, thank you again. We'll do this again soon. Och.

Speaker2:
Absolutely. My pleasure.

Speaker1:
Okay. Until next time.

Speaker2:
Bye bye. Bye.

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