[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.
[00:00:17] Breast cancer can be one of the toughest experiences anyone can face, but it can also be a transformative journey. While both the physical and emotional challenges are daunting, the path to healing offers a chance to rediscover resilience and joy in unexpected ways. Today we’re excited to welcome Aastha Saggar, a stage three breast cancer survivor, and the founder of Still Strength Wellness, where she helps survivors, patients and caregivers reclaim peace, strength, and purpose.
[00:00:47] Aastha believes that rebuilding energy and vitality is not just possible. It can be a beautiful new beginning. Get ready to be inspired as she shares her personal story along with practical strategies that will help to empower our listeners to not only survive, but thrive. Aastha, welcome to the show.
[00:01:07] Aastha Saggar: Thanks so much for having me.
[00:01:10] Adam Walker: I’m looking forward to some inspiration. So this is going to be great. I appreciate what you’re doing, appreciate the energy that you’re bringing to the table here. So let’s start with your breast cancer story. How did you know something was wrong, and what did treatment look like for you?
[00:01:27] Aastha Saggar: Yeah, so actually I didn’t know something was wrong. I felt like everything was okay. I actually thought I was in the best health of my life because I had just gotten super into exercising, had really gotten my diet down. That felt really good for me. And while I was on vacation in Denver with my family, actually I was running on a treadmill just like I would, and I felt a muscle strain in my chest.
[00:01:55] I thought nothing of it, had my entire vacation happen, came back home and found it kind of odd that the strain was still there. And I remember thinking, all right, it’s fine. It’ll pass. But my now husband actually told me that I should go get it checked out. And we almost had a mini argument because I was like, there’s no need.
[00:02:15] It’s just a strain. Like I work out all the time, this is normal. But he kind of forced me to go to the doctor and get it checked out. So I go to my PCP, and at this time we all have masks on, and as she’s checking, I still can see, even though she has a mask on that something is wrong, her eyes widen. She tells me that I need to go to a different doctor immediately and get things checked out.
[00:02:42] So I drive 30 minutes across town to get things checked out. And I get an ultrasound and I go through the mammogram process, and after that I have this doctor come in and start spitting out a lot of information, and I still have no clue what’s going on because I’m 24 years old. Of course, my head’s not going anywhere, and I’m just very confused why a muscle strain has led to this.
[00:03:11] And I just very directly ask him, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Can you please explain to me what you’re saying and what the best case scenario is? And he was so blunt at the time and said, I think you have breast cancer, actually. And I remember being shocked because I’m like, I’m 24 years old, I just came in for a muscle strain.
[00:03:31] What just happened? And so I go home, talk to my husband about it. Of course, we’re just in complete shock. I come in two days later to get the biopsy done and then two days after that I found out that it’s stage three breast cancer.
[00:03:48] Adam Walker: So wait, so what was the timeline from your first doctor’s visit to knowing that you have stage three?
[00:03:56] I mean did I just hear it correctly that it was like less than a week? Is that right?
[00:04:00] Aastha Saggar: Yes, it was less than a week. They did test so quickly, and usually things don’t go that quick. Even when I was talking to my PCP about it, who was the one who caught it, she was like, you can wait to see an oncologist.
[00:04:12] But there was no way that was going to happen. I was just like, this is not happening on my watch. I’m going to get the first appointment I can find. And so I had several doctor’s appointments in one week and found out the stage like very quickly.
[00:04:25] Adam Walker: Wow, that is remark… I don’t know that I’ve ever heard of somebody’s progression happening that fast, like getting through the system that quickly.
[00:04:31] That’s amazing. Now what was it like being a young woman? I think you said you were 24 and being diagnosed with breast cancer.
[00:04:42] Aastha Saggar: I feel like it had its pros and cons, I will say. I’ll start with the pros. The pros that I feel like I felt was that because I was younger and I had more energy, I think I was able to respond to treatment maybe in a better way because I had more energy and because I was already active and the past few years before that I, it allowed me to still continue being active throughout my treatments.
[00:05:11] And I think that really helped. And so I think being young in that sense was really helpful. And then on the other end, because I was so young and just the type of breast cancer I had was HER2 positive, I did have to be put into chemical menopause. And so being 24, 4 years old and then suddenly having hot flashes and suddenly having weight gain and just having all these hormonal changes, that was super difficult.
[00:05:37] Along with just a fear that comes with it of, because I’m so young, there’s a higher chance of recurrence. There’s a higher chance that like all these things can maybe not work out and I can get it again. I think that it kind of was a mixed bag where there was pros and there were cons with it. But overall, honestly, when I think about it, I am really glad that it, I got it younger just because I feel like it allowed me to just change my lifestyle so much.
