[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.
[00:01:15] Speaker C: Hello, everyone. This is Gail, AKA Sunshine.
Today we're doing another episode in When Cancer Hits Home, a series presented by Epic Experience and Pickles Group, where we're exploring what cancer looks like for the entire family going through the journey. So today we have a couple with us, Justin and Kimber Harris. Thank you both for joining us.
[00:01:37] Speaker D: Thank you for having us.
[00:01:39] Speaker A: Hi. Thank you.
[00:01:40] Speaker C: Today I'm going to start like I usually do. I'm just going to ask you each to introduce yourself and please include one fun fact. So, Justin, I'm going to start with you.
[00:01:49] Speaker D: Okay. I am Justin. I'm 44 years old, born and raised in Illinois.
We have three kids, Milo, Veda, and Zuri. They are 10, 8, and 5.
Fun fact about me is I'm into cryptozoology, Bigfoot, Dogman, all that crazy sorts of stuff. So I'm kind of in my spare time, I include the family. We listen to podcasts and do a little research and stuff like that. Little projects on the side. So we have fun with it.
[00:02:12] Speaker C: I don't even know what cryptozoology is, so that's awesome.
All right, Kimber, how about you?
[00:02:21] Speaker A: Hi, I'm Kimber, also born and raised in Illinois.
We actually met in high school.
That's when we started dating. I'm 42.
Let's see. A fun fact about myself is my first job was when I was seven years old, and it was catching fireflies in my neighborhood because the woman that lived across the street, her and her husband would.
They partnered together to get all the children in the area to hunt for lightning bugs, and then they would turn them in for cancer research.
And then. And then I got cancer.
[00:03:02] Speaker C: But, yeah, well, there's a little irony for you, but that's fascinating. I've never heard of that.
[00:03:08] Speaker A: We were, like, on the news when I was 7. We had little T shirts. It was. It was cute. But they were doing some sort of research with the fireflies back then in the early 90s.
[00:03:19] Speaker C: That is fascinating.
Well, you just alluded to. What brings us together here is that you were diagnosed with cancer. So, Kimber, why Don't you tell us a little bit about your story?
What kind treatment, all that kind of stuff.
[00:03:33] Speaker A: Sure.
Let's see. Well, my. I was 36 when I was diagnosed.
I was actually pregnant with our third.
At my 33 week checkup, in between my 30 and 33 week, I noticed like a hardening of half of my left breast.
So I knew at my next checkup, which was the first of the three week checkups, it was 33. I went there, I showed my OB. She also felt like it was concerning. And then she checked my cervix. And I had our daughter like two hours later.
[00:04:12] Speaker C: Oh, my God.
[00:04:13] Speaker A: Two weeks? Yeah.
And so she went to the NICU for a while and then.
Let me think. And then about a month later, well, the next day, started my scan. So I had an ultrasound while it was in my postnatal room, and then we were there for weeks. But then I ended up getting diagnosed on our other daughter's third birthday, like while I'm icing her birthday cake. It was ridiculous.
[00:04:42] Speaker D: Yeah. That was December 20th.
[00:04:44] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:04:46] Speaker D: 2019. Yep.
[00:04:47] Speaker C: And there's nothing else going on in the world. You know, shortly thereafter, right before the pandemic.
[00:04:54] Speaker D: Yeah. Crazy.
[00:04:56] Speaker A: Yeah. I was actually in my cancer center waiting room waiting to see my oncologist. And they're like the people. The first two people from Washington had landed, you know, from Wuhan, China or whatever, and. Or whatever it was where they landed from.
And I was like, watch this be a thing.
It was a huge thing.
[00:05:20] Speaker C: So you were officially diagnosed with breast cancer?
[00:05:24] Speaker A: Stage 3. Her two positive, estrogen receptor positive, progesterone negative.
Which was an interesting split.
[00:05:33] Speaker C: Yeah, that is.
[00:05:35] Speaker A: And I did six rounds of tchp, chemo and then ended up. I had to do a full year of Herceptin and Perjeta every 21 days with the Neulasta and all that.
I also in the middle of that, 28 out of 28 radiations.
[00:05:54] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:05:55] Speaker A: From like here all the way here. So basically ever my heart.
And I got third degree burns and shingles. Terrible. I've had.
I don't. How many surgeries have I. I've had probably like.
[00:06:13] Speaker D: Yeah. What, 10, 10 plus?
[00:06:15] Speaker A: I think I had maybe.
