[00:00:00] Adam Walker: From Susan G. Komen, this is Real Pink, a podcast exploring real stories, struggles, and triumphs related to breast cancer. We’re taking the conversation from the doctor’s office to your living room
[00:00:16] Breast cancer treatment has a beginning and an end, but healing is often a much longer journey. Today, we’re joined by Katie Wasserman, a remarkable mother of four, who shares how trusting her instincts and advocating for herself led to her breast cancer diagnosis. She’ll talk about navigating treatment decisions, the impact it had on her body, and the physical and emotional healing that continues today into survivorship.
[00:00:41] From managing the fears that linger after treatment ends to intentionally choosing a life focused on thriving instead of simply surviving, Katie’s story is a powerful reminder that no one knows your body better than you do. Katie, welcome to the show.
[00:00:55] Katie Wasserman: Thank you, Adam.
[00:00:57] Adam Walker: Well, I’m glad to have you here. I think this is a, an important conversation.
[00:01:00] So let’s start with your breast cancer diagnosis. How did you discover something was wrong?
[00:01:07] Katie Wasserman: So I think it’s important to go back. I… Breast cancer doesn’t happen overnight, especially the type of tumor that I had, which was eventually discovered to be grade 2. At one point they thought it was grade 1.
[00:01:21] But usually to get to the size that mine was, 1.8 centimeters, it takes around approximately seven years, is what I’ve been told. So when I was actually diagnosed, something had been going on in my body for a while, and I’m very intuitive. I always have been. I knew something was wrong with me, but I couldn’t figure out what it was, and I went to a litany of doctors.
[00:01:47] Never… It was just kind of ridiculous. It actually started with food sensitivities. So it started in my gut and then… Which I had never had. I love food. I love cooking. And so that kind of sucked because I was suddenly gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, nut-free, egg-free, you name it. That was sort of the solution.
[00:02:09] And it actually, it did help quite a bit, but my life was very restrictive and it was, it caused a lot of stress. But long story short, I had something going on in my body. I had a lot of blood work done a lot of things scanned and whatnot. Nothing ever came up. It was just Well, you have these allergies now.”
[00:02:29] And then fast-forward, I had my first mammogram in 2020 when I was 40 years old prior to starting IVF which I think is pretty common. And basically I had that done. Everything said all clear. There was a lymph node identified where my tumor was later found, which I think is no coincidence, but who knows?
[00:02:55] And then fast-forward, I get pregnant with my daughter after undergoing IVF, in which they give you estrogen and progesterone. I have my daughter and then I… So I missed a couple mammograms there, the ’21, ’22, because I was either pregnant or breastfeeding. Then 2023, I had another mammogram and they s- again said all clear.
[00:03:20] Then in, then I started to feel a lump. I don’t remember exactly when it was, but my gynecologist reassured me everything was fine because she looked at my mammogram and I didn’t have really any family history. I’m young, active, otherwise healthy, and I just kept asking, saying, “Something’s wrong.
[00:03:42] Can we do some blood work?” she kept thinking, “Maybe it’s your thyroid.” Like, just all the usual And then the, the lump continued to get bigger, and it… I just kept touching it. It was weird. I kept noticing it, and then… But in the back of my head, I would say, “You’re fine. You’re fine.
[00:04:02] You have clear mammograms, and you’ve had all these blood tests done, and nothing has ever showed up.” So then it was this back and forth, and then finally I had a dream, a very disturbing, loud whisper of my own voice woke me up that said, “I have cancer.” And I just shot out of bed and woke up my husband.
[00:04:21] His mom had passed away a few years before this to stage four pancreatic cancer, so we weren’t completely We understood the general cancer progression, but not specifically breast cancer. So I think when he heard me say that, his response was, “You’re fine,” maybe because he just wanted me to be fine.
[00:04:42] I don’t know. But it was just, “You’re fine,” and I’m telling myself I’m fine. And then I basically… a month later, I said, “That’s it. I need to get in. I need to be seen.” And sure enough, it was cancer, and by the time they actually did a biopsy, diagnosed me, and did the mastectomy, it was stage three, grade two in five lymph nodes.
