[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:08] Speaker B: 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.
[00:01:16] Speaker A: Scott, join us. I've never met Scott, so this is the first time. Thank you.
[00:01:19] Speaker C: Thank you. It's great to be here.
[00:01:21] Speaker A: Thank you. Thank you for joining us. So first, what I'm asking everybody, first is if you can just let us know a little bit about yourself.
[00:01:28] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:01:29] Speaker A: And one fun fact. I always ask people.
[00:01:31] Speaker D: And one fun fact.
[00:01:31] Speaker C: Oh, I didn't. I'm not prepared for that. But grew up in Denver.
[00:01:35] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:01:36] Speaker C: Down in the Inglewood area. Moved to California in the 90s,
[00:01:42] Speaker A: probably
[00:01:44] Speaker C: late 30s, early 40s.
I was on top of the world. I had a beautiful wife, married 20 years, two boys, great job.
And here comes cancer.
[00:01:57] Speaker A: Cancer to you or for you? I mean, did you have cancer?
[00:02:02] Speaker C: I did not personally, but mother, grandmother, sister, wife who passed away, it's just been kind of devastating.
But along the journey, you know, you meet special people. And I met the Pharaohs. Actually, we did not know them when they were in Sacramento because we live in Sacramento as well, but we met out here. And my wife actually chaired this gala a number of years ago.
[00:02:29] Speaker A: Oh, wow.
[00:02:30] Speaker C: And we've been big supporters and fans of Epic since. And we're friends with the Pharaohs. We. Yeah, you know, see them a lot. And I just love their family. And so, you know, you always look for silver linings. You look for hope, you look for, you know, what.
What's God plan, if you will.
[00:02:49] Speaker A: Exactly. Yeah.
[00:02:50] Speaker C: And.
And we're just delighted to be here tonight.
[00:02:53] Speaker A: So one fun fact. What?
[00:02:55] Speaker C: Ah, fun fact.
[00:02:56] Speaker A: Oh.
[00:02:57] Speaker C: So originally I was. I got my degree in business, and I went to University of Denver, but I was originally a music major. And I was a tuba major, if you could believe that.
[00:03:07] Speaker A: No, that's awesome.
[00:03:08] Speaker C: And I got scholarships from a number of colleges. It got me into a great school.
I still play on occasion. Horns I can play, but I think the tuba line is probably my. I guess my fun factor, at least one that I don't usually share.
[00:03:26] Speaker A: Wow. Okay. So you've already kind of shared that your connection to cancer most personally is your wife, who passed away.
How did. So she started chairing this. Did she ever Go to camp.
[00:03:38] Speaker C: No, no, no. This is before we knew.
[00:03:40] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:03:41] Speaker C: This was back in. When we were still in Sacramento.
[00:03:44] Speaker A: Okay. Okay.
[00:03:45] Speaker C: But, you know, I always look for organizations and the community and people that. Because of just how it's impacted my life and impacted my kids and our family in total.
[00:03:56] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:03:57] Speaker C: And so I heard, you know, we. I met Colin and we got involved with camps and got to volunteer for a camp, which was a extraordinary experience.
I still like to drive on occasion, and it's just an amazing community of people here and an amazing group that I just can't say enough good things about. So it's wonderful.
[00:04:22] Speaker A: How many galas have you been to then?
[00:04:24] Speaker C: You know, I don't know. I would say seven or eight. I'm thinking there was a couple times we missed.
[00:04:31] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:04:31] Speaker C: Just being out of town. But if we're in town and we're available, we come to. Come to the gala. They're. They're just.
They're. They're so much fun.
[00:04:41] Speaker A: That's my question. Next question is, what is it that keeps you coming back?
[00:04:44] Speaker C: You know, I think it's first, it's the purpose and the cause.
[00:04:47] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:04:48] Speaker C: And I always leave feeling like I. I did whatever I can to help this community.
I love meeting other campers and, you know, just people that just have gone through this experience.
And it's just a ton of fun,
[00:05:04] Speaker A: you know, it is.
[00:05:05] Speaker C: I usually spend too much money, but don't say anything to them tonight. But it's. It's just a wonderful experience. And yeah, it's. It's always exciting to see new faces and meeting people, but also old friends as well.
[00:05:18] Speaker A: Yeah. From the seven or so that you've been to, are there any moments that stand out, speakers that you heard or conversations that you had, or are there any things that.
[00:05:29] Speaker C: Now, don't get me emotional here.
But no, I think hearing people's stories and testimonials and what their experiences have been, and I think the one thing that I think that the board and the people leading EPIC have done just a tremendous job is picking the right people to speak at the right time.
