Navigating Cancer TOGETHER

When the doctors first told Janet Taylor that her mother had leukemia, they gave her mother six weeks. She lived for eighteen months, and for every one of those months, Janet was right there beside her, at every appointment and every emergency room visit, learning as she went. In this warm and deeply human conversation, Janet shares what it was really like to become, in her words, the parent of her parent.Janet is a professional organizer and the founder of Totally Organized, LLC, so she brought systems and calm to a season that could have been pure chaos. But what stays with you is not the binders and the checklists, as helpful as they were. It is the heart underneath them: insisting her mother finish a meal before a test, protecting her dignity and her independence, learning when to stand up to the doctors and when to let the people who loved her mother help. She also learned, the hard way, that a caregiver cannot pour from an empty cup. If you are caring for someone you love right now, or you know you will be one day, this episode is a steady hand and a gentle reminder that you don't have to do it perfectly, and you don't have to do it alone.✨ Episode Highlights:4:16 The biggest surprise of caregiving: becoming “the parent of your parent.”11:21 Standing up for her mother's dignity.12:06 How getting organized changed everything in a crisis.24:53 The advice that reframed self-care: “Your mother has to see you eat.”37:48 What “Navigating Cancer TOGETHER” really means for a caregiverTranscript: https://bit.ly/podscript190Connect & Engage with JanetWebsite: https://janetmtaylor.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janettheorganizerYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JanetMTaylorCall to ActionIf Janet's story moved you, subscribe and follow Navigating Cancer TOGETHER so you never miss an episode, and share this one with a caregiver in your life who needs to hear that they are not alone. If you have been meaning to get your own affairs in order, let this be the gentle nudge to start the conversation. New episodes on Wednesday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube: https://bit.ly/NCTpodcastSponsor: This episode is brought to you by On the Other Side, a cancer doula and survivor strategist helping leaders redefine life after cancer. If you finished treatment and you are wondering what comes next, connect with an experienced cancer doula at ontheotherside.life.Hosted, Produced, Written, and Edited by: Talaya DendyVideo Editor: Shawn Smith⚠️ Disclaimer: The information shared on this podcast is for general informational purposes only and SHOULD NOT be used as a substitute for sound professional medical advice, evaluation, or care from your physician or other qualified health care provider.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

When Valarie Traynham was first diagnosed, she did what a lot of us do. She said yes to the first treatment she was offered because she did not know she was allowed to ask for anything else. Then a second cancer arrived, triple-negative breast cancer, before she had caught her breath from multiple myeloma. And this time, she was ready.Somewhere in that journey, Valarie learned the lesson that now anchors her work: the patients who get answers are the ones who ask. She started bringing a spiral notebook of questions to every appointment, and she still remembers the day a doctor sighed at the sight of it, and how that sigh told her she had finally become a patient he would take seriously. In this honest, warm conversation with host Talaya Dendy, Valarie talks about surviving two cancers, how genetic testing shaped her treatment decision, the questions every patient should ask but usually does not, and the reframe that carried her through: that cancer happened for her, not to her. It is a conversation about finding your voice, and refusing to let cancer have the final word.✨ Episode Highlights5:00 Facing breast cancer before she had recovered from multiple myeloma, and what she did differently the second time.14:08 The notebook, and the line that changed her care: "I'm the patient, and you essentially work for me."15:16 The one question Valarie wishes every patient knew to ask.21:22 "This is just a chapter, not the full story," and why she says cancer happened for her, not to her.36:46 Thriver, not survivor: why cancer does not define you.Transcript: https://bit.ly/podscript189Connect & Engage with ValarieLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valarietraynhamInstagram/Facebook: https://www.instagram.com/myelomavalarieCall to ActionIf this conversation spoke to you, subscribe and follow Navigating Cancer TOGETHER so you never miss an episode, and share it with someone who is facing cancer and needs to hear it. It is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and this is the kind of honest conversation that helps people feel less alone. New episodes on Wednesday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or your preferred podcast app. https://bit.ly/NCTpodcastSponsor: This episode is brought to you by On the Other Side, a cancer doula and survivor strategist helping leaders redefine life after cancer. If you finished treatment and you are wondering what comes next, connect with an experienced cancer doula at ontheotherside.life.Hosted, Produced, Written, and Edited by: Talaya DendyVideo Editor: Shawn Smith⚠️ Disclaimer: The information shared on this podcast is for general informational purposes only and SHOULD NOT be used as a substitute for sound professional medical advice, evaluation, or care from your physician or other qualified health care provider.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Erica White was lying in bed one evening, raised her arms, and when they came back down, she felt something that was not quite right. She almost talked herself out of it. Two weeks later, just after her 39th birthday, that quiet instinct turned out to be breast cancer, caught early.What makes Erica's story different is that cancer was not her first fight. She had been living with Hashimoto's, an autoimmune thyroid condition, since she was 13. In this honest, grounding conversation with host Talaya Dendy, Erica talks about carrying a chronic illness and a cancer diagnosis at once, the surprise of having to rebuild her health after treatment, the fear of recurrence that lingers even nine years later, and the reframe that changed everything: that her body was never betraying her; it was trying to talk to her. Now a national board-certified health and wellness coach and the founder of Grace Wellness, Erica helps women cut through the noise, reconnect with their bodies, and find their way back to feeling well. If you have ever felt let down by your own body, this one is for you.✨ Episode Highlights:4:54 Finding the lump herself at 39, before she was even old enough for a mammogram.9:38 Carrying Hashimoto's since age 13, and then a cancer diagnosis on top of it.18:13 Why rebuilding your health after treatment is harder, and lonelier, than anyone warns you.21:46 The reframe that changed everything: your body is not an “it,” and it is not your enemy.33:51 Her advice to the newly diagnosed: it's okay to not be okay.Transcript: https://bit.ly/podscript188Connect & Engage with EricaInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/gracewellnesshealthcoaching/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericalwhite  Email: [email protected] to ActionIf this conversation spoke to you, subscribe and follow Navigating Cancer TOGETHER so you never miss an episode, and share it with a woman who needs to hear it. It is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and Erica's story is a reminder to listen to your body and give yourself grace. New episodes on Wednesday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube:https://bit.ly/NCTpodcastSponsor: This episode is brought to you by On the Other Side, a cancer doula and survivor strategist helping leaders redefine life after cancer. If you finished treatment and you are wondering what comes next, connect with an experienced cancer doula at ontheotherside.life.Hosted, Produced, Written, and Edited by: Talaya DendyVideo Editor: Shawn Smith⚠️ Disclaimer: The information shared on this podcast is for general informational purposes only and SHOULD NOT be used as a substitute for sound professional medical advice, evaluation, or care from your physician or other qualified health care provider.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

