[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
My name is Nancy Farrow, also known as Mama Lu, 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.
[00:01:14] Speaker B: Hello, everyone.
This is Gail, AKA Sunshine. Today we have Joni Ryan and Nicholas Fioretto joining us around the campfire and they're both going to share us their stories, both their cancer stories and their camp stories stories. So I want to say welcome to both of you. Thanks for being here.
[00:01:31] Speaker A: Thank you for having us.
[00:01:32] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:01:33] Speaker B: So, Nick, I'm going to start with you. I'm going to ask you both first just to tell us a little bit about yourself, your background, where you're from, job, things like that. And then I always ask people to include one fun fact. Okay. So Nick, I'm going to start with you.
[00:01:49] Speaker C: Yes, of course. So my name was Cardinal because it reminds me of my grandma. I was a caregiver for her.
She had colon cancer.
My grandparents raised me. I'm from Northern Illinois, so I moved out to Colorado about seven years ago.
My primary career has been in commercial lending, although I have been a hockey coach as well on the side for 13 years and this will be my fourth year at the University of Denver.
And one fun fact about myself is I played semi pro hockey for the Chicago Shamrocks.
[00:02:25] Speaker B: That is very cool. I was going to say your coaching is a pretty fun fact, but playing semi pro is even better. That's great. And so Cardinal, so people know that is your camp name, which we're going to get to later. But you said you chose that because of your. No, that's fine. You said you chose that because it reminds you of your grandmother, which I love. That's great. Thank you for sharing that, Joni.
[00:02:47] Speaker A: Well, a little bit about myself.
I was raised in Southern California and, and my husband and I moved to Colorado in 1995. We thought it would be a better place to raise our son here than in California.
I have always worked in telecom and then I switched over to credit card processing. My career was a vice president level and I was in charge of the financial institution division of our company.
Loved my job very much.
And I was married for 40 years. My husband unfortunately passed away two years ago this month.
And let's see. So my fun fact is that after surviving Cancer.
I was in a pageant and I ran for Miss Colorado Senior America, and I won. So I was Miss Colorado Senior America 2023. And once a queen, always a queen. I'm constantly doing things with our organization, so I'm very active in our organization. But that's a pretty fun fact.
[00:03:58] Speaker B: Congratulations. That is. Thank you. That's great.
[00:04:01] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:04:02] Speaker B: So what brings us all together, of course, is cancer the thing we never wanted, but has brought us together and really provided some pretty cool relationships, I think. So what I want to ask you about first is your diagnosis story, when you were diagnosed, kind of if you had surgery or treatment, things like that. Joni, I'll start with you this time.
[00:04:24] Speaker A: Okay, thank you.
Well, In June of 2018, I went in for a routine breast MRI because breast cancer runs very, very high in my family.
So this was the fifth one that I had ever had.
But this time, because I had lost a lot of weight, the MRI was able to not only look at my breast tissue, but it was able to see into my lungs. And although my breasts were fine, I never had breast cancer.
I ended up with a stage four lung and neck cancer diagnosis.
And I was a non smoker. In fact, there's a terminology called never smoker. So I was a never smoker.
I do know through research and through the people that I have come to know through my journey, that it was radon exposure. So I'm active in the radon world. I just did some public speaking for them. I spoke at a conference here in Denver a week ago, and I shared my entire story and a 19 page PowerPoint presentation full of pictures. And, you know, it was shocking. So.
But radon is a real thing.
And then just yesterday, I was with the organization.
They do a annual golf tournament, so I was invited to come out with them. And I played 18 holes at a beautiful golf course here.
And I'll be speaking in Congress coming up later this year because the radon awareness bill is coming back up for recertification. And it took lobbying Congress, um, for us to get this passed. So I'll be speaking at the House again to help pass the legislation that's coming up.
[00:06:14] Speaker B: So in terms of treatment, did you. Did you have surgery? Did you do radiation or chemo or.
[00:06:19] Speaker A: I did all three. So I had surgery to remove a large portion of my lung. I had two tumors in my lung in surgery. We removed one of them but left the other because it was very small and it was up in this upper quadrant.
I had radiation in my neck. There was a golf ball size tumor in my neck.
So it was very lucky. It was three major doses of radiation.
Although, you know, radiation in the head is horrible because you have this mask that you have to wear and it's bolted to the table and it's quite traumatic.