[00:05:07] Adam Walker: Ooh, wow.
[00:05:08] Katie Wasserman: Yeah.
[00:05:09] Adam Walker: So- … let… I hear, I think I hear a common thread in there and that’s that’s s- self-advocacy, right? And so let’s talk about the importance of self-advocacy. I think you had to push for the diagnostic mammogram and the ultrasound. Yeah. So, like, talk to us a little bit about that.
[00:05:28] Like what gave you the strength to do that and how did that go? Oh, man.
[00:05:35] Katie Wasserman: I kept seeing the number 11:11 everywhere, and it was the weirdest thing. I mean, it was everywhere. It was the dishwasher, the washing machine, my clock, my phone, and it was just this constant thing, and I kept thinking to myself, “What is going on?”
[00:05:50] And my mother-in-law had passed away. My grandma had passed away. One of my best friends had passed away. So I just felt like maybe I had s- a guardian angel that was trying to tell me something, but again, didn’t really know. But in the back of my head, I just had this… Something just kept pushing me.
[00:06:08] So just having this sort of lingering presence, I would say, a feeling like somebody was trying to tell me something, and then feeling this lump and after going through all these blood tests and whatever scans that weren’t the right scans, I just, I got to a point where I just was convinced something was wrong, and I needed to figure it out.
[00:06:30] I was scared. I also didn’t want to face it. There was definitely a part of me that delayed having a two-year-old. I’ll, I also have… So my bio- I have two biological kids and two step-kids, so total of four. But I just had a lot on my plate, and I was really scared, and then one day I just said, “I need to f- I just have to figure this out.
[00:06:51] I can’t let this go any longer.” So when I went in to do my mammogram, that’s when I wrote down on the piece of paper they ask you a bunch of questions, and one of them said, “Have you noticed anything different, any changes?” And I said, “Oh, yeah, there’s a lump.” And then as soon as I turned in the paperwork, they said, “We have to reschedule.
[00:07:11] There’s a lump, so now it’s diagnostic.” And that’s, like, four months it’s booked out four months. So that period of waiting was really horrible, but it just unfortunately happens a lot more than, than you want. And yeah, I did have to push for that, but I’m really glad I did because eventually it just got the ball rolling.
[00:07:33] Adam Walker: Yeah. That’s good. That’s g- I’m glad you did too. It’s it’s- Yeah … not always easy to push for things that you know are right, but you got to do it. Yeah … Now after your reconstruction you- had a fat grafting surgery. What made you decide to do that procedure and how was that experience overall?
[00:07:51] Katie Wasserman: Well, I had pretty significant rippling, and it’s partially just because I’m thin and I went with a bigger size implant than my previous size. So my, my surgeon explained to me that’s was definitely a potential for that happening, and it did happen. And it was pretty substantial actually. And then I went through radiation, which caused fibrosis on the irradiated side, so there’s some asymmetry that is still there.
[00:08:22] But the one option on the table was, well, we can do fat grafting, which sounded really good in theory. It really was far more painful and traumatizing than I expected it to be. But it did soften and kind of help with the contouring. It’s just that I didn’t have one specific area of fat reserves that they could take from, and so I think, like, that’s more of the ideal candidate, where you can just go in and you’re not disrupting or covering a lot of surface area like what she had to do with me.
[00:08:55] She had to go up and down the inner and outer part of my thighs, up and down my flanks and my abdomen, so it caused some pretty significant nerve damage and ner- neuropathy, which actually I didn’t get throughout ACT chemo. I managed to do all the techniques and bypass that as a side effect, but I did get it from fat grafting.
[00:09:19] Adam Walker: Okay.
[00:09:20] Katie Wasserman: Yeah.
[00:09:21] Adam Walker: That’s, That’s just tough. Now what did your support system look like? I mean, you’re a mom of four. You’ve got a lot of stuff go- I mean, you even said you were really busy earlier. I mean what was that like? What was the support system like?
