Breast Friends Cancer Support Radio

2Unstoppable is a non-profit organization founded by two women, Michelle Stravitz and Ilana Gamerman, with a personal history of Breast Cancer and who realized the many benefits of staying active during and after treatment. They now want to help other women on their cancer journeys experience a better quality of life and improved outcomes through exercise. Although their personal cancer stories are different (and aren’t they all?) founders Michelle and Ilana each recognized the importance of moving, even during treatment. The doctors were clear, the research was clear, but, most importantly, they each realized that fitness, in any form, helps them feel less anxious, reduces stress, combats fatigue, minimizes and combats other side effects, and gives them more energy. Most of the time it was simply walking with a friend or doing gentle yoga together that provided their activity and gave them much-needed support. Michelle and Ilana know firsthand how difficult it is to summon the energy to be active during

Jane McLelland should only have lived about 12 weeks, according to cancer statistics and doctors, after receiving her diagnosis of Stage IV cancer nearly 20 years ago. But today, after suffering from cervical cancer, secondary lung cancer, and treatment-related myelodysplasia, she is alive, well, and cancer-free. The award-winning former Chartered Physiotherapist shares her incredible story at www.HowToStarveCancer.com. Life Extension, Daily Mail, Better Together with Maria Menounos and more have featured how McLelland successfully employed a method mainstream medicine largely ignores: starving the cancer with off-label drugs (using medication in a manner not specified in the FDA's approved packaging label). Now she’s on a mission to get this life-saving information to the masses.

Regardless of where you are in your cancer journey, your fertility journey does not have to come at its expense. Join Dr. Jessica Rubin, a reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist at Reproductive Biology Associates in Atlanta, Georgia, to learn about new advances in reproductive technology and fertility preservation to facilitate a positive family building experience in the face of a cancer diagnosis.

Allison Stover Fiscalini, Director, Athena Breast Health Network and WISDOM Study, will be speaking about the founding of The WISDOM Study (Women Informed to Screen Depending on Measures of risk), a national study that seeks to revolutionize the way breast cancer is detected. She will explain how the study compares two safe approaches, an annual mammogram or a personalized screening approach based on a woman’s unique risk factors for breast cancer, such as breast density, genes and family history. This study has already signed up over 40,000 women from each of the 50 states across the country to answer the ultimate question of, “How often should women screen for breast cancer?”

Carol Wyllie, Amazon best-selling author of Chemo P!ssed Me Off shares her story from diagnosis through treatment and beyond. She covers everything from the choices between western and naturopathic medicine, nutrition woes, how she has found a good emotional place and WHY chemo pissed her off! She i hoping for better alternatives for others who come after her, diagnosed with breast cancer and has a lot to say about it!

Will Eberhart is a successful entrepreneur handling global marketing clients. Because he felt the need to serve, he decided to become an Ambassador for the Real Men Wear Pink program for the American Cancer Society. PERSEVERANCE IS KEY is the motto he lives by to lend support to survivors and generate awareness with the understanding we are all affected by breast cancer in some way. Whether indirect or not.

What does Breast Friends really do? Alyssa Beyer, Patient Support Coordinator join Host Michelle Beck to discuss the important work which Breast Friends does to ensure that no women goes through cancer alone. Heart of a Warrior Mentorship Program, Warrior Workshops for education and inspiration, Girls Nite Out Support Groups, Newly Diagnosed and Metastatic virtual support groups, Brave is Beautiful photo shoots, Walk & Talks and so much more! Join us to hear about connection and support!

Rod Ritchie joins us as a survivor of both breast cancer and prostate cancer. He is an activist for men with impacted by breast cancer, writing, speaking and supporting other out there like him. He gets it. He works to help other men come to terms with their diagnosis and treatment. He become a patient activist because he could see breast cancer groups fixated on using pink to denote breast cancer; the community is not aware that males get the disease as well. Men have a poorer prognosis because they are diagnosed later due to their reluctance to present themselves, and since their health practitioners are not recognizing symptoms of the disease early enough. There is also no screening program for men. And lack of male-specific clinical research and trials means that treatment for men is based on that for women. Rod will discuss all of these topics and what we can do to change it!

Traditional Chinese Medicine uses a holistic approach to support each patient with customized solutions for their health concerns. No matter what your cancer diagnosis, or where you are in your treatment or recovery, Chinese medicine can support your physical, mental, and spiritual well being.

Mike Murphy will be here to talk about the love and loss of his wife Margot to breast cancer. He will speak to being a caregiver to Margot throughout her entire journey and how she allowed him to live the time the were together, with cancer throughout most of it, in color.