And I went through that, and then I went on immunization.
And the doctor had had diagnosed 14 treatments of immunization.
However, and I was, you know, I was a working VP at the time, and I held on as long as I could, and I said, I don't have time for this, so how do we consolidate it? So I did two dual drug treatments of the drug, which is, you know, the word is this long, so I can't pronounce it, but no worries.
And the first one, I breezed right through it. I had no side effects whatsoever. And I thought, cancer is a piece of cake. I sailed through surgery, I had radiation, and now I'm taking this stuff.
The second one, however, two weeks later, literally destroyed my life. And so my lower GI took a major hit.
And for 18 months, then I suffered extreme diarrhea, which caused me to be completely malnourished. I was £129. I'd lost all my hair, my vision. Well, I was losing that. My organs were shutting down. And it was very touch and go for a long time. And I am grateful to God and my late husband for saving me and keeping me alive. Because my oncologist had said, you should. I don't know how you survived it. You shouldn't be here. And I know I'm a miracle, so I speak on that as well, because I'm a believer in God and I know that without him, I wouldn't be here.
[00:08:15] Speaker B: Yeah. And this. And so that was what year?
[00:08:19] Speaker A: So 2018 was my diagnosis. I went 2019, and then through 2020. 2021, early first quarter, I was beginning to feel better. And In October of 21, I was well enough to be in my first pageant with Miss Senior Colorado. And I was first runner up the first year. But I believe that God knew that I shouldn't win that year because I had an elective double radical mastectomy planned three days after the pageant.
[00:08:51] Speaker B: Oh, gosh.
[00:08:52] Speaker A: So it was really good. I didn't win that year, but I electively went through that because it was a real thing. And in my family, it wasn't going to be a matter of if it was right.
And after having lung cancer, I didn't want breast cancer.
[00:09:08] Speaker B: Yeah. So since 2021, no evidence of disease is what I think you're saying that's that I have the good.
[00:09:17] Speaker A: Yeah. So yes, treatments were diagnosed. I literally only had four.
I had a PET scan every quarter for the first two years and then we went to twice a year and now I do one annual PET scan. I meet with my oncologist twice a year and I am 100% cancer free.
[00:09:34] Speaker B: Awesome. Congratulations.
[00:09:36] Speaker A: That's great. Thank you. It was a hard three year journey,
[00:09:39] Speaker B: but I. Oh, it sounds like it, yeah.
[00:09:41] Speaker A: But I'm here.
[00:09:43] Speaker B: Good.
[00:09:44] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:09:44] Speaker B: Nick, how about you? What was your diagnosis story?
[00:09:49] Speaker C: So August of 2024, I was having symptoms for probably that whole year of 2024 that I honestly ignored.
I got fired from my commercial lending job because I couldn't keep up in January. And then I was like, oh, I'll just go back to school. Started going back to school, training for my season of semi pro hockey. There was the fires that year. So I had all those respiratory symptoms. Nor did it nord. It was sweating one day and AC and I heard my grandma say, nicholas, you have cancer, you need to go to the doctor. No, it sounds crazy. She passed away in 2016, but I swear that I heard her voice. And I picked up my phone, wall keys, went the local urgent care.
Obviously I couldn't tell them that I heard or saw dead people because they would probably put me in a designer straight jacket.
[00:10:37] Speaker B: But. But it got you there.
[00:10:39] Speaker C: Yeah, got me there. And so they couldn't find anything. They were really confused on all my symptoms and they're like, you need to do a CT scan, but it, it changes your co pay obviously to an emergency room visit. So we have to tell you about it because you know the health care system. I was like, yeah, but I feel like I should do it because, you know, I don't feel good. So we should figure out what's wrong. And they agreed. So we did it. And we found softball sized tumor in my medial sino mass.
And I honestly didn't realize how serious the medial style mass is because it's inoperable.
And with how far along my tumor was and everything, I was pretty advanced. So I got rushed to the hospital, spent about a month in the hospital, started chemotherapy the next month of just terrible infusions and back injections for chemotherapy. It's called interthecal chemo.
Honestly, one of the worst experiences of my life. I, I'm still in treatment. I have 10 months of maintenance oral chemotherapy that I'm still doing and I have nerve damage and pain. When I was going through treatment, I had to be on like IV Drip pain meds and get admitted just for being in pain because my legs were on fire from being in having chemotherapy, from the doses of vincristine that I had to get because of my tumor being so far along.