[00:06:17] Speaker D: Yeah. Maybe even in the 20s, 30s.
[00:06:19] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:06:19] Speaker D: I think considering all the little things and all that.
[00:06:21] Speaker A: Yeah. If we, if we count like the IR and the smaller, like, you know, outpatient things, I probably had close to like 30 operations in the past five years.
[00:06:30] Speaker D: Wow.
[00:06:31] Speaker C: Now, has it come back or have you been after that initial.
[00:06:34] Speaker A: I got what? Yay.
[00:06:36] Speaker C: Great well, that's the good news. Okay, so you've already alluded to the fact that, well, one, you were pregnant, had to give birth immediately and then started treatment. So you had three kids at that point.
How would you describe. So prior to that day, how would you describe your relationship together and also family life. And Justin, I'll ask you first.
[00:06:58] Speaker D: Okay. We're definitely super busy. I was working downtown, so, you know, two hours commute in and out each day and kind of get home and manage what I could once I got here. So it was kind of. We were always kind of moving and always had something to do, so.
[00:07:12] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. Well. And your kids were held at that point, the two you had prior 2019.
[00:07:18] Speaker D: So my 3 and 2. 3 and 2.
[00:07:20] Speaker A: Well, beta had just turned 3, so 4 and 3.
[00:07:23] Speaker D: Yeah, 4 and 3Y.
[00:07:25] Speaker C: And they're not active at all at that age, so I'm sure.
[00:07:29] Speaker A: Right, right.
[00:07:32] Speaker C: Kimber, how would you describe life and family life and your relationship and also your relationship together at that point?
[00:07:38] Speaker A: Yeah, I'd say everything was great. Like, I, I enjoyed being a stay at home mom, like you said. I mean, I was not bored ever.
I was stressed out though, with my own personal, like my side of the family because, you know, we had just lost my grandpa and he lived with us so on in home hospice one day in 2019.
[00:08:06] Speaker C: Oh, gosh.
[00:08:07] Speaker A: You know, I woke up. We woke up that morning and I found him and it was just. We knew it was coming because he was on hospice with us, but it was still difficult. Like he was like my dad and he was like his grandpa.
I mean, he was my grandpa, but.
[00:08:21] Speaker C: Right.
And would you say that you two had a good relationship at that point? Communication. I mean, you've known each other since you were kids, basically. I mean, you were in high school. So how would you describe your relationship at that point?
[00:08:36] Speaker D: Yeah, we were close.
[00:08:37] Speaker A: Yeah, we had a close. I mean, yeah, we were married and had some kids. We were all right.
[00:08:42] Speaker D: Yeah. Doing what we could do just to support the family and, you know, had fun when we could.
[00:08:46] Speaker A: Yeah. And we. We've really been living on our own together since we were 22. So.
[00:08:51] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:08:52] Speaker A: @ that point it had been like a solid 10, 15 years or whatever. Yeah.
[00:08:59] Speaker C: Okay. So what do you remember most about those first few days other than kind of that everybody describes the wah, wah, wah. Right. You kind of, at some point kind of tune out what the doctor's saying because it's so shocking.
But what if you can kind of put yourself back there? What do you remember most, how you felt, how do you tried to support each other, all of those kinds of things. Kimber, I'll start with you this time.
[00:09:26] Speaker A: I remember when I found out, and then I had to tell him.
I couldn't tell him because he was in traffic coming home from the city, from Chicago, which was like a two hour commute during rush hour. So I was like, I can't call him because he's going to be road raging. So I called my best friend in the country. Her. Her. Her and her daughter jumped in the car and, like, drove a couple hours to me. They got here before you did.
And when I saw him, I. The way we communicated, I just looked at him and he just knew.
[00:09:56] Speaker D: And I knew something was wrong because we were kind of waiting.
[00:09:59] Speaker A: We were waiting.
[00:10:00] Speaker D: Something was off.
[00:10:01] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah, it was. It was tough. But I just remember, man, I didn't sleep.
I was scared to almost. I was just terrified of everything my mind was. I would go to all the dark corners, I'd ruminate.
I was pumping like a.
Yeah.
[00:10:22] Speaker D: You were able to.
[00:10:22] Speaker A: A mad woman.
[00:10:24] Speaker C: Oh, wow.
[00:10:25] Speaker A: I had to.
[00:10:26] Speaker D: She was able to pop until she started chemo. So we had a stockpile in the freezer of breast milk for our youngest, so that helped out a ton. But how long did you actually pump?
[00:10:37] Speaker A: Like. Like a crazy person.