[00:06:01] It helped me understand myself better, find my inner strength, my inner resilience, so that I could do something about it now and help others do the same as well.
[00:06:10] Adam Walker: Yeah I would imagine there’s a good deal of, I mean, maturing might not be the right word, but like that like self evolving or self-reflection that happens like almost instantly.
[00:06:22] Like it’s it, I would imagine it’s almost like you, you got a decade and a half worth of experience in a very truncated period of time. Right. I guess that’s what I’m trying to say.
[00:06:29] Aastha Saggar: Exactly. Yeah. I feel like it really kind of gave me a lot of wisdom throughout it. So even I think I forget my age all the time because of it.
[00:06:37] So I absolutely agree.
[00:06:39] Adam Walker: Yeah. Yeah. The, yeah, gaining wisdom that, that’s what I was trying, that I think that’s the, that’s what I was trying to hit on, is like you gain so much perspective, it’s so much wisdom in such a short period of time as opposed to any other method of doing that, which is ba which is really interesting.
[00:06:53] Now, what helped you most as you were going through treatment?
[00:06:58] Aastha Saggar: Yeah, so there was a few different things, but I think the first and foremost would be being present. The first few months of chemotherapy, when I was going through it, I remember daily struggling. So although I did have a positive mindset when I got diagnosed and in the beginning, I feel like I really started struggling when chemotherapy actually started just because of the side effects.
[00:07:25] There was so much fatigue, so much nausea, so much vomiting, just all around just feeling truly terrible that I think it was very unexpected how bad I would feel that I was like, I don’t know if I even want to continue getting chemotherapy done. Like I remember on a very low night that I told my husband like, I don’t know if this is worth it.
[00:07:46] This is just, this is honestly taking away so much of like my quality of life. I don’t know if I want to go through this. I think that the thing that helped me most was this quote that I’ve heard from Will Smith actually, where he talked about how when he was a kid, his like father made him build this wall and he just thought it was crazy.
[00:08:09] He’s there’s no way I can build this wall. Like, how is that possible? And what helped him most was just lay one brick at a time as perfectly as you can, and then lay the next one. And so for me throughout, it was just brick by brick. And so I just try to take everything moment by moment, day by day until the five months actually went through much faster than I thought.
[00:08:32] And so the first two months, I feel like I was just thinking about how I would possibly even make it through the next day versus the last three months where I was like, Hey, what if I just take it day by day, brick by brick. When I did it, I realized that the last three months went so quickly and I was shocked at how much better I felt and how good I felt.
[00:08:51] And so I think that was honestly like my secret power at that time where I was like, whoa, like presence is so such a new like fad. No one knows about it. I remember thinking, I like, kind of like stumbled on this secret and I feel like it really helps throughout that.
[00:09:07] Adam Walker: Yeah. Yeah. You did. I mean, in some ways you did stumble on the secret, you know, I mean, moment by moment is, There’s a lot of power in that. What role did your healthcare team, your community, and your loved ones play in your journey, and how did they contribute to your healing?
[00:09:24] Aastha Saggar: I feel like they played such a big part in it, so I feel like I was very lucky. Because I was young, I was still on my dad’s insurance, and so I feel like I got really good care and that was one thing that I didn’t have to think too much about.
[00:09:41] And if it happened a year later, I would not have been on his insurance. So the timing was just incredible in that way. But I did have a really good care team. Like I said, I got diagnosed super quickly, got all my test results super quickly, and so I was really lucky to have an amazing care team. I think that bond that you end up having with your care team, especially your oncologist that you’re seeing so often, I think it can set a really big tone because you’re just being so vulnerable, so raw with this person.
[00:10:08] And so when you have that like a good relationship with them, it really makes all the difference in the world. And so that was super helpful. I was also really lucky that I, my husband actually moved in with me four days before I got diagnosed, and that was completely accidental. It was just, we both had a gut feeling that we should move in together and it was just incredible how that happened as well.
[00:10:32] And his family lived in Chicago as well, so they were able to kind of provide as much help. My parents would fly in and take turns taking care of me, and so there was just so much support. It was a very incredible thing. But in addition to that, I actually learned a lot. I remember that I was actually struggling in the first month because I felt like my closest friends who knew about it were not reaching out to me as much as maybe they should have in something like this serious.
