[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 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.
[00:01:08] Speaker B: Hello, everyone. This is Gail, aka Sunshine. Welcome to an episode of keeping it real on the Campfires of Hope podcast, where we'll dig a bit deeper into the mental and emotional highs and lows of cancer survivorship. Today we have Dana Lee, who is joining us around the campfire. Dana, welcome. It's so good to have you.
[00:01:29] Speaker C: Well, thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.
[00:01:31] Speaker B: All right, well, tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from? And also please include one fun fact.
[00:01:38] Speaker C: Well, I'm of middle age. I was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. I am a single mom with two grown children, ages 26 and 21. I am an oncology nurse navigator, and that means that I navigate cancer patients through their journey. And my focus is with lung cancer patients.
Currently work at the Brown Cancer center, and that's a part of the U of L. Health system. And this coming January, I will be celebrating my 34th year there. I enjoy working there, mainly because it's an academic center and they're always learning new things.
And I love to do anything that involves being with family and friends and being outdoors. Hiking is what I'm most passionate about. Hence my camp name is hiker.
[00:02:27] Speaker B: Love it.
[00:02:28] Speaker C: And this leads into my fun fact.
So, before cancer, I was always an avid runner. I've run many marathons and marathons, but since I've been diagnosed with my cancer in 2020, I haven't been able to run like that anymore. And that was a real big stress reliever for me. So hiking has become more of my passion. And since I've been diagnosed in 2020, I've had, like, three surgeries and 46 rounds of chemotherapy. But I have managed to hike in eleven different states since I've been sick.
[00:03:07] Speaker B: That is awesome. I love it. Yes, I can definitely relate to that, that whole shift from running to hiking. So that is amazing. So let's get a quick cancer brief. When were you diagnosed? You can just give us the year. What was your diagnosis and when did you finish treatment?
[00:03:26] Speaker C: So I was diagnosed in June of 2020. My colon cancer was found on my screening colonoscopy, which at that time the screening age was 50. It was during COVID After my diagnosis, they did a scan. It didn't hadn't spread anywhere. So I was able to have the surgery, which I was a stage three. I had my six months of chemotherapy.
Six months later, my cancer returned, my ovary and liver, and I had both of those removed. I had four more months of chemotherapy. Five months later, my cancer recurred again on my liver, and I had another surgery, and I restarted treatment last August. And so far, to date, I've had 42 rounds of chemotherapy.
[00:04:15] Speaker B: Wow. So when you started your first initial diagnosis, then was stage three?
[00:04:20] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:04:20] Speaker B: And what I'm hearing is that since then, you have been moved to stage four, is that.
[00:04:24] Speaker C: That's correct.
[00:04:25] Speaker B: Correct. So what was it like to hear, well, first you have cancer, but then to know that it has gone on to be stage four?
[00:04:36] Speaker C: Well, initially when I found out I had cancer, it was like having the rug really pulled out from under my feet.
I was like, I can't believe this is happening to me because I was in the best shape of my life, running many marathons and marathons. I was working full time, going to school for my master's, and I had no symptoms, and I have no family history of cancer. I'm the only person.
My grandma did have melanoma, but nothing like what I'm going through now, right. When my cancer came back the first time, I was really devastated because my biggest fear had now become a reality.
I had crossed over the line to stage four cancer, and that was really difficult for me.
[00:05:22] Speaker B: What made it like, I mean, you hear stage three, stage four, right? In one sense, that's just a number. But for you, what made that so much more dramatic, taxing, overwhelming to know that you were stage four?
[00:05:39] Speaker C: Well, because the survival rate goes down when you come a stage four.
And so that was, like, one of my biggest fears, for it to come back. And actually, this last recurrence was really when I felt the most defeated and helpless, because you just don't have any control over what's happening. I was pretty healthy before and was trying to improve even being more healthy, changing health habits, and it just was a big smack in the face.
[00:06:14] Speaker B: Yeah, I can imagine. It's a very helpless feeling here. I mean, you're not just healthy, you're like running marathons, right? You are in the prime of your health, and yet you get cancer, and then not only do you get it, but it comes back after doing treatment. I can imagine it was a very helpless feeling. Did that whole experience cause you to kind of reflect on your own mortality.
[00:06:42] Speaker C: It did.
It was just a little bit at a time. I'm a slow processor, and I know that about myself, and I'm an oncology nurse, which is good and bad in this situation.