[00:10:40] Speaker D: Exactly. Start chemo. Which day?
[00:10:41] Speaker A: I started chemo January 3. I got my port put in January 2. I started chemo January 3.
I was diagnosed December 20. So from the 20th to the 2nd.
[00:10:52] Speaker C: You are a pumping wild woman.
[00:10:54] Speaker A: Oh, my goodness. It was crazy. Even that morning, before I went into surgery, I was allowed to pump, but after that, it was, you know.
[00:11:02] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:11:02] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:11:04] Speaker A: Oh, it hurt to throw all that milk away, but I did. I got us to five and a half months.
[00:11:09] Speaker D: Wow. Yeah.
[00:11:10] Speaker A: From like three weeks, I was pumping over 100 ounces a day.
[00:11:13] Speaker C: Yeah, that's crazy.
What do you remember about.
How did you try. Well, and Justin, this may be more of a question for you, but how did you. What do you remember about how you tried to support Kimber, especially in those early days?
[00:11:27] Speaker D: Yeah, I was kind of lost. I didn't really know what to do, so I just kind of stayed quiet and just listened and just wanted to follow whatever the doctors told us to do. I wanted to make sure we handled that, you know, as quick and as efficiently as possible. But I was kind of, you know, kind of confused as well. Didn't know what to do and what steps to take. So we're just kind of a waiting Game. And soon as we had that plan, that's when we started. You know, we kind of went from there. I transitioned from working in office to working from home, and my parents came to help out, and we just kind of went from there. And along that time, the pandemic is kind of circling in, and, you know, we don't know what's going on there, so we kind of limited our circle and just did the best that we could each day and went from there.
[00:12:06] Speaker C: Yeah. That is an interesting twist is the pandemic. So, I mean, Kimber, you still went in and did treatment as normal, but had to kind of limit other people that you were associating with, I'm assuming.
[00:12:18] Speaker A: Oh, that part. Which.
Oh, my gosh. It put a lot of blockades in our family. I feel like.
[00:12:25] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:12:26] Speaker A: The. The whole.
[00:12:28] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:12:29] Speaker A: The debate and all of that.
There are people that just would not wear a mask for me, like, immediate family, which was kind of wild stuff like that. But I don't know, it was difficult because probably by my third infusion, I was told, you know, next time, you can't have anybody with you.
[00:12:54] Speaker C: Oh, gosh.
[00:12:55] Speaker A: So I basically. I mean, I did it all by myself. You know what I mean? Like, and I drove myself to radiation. He was here holding down the fort with the kids. Kids.
That's how we really supported each other, was our vice versa, give and take, which is really the balance of our relationship ever since we were kids. Honestly, it was never like, we both.
And I swear, we've told.
We've.
We've never both, like, been really on at the same time ever. I feel like throughout our whole relationship, like, either he has a really good, secure job and I'm doing something creative or, like, not working or vice versa.
And it just. It's. That's basically how it was when I was sick.
[00:13:40] Speaker C: Interesting. So it was almost like you had this pattern established that you didn't know you would need years down the road.
[00:13:46] Speaker A: Be trained, and then here you are.
[00:13:48] Speaker C: You're using it. Very interesting. So what did. I mean, you've kind of alluded to this just in saying that, but what did partnership look like practically and emotionally, especially when you had a newborn and two other kids?
[00:14:01] Speaker D: Yeah, really? I really didn't have time to think. It's just that you had things that we had to do each day. Whether she had to go to the hospital and take care of the baby. I was still working and also taking care of the other kids. And we just. Hour by hour, whatever we had to do, we kind of did it and just kind of went through it like that.
Yeah.
[00:14:21] Speaker A: I used a lot of recording apps when I would go to my appointments because I. I would. I mean, I. You know, you forget everything and it sucks. Like, when you're by yourself and you're like, oh, God. What did you say? Did I ask that? I should have asked that. I meant to ask that. Like, I had to, like, start writing everything down, notes and. Because chemo brain's real.
[00:14:41] Speaker C: Oh, it's absolutely real. So that's an interesting point. So you actually would have to record and then share with Justin when you got home the things that you. Because he wasn't able to be there with you.
Yeah, that is an interesting aspect.
[00:14:55] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:14:56] Speaker C: Yeah, that is really interesting. So it sounds like you may have coped in different ways. Would that. Let me ask you that first, point blank. Would you say that you coped with this in different ways?
[00:15:07] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. Yeah.
