[00:00:08] Speaker A: My name is Nancy Farrow, also known as Mama Lou, and I'm the founder of Epic Experience.
Epic Experience mission is to empower adult cancer survivors and thrivers to live beyond cancer.
I hope that as you listen to campfires of hope living beyond cancer, you find hope, healing and empowerment. Through stories and education, we aim to guide those impacted by cancer and more importantly, offer love and support to anyone out there who needs it.
This is beyond cancer.
[00:00:51] Speaker B: Violent times and dance through the night we can go some miracles behind.
Hello, everyone. This is Gail, AKA Sunshine. Today we have Lauren Huffmaster joining us. She is the founder of Adventure Therapy Foundation. Lauren, thank you so much for taking time to be with us today.
[00:01:22] Speaker A: Thanks for having me, Gail.
[00:01:24] Speaker B: So first I just, I would like to let our listeners get to know you a little better as I get to know you a little better. So if you can just kind of tell us a little background where you're from. And I always ask people to include one fun fact.
[00:01:39] Speaker A: Definitely. So I grew up actually in the hills of Tennessee, and I went to college there. And then after college, I had. During college I had lived all over the world, but I never really explored. Explored the United States. So I just packed my car and started driving and I ended up in California, where I quickly met the man of my life. And we've been here and we're raising three girls and a dog and. Yeah, but then I was diagnosed with cancer and when I was 35. So our story shifted then. My children were very young, but.
But yeah, we'll talk more about that later. The fun fact I wanted to share along the adventure line is that two years ago I hiked the Camino de Santiago, which is a pilgrimage across Spain. So I did a 200 mile pilgrimage, which was the most amazing experience of my life.
[00:02:35] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. I've heard of this. And they're like, there are all kinds of people who join you, right? There's. I mean, there's people of all walks of life who are doing the same thing. How amazing.
[00:02:45] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:02:47] Speaker B: Wow.
You alluded to the fact that you had cancer. So did you say you were 35 when you were diagnosed?
[00:02:54] Speaker A: I was 35 when I was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer. And then I went through about a year and a half of treatment, and before I finished my treatment, they found it already had spread and went. So I was immediately diagnosed with stage four.
[00:03:09] Speaker C: Right.
[00:03:10] Speaker B: And so did you then immediately hop into more treatment or had you not even stopped when they found out?
[00:03:17] Speaker A: I hadn't stopped, actually. But yeah, I just Immediately pivoted, went into treatment. So actually, at this point, I've been in treatment constantly for eight and a half years.
[00:03:28] Speaker B: Oh, gosh.
Wow. So your kids, how old were they when you were diagnosed?
[00:03:34] Speaker A: They were. They were 2, 4 and 6 when I was diagnosed.
[00:03:38] Speaker B: So this has, especially for the two year old, this has been.
All she's known is mom.
[00:03:44] Speaker A: This is. Yeah. Their entire life experience has been shaped by cancer for sure. And I knew that at the beginning that there was no escaping that. But that is really what motivated me to dig deep and decide it's going to impact their life, it's going to shape their life. But how? How is it going to shape their life? And so that's where my journey really began, is to figure out a way where cancer would shape them, but shape them to be stronger, more resilient, more empathetic. All the good things that come out of cancer and not the bad, because.
[00:04:16] Speaker B: There certainly are a lot of bad. We don't have to look very far for those. But to consciously make a choice to foster the good, that's.
That's great. So what was, as a mom, as a wife, as a human, what was it like mentally, emotionally, for you going through this journey and what has it been like over the last eight years?
[00:04:42] Speaker A: Well, I think I started like everyone else. When I was diagnosed stage four, I had the same mental reaction of everyone else. Absolute despair. And, like, all I could see was death. Right. Like, there's no way around that, I think. But then after a while, I pursued that. For a while I. I said, well, I'll just die really well. And that was my only goal in life. And then I realized that that wasn't taking me anywhere at all. That was good. Nowhere that would inspire my children or even allow them to know who I was truly. And so I had to do a major shift and figure out what I could do, what I could think and believe in order to leave something behind that showed my kids who I was.
[00:05:24] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:25] Speaker A: And. And at that time, meds that we see today, the timelines we see today were not what they were then. So my timeline looked very short at that time, But I shifted and I decided that I could go very deep and leave a very deep legacy, even if it wasn't a long legacy.