[00:06:54] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:06:55] Speaker C: A little bit of knowledge, and I'm an overthinker. And so my last recurrence was really my rock bottom because I felt like it just kept coming back and having surgeries, three major surgeries in, like, two years, and all this chemotherapy, and it was just really starting to get to me, just physically, but mentally. And even when I saw my last recurrence, my oncologist came into the room. When she came in the room, she agreed to see me earlier and move up my appointment. And then when she came in the room, I told her, I said, I don't want to talk about prognosis, I don't want to talk about statistics, because I already knew I was in a bad situation here, and I just wanted to hold on to hope. And since I'm an overthinker, I can just see me going through all these scenarios and going down the rabbit hole, and I just really wanted to hold on to my hope. And over the past year, I've had a couple of friends that had really turned into mentors for me that had stage four cancer, and I have a few friends now that are going through some hard recurrences and some hard times. And so it's just definitely been a challenge not to think about my mortality in the past year. It's just kind of seemed kind of constant.
But I've incorporated some things that I do with some tools and resources that have really helped me kind of manage that the best.
Well, in the beginning, I will say that I didn't do a very good job.
Pretty reactive, because I just had so much fear and I was in survival mode.
[00:08:43] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure.
[00:08:44] Speaker C: And I just, in the beginning put my head down and just kind of power through it first couple of times. And the first time when it was over in survivorship, it was just kind of like, I'm swallowing, man. I'm glad that's over with. I just want to get on with my life, and that wasn't going to be the case. And no one really tells you about that when you finish your treatment. And so I had joined a support group, and I really leaned on those people there in my support group because they really knew and understood what I was going through because they had actually been through it. And so that really helped me a lot. And I started incorporating prayer and gratitude into my daily practice. And that seemed to really help me. And then the hiking started picking up.
After my second recurrence, I found the podcast that I, the four time colon cancer stage four survivor. And the topics that she discussed really kind of resonated with me. And I would listen to them over and over, and I started doing some meditations and some of the things that she was recommending us to do. And people were giving me books with daily meditations, and so I was reading those and I continued to hike and started to actually do a little bit traveling.
But with my last recurrence, that's when I just kind of felt, like I said, the most devastated and helpless. And so I reached out to a couple of the friends that I had talked about before who were stage four, because I was just really mentally getting tired of fighting. Everyone's like, you got to fight.
Talking with them and seeing how they're living their life was such an inspiration to me, how they kind of the outlook and their perspective. And so that really helped me. What I tried to start doing was trying to start surrendering some of the mental behavior things that I was doing before.
And at first I kind of felt like, are you giving up? And it's like, no, not really giving up.
What I started to feel, as I continued to work on it with journaling and talking with people, is started to kind of feel empowered.
[00:11:16] Speaker B: Awesome.
[00:11:18] Speaker C: And a little bit stronger mentally. And not every day is a good day, but for the most part, I have really kind of shifted from that survival mode to kind of like a thriver type.
And I still have to work on it consistently because if I don't, I'm going to just kind of veer off the road.
Doing all these things every day just really kind of keeps me strong. And it's also helped my relationship with myself and my family and friends and my healthcare provider.
All those things have improved a lot.
[00:12:02] Speaker B: Yeah. When you say you feel empowered, do you feel empowered to control what you can go for a hike, whatever it happens to be?
[00:12:12] Speaker C: Exactly.
Because living with cancer has definitely changed the landscape of my life.
[00:12:17] Speaker B: Oh, for sure.
[00:12:19] Speaker C: And I still grieve for what has been lost, my health. But I just try to live with more intention and try to really value the time that I have and just live in the present and not much in the future.
I do envision, try to envision my future and keep things positive, but just try to keep it real.
[00:12:50] Speaker B: Yeah. Excellent. Well, it sounds like your outlook on life has changed, that you have been able to at least accept, not that you like it, but accept where you are and do whatever you can where you are, whether that's hike or meditate or spend time with family or whatever.
Would you say that your outlook on life in general has changed through this whole process?
[00:13:15] Speaker C: Most definitely. Like you said, I've kind of learned to embrace my situation a little bit better over the years with all the work I've done and all the people that I've encountered. I've just met so many people through my journey, and so I guess I still am faced with my mortality every time I get a scan or I'm getting my labs drawn, hoping that nothing's going to show up on that. And I getting that like, every three weeks and my scans every three months.
[00:13:54] Speaker B: Wow. Yeah.
[00:13:55] Speaker C: It's definitely kind of learned to try to control what I can control.