[00:05:53] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:05:54] Speaker C: And, gosh, if it doesn't move you and if it doesn't, you know, touch your heart, I don't know what does. So I think those experiences. But at the same token, it's not a dark. It's not, you know, gosh, I mean, we're dealing with some really heavy things.
It's celebration and it's about joy and it's about, you know, people that have gone through the Fire and come out. So it's. It's inspiring to me.
[00:06:23] Speaker A: Yeah. That's been a common theme even tonight in talking to people is laughing in the midst of cancer, the joy, the life, in spite of this thing that can cause death, obviously. Right. And it's.
[00:06:36] Speaker C: Exactly. Exactly.
[00:06:37] Speaker A: It is. It's inspiring.
Are there any lessons. I mean, if you were to share with someone listening?
[00:06:44] Speaker D: Sure.
[00:06:44] Speaker A: Are there any lessons you've gleaned going through it personally or in your conversations with people, kind of things you've learned about life that you might share with someone?
[00:06:54] Speaker C: You know, I think what comes to mind is you. You have to kind of walk through the darkness and. And you have to kind of grieve and experience it. And it's. It's painful.
It's just.
But. But as I've met people along, you know, my life and through this journey, you know, the people that really don't do that, there's. They're just never complete. They never quite come through it. So.
But I think that the big thing is hope, I would say, is that there's.
If you allow yourself, if you surround yourself with a community of people that care about you, and then it can help pick you up when you need to be picked up and get through that time.
It's. It's. It's kind of an amazing experience, and it's just something that I think you need to do. So I guess I would encourage anybody listening, you know, sit in the grief and really, I guess, kind of embrace it, which it seems counterintuitive, and it's hard.
[00:07:59] Speaker A: It's hard. It's uncomfortable, it's hard, it's sad.
I mean, even hearing people's stories that are inspirational, they take a weight of sadness, whether it's because the person lost the ability to have kids or whatever it happens to be. So there's always a sadness, but we have to sit in it. I like the way you put that.
[00:08:17] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. And I think that if you think about just all the people I've met and truly, whether they're here tonight, the gala, or just along, it's just some wonderful people and unfortunately, have gone through some things that are exceptionally challenging.
But as the community comes together, and I think fundamentally, as human beings and people, we do want to care for each other, and we do want to help people in their path. And I think that's, to me, what. Epic, really. The essence of it and what it represents.
[00:08:58] Speaker A: I love it. Well, that is the perfect place to end. What I asked everybody is their last question.
[00:09:02] Speaker C: Oh, okay.
[00:09:03] Speaker A: Marshmallows over a campfire.
Slow and steady or flaming crispy.
[00:09:09] Speaker C: Oh, boy.
It's hard to pass up marshmallows on the campfire. I mean.
[00:09:14] Speaker A: Yeah, right.
[00:09:16] Speaker C: But, you know, I guess my answer is all the above, because when you get to all the different things that people experience at camp or otherwise, it's. It's just a total joy. And.
And I think the bond between that I see and I've experienced this between the campers, you know, through that week and what they come through with it. And really now that there's a lot of things that EPIC provides in terms of the community.
It's not just the camps anymore. It's things like podcasts and things like these different support groups and organizations. So I think they've done. The EPIC team has done a tremendous job of giving people lots of different opportunities where they are.
[00:09:58] Speaker A: So I love it. Well, thank you so much. I really appreciate you joining us and enjoy your evening.
[00:10:04] Speaker C: I will enjoy your evening, so thank you so much.
[00:10:05] Speaker A: All right. Thank you.
[00:10:06] Speaker C: Thanks for having me.
[00:10:07] Speaker A: Thanks.
[00:10:10] Speaker D: All right.
[00:10:11] Speaker A: I think I started telling you all who are listening that I am from Colorado Springs, but when I went to camp, I was living in Florida, so that was why I chose a winter camp, because I was living in Florida, and so I wanted to go to winter camp again. Best decision I made.
Again, the EPIC tagline is beyond cancer. And I almost didn't go because I thought I was living beyond cancer, but I was so wrong. So here's our next guest. This is Zach. This is Zach. Number two.
[00:10:43] Speaker D: How are you?
[00:10:44] Speaker A: We've already had one. Zach. This is fine.
[00:10:45] Speaker D: Ah, that's okay.
[00:10:46] Speaker A: So thank you so much for joining us.
I am wondering if you can start by just telling us about yourself. And I ask everybody for one fun fact.
[00:10:54] Speaker D: Fun fact. Well, fun fact. I'm an expert napper.
[00:10:57] Speaker A: You're an expert napper?
[00:10:58] Speaker D: Expert napper.
[00:10:59] Speaker A: That is the first time anyone has ever told me that. What makes you an expert? Do you have certification? Have you been tested?