[00:15:07] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:15:08] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[00:15:09] Speaker C: I want to ask each of you how you coped. Like, what were your outlets and strategies?
Going to start with that question. So how would you say you coped? What were your personal outlets and strategies? Kimber, I'll ask you first.
[00:15:24] Speaker A: Well, I mean, I did seek out therapy, so I. I started there. I. I've been in therapy for a couple years with various therapists recently, only just fighting my match. You know what I mean? It takes forever.
That. And let me think. Oh, I. I looked for supportive AYA groups where I felt, why did our. See our camera? The supportive AYA groups?
And I would say also, just, like, support and friendship.
I didn't really have a lot of peer support during treatment because I was so streamlined, focused. But I would say once we hit the survivorship road, where I, like, was on my way to getting reconstruction and things like that, I was, I mean, not, you know, I'm out of the woods. Woods, declared Ned. So that's when I kind of had to start seeking peer support.
Because as much as he was there with me through all of it, I mean, as much as he held my hand at night and physically carried me to the bathroom so I could vomit all over everything, he still. You know what I mean? Like, he's still.
[00:16:48] Speaker D: Yeah, I'm learning, going through the process myself, you know, I don't understand kind.
[00:16:52] Speaker A: Of what's going on my head. But he didn't lose his hair. You know what I'm saying? Like, right. Throwing out these gorgeous dress, I went bald. Okay. Like, and that was funny.
[00:17:02] Speaker D: My hair was. Because the pandemic, you know, you couldn't Go to the barbershop.
[00:17:05] Speaker C: So that's how it started.
[00:17:06] Speaker D: That was the reason why I never thought I would have dreads. You know, I was one thing, one haircut I didn't think I would ever have. But, you know, unable to go to the barbershop. This is kind of what happens.
[00:17:20] Speaker C: Oh, gosh.
Well, that's interesting. Justin, did you. Did you reach out for any kind of, I don't know, therapy, support for caregiver type things or how did you cope? What strategies?
[00:17:34] Speaker D: My parents came. They were a huge help with the newborn and the other two, managing where I could be there when she needed me, I could still work and then kind of get the little things done kind of in between. But as far as that, and there was no other really outward support. My work did wonderful things that let me stay at home. So I transitioned from going in office from home, and then a few months later, when the pandemic actually hit, everybody started working from home, but I had already been doing that. So main thing, I was just there for her, everything she needed. And my parents helped out a lot, kind of in between stuff. So.
[00:18:07] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. And Kimber, it makes total sense that you wanted to look for peer support, because as much as Justin's there, he isn't going through it. And so it really does help to talk to someone who's had their head shaved because they had to, not because it was, you know, Jerry thing.
Um, I'm curious what you learned about each other. So those are your different outlets or strategies going through this time. What did you learn about each other from those differences?
[00:18:34] Speaker D: I just realized.
[00:18:39] Speaker A: That he can really put on a good front and be a rock when he needs to.
And.
Yeah. I mean, he did that a lot for all of us. And yeah. Yeah, he still does it. Like, I'm. I'm still going through it. You know, I just, at my last appointment, which was a couple months ago, just recently graduated to six month. Check.
[00:19:04] Speaker C: Congratulations.
[00:19:05] Speaker A: Thank you.
I've been three months. Every three months for six years.
[00:19:13] Speaker D: Wow.
[00:19:13] Speaker A: I have 10 years on letrozole, so.
[00:19:16] Speaker C: Wow.
Yeah. That Continuing to be on something. And I was on lectures all for a short time. So I do know that it doesn't really feel like you're done. Right. Because you're still doing something. So I can understand that. And graduating to three months is huge. So congratulations. Or six months is huge. So congratulations.
[00:19:37] Speaker A: Thanks.
[00:19:38] Speaker C: Justin. What did you learn?
[00:19:40] Speaker D: Just how strong she was. Strong and resilient. So she never complained. Whatever she had to do, she would just go out and do it and just get it done. So I never had any. Any doubts or anything like that. I just wanted to be there to support her and just help her.
Help her get through whatever we needed. Just kind of day by day. That's all we could do back then, is just go each day by each day.
[00:20:01] Speaker C: So did you find that hard to stay day to day? Was it a challenge not to keep thinking about what if in the future and things like that for either of you?
[00:20:11] Speaker D: I'm curious a little bit, but with us being so busy just with the kids at home and just things that we had to do, you really didn't have time to think too much further out. You know, it's just kind of in the moment, whatever we needed to do, you know? So.