[00:09:35] Katie Wasserman: Well, I have always been a people pleaser, and I’ve also been the type that doesn’t really like to ask for help.
[00:09:42] I’m an entrepreneur, and I was flipping houses at the time. I have a background in interior design and real estate. And so there was just a lot of stress between, I mean, fix and flips, they’re always stressful. And then you-
[00:09:56] Adam Walker: I imagine, yeah.
[00:09:58] Katie Wasserman: All these other components to, to my plate. And it, at first, it was extremely difficult to ask for help.
[00:10:07] I didn’t realize how, I don’t know, I guess, stubborn maybe I am in some ways, where I just, I like things done a certain way, and I wanted them done that way and I had to kind of just relinquish control a little bit, I guess. But once I did, and once I realized that I couldn’t continue the way I was going with my life, I really had no choice.
[00:10:29] I mean, I had to put my daughter, my two-year-old, in full-time care. Or I should say we should, not I should which was a big transition, but she immediately just took to it and started growing in ways that just made my heart so happy. But you know, I have a lot of friends that have really stepped up for me.
[00:10:51] My family is incredible, my husband. But it really just took me becoming vulnerable and asking for help before and a- and saying the type of help I needed. Because people want to help, and they want to send flowers But sometimes that’s not really exactly what you need help with. So it really pushed me out of my comfort zone, but it I had the best support system I could have ever asked for, honestly.
[00:11:19] Adam Walker: Glad to hear that. I like that you mentioned like flower- flowers are fi- it’s I always think of like- Yeah … casserole, casseroles and flowers. Like, you can only get so many of them, right? Yeah. So at some point you got to have some- something el- other types of support. So go ahead.
[00:11:32] Katie Wasserman: Well My sister started a Mealtrain for me- which is amazing. Mealtrain, that’s just… Is that a non-profit? Do you know?
[00:11:41] Adam Walker: I don’t know, actually. Yeah.
[00:11:44] Katie Wasserman: Well, it’s just super user-friendly because I later did it for somebody else, and-
[00:11:48] You can put all your weird allergies and food preferences on there.
[00:11:51] Because I was having a lot of anxiety about, well, people are going to cook for me, and I have such a restrictive diet, I … that, and so it actually, Mealtrain is great.
[00:12:04] Adam Walker: All right.
[00:12:04] Katie Wasserman: So.
[00:12:04] Adam Walker: That’s a good tip. That’s a good… I’ll take a look at that. Yeah. Appreciate you sharing that.
[00:12:08] Katie Wasserman: Yeah.
[00:12:08] Adam Walker: Now now we often talk, hear about exercise is good for you physically and mentally.
[00:12:14] Where, like, were you able to stay active during your treatment?
[00:12:18] Katie Wasserman: Yes. So I unfortunately had to back down from hot yoga, which is my absolute favorite thing. That was just too hard on my body during that peri- I mean, I was thrown into menopause overnight, as many of us are. So the hot flashes and just the he- my heat intolerance was pretty high initially.
[00:12:40] It’s gotten better, but had to stop the hot yoga. But I did walk pretty much every single day at least 10,000 miles, or 10,000 steps. 10,000 miles, my goodness.
[00:12:50] Adam Walker: That’s a, that’s impressive for anybody- … especially going through treatment. Wow. I mean- It means a lot … no, I mean, the steps. Like, just 10,000 steps is not easy to do, yeah. I got a smart watch, and that, it just became a goal of mine to do, and I would say 99% of the time I was able to achieve it, even days where I had the red devil. I was really worried on those days. But I had friends that I would walk with. I guess one of the things is that I stopped drinking alcohol and that was a big social hit for me You know, I’m young and like to have friends over, and like to cook and entertain and all the things.
[00:13:31] Katie Wasserman: And so I didn’t want to lose my friendships or feel like we just weren’t as close anymore. I didn’t want to just be, like, Cancer Katie over there. I can’t have fun anymore. So I started just walking, and I’d get my friends and we’d set up walks or pedicures, or walks and pedicures, but we would basically just walk.