And so I really pursued that and created a nonprofit that was supposed to be my hands and feet if I wasn't here. So that was my motivation immediately, is to create something that would outlive me, that could represent my character to my children.
[00:06:02] Speaker B: Was there one event or incident that caused you to go from, okay, I'm going to die, so I'm going to die as best I can to no, I want to live, and I want to shape what that's going to look like. Was there one event that kind of made that shift in your head and heart?
[00:06:20] Speaker A: It There was. I woke up one morning and I thought about my day, and I realized I was going to spend another day sort of going through a cycle that was trying to clean the house better so that when I died, they didn't have to do that. I don't know what I was thinking, really. But, you know, I realized that every single day I was just getting more and more depressed and into despair. I couldn't do that one more day. And I sat there and I didn't know what else to do, honestly. But I sat there until I realized I will not live to die. I have got to start living to live, to have a greater impact. And in that moment, I had to sit there on the side of my bed until I believed that there was something else for me to do. And that's what I did. When I stood up, I already doubted it. And I had to sort of fix my brain. And I just, all throughout that day, fixed my brain to say, there is something more for me than dying. And over the course of time, I don't even think about, you know, the process of just dying. Well, I only think about how to live bigger. But I had to make that decision. And it wasn't a big, profound moment. It was just on the side of my bed with me making a choice on what I was going to focus on.
[00:07:34] Speaker B: Well, and I like what you said, too. You made that choice, but you had to keep making it right. Because the doubt kept coming back in, and it was easy to slide back in. And I think that's an important thing to remember for anyone, that it's a commitment you have to keep making. Right.
What did you learn about yourself through this whole experience? Both the living to die, Lauren. And then the not the living to live Lauren?
[00:08:03] Speaker A: That is a good question.
I have found that I have way more strength than I ever imagined. Carrying this burden is a burden. I mean, it's a mental game every day, day, just like you said. But I can choose what I see in life. I can choose what I live in life. And when I choose something that's hopeful or optimistic or completely ridiculously optimistic, irrationally so, I can do anything. And this is not something I lived out of before. I was. I played by the rules. I was going to play by the rules and do it really well, but. But now I see there's. There's no rules. I had made all that up.
[00:08:47] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:08:47] Speaker A: And now it's just to live out my dream, whatever that is, and to do it boldly. And that has been the best realization of my life. It's been amazing to see what's emerged these last eight years.
[00:09:02] Speaker B: And you've already mentioned that you've founded a nonprofit. So from that day that you were sitting on your bed, what was the journey from that point to founding Adventure Therapy Foundation?
[00:09:14] Speaker A: Well, I actually packed a backpack and went backpacking in Yosemite to try to find my way forward. I didn't know what to do. And so I packed a backpack and I went off into the wilderness for a few days. And when I came back and I could see my car, I still didn't have any clarity. And I was so angry. I was like, I was supposed to find my answers, but I didn't. And then I saw my car and I stopped on the trail and I saw my foot, and I was like, this. This isn't fair. I'm supposed to know what to do now. And in that moment, I sort of looked out, and that was actually what I think of now as I looked out on the horizon and realized how trapped I'd been feeling, how closed off all this time of my early treatments and now with this terminal diagnosis. And I looked at the horizon and I just felt the interconnectedness of life and all the hills and the trees and the animals. And I said, I don't know what I can give away, but I want to give away this feeling that we are all connected and everything about us is connected to the other parts of us. Cancer is not just this box on the side. It's connected to our emotions and connected to our family and all the other things that we're living out. And that's what I really wanted to start giving.
And so I came back from that trip and I had met a lawyer who said he would help me. And I just called him and I said, I want to start. This is what I feel right now. And he said, let's do this. And so we started.
[00:10:45] Speaker C: I hope you enjoy this episode of our Campfires of Hope podcast. Here at Epic Experience, we make it our goal to serve the cancer community through our collective programs such as this podcast, our week long adventure camps, regional programs across the country, and Thrive VR, a custom virtual reality experience benefiting patients in cancer centers. If you would like to be a Part of our community of supporters. Please go to epicexperience.org and click donate.