And they told me if I didn't respond to chemotherapy, I'd probably have maybe a week if I was lucky.
So, honestly, I don't know how I'm here.
[00:12:14] Speaker B: God. I think.
Well, I am thankful, too.
Thank you for sharing that.
Where exactly I, I. Where exactly was your tumor on your body?
[00:12:27] Speaker C: Sorry, I said my medial stein. Also.
It's in your. From my understanding, it's like in your, like, chest, where your heart is like.
[00:12:37] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:12:37] Speaker C: Because it was attached to a lymph node in my medial. And I, like, grew into my medial style because there's a space for it. So it's having all these respiratory symptoms, but I attributed them to the fires that year because we had such bad fires in Colorado.
[00:12:50] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:12:50] Speaker C: Asthma since I was a kid. So I was like, I'm training for hockey. I was running outside. You know, I was golfing. I probably inflamed my lungs somehow. Right. You know, and just kind of wrote it off as. As that. And I had two and a half liters of fluid in my lungs with that, so they had to drain that. That was a terrible process, too. Just.
[00:13:09] Speaker B: Well, now understanding where that is, I mean, that's a very dangerous, sensitive area that.
[00:13:16] Speaker C: Yeah. And. Yeah, so I guess I still have, like, a residual mass, but it's not cancerous. It's not like, no evidence of disease, but it's still like, I guess, residual.
But I guess from my understanding, it's just like scar tissue, essentially from the tumor that was there. But I don't. Not a doctor on that. I don't really know how it works. But, yeah, I've been in remission for going on two years in November.
[00:13:42] Speaker B: Congratulations. That's wonderful.
Just, just having you talk about it right there. It seems like this has been a traumatic experience. I mean, mentally, emotionally, physically. And I'm wondering if you can tell us a little bit more about that. The impact.
[00:13:57] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:13:58] Speaker B: That it's had on you.
[00:13:59] Speaker C: It's honestly, like, not to sound dramatic, but it's completely changed my whole life socially.
People that I thought would be there, I haven't seen in two years. And sometimes there's people that I haven't seen in two years that live back home that, you know, have sent me stuff that are like, we still think about you, yada, yada, yada. And it's just I haven't exactly figured out what makes people be in and. Or out.
[00:14:36] Speaker B: Yeah, I have heard that.
I can't count how many times I've heard that. Some version of that story where the people you thought would be there weren't and the people you didn't expect to be there were.
And I don't know that there's one easy answer, but I am so thankful you had people who were there for you.
Those people came out of the woodwork, so to speak. Right. And show their support.
[00:15:01] Speaker C: The hockey community was huge in that. Wow.
I don't think without the hockey community and the University of Denver, you know, junior youth program, junior Pioneers, I don't think I would. I would be here.
Everybody was so loving and supportive from coaching in that. That space. It made me feel like I was. They were my family.
And that gave me the hope and strength that I think I needed to get through that treatment, because I don't.
I don't know how anybody does.
Honestly. If I had to go through it again, I probably wouldn't.
[00:15:40] Speaker B: Wow.
Yeah. It sounds horrific.
Well, thank God for the. For the cancer community. I mean, for your hockey community and
[00:15:50] Speaker C: this cancer community as well.
This has been amazing, epic experience. That week that I spent meeting people who actually get. It was amazing.
[00:16:00] Speaker B: Yeah, it.
[00:16:02] Speaker C: I. It was awesome. Like, that was something that I was longing for for like, a year and a half of going through it.
And I think I. That. That week, I finally felt like I wasn't alone anymore.
[00:16:15] Speaker B: So that was that. That's the. That is one of the main goals of that camp experience is because I think so many people think they're the only one who experiences blank. Fill it in right when you're going through it.
And that's one of the things that we hope people get from it. And I'm so glad you did.
[00:16:36] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:16:37] Speaker B: Joanie, I'm going to hop to you for a sec. What for you. What do you think the mental and emotional impact was as you were going through that time?
[00:16:47] Speaker A: You know, the.
The emotional part of going through cancer is really difficult for anybody to describe because it's.
You know, I was stopped dead in my tracks. My. My career was at the highest level that it had ever been. My salary was, you know, incredible. I never thought that I would achieve that in my life. And I was winning awards at work, and the C suite group knew who I was, and I had really worked hard in this organization to be, you know, worthy of my vice president title. And I. And I knew that the next step was senior vice President.