[00:11:05] Speaker D: I can nap on a plane.
[00:11:06] Speaker A: Okay.
All right.
[00:11:08] Speaker D: I took a nap this afternoon.
[00:11:09] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:11:09] Speaker D: All right. It's a specialty skill.
[00:11:11] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:11:12] Speaker D: My children don't appreciate it, but it's okay.
[00:11:13] Speaker A: No, I'm sure they don't.
Okay, so then now we know you're an expert napper. Tell us more about yourself.
[00:11:20] Speaker D: So married to my beautiful wife, Julie. We have two children. Seven. Seven and nine. That make things very fun. The love of our life.
I'm an attorney, and I. This is our seventh or eighth gala.
[00:11:37] Speaker A: Is it really, it is.
So your connection to cancer is.
[00:11:42] Speaker D: So my wife Julie was, is a survivor and a thriver.
She was diagnosed in 2017 while she was pregnant with our. With our second son.
[00:11:52] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh.
[00:11:54] Speaker D: So that was obviously eventful. Very eventful. Very, very, very challenging.
But she's been cancer free for eight years now.
[00:12:02] Speaker A: Nine years. Congratulations. That's awesome.
[00:12:05] Speaker D: It's a, It's a blessing.
[00:12:06] Speaker A: I do remember when your dear life spoke at one of the galas. That was one of the moving speeches that people have been referring to.
[00:12:15] Speaker D: Yeah. I couldn't, I couldn't hide my tears.
[00:12:17] Speaker A: No, no.
[00:12:17] Speaker D: I don't think she had me going that night.
[00:12:19] Speaker A: I don't think anyone could.
So how did you guys get involved in epic? And I, I know Julie went to camp.
How did she find out about it? How did you guys get involved?
[00:12:29] Speaker D: So I know she was looking for different opportunities to kind of go out there and meet other survivors and kind of be more active and kind of get back to the sense of normalcy you can.
So I know she was doing a lot of research. I know she tried a couple different ones, but Epic was different. When she came back from epic, it was.
Sounds like an infomercial.
[00:12:50] Speaker A: This is exactly what I want to hear.
So what was different? I mean, as, as the caregiver, right. As the person going through this with her, what did you see her before and what did you see after? What was the.
[00:13:02] Speaker D: So, I mean, she had had fun at other camps and other. Other organizations, but I mean, the whole experience, for lack of a better term, it kind of like she'd lost the, the sparkle that she had always had. And obviously I wasn't going through what she was going through, but just the emotional, the physical toll. The emotional toll.
Doing it while pregnant, while still raising a two year old at that point.
[00:13:23] Speaker A: Oh, gosh.
[00:13:24] Speaker D: So, I mean, it was, it was tough because it just wasn't the same Julie that I'd been with for 10 or 15 years before that.
But when she came back from Epic, she had that spark back. Like, I don't. I think a combination of the mountains, the location, but I think more so the people in the organization, it's just the people that we met that became her family. And then coming to the next gala and then meeting me and having no exposure to me before immediately becoming my family and that's.
[00:13:55] Speaker C: It was just.
[00:13:56] Speaker D: She talked about how special everyone was and then me being able to meet everybody and immediately being taken in as family to the point where nine years later now you still have that sense of connection, and you feel like you are deep friends and family with these people that live all across the country. And you may only see once or twice a year, but you form these bonds that really are lifelong. And that brought. Brought her back to me.
[00:14:19] Speaker A: Yeah.
You've been seven years to the gala, I think.
[00:14:23] Speaker D: Yeah. Seven or seven or eight years before. Before the pandemic.
[00:14:26] Speaker A: Wow. Besides your wife's speech, which was amazing, is there a moment that has stood out to you, like something you really remember from coming to one of the galas, Whether it was a conversation you had or listening to one of the speakers, that really made an impact?
[00:14:42] Speaker D: I think just the overall sense of generosity from people. It's amazing when you see people that aren't impacted directly by cancer, or maybe not aren't part of the epic experience themselves, but that are part of the larger cancer community. But when you see people open their hearts and open their wallets and you see people during the paddle raise, and you see people during the asylum auction, live auction, you see people open their hearts up and open their wallets up, and just knowing the impact that can have in terms of being able to offer more camps and more events and more regional days and just seeing.
Kind of getting emotional and seeing people like, hey, like, we just. Like, the last five minutes, what we did, that's just. That's another camp for 10 more campers. And just kind of that feeling of, wow, like, that's incredible that we were just able to do that in the last five or ten minutes.
[00:15:28] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:15:28] Speaker D: Every year, coming and seeing that level of generosity is just kind of inspiring.
[00:15:32] Speaker A: It is. Definitely.
Our tagline is beyond cancer.