Thank you for listening to campfires of stories of cancer with gratitude Wingman, also known as Colin Farrow, executive director of Epic Experience. Epic Experience is a registered 501c3 organization.
[00:11:30] Speaker B: So what is the. I guess, founding principle? I mean, what. What are you hoping to do through your nonprofit?
[00:11:39] Speaker A: We have gone through a few iterations because we had to live through Covid and all of these things. But, yeah, at this moment, we are trying to minimize the emotional side effects of cancer, and we serve not just the patient, but the family. So looking at how cancer is impacting the children, the spouses, the caregivers, and the patient, and really acknowledging and putting words to the emotional experience of cancer, which is a very difficult thing to do. It's not been done much before, but we're trying to. So we created online videos, podcasts. We have a few books.
This is the gift we're giving the community. Because I have lived through sort of every aspect of cancer. I lived out of stage three. I did all the hard stuff there then. Now I've been living stage four for seven years, and I've. I don't have any hair. I've gone through chemo multiple times, you know, recreated my identity multiple times. And so I feel like there's a lot I've experienced that I can help others as they start their experience, help them forward.
[00:12:46] Speaker B: And why the name adventure Found?
[00:12:49] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. I think adventure is so important because it looks at an uncertain situation. Like, if you start on a trail you've never been on, and it's going to be hard, you're going to be sweat, you're going to fall and bust your knee. Like, it's going to be hard. But we keep going because we expect something good at the end. There's like a waterfall or a view or something amazing we can experience, but we have to go through a lot of really hard things to get there. But we don't think about it. We have our mind focused on this outcome, and I think that's a practice we can apply to cancer.
Experience of cancer. There's uncertainty every day whether you're stage one or stage four, and there's hard things along the way, no matter where you are in your journey. But if we can just put our focus on something positive at the end of this process, and we will keep going, and we will keep going and find more good than we expected. But if we don't, if we focus on the negative, on the hardships on the terminal, whatever it is, we're not going to find that good. So for me, adventure. If we can apply adventure to just about anything in life, we're going to live better. And that is what I want people to learn along the way. We have to learn how to shift our perspectives to live well through cancer.
[00:14:16] Speaker B: And I realize I've still been calling it adventure found that was somehow stuck in my brain. But it's at the. The name is actually Adventure Therapy Foundation. But you are kind of helping people find that adventure and working through the emotions and all that comes with it, giving it kind of a therapeutic approach. So I just want to clarify that it is. Adventure Therapy foundation is the actual name.
[00:14:42] Speaker A: And we. We do give away adventures as well. So we have retreats, and we have individually organized retreats for families. So we have group retreats and individual retreats. So we do have that as an aspect. But the bigger purpose, again, is for us to rediscover that interconnected with this perspective, this mental game of we're looking for the good, the adventure inside of life.
[00:15:06] Speaker B: Yeah. What do you think it is about adventure that brings out a different side of people? What, how? And can you share a story that kind of illustrates that?
[00:15:16] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure. So we'll go back to the camino and I. 200 miles. Like, this is an unfathomable amount for me. You know, other people might be or are much stronger, but it's just this idea that if I walked every day, I could accomplish and get to this place that would be transformational for me. And when I arrived, it was amazing. But actually, every step and every day and all the experiences I felt along the way were what made the transformation inside of me, not the end result. And so I think that adventure just creates this expectation of good. And cancer does not have an expectation in cancer or any hardship. Right. But in an adventure, we. We shut out all the things that hurt, the blisters on our feet, you know, the rubbing of the pack and all the things. We shut it out. We just don't even acknowledge it's there because we are focused on the good. And. And then we learn we're stronger than we thought. Life is more beautiful than we thought. Even just the grass or the trees make us light up inside. And all of that together, I feel like is a philosophy we could apply to life every single day if we just embrace it.
[00:16:36] Speaker B: Yeah.
I don't know if I'm not asking you to share names, necessarily, but if you think back on the people who have taken part in the adventure therapy, some aspect of what you guys offer, can you think of an example of how it has changed someone's life going through this process?