[00:11:01] And it actually helped me discover that the reason they weren’t reaching out was because I was, I kept telling them that I was okay, even though I wasn’t okay. And so when I realized, oh, like I’m not actually being vulnerable or even letting them in, I’m actually the ones blocking them out. It helped me finally kind of drop that wall down, be super vulnerable, let them know I was struggling, and it was beautiful to see how that community came together once I did that.
[00:11:26] So just to lessons in vulnerability and just having all that love around me made all the difference in the world.
[00:11:33] Adam Walker: I mean, there’s a lot of power in vulnerability, and I think people underestimate that very often. And it’s hard, right? It’s hard, but I’m glad that you got that experience.
[00:11:44] And we’ve kind of mentioned, you know, you, you gaining wisdom. You obviously learned a lot through your journey, and I understand now you strive to share that with others. So tell us about that and why that’s important to you.
[00:11:59] Aastha Saggar: Yeah, so like I said, my care team was amazing and I had such an amazing support system, but I still struggled so much, and I feel like that there’s a lot to be said about that because when I would look up things online, whether that was Google or Reddit, and I was looking for advice to see that if anybody else had gone through what I had gone through at such a young age, it was really amazing for me to see that so many people
[00:12:26] said that, especially during chemotherapy, that just to take some medications and to kind of stay knocked out until the next session, it was like this very like survival mode kind of answer of, you know, I just had to just, you know, just take as many medications as possible, sleep as much as possible, and just wait till my next session.
[00:12:47] And that was very hard for me to read. I was like, oh, I don’t want my life to be like this. Even if it’s just for a couple of months. Like I just, that’s not something I’m okay doing. And so I feel like because of that, I want to make sure other people have the support and know that they actually are stronger and more resilient than they think.
[00:13:11] And I think there’s so many incredible people out there who actually have learned that from their own journeys. It’s it makes my heart full just to know that there’s so many people who do know that. But it also breaks my heart that there’s so many people who don’t know that there are things that can make them feel better.
[00:13:25] And so I think outside of the healthcare system, there’s so many different things that can be done to feel better during your journey. And I just want people to feel that because they’re not different than I am. Right? Just like I had a good experience during mine and other people can as well. And that’s not to take away from how difficult the journey was.
[00:13:42] It’s still by far the hardest thing I’ve ever had to go through. There’s ways to make it easier. There’s ways to also just feel stronger and more resilient, and I just want other people to also experience what I did.
[00:13:54] Adam Walker: Yeah. I love that. Well, so let’s talk about some of those ways, like what are some steps our listeners can take to help them rebuild energy, both physically and mentally after treatment?
[00:14:06] Aastha Saggar: Yeah, so the things that I ended up doing was because I was already exercising before, I remember just sit telling myself, Hey, you did it before. See what it feels like to do it even for just five minutes. And so I started doing exercises on days where I genuinely thought I could not even make it out of bed.
[00:14:25] And when it was interesting because you think that because you’re so tired, you should rest. You shouldn’t get up and you shouldn’t move. But it was actually the movement piece that actually gave me the energy. And so. That was the only thing that combated fatigue was movement. And so I started moving and I think that’s an incredible resource.
[00:14:44] I started focusing on nutrition, so I’ve been raised as a vegetarian, but I started cutting out some dairy products. I started focusing on also just more whole foods, honestly, and I saw my energy change from that as well. I saw myself also sit more in silence, whether that was meditation, whether that was just reading a book, whether that was just sitting in nature and just observing everything around me.
[00:15:10] It was incredible how much power and strength I felt from that. And so those three things, meditation, sitting in silence, or moving or taking care of your body nutritionally, I feel like those three things really made all the difference, and I think that it would help anybody. What’s interesting is that I just did these things out of kind of what I learned and what I thought would be best because I was a health coach.
[00:15:36] But I looked into it after and I was like, oh, there is research that backs all of this up. Like these are things that have been proven to work to help energy levels. And so it was really cool to see my experience in science kind of come together in that way.
[00:15:52] Adam Walker: I love that. I love that. And I agree those are all so important for all of us and especially people that are really struggling through something.
[00:15:59] What does vitality mean to you and how can our listeners work towards achieving it?
[00:16:08] Aastha Saggar: For me, vitality includes just the mental, the physical, the emotional, the spiritual being in alignment. So I feel like when one piece of the puzzle is like missing, I think that it kind of throws things off balance a little and it doesn’t allow for that full picture of vitality.