[00:20:23] Speaker A: Yeah, he's also very much so able to compartmentalize things, whereas I am not. Like, I wear my emotions, like, everywhere.
So if I'm raging, like, I'm gonna rage, Which I didn't do that often. Like, again, back to the coping.
[00:20:41] Speaker C: Right.
[00:20:42] Speaker A: I remember my.
My first therapist, she asked me, you know, how do you cope? And I said, oh, you know, I.
I said, I ugly cry in the shower with the joint of medicinal cannabis. And she was like, what? She's like, so let's talk about, like, why do you call it ugly crying? I'm like, no, you know, like, ugly, like heavy.
[00:21:05] Speaker C: Right.
[00:21:05] Speaker A: And she's like, no, but why is that ugly? And I was like, oh, we're not gonna. We're not gonna mash.
[00:21:13] Speaker C: I would have completely understood.
[00:21:14] Speaker A: Thank you.
I mean, that was. Yeah, I did that a lot.
[00:21:20] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:21:20] Speaker A: That was my thing, you know, because I didn't want to scare the kids. I didn't want to cry in front of the kids. They were very small.
And he was just doing so good, just being, like, solid dad. Like, it would have broke me to see him broken.
[00:21:34] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:21:34] Speaker A: Honestly.
[00:21:36] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:21:37] Speaker A: Even when we family style. Chopped my hair like that, the whole family. The kids chopped my braid off. Did they? Oh, yeah. They all got a pass at the clippers. I was scream crying for the first, I think, minute and a half, and then I chilled.
I was just, like, numb. And I was just like, oh, my God.
[00:21:56] Speaker C: I mean, obviously it's an unfortunate situation, but what a neat bonding experience for you as a whole family.
[00:22:02] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:22:03] Speaker C: Have that. That they were able to participate that in that. It is so weird. Cancer gives us these weird, cool moments like that, Right?
Yeah. Interesting.
So I'm curious how this whole experience from. So this has been six years now, you know, Going through this. How has it shaped your marriage and your parenting and the way you approach life together? You know, every day, Justin.
[00:22:32] Speaker D: I guess we've become closer, you know, experiencing everything that we've been through as far as parenting. We've got some loose ends to tie. We got kind of. Kind of lenient with our kids right now, just from everything that they've been through and just how everything's shaped with the pandemic and going through that. So we have some things to kind of tighten up with the kids, but for all they've been through, we feel like we put them, you know, in the best spot that we could have, you know, considering what we had to go through, so. But we're definitely closer.
[00:23:02] Speaker A: Yeah, we're closer.
Yeah. You know?
Yeah, I feel like that, too. But also, I just. Like, with the kids, parenting wise, it was just. Well, with everything, really, it was just kind of.
I had to learn to let go of the expectations that I had because I also had to remind myself that I had to grieve those things because, you know, who I thought I was going to be as a mom or as a wife, that person's gone. That doesn't exist anymore. It's who I'm going to be now.
And so it's. It's kind of difficult because physically, like, my mind can do things. You know what I'm saying? Like, I can do things. But then I was just talking about this with my friend earlier today. It's like, I know my limits now. That's one of the things that I've gained from cancer. It's like, I started today. I started to paint my front door, and I didn't even get one full coat. And I was like, okay, I'm done. I quit. Like, my hands numb. I can't do it anymore. I'm tired. My arm's gonna blow up.
And I was like, well, I did good. I did about two thirds of half of one coat.
But it's just. It's knowing your limitations and forgetting expectations and picking and choosing the battles with the kids.
I mean, I cannot complain about everything, every little thing, or I'd go insane. And honestly, they're. They're so good, considering all the trauma and everything that they've been through, especially with the death in our home. My grandma.
[00:24:43] Speaker C: Oh, yeah.
[00:24:44] Speaker A: Then. Then our dog died. Then our cat died.
[00:24:47] Speaker C: Oh, my God.
[00:24:48] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:24:48] Speaker C: Oh, my God. It was.
[00:24:50] Speaker A: I mean, we had a rough year.
[00:24:52] Speaker C: I mean, 2019 was rough.
[00:24:56] Speaker A: Yeah, it was rough. 2019. 2020 was.
[00:24:59] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:24:59] Speaker D: Yep.
[00:25:01] Speaker C: Oh.
[00:25:02] Speaker A: But, yeah, I Mean, no one else has seen me at my absolute worst.
[00:25:09] Speaker C: Yeah.