I'm wondering how you would. I mean, you can think about this from. From Julie's perspective or your own.
What does that mean to you guys, living beyond cancer?
[00:15:50] Speaker D: I think it means. To me, it means.
I mean, obvious. This has brought us great friends. This has brought us a lot of different opportunities, but kind of putting things back together and being able to continue almost as if it didn't happen. So obviously, there's still things you have to do, and there's always.
[00:16:06] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:16:07] Speaker D: There's always things that they've changed. But kind of looking at it as we're still living life, like we would have had this not happen to jewelry. And that's something that was important to us. And I think, to a degree, it even changed our perspective to a sense of we had always planned to do different things in the past, and now it's like, you know, what? Life. Life is short like, let's. Like, let's go on this trip.
We already went on a trip this year, Doug.
[00:16:31] Speaker C: Well, let's.
[00:16:31] Speaker A: Let's.
[00:16:32] Speaker D: Let's do another trip, because you know what? None of us are guaranteed it tomorrow. Let's make the memories now. Let's do everything we can because life is short, and let's enjoy it the most we can.
[00:16:40] Speaker C: And.
[00:16:41] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:16:41] Speaker D: Create the memories and create the memories for the kids and really enjoy life in the moment. I think it's something that you've always thought of before, but when. When it's kind of put in that perspective and you're worried for a time that that may not be possible.
[00:16:54] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:16:54] Speaker D: Then when it becomes more possible than it, you really appreciate that.
[00:16:58] Speaker A: So, as a caregiver, is there anything that you've learned that you would want to share with someone who's listening, who might be in that same position as a caregiver?
[00:17:09] Speaker D: This is.
This is. This is like me being hypocritical, but it's not something that I've been very strong at. I think it's being open and talking about that experience. I know that it's something that I've. That I've struggled with, that I've always kind of internalized a lot of what I was going through because I felt guilty that this is not my battle. This is Julie's battle.
[00:17:29] Speaker A: Right.
[00:17:30] Speaker D: I don't need the sympathy. The sympathy here.
This is not my battle. So I think I've always struggled with kind of sharing that with others and what I've gone through, but talking to a lot of different caretakers in my time out here, and even. Even just over these past couple days, it does seem that that is something that's kind of cathartic to those that have kind of taken that next step and done that and something that I may do in the future, but I think that's something that's not.
Obviously, you want to focus on your partner and focus on what their needs are, but don't forget that you are going through something as well and make sure that you're in a good place and you don't let it affect you in a negative way to the extent that you can.
[00:18:06] Speaker A: To the extent that you can.
Is there anything else that I haven't asked you that you would share with someone listening, whether they're a survivor, a caregiver, somebody who's considering going to camp? I mean, you saw the impact it had on your wife.
[00:18:20] Speaker D: I think just two things. Getting out there and trying to get into that community and get that sense of normal day and that sense of belonging, for lack of a better term, of people that are going through what you're going through. But I also think it may sound corny, but just that sense of hope.
I mean, there were times where I know that she was quite in despair. I know there were times where I was in a lot of despair and was really struggling myself, but kind of.
I truly believe that when you do have a positive attitude and you put that these are the steps we need to take.
Chemo's not going to be fun. Radiation is not going to be fun. But this is why you're doing it and the outcome you're trying to get to. I think keeping that positive attitude and kind of keeping the focus on if we can get to the next step and get to the next step and get to the next step, then eventually you put all that behind you and you can get to somewhere where it's a lot more positive.
[00:19:09] Speaker A: I don't think it's corny. I mean, that's the whole campfires of hope. I mean, that's it. We need hope. And so that's what we're hoping to offer people. So you said it perfectly.
[00:19:17] Speaker D: Excellent.
[00:19:18] Speaker A: Well, my last question.
Very serious. Marshmallows over a campfire. Slow and steady or Flamin Crispy?
[00:19:27] Speaker D: Flaming Crispy and then blow it out.
[00:19:28] Speaker A: We have the first Flaming Crispy right here.
[00:19:31] Speaker D: You gotta eat it caramelized and black, and that's the best flavor.
[00:19:34] Speaker C: Absolutely.
[00:19:34] Speaker A: I love it. Well, thank you very much. I think our score is now 3.5 to 1.5. So you are the first full on flamingo.
[00:19:41] Speaker D: I'm glad I could do that.
[00:19:42] Speaker A: Zach, thank you so much.
[00:19:43] Speaker D: Thank you. It was great talking with you.
[00:19:44] Speaker A: It was great talking with you. And have a good time tonight.
[00:19:46] Speaker D: I will. Thank you.
[00:19:47] Speaker A: All right, thanks.
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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Still, I.
Will rise once again.