[00:13:52] And so I stayed in touch with, I’d say, 10 to 15 people through walking. And then if I wasn’t with a friend, I would listen to a podcast, and I just, I learned so much by doing that, and I really looked forward to it. So it started as walking, and that was great, and then it evolved, and as I got through surgeries and would heal and whatnot, I got back into yoga, and I started roller skating recently.
[00:14:21] Adam Walker: Nice.
[00:14:21] Katie Wasserman: And, yeah. And strength training, just because of bone density concerns. So I absolutely love exercise.
[00:14:31] Adam Walker: That’s fantastic. I love that. I love that. And and listening to podcasts while you’re walking is highly encouraged, obviously, so as a-
[00:14:39] Katie Wasserman: Well, it is, including your podcast, and I have my favorites.
[00:14:42] I’ve just… I’ve learned so much. I… It’s it’s one of my favorite things to do now. I listen to podcasts in the car and if I’m on a walk, that’s usually what I do. That’s
[00:14:53] Adam Walker: fantastic. That’s fantastic. Now, I understand that you’ve documented your breast cancer journey on Instagram. So what made you decide to do that, and why is that important to you?
[00:15:04] Katie Wasserman: Well, when I first was diagnosed with cancer, I had no idea, but I didn’t know anything about it. I was absolutely terrified. I just started researching, and I was reading, I was getting books. I was just… I didn’t even know where to go. I looked a little bit on Instagram, but I didn’t- I just… It was all so foreign to me.
[00:15:26] And I came upon a book called Radical Remission, and it’s really interesting, and it’s true stories of people who have achieved radical remission written by Kelly Turner, who I think she got her PhD out of Harvard, and it’s basically she studies the commonalities between people who have achieved remission, and she com- came up with 10 different factors.
[00:15:51] And one of them was, I don’t remember her exact wording, but it was about, like, your social network or emotional, like getting rid of repressed emotions. There were several things that overlapped that to me was like, I need to put this out there. I need to be vulnerable. I need to be honest, authentic, and not only is it going to help me get it off my chest, because I had a tendency of bottling things up, the people-pleasing side just wanted to keep it in, and that actually has been proven that can make you sick in many ways.
[00:16:26] So it’s just an expression and an outlet, but then also it turned into so much more. It turned into… Breast cancer has affected so many parts of my life. It- I had to go through and detox my, not only my body, but my house, like getting rid of plastic and getting rid of chemicals and fragrances and all these things.
[00:16:51] And I had to change the way I eat because I really wasn’t actually eating in a good way. I thought I was, but I needed way more vegetables and fiber and protein in my diet. And so I had to I have a minor in nutrition, so that was, came easily for me to do the research in that. But there’s, it affected so many things in my life just from the way I looked, the way I dressed, the chemicals, the, my house, my, you name it.
[00:17:23] And so that sort of all I’ve been using Instagram as a method of communicating that, as well as inspiring, hopefully, people that just to still have fun and live your life and get out there, be creative, exercise. So I actually have people from all over the world that will send me messages and ask for tips and Just share their stories
[00:17:48] Adam Walker: I love that.
[00:17:49] I love that. And if one of our listeners wants to find you on Instagram, how would they do that?
[00:17:54] Katie Wasserman: Oh, yeah. It’s mastectomybarbie, so it’s pretty easy to remember. I thought it was just a clever… Something that’s easy to remember and kind of just, I don’t know, provokes curiosity, so-
[00:18:06] Adam Walker: Sure.
[00:18:06] Katie Wasserman: That was how I came up with that.
[00:18:08] Adam Walker: All right. It’s good branding right there. I like it. I like it. Okay.
[00:18:11] Katie Wasserman: Yeah. I don’t think Barbie has a mastectomy Barbie, and they should. No, certainly not that I know of, so yeah. Okay. Yeah. Now now a large part of your journey has come in survivorship, focusing on thriving instead of just surviving.