And then I had to deal with this. So originally, when I was diagnosed, I made a file folder on my desk and I labeled it cancer. And I stuck it in my file thing with all of my other projects. And so it kept me, you know, I've spoken about this several times, that it kept me from diving in and putting all my focus into this diagnosis. And in some way, denial kept me stronger.
It gave me the ability to separate the two and compartmentalize the fact that, oh my God, you know, even a stage four diagnosis would have destroyed people.
Somehow, some way, I had it inside of me to be strong. And it was probably because I have gone through a lot of things in my life.
[00:18:15] Speaker B: And
[00:18:18] Speaker A: just quickly, I was. When my husband and I were first married, we lost our first child, and I had a stillborn baby at 33 weeks, followed by another at 24 weeks.
And so, all in all, I was pregnant nine times and lost eight children and have my son. So, you know, going through all of that in a 12 year period, I don't know, I think it gave me some inner strength that other people didn't have. So this diagnosis, I just, you know, I just thought, okay, handle it.
[00:18:52] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:18:53] Speaker A: And so I, you know, I'm lucky that I have that in me, but.
But it took everything away from me because ultimately I wasn't able to continue to work. My, My boss was incredible and he begged me to go on FMOA because I wouldn't do it. You know, I was dragging my, my body to these meetings when I shouldn't have. So.
So I finally gave in and, and you know, I.
The moment that I signed the FMLA paperwork, then I dove in 100% into my, my cancer. And I needed to, because that's when it really started getting rough.
But yeah, the, the impact was horrendous, you know, and it had an impact on my family.
[00:19:36] Speaker B: Well, yeah, that's what I was just going to ask you. I mean, how did that impact your social life, your relationships, your friends, your family? All of those things.
[00:19:43] Speaker A: You know, the, the sad thing for me, or not sad, but just, you know, it just was my husband spent a lot, my caregiver, going through the emotional toll that those eight failed pregnancies took on me. And he was amazing at that. He truly was.
You know, he, he was strong and he kept me strong.
I felt terrible that I now had to rely on him again.
[00:20:11] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:20:12] Speaker A: And it was the biggest thing that we had to do together.
So that was the impact that was difficult.
I was very fortunate that the friends that I had around that time. My Colorado girlfriends, they're the best ever, and they were there for me, really. And. And, you know, they. They would come over and hang out in my bed, and we would watch tv, and because that's all I could do, I was. I was confined to my bedroom for 18 months because of the toll that GI issues took on me. I. I couldn't leave my home, and my.
My blood pressure never got higher than 65 systolic, so I would stand up and pass out.
[00:20:55] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:20:56] Speaker C: So.
[00:20:57] Speaker A: Yeah. So it was tough, but, you know, I didn't have a social life for. For that time. I. I didn't.
[00:21:03] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:21:04] Speaker A: Until I got better. And then it kind of exploded with.
[00:21:07] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:21:07] Speaker A: Other things that. That God led me to do.
[00:21:10] Speaker B: Yeah. And, Nick, it sounds like, from what you've said that you might say the same, that your social life was pretty minimal during that time, just because the intensity of the treatment and everything you were going through.
[00:21:22] Speaker C: Yeah. Like, for those six months of infusions, it was Monday through Thursday appointments at the doctor. And even if I wasn't getting in, like, infusions for chemotherapy, I had to go for hydration because I was so sick. And, like, some days I couldn't eat, and I'd have to be hospitalized for pain and have to be on the IV pain meds. And, you know.
Yeah. I was like, I had to be on the ICU a couple times because of just having to be having pain meds, like, and that was. Went on until January of last year.
[00:21:53] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:21:54] Speaker C: So it's. Yeah.
[00:21:57] Speaker B: Yeah. That definitely takes a toll. Now, the reason we have both of you together is because you met at an Epic Experience camp. So we're kind of doing a little reunion here. So I'm wondering how you both found out about EPI experience in the first place and then what expectations you had before you went to camp. And, Nick, I'll start with you.