[00:14:02] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:14:03] Speaker C: And that's doing the things that for myself and actually kind of self care gives me strength. It makes me feel stronger.
[00:14:11] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:14:12] Speaker C: And helping others.
Since I felt the way I felt, I've been reaching out and helping others and advocating for screening. And so I just hope that somehow my story will kind of help inspire other people.
[00:14:26] Speaker B: That's great.
What do you think is your biggest victory on a personal level, through this whole time? Is it something mental, emotional, physical combination?
What has it been for you?
[00:14:40] Speaker C: I think my biggest victory is I've been able to put my story out there. When I was first diagnosed, I only told a handful of people, and I didn't tell my children and my family right away because I wanted to have a plan in place. So I had a few friends that I just told and I didn't tell the people at work.
It was Covid. I was really overwhelmed and had the surgery. And then I knew that I wanted to be treated where I work just because I know the work we do there and there's a trust level there, but something kind of a private person. So they were just really shocked when I came back after being off for six weeks that I'd never told anyone that I was going through and they just wanted to help, but I was just having a hard time talking about it. But after my chemotherapy, I started coming out on social media and I was starting to get feedback from other people, and people message me and say, hey, my sister's just been diagnosed with colon cancer. Can I call and talk to you? And then can you call and talk to my sister? So I've had a lot of encounters like that and try to get people to join the support group that I'm in. But then they really weren't interested, so I still kind of keep in touch with them over the phone and see, we keep in touch with each other how we're doing and what's going on and that kind of thing. So it feels like that kind of gives my life some purpose and being able to advocate because I really don't want people to go through what I've been through. And teenage has been moved up to 45, so I really just want to just really try to help advocate for others because at first, after I'm a doer, I do a lot of things, I like to do things. And so it's just kind of like when I was diagnosed, it was just kind of like, well, I got stage four cancer.
[00:16:47] Speaker B: What can I do, right?
[00:16:49] Speaker C: And I'm working full time to try to support myself and I'm trying to exercise and do all these things, but I just do what I can. And I'm involved with our colon cancer prevention project, local chapter, and they just let me do what I can to help out. And so that makes me feel really good.
[00:17:12] Speaker B: Well, that's a huge victory, not just for yourself, but all the people that you're talking to. Right? All the people who you've been able to help, the people who call and say, my sister has colon cancer, or the people that you meet in a support group or that you reach out to online. That's huge.
[00:17:28] Speaker C: Yeah. When I did a local spot on the news I had waiting for me when I got back to work about a week later, this little package that was from Michigan, and it was actually from this lady who does bracelets. She started doing them for her friend who passed of breast cancer, and now she does for all cancers. And somehow my story reached her in Michigan.
[00:17:55] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:17:56] Speaker C: And so she just sent me this nice little gift and this card and told me she was thinking about me and everything. And so, I mean, I have just really been connecting with other people all over. And I actually went out to California to do a hike with the fight colorectal Cancer fight CRC. I won a scholarship and all inclusive paid. And so I just met a lot of people out there that I still keep in touch with. And so things like that really help keep me going.
[00:18:27] Speaker B: That's awesome. Well, is there anything else that you would want to share with someone listening that I haven't directly asked you about?
[00:18:35] Speaker C: Not really.
I think the biggest thing is just to really try to accept your situation the best you can.
You don't have to like it, but it's kind of much easier if you can kind of let your guard down and just kind of lean in and find your tools and resources, things that will help support you mentally, physically and find your tribe. I mean, you can learn to live a meaningful life with cancer.
Just kind of take this as a time to kind of reinvent yourself.
[00:19:14] Speaker B: Well, Dana, thank you so much for being vulnerable, for keeping it real, and for sharing your story.
I'm sure there is someone out there with stage four or colon cancer specifically, or the combination of both, who will benefit from hearing the things that you've shared. So thank you.
[00:19:32] Speaker C: Thank you for having me.
[00:19:34] Speaker B: And to those of you listening, thank you for keeping it real with us. Until the next time we gather around the campfire, keep living beyond cancer.
[00:19:46] Speaker C: Thank.
[00:19:46] Speaker D: 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
[email protected] music for this podcast is provided by Moonshiner Collective. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review us so we can share our story with more people. Also, be sure to subscribe wherever you get podcasts so you'll know when new episodes are released. We hope you come back and join us for our next episode.
[00:20:25] Speaker B: The family men's bright and woke.
[00:20:28] Speaker D: We will rise once again, close.