Kimber, you just mentioned ways that you've changed your perspective, your. Your expectations, and knowing your limits and things like that. Justin, do you feel like anything's changed for you? Like, do you approach things differently now, would you say?
In every. In any way?
[00:25:28] Speaker D: I try to focus more so just on family and. And get out and kind of do what we can do while we can and kind of let some of the things go that maybe I wouldn't have before.
So whether it be work or just friends and stuff like that, I could, like, just focus all my energy towards her and the kids. So.
[00:25:44] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah, that is. That's definitely a common theme, especially as I've been talking to kids, our parents and kids. Going through this is valuing that time that you have together and shifting the priorities a little bit.
Is there anything that either of you would share that I haven't specifically asked you about? Whether it's to a spouse, the spouse who has been diagnosed, or to the spouse who has not been?
Justin, I'll start with. You.
[00:26:18] Speaker D: Can'T think anything offhand.
[00:26:21] Speaker A: I would just say to the person that's not yet, or going through a diagnosis process, it's okay to spiral.
And I feel like if you have a person lean on that person, if you can. You know what I mean? Like, if they're there to prop you up, like, lean hard. Because I remember by. It was probably everything really, I think kind of hit me hard around my third round. So I think in my third round of chemo, too, I looked in the mirror and I was like, holy. You know what I mean? Like, this is why they call it a fight. Like, I get it. I was struggling to brush my teeth. Everything hurt I had.
I had mucositis. You know what I mean? Had sores from the steroids all over my head. Like, it was bad. Yeah, it was a really tough regimen.
But I don't know, just, you know, do your best to just stay focused and one foot in front of the other and take other people's advice, unsolicited advice, with a huge grain of salt, you know, listen to your gut and your oncologist and seek peer support. That's important.
[00:27:38] Speaker D: Yeah. Within the community, I think that's huge. People that can understand what you're going through, what you're going to go through. People outside of that, like she said, just the advice and stuff is they try, but it's, you know, it's. It's.
It's better to seek it within the.
[00:27:52] Speaker A: Community, even some in the community are kind of, you know, if they don't have cancer or haven't had it themselves. Yeah. Even if they deal with it every day. Do you remember that woman?
The wig person?
[00:28:02] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:28:03] Speaker A: I'm not gonna say her name, but as I left, she said, you know, be mindful. And I was like, what does that mean? She's like, you know, other people are going to be worried about your look being jarring.
Did she basically tell me to wear wig? But are you serious? Yes, but I mean, there's comments like that, that if you listen to that, you're gonna just.
You know what I mean? Like, I had to forget it. And I was glad that I accidentally forgot it from. Oh, and I.
Yeah. Because I also cooked with journals, so I found it later in a journal and I was like, oh, yeah, that's right.
[00:28:41] Speaker C: Oh, interesting. Well, good for you for embracing your baldness and doing what felt right to you.
[00:28:50] Speaker A: That's how I went.
[00:28:50] Speaker C: It's true. It is true.
[00:28:52] Speaker A: Bamboo beanies.
[00:28:54] Speaker C: Oh, I didn't try that.
Well, those listening bamboo breenies, there's another tip, so.
Well, one question I always end with, just to kind of bring it back to a lighter note. Is marshmallows over a campfire slow and steady or flaming crispy?
[00:29:14] Speaker A: Flaming crispy. I like my marshmallows charred. I like to let them get on fire, and then I like rotate it so the fire is evenly distributed.
Marshmallow.
[00:29:25] Speaker D: Yeah, I like slow and steady. I don't like them super charred. Just enough where they're melted and kind of gooey and without being burnt.
[00:29:33] Speaker C: So, yeah, I usually start out like Justin and end up like Kimber.
[00:29:38] Speaker D: Oh, yeah.
It happens quickly.
[00:29:41] Speaker C: It does. It does.
Well, thank you both. Um, I mean, really, what a neat story you have.
I mean, you were teenagers, obviously, when you met, and now you have gone through so much, and to see how it has brought you together, made you stronger, built those ties with your family again. Cancer can cause weird but cool situations, and I'm so glad you guys have embraced that. That's really neat.
[00:30:06] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:30:08] Speaker D: Thank you for having us.
[00:30:08] Speaker A: Thank you for having today.
[00:30:11] Speaker C: So the rest of you who are listening, until the next time we gather around the campfire, keep living beyond cancer.
[00:30:25] Speaker E: 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
[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.
[00:31:03] Speaker A: I'm not the Family.
[00:31:07] Speaker C: We will rise once again, close.