[00:22:17] Speaker C: Yeah. It was actually from a member of my care team. They recommended the podcast as. Actually, when I was getting admitted one time, they handed me, like, a pamphlet, like, this is Campfire as a whole podcast pamphlet, or, you know, piece of paper. And I actually listened to the podcast one time when I got admitted, and I was, like, in a terrible mood and just really upset about everything because it was a tough time in my cancer journey and that probably a year and a half before I went to this camp, and last year, I got invited, but I wasn't healthy enough because everything. And I didn't want to, you know, make the commitment and not Be able to enjoy it. So I thought it was better to wait until this year, and it was the best experience that I've had.
[00:23:04] Speaker B: So, going, like, before you went, what expectations did you have?
[00:23:08] Speaker C: Oh, I was expecting, like, honestly, I was hoping first to meet people who got it because I was so frustrated with even the people who were like, you know, my caregivers or, you know, in my life, you know, even if they came to hospital, watched me be in pain and beyond, you know, all the. The meds and the IV stuff, like, they. They didn't. Just didn't get it still. And I was very frustrated that there was that disconnect. And I just needed to meet people, like, who have. I get it. And, you know, talk about the important things and feel that, like, I'm not alone. So I guess my expectations were hoping that, like, I meet great people that, you know, unfortunately, I also have gone through what I went through, but get it and just have, like, a great time and be able to, like, fully enjoy myself and feel like I did before I got sick, I think was really my hope.
[00:24:07] Speaker B: Yeah.
Yeah.
How about you, Jenny? How did you hear about it and then what expectations?
[00:24:14] Speaker A: Yeah. Thank you. In 2023, when I was queen, I was honored to be the chairperson of the 2023 gala ball that the Cancer League of Colorado puts on.
And as a result of that, I became very close friends with Barb and Gary Reese.
Gary is the president of Cancer League of Colorado. And there was an event that was happening, and so I was at this event, and I was in line waiting to get a cocktail, and I happened to strike a conversation up with Fuzzy and ask him what he did, and he told me about the organization, and I told him that I was a stage one for cancer survivor. So he invited me to check it out.
So in 2023, I put in my application, and it. And it took a while to be invited, but, you know, I was just really fortunate that that's how it transpired.
And, you know, I do want to say, because Nicholas and I are on this podcast together that, you know, when we met, we were in a short.
A short. What are they called? The small groups. Yeah. Thank you. The small group together.
So we got to know each other really well. And I think, you know, I'm a firm believer that God puts us together with people. And I. You know, and the. I. I'm a mom of one. He's 35. He's an executive. He's living his life. But I have all these mom things in me that, you Know, this willingness and this desire to just this love on someone and impart my knowledge and my wisdom, and my son's kind of over that because he just feels like you've done your job.
No, there's something in Nick that I was just really drawn to because he's a single guy and, you know, he was raised by his grandmother and she's passed away. And I was just.
It was just very endearing, our relationship. So we. We created a friendship and a bond that other people saw as well during camp.
We. We really. We really did. So I'm very happy to be doing this experience with him.
[00:26:28] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, I'll ask you, Joni, since you.
I can tell what one of your takeaways is, because he's sitting right here. It's this relationship right with him. What else did you take away from camp and how have you incorporated that into your life?
[00:26:44] Speaker A: Oh, gosh, thank you. You know, camp was such an amazing experience for me because I, you know, after surviving cancer, I moved straight into the Miss Colorado Senior America world, and I put my heart and soul into this pageant. And. And I mean, I wasn't a pageant girl, but I'm wearing, you know, sequin gowns and extra makeup and, you know, learning to sing in public again.
So I put all that into that. And then my husband got sick and he was an end stage kidney failure.
And.
And we were balancing living our dream of traveling the United States in our beautiful 40 foot travel trailer, which I just sold a few days ago.
But, you know, trying to balance that. I never got to be a cancer survivor. I didn't have time, I didn't have. I didn't have that realization of, wow, what did I just go through? Because I had gone through other tough experiences in my life and, you know, losing both of my siblings and losing my parents and like, one hit after the other, it felt like it was an opportunity for me to.
To be me, to just be Joanie.
And.
And I had fun. You know, I stripped away the makeup. I didn't curl my hair.
You know, I'm in. I'm wet for three days in the Colorado River.