[00:16:56] Speaker A: Definitely, definitely. I. It. Let me think. So the people that we take on retreat, I'll. I'll start there because it's more physical. I can. I can see them being there. I. There was one family, and they had a young daughter who had cancer and was currently in treatments. And the family arrived on retreat, and it was a snow retreat. So we're sledding and doing all the snow things. And they were so. Their heads were just down. They couldn't even see where they were, what was going on, because the family's exhausted. And we scooped in, we picked up the girls, and we took off, and we took them on sleds while the parents just sort of stood there and, like, watched. And immediately they connected with other children. They were running around laughing their heads off. And it was just that you could see the childhood re. Emerge, you know, through the exhaustion, through the. The loss and the grief of all the things. And over the course of the week, they went home completely different. And they will. They have said it many a time that. That. That reminded them their daughter was still a child. And it was such a revelation that that joy is inside. She's bald, she's skinny, she. She'd been in treatment just days before, but it all came back out as soon as they put her in the se setting where she could go explore and have that, you know, from box to box, doctor's office to treatment office, all these things are removed. And she just ran around and played like she had. They had no idea she had such energy. Right. And so I feel like all of these. These things happen to all of us. You put us in nature and out in mountains, and we just come alive in ways we didn't even know. And it sticks with us because what happens is it reveals our strength that we hadn't tapped into or our mental space that we hadn't tapped into. And it creates that new pathway that we can keep accessing even when we go home. And so these are the kinds of things we really want people to rediscover when they're with us. And then we teach them how to do that as. As we're on retreat. So these are really important for all of us when we trying something new, right? Going on a little adventure, like trying new food, right. It's just this expectation and what we expect we can find, and all of this is so important in our mental recovery. And resilience.
[00:19:21] Speaker B: Yeah.
Just listening to that is. It's so aligned with what we do at Epic Experience. I mean, what you just described is exactly what I experienced when I went to camp. It was a winter camp and we played like kids and it was amazing. And you reconnect with this whole side that again, you've kind of let go fallow because you've having to deal with treatment and all the other stuff. So that is. That's amazing. Is there anything that you would want to share with a survivor who's listening?
And I'm wondering specifically maybe a survivor who has kids. Since we've kids have kind of come up and you've had that experience of talking to your kids, is there anything you'd want to share that I haven't specifically asked you about?
[00:20:05] Speaker A: Yeah. As far as parenting with cancer, I just say honesty is always the best policy. Talk, talk, talk to your kids. Don't let cancer become a wall between you and those you love. It's hard when you're a parent and your job is to protect your children, and all of a sudden it's your story that seems to be hurting them. But cancer, if we start to create walls between us and our children, we're going to have a weaker relationship. So inviting them into your journey will ensure they know you trust them and therefore they can trust you. And it's going to keep that relationship stronger, longer. So that. That is my first piece of advice. My second, my favorite piece of advice right now is don't let the fear of tomorrow steal your today. Like, wherever your mind is, make a check, you know, check in with those thoughts and remember to live really well today and let tomorrow deal with itself. But really keep that fear under check and reintroduce yourself to adventure if you have to. Just keep that positive expectation going and you're going to find out you have a lot more energy, a lot more opportunity in front of you.
[00:21:14] Speaker B: And like you said earlier, you're going to see the good, which isn't always apparent when you're faced with those appointments and the bad news and all of those things. Yeah, well, a question I always end with is marshmallows over a campfire slow and steady or flame and crispy.
[00:21:31] Speaker A: It has to be mushy to the middle guys, like, what are you thinking? And so that golden on the outside, that took a long time. So the whole thing just disappears in your mouth. That is the only way for me.
[00:21:42] Speaker B: Well, you sound like an expert. Sounds like you have done a lot of outside activities. So that sounds wonderful, Lauren. Thank you so much for joining us. Again. The name of the nonprofit is Adventure Therapy foundation and I'm sure you can be found online. And if you're listening and you have any questions, feel free to email us.
And again, I thank you for your perspective on finding the good in something that is definitely not most of the time.
[00:22:13] Speaker A: Thank you for having me.
[00:22:15] Speaker B: And for the rest of you listening, until the next time we gather around the campfire, keep Living Beyond Cancer.
Thank you for listening to this episode of Campfires of Hope, Living Beyond Cancer. For more information about Epic Experience and our programs or to donate, please visit our
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By the time sometimes through the night we can go some America's fine police still are not sl the family means riding wolves we will rise once again.