Let’s talk tattoo. Semi-permanent cosmetics are tattoos and, yes, they are permanent. Areola tattoos can look 3D and, yes, after-procedure pictures can and are banned from Facebook and Instagram for violating their standards. Join us as Tattoo Artist Donna Luoma talks about the process of restorative tattoing and what it can do for you before and after cancer treatment!

Claire Paxman is a brand ambassador and the Director of Global Training for Paxman Scalp Cooling. Claire’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 36 and hair loss was devastating to her. She tried an earlier version of cold capping that was available to her in the United Kingdom in the 1990s but it did not work for her. Her husband, Glenn, (Claire’s father) and his brother, Neil, set out to develop a system that worked. Today, Paxman is the global leader in scalp cooling having treated more than 100,000 patients in 50 countries worldwide. The device gained FDA approval in 2017 and is steadily growing in the U.S. Unfortunately, Claire’s mother passed away at the age of 44, but her legacy lives on in every single person that is helped by scalp cooling. On today’s episode, Claire shares her story and tells us all about how the Paxman works, efficacy and what’s next in terms of research and trying to improve outcomes.

How do you move forward after a cancer diagnosis? Elaine Miller-Karas will be here to talk about how to amplify the message of hope, healing and resiliency she has learned from our world community as she has traversed the globe after human made and natural disasters. Hope often springs forth in response to suffering and trauma. Our beliefs and our wellbeing are being challenged during these unprecedented times. The program Resiliency Within is about cultivating individual and community resiliency. Resiliency is the capacity to lean into our strengths with compassion during the most challenging of times and to remember what else is true? about our lived experience. She will talk about her work at the Trauma Resource Institute, including The Trauma Resiliency Model (TRM)® and Community Resiliency Model (CRM)®, designed to help individuals understand the biology of traumatic stress reactions and learn specific skills to return the body, mind and spirit back to balance after experiencing traumatic events. These s

In 2019 Christina was diagnosed with breast cancer resulting in a long journey of surgeries and various treatments. During her journey she struggled with finding functional and flattering clothing for her new body and realized several other breast cancer sisters were struggling as well. This inspired Christina to start working on a clothing line for women with breast cancer. She calls this journey, “Finding Beauty Through Pain.”

In this episode mind-body health specialist, Dr. Michele Kambolis, talks about the everyday practices that can support you towards your highest wellbeing. She’ll talk about the ways you can steady yourself in the face of uncertainty while bringing more presence, wisdom, and peace into your life. Dr. Kambolis also discusses her latest book, When Women Rise: Everyday Practices to Heal Your Mind Body and Soul and the ways you can build in practices to come home to your true self – already perfect and already whole.

Jill Anderson, Trauma Therapy Coach, will be here to talk about forgiveness. It means different things at various times in our lives. After a cancer diagnosis, emotions such as anger, denial, sadness and guilt can overwhelm us. What do we do with those emotions? Where does self-forgiveness come in? Jill helps clients create new, healthy patterns and will walk us through how to forgive the most important person in our lives, ourselves.

“A cancer diagnosis was my impetus for becoming a life coach,” Shari Leid says. “When I received the diagnosis of breast cancer at the age of 47, my first thought was that the universe must be trying to get my attention. I felt that there was a reason that cancer was placed in my life journey, and I knew there were life lessons that I was not only supposed to learn, but also share.” Now in her early 50s, Shari is a life and mindset coach who works with clients in their mid-40s to mid-60s who feel stuck in their lives. Shari is the author of 2 books and has a third due out in the fall. Her second book, Make Your Mess Your Message: More Life Lessons From and For My Girlfriends [978-1954920118; $17.95; Capucia Publishing; September 2021], chronicles dates and intimate conversations with her girlfriends (all conducted via Zoom during the pandemic) centered around the question, What is the mess that became your message?

Once treatment is finished, the medical system kind of just spits you out, and you're left on your own. It's a big world out there full of misleading information and it isn't easy to navigate and find what actually works. So instead of having people bounce around from one fad diet or bad nutrition tip to the next, Dr Megan Bernard developed her step-by-step educational system that teaches you how to optimize your health and prevent cancer recurrences - without restrictive diets and bad lifestyle advice.

Navigating clinical trials for yourself or a loved one can be incredibly overwhelming and challenging, and that’s why Clara Health was established. Clara is a health-tech company that strives to ease the disproportionate burden often placed on patients and caregivers to find, learn about, and participate in clinical trials. Join us in discussion with Rachael Penchoen-Lind, Clara Health’s Senior Manager of Site Operations, to learn what you need to know if or when you’re considering a clinical trial.

After a breast cancer diagnosis, it can seem like the strong, resilient, competent woman you’ve always been has vanished. It doesn’t have to be that way! Join us to learn how eating well, moving more, and making self-care a priority can help you regain your equilibrium and move forward as your best self.