[00:28:14] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:28:15] Speaker A: I did things that I never thought that I would do. I was so proud of myself that I pushed the limits physically of what I thought I could do. And then what Nicholas was saying, there's such truth to that. Cancer survivors get it. When we go through these journeys that we go through and we talk about how tough it was and the fact that, you know, we still had to be strong. You know, I had to be strong for my grandson. And. And I remember having a conversation when he was 13 and telling him that I might not be here, you know, and look in the sky. I'll always be there for you. I mean, I. I prepared my grandson that his grandma was going to die and all these tough things, sharing that story with people that get it was everything.
And, you know, the founders of Epic, the story is amazing that they did this for their son and they're such outstanding people, but it's grown into such a way to be able to give back to campers to do this.
And. And what I walked away with was the realization that I really did go through stage four lung and neck cancer. I almost died, and that I was in the ICU multiple times. And I was. I was in the hospital for over 70 days in an 18 month period, and they worked to keep me alive.
I was either dehydrated and malnourished, or I was infused with 70 pounds of lymphatic fluid overnight. I mean, crazy stuff.
And then I got shingles in the middle of all that while I was going through therapy. And now I'm lucky enough to have PHN, which is post traumatic neuralgia, and I have shingles pain 24. Seven that I deal with. So. Thank you. Cancer.
[00:30:03] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:30:05] Speaker A: He's. Being with the people that get it, other survivors is everything.
[00:30:10] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure.
[00:30:12] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:30:13] Speaker B: Nick, how about you? What were your takeaways? And then how have you incorporated them into your life now?
[00:30:20] Speaker C: Obviously, one of my takeaway is the great friendships and people I met at camp.
This being one, I think in our small groups, we clicked because I thought I. And it clicked to me today I was thinking about it. I feel like we clicked because my grandma passed away before she could teach me the lessons that she needed to teach me because I was too young to learn them. And I think I look up to Dragonfly because she's very knowledgeable and has wisdom as well. And other takeaways I have, too, is like.
Like, as she mentioned, the time to be a cancer survivor. Like, I have this pressure with coaching hockey, and I've. I coached hockey through all of this.
Not consistently through the, you know, treatments originally, but I showed up for our, you know, state championship, and we won that on my birthday the year that I went into remission.
[00:31:17] Speaker B: Congratulations. Oh, that. What a gift. That's awesome.
[00:31:19] Speaker C: Yeah, it was. It was really special. So, like, some of the stuff that happens happened is just like, I've been in such denial because, like, you honestly can't make it up.
Like, the opportunity to, like, not have the pressure of having to be a hockey coach and then having to, like, you know, Sam, okay. For people coming to see me and, like, act okay and, you know, just so people don't worry. And I think that was my. My thing that was a takeaway from that is just, like, the validation of people, like, because, like, I was frustrated with even my closest people not getting it, and, like, the validation of, like, meeting people and, like, feeling that I'm, like, not alone, I'm not crazy, I think was just the biggest takeaway because I felt so lost before camp. Honestly, I was in, like, a pretty dark place from all this because it's been pretty traumatic losing my grandma to it.
[00:32:14] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:32:15] Speaker C: And knowing how it ends. So this kind of gave me the hope that I think I need to get through the rest.
The treatment that I have.
[00:32:24] Speaker B: Yeah. And you said that's 10 months.
[00:32:26] Speaker C: Yeah. It should hopefully be done next April, then. April.
[00:32:31] Speaker B: Awesome.
Yeah. That is especially given that your grandmother raised you and you watched her, you know, you had to deal with her death. I'm sure that made this so much harder.
[00:32:47] Speaker C: Yeah.
It's just scary knowing, like, you know, the end, that's all.
[00:32:53] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:32:54] Speaker C: Being there for it. I think it was pretty traumatic for me to have those, like, visual things, but that's.
[00:33:01] Speaker B: What.
[00:33:01] Speaker C: That's just a story.
[00:33:03] Speaker B: But. But. But it's part of your story, and, yeah, obviously it makes an impact. I'm wondering if either of you have anything else you would want to share with someone listening, either a survivor or a caregiver. Anyone. And, Nick, if you're up for it, I'm going to start with you.
[00:33:22] Speaker C: Yeah, I was gonna say, I. Honestly, like, when I first got diagnosed, I. I didn't really feel like I had anybody, you know, that, like, if I. If I didn't really, like, make it through treatment, that, like, it wouldn't be that big of a deal. But now that I have met everybody that I met at camp, you know, like, if something were to happen again and I had to battle again, like, it's given me the hope and the faith that I need to, like, have the energy to. To go through that and to complete the rest of the treatment that I need to. And I think. I know I just repeated myself, but I think I just want to make that clear that, like, that week really got me out of a dark spot that I was in, obviously.