In April 2013, Roberta Albany was told her mammogram was clean. That December, she was diagnosed with stage 2B breast cancer. It never showed on the mammogram because she has dense breasts. The reason it was caught while still early is that Roberta, training for a half-marathon, lay down on her dining room floor, did a self-exam, and felt a lump the scan had missed. An ultrasound confirmed it.That experience turned Roberta into a force. A 13-year survivor, founder and CEO of Cancer in the Know, and a breast cancer coach with the Chrysalis Initiative, she fired the doctors who dismissed her, pushed her way into the clinical-trial spaces where Black patients are too often missing, and built a life around helping others advocate for themselves. In this honest conversation, she and host Talaya Dendy talk about dense breasts, self-advocacy, survivorship, grief, and the word she chose from the book she co-authored, Bruised, Broken, and Blessed. Blessed, she says, because she is still here.✨ Episode Highlights:[6:52] The self-exam that caught what a “clean” mammogram missed.[14:28] What dense breasts are, and why they can hide cancer on a mammogram.[17:43] Firing her medical team: what self-advocacy really looks like.[33:58] What she tells a woman who is “the statistic”: give yourself grace.[45:33] Her first step for the newly diagnosed: breathe.Transcript: https://bit.ly/podscript187Connect & Engage with RobertaWebsite: https://www.cancerintheknow.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roberta-a-albany-609a2735/Call to ActionIf this episode moved you, do two things: subscribe and follow Navigating Cancer TOGETHER, and share it with the women and men you love. And if you have dense breasts, ask your doctor about an ultrasound or MRI. New episodes on Wednesdays on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or your preferred podcast app. https://bit.ly/NCTpodcastSponsor: This episode is brought to you by On the Other Side, a cancer doula and survivor strategist helping leaders redefine life after cancer. If you finished treatment and you are wondering what comes next, connect with an experienced cancer doula at ontheotherside.life.Hosted, Produced, Written, and Edited by: Talaya DendyVideo Editor: Shawn Smith⚠️ Disclaimer: The information shared on this podcast is for general informational purposes only and SHOULD NOT be used as a substitute for sound professional medical advice, evaluation, or care from your physician or other qualified health care provider.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

A cancer diagnosis or an end-of-life transition can be one of the heaviest moments a person ever faces. Most people go through it without knowing what support is out there for them.This special episode of Navigating Cancer TOGETHER is a replay of the webinar Holding Space Through Life's Transitions: How Cancer and Death Doulas Can Support You. Host Talaya Dendy is a cancer doula, and she is joined by Reverend Shewon McGee, a death doula.They share why they do this work and who they serve. They explain how cancer doulas and death doulas work with the medical team without replacing it, and they bust common myths about both roles.✨ Episode Highlights:06:12 "I had to become the person that I needed." Talaya was diagnosed with stage 3 Hodgkin's lymphoma a year after her first doctor dismissed the lump on her neck. She explains how that experience gave birth to Talaya the advocate.09:04 A father's wishes left unhonored. Reverend Shewon lost her father to cancer in 2020, and his end-of-life plan was never carried out. That loss led her to become a death doula who advocates for what each person wants.20:01 "There is no manual on how to receive a cancer diagnosis." Talaya explains why survivors, especially leaders, often feel they can't show weakness once treatment ends.29:10 "The hearing is one of the last things to go." Reverend Shewon encourages families not to step out of the room. Share memories, laugh, and let your loved one hear it.Letter of Medical Necessity: https://www.metlife.com/stories/benefits/letter-of-medical-necessity/The 2nd session in this series will be released on December 2, 2026.Connect with our guest:Reverend Shewon McGee, Death DoulaInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/alternativeevolution/Connect with Talaya:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/talayadendyTranscript: https://bit.ly/podscript186Call to ActionIf this episode moved you, do two things: subscribe and follow Navigating Cancer TOGETHER so you never miss an episode, and forward this to someone who may need support during life's transitions. New episodes on Wednesday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or your preferred podcast app. https://bit.ly/NCTpodcastSponsor: This episode is brought to you by On the Other Side, a cancer doula and survivor strategist helping leaders redefine life after cancer. If you finished treatment and you are wondering what comes next, connect with an experienced cancer doula at ontheotherside.life.Hosted, Produced, Written, and Edited by: Talaya Dendy⚠️ Disclaimer: The information shared on this podcast is for general informational purposes only and SHOULD NOT be used as a substitute for sound professional medical advice, evaluation, or care from your physician or other qualified health care provider.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.