[00:18:27] Adam Walker: So talk to me about- Yeah … The fears and emotions that you’ve had to work through post-treatment and how you’ve done
[00:18:32] Katie Wasserman: that.
[00:18:32] Well, it’s interesting because if I look back at mastectomybarbie, I started posting pretty much right after I got diagnosed through the entire, my, all of my active treatment, and then I’ve continued on.
[00:18:46] And at one point I thought to myself, “Well, now all I’m doing is posting, like, happy pictures, and I wonder, like, are are people going to still want to know about this?” Because I’m not posting, like medical procedures or getting chemo or things like… It’s just been really interesting, the evolution emotionally, because I think initially people wanted to support me, and they maybe felt sorry for me, or they just felt like, “We really need to be there for her,” or something.
[00:19:17] But then as I’ve gone through that, and which was amazing to have the support and to, to go through and have all of that, but I’ve come out a better version of myself. I really and truly have. It’s almost like I feel like I’m a butterfly or something who’s spread her wings, and I’m living this life that is truly…
[00:19:38] It’s so much deeper, more fulfilling, and has forced me to answer a lot of hard questions and just where I want to go in life. And so I s- I really, truly strive for joy on a daily basis, and I think that’s kind of becoming my new mission in life in a way.
[00:20:04] Adam Walker: Love that. A strive for joy on a daily basis.
[00:20:07] That’s… I love that. Beautiful. Okay.
[00:20:11] Katie Wasserman: Well and it’s kind of silly because I was listening to a podcast, and he said, somebody told, said that you should l- you should have a sense of awe for at least one minute a day. And even if that is just literally s- looking at the clouds and, or looking at a flower and looking at the details of a flower, that you can get a sense of awe in one minute by doing that, and it’s so true.
[00:20:36] Adam Walker: Yeah. I love that. That’s a great idea. All right, Katie, final question for you. What final advice do you have for our listeners?
[00:20:47] Katie Wasserman: Well, I assume everyone listening probably has either had breast cancer or knows somebody who’s had breast cancer, and so I… That might not be true, but the majority of them, unless you just have a lot of friends that listen to you.
[00:21:02] Adam Walker: No, I think you’re probably accurate there.
[00:21:05] Katie Wasserman: I mean, I would say that for me, I feel like I had sort of the worst in the sense of I had ACT chemo, radiation, all of it. I’ve had, I had my ovaries removed. I’m on endocrine therapy for 10 years. I’m on Verzenio. I mean I’ve had the whole kitchen sink.
[00:21:23] And- Yeah … I’m doing amazing, and I was absolutely terrified going into this because I didn’t know. I didn’t know what I’d look like. I mean, I had horrible pictures in my head of what I was going to look like, and that the li- my life was over. And I just feel that you can do this. You can come out a better version.
[00:21:44] Yeah, there’s going to be some really hard crappy days, for sure. But if you dig deep, you really find your voice, and you listen to your, listen to yourself, listen to your intuition, and if you need to make some changes in your l- in your life, do it. I mean, there’s just, there’s so many things that can bring you to a wonderful life, and I feel like I’m living proof, and I hope that I can help other women feel the same way.
[00:22:16] Adam Walker: I love that. I think people have more strength to to endure and to make changes, I think than we give ourselves credit for, right? And I think you- Yeah … I think you’ve more than proven that in this conversation, so. Yeah.
[00:22:31] Katie Wasserman: Yeah. I agree.
[00:22:32] Adam Walker: Yeah. Well, Katie I appreciate you sharing your story a- and just giving us some inspiration today.
[00:22:39] Thank you so much for joining us on the show.
[00:22:41] Katie Wasserman: Thanks for having me.
[00:22:46] Adam Walker: Thanks for listening to Real Pink, a weekly podcast by Susan G. Komen. For more episodes, visit realpink.komen.org, and for more on breast cancer, visit komen.org. Make sure to check out @susangkomen on social media. I’m your host, Adam. You can find me on Twitter @ajwalker or on my blog, adamjwalker.com.