You know, it's just. It was a special time that, like, I think I'll cherish for probably the Rest of my life.
[00:34:21] Speaker B: Yeah.
That's awesome, Jenny.
[00:34:26] Speaker A: You know, our group of the 10 survivors that were there, you know, we have a camp name, and it's called Badass Rainbows. And. And I love it.
[00:34:35] Speaker B: Yeah. And we have.
[00:34:36] Speaker A: And this story is really crazy about that. But, you know, there is a. There's a group text that I think all the camps put together. And, you know, that in itself keeps us together.
And, you know, my phone constantly, ding, ding, ding. And it's usually this Badass rainbows group, but it's a place where, you know, when Nick is going through treatment, he can tell us, hey, I'm going through treatment. It's a rough day, and everybody pours into him. You know, we love Nick. You got this. We're here for you. You know, you're everything to us. And what a gift. It's the gift that keeps on giving.
You know, I'm just. I'm really blessed and I'm.
You know, when I. When I see Nick struggle, I mean, of course I fell in love with him because he's, you know, he's a young man, he's in his 20s, and I'm in my 60s, and, you know, we're like this perfect match because he doesn't have a grandma and I don't, you know, and I have all this extra love to give. But, you know, I. I would say to anybody, you know, don't be afraid of camp. Be excited. Be absolutely excited about going, because you're going to be spoiled. You're going to be treated amazingly.
You're going to be doing things that you never thought that you would have the opportunity to do, and you're going to be surrounded by, you know, friends, people that are going to become your lifetime friends. You know, they're strangers to begin with and. And really good friends afterwards. And, you know, there were 10 of us.
Personally, I could admit that, you know, I jived really well with nine people. One, not so much. I don't know. But it, you know, it's okay. But that's just the personalities. But we're a group, this badass rainbows group, and we are forever. There will not be a point in time where someone deletes this. This email group because we are badass rainbows 20, 26, and we're there forever for each other. So, yeah, you know, camp.
The camp is a blessing.
And, you know, one other thing I want to add, too. You know, if there are organizations that have the means to donate to Epic Experience to do that, and, you know, if you've not gone through the cancer yourself.
It's not something that you'll ever truly understand, but it's something that is so impactful in life threatening and life changing. We're lucky to be survivors. I've got nine friends that aren't, you know, and, you know, I've got multiple friends that. That have passed away, so we're the lucky ones. But, yeah, pour in financially into the organization because every dollar matters. And they're frugal as well. They don't. You know, I mean, I watched them at camp and, and everything is very systematic the way that they have it. And, you know, they're not out there wasting money. It's done very respectfully, very professionally, and very importantly.
[00:37:44] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Well, I always end with a very important question. Marshmallows over a campfire.
Slow and steady or flaming crispy.
Joanie, Burn.
[00:37:56] Speaker A: Burn it, burn it, burn it. And eat it when it's hot.
And when you pull off that, that, oh, that is the best. And then you've got that juicy melty. You're gonna make me want to go get a marshmallow.
[00:38:10] Speaker B: Everybody's gonna get marshmallows after this.
Yeah. Nick, how about you?
[00:38:15] Speaker C: Well, now I'm gonna have to go to King Supers to get s', mores, but I also like it burnt, and it has to be burnt enough to where it melts the chocolate just a little bit and you get the graham cracker melted to it.
You know, can't. Can't be better than that.
[00:38:30] Speaker B: That's it.
[00:38:31] Speaker A: Well, thank you both.
[00:38:32] Speaker B: It was very special to have both of you, obviously, as survivors, but as survivors who had a very impactful week together at camp, I think that makes this even more special. I appreciate your vulnerability.
I appreciate you coming to share, and I am confident that. That your stories have touched those who are listening. So thank you both.
[00:38:53] Speaker A: Thank you. You know, my camp name is Dragonfly, and I will be a Dragonfly forever.
[00:38:59] Speaker B: Cardinal and Dragonfly both.
[00:39:00] Speaker A: That's right.
[00:39:01] Speaker B: Airborne. Airborne animals.
All right, to those of you who are listening, until the next time we gather around the campfire, keep living beyond cancer. Foreign.
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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