[00:16:28] And so for example, if I feel really good physically, but I’m not feeling the strongest emotionally, I think that it just shows me where I need to put the effort in to really feel like my full and best self and live the most vibrant life that I possibly can. In addition to that, I think it also has to do with just the mentality of actually appreciating what’s going on.
[00:16:52] So not just moving your body, but appreciating everything that your body does for you. Not just eating foods because you heard that it’s a good thing to eat, but like truly being so thankful for your body that you’re like, oh, I want to treat it well. I think that really having that gratitude, that appreciation really kind of creates that abundant mentality, that abundant lifestyle.
[00:17:15] And I think that really kind of showcases truly having a vitality filled life.
[00:17:22] Adam Walker: Love that. Love that. Now let’s talk about survivorship for a minute. It can look different for different people. What do you think are the most important factors to focus on to enhance quality of life in survivorship?
[00:17:39] Aastha Saggar: So I feel like survivorship looks so different, just like you said, and I think it depends on the cancer type. I think it depends on just how our bodies respond to it. And so I think first and foremost is making sure that we’re processing what happened so that we can not just go back into survival mode so that we don’t just go back rushing into trying to make things normal again, but actually taking the time to process and to heal.
[00:18:06] And then once we do that and we know what’s going on, then actually working on the things that feel best and still, while also still allowing there to be moments of silence. The one thing I will say is that when treatment is happening, our bodies are naturally forcing us to slow down, and so we are taking a lot of time to just be and to be present.
[00:18:28] I think it’s very easy when you go into survivorship to try to kind of rush back into things to try to live life like you did before, and I think that taking a second to still have stillness in whatever way that looks can make such a big difference in continuing that healing to understand what your body needs
[00:18:45] now, because our body’s changed so much, whether it’s free treatment during treatment, post-treatment, our bodies are always changing and asking for different things. So really allowing ourselves to sit with it, be silent, and see what we need to do now, I think is the most important thing in making sure that we’re listening to our bodies and having that quality of life.
[00:19:06] Adam Walker: I like that. Sit with it and be silent. And that’s not easy to do, but I agree with you. It was just so, so important and so helpful. All right, last question. I wonder if you have any final advice for our listeners, maybe for someone that’s currently going through treatment or recently finished treatment.
[00:19:24] Maybe they feel like they’re never going to be, or they’re maybe they feel like they’re never going to feel like themselves again. What? What’s your advice to them?
[00:19:33] Aastha Saggar: Honestly, I think it’s that maybe we shouldn’t feel like how we have felt, and maybe the point isn’t to go backwards and feel like what we used feel.
[00:19:45] I think that during this journey, we’re learning a lot. Our bodies are teaching us a lot. Once again, we’re finding out our inner resilience, our inner strength, and I think when all those changes happen, it’s important to meet ourselves where we’re actually at. And so, I know it’s, there’s this common thing of wanting to just be back to how it used to be, which is fair because it’s safe and it’s comfortable.
[00:20:10] But I think with all these new lessons, I think it’s okay to meet yourself where you’re at and do what you need to do then. I think if I had not gone through my journey, I would be in a very different boat than I am now, and I’m so grateful for the person I’ve become. And so I think it’s because I let myself just be that person, learn the new lessons, and not strive to be who I used to be, but be who I want to be now with all the lessons that I’ve learned, with all that, what my body has gone through.
[00:20:39] And so I think it’s just meeting yourself where you’re at and trying to move forward versus moving backwards.
[00:20:47] Adam Walker: I love that. Meeting yourself where you’re at and trying to move forward. That’s beautiful. That’s be, I love your perspective a lot of wisdom in it. I really appreciate it. This has been great.
[00:20:57] Thank you for bringing us into your journey. Thank you for sharing your journey with us in this wisdom with us. And thank you for joining us on the show today.
[00:21:06] Aastha Saggar: Thanks so much for having me. This is amazing.
[00:21:09] Adam Walker: If our listeners want to find you online, learn more about what you do, get some more wisdom, how would they do that?
[00:21:16] Aastha Saggar: They can find me on my website www.stillstrengthwellness.com, or they can find me on Instagram with the same handle, @stillStrengthWellness, or my first and last name, which is Aastha Saggar.
[00:21:29] Adam Walker: Love it. Thanks so much.
[00:21:31] Aastha Saggar: Thank you.
[00:21:33] Adam Walker: To answer the question of what’s next for breast cancer patients, Susan G Komen is proud to present the Breast Cancer Breakthrough Series, a virtual, shareable and educational series in partnership with industry experts, scientists from academic institutions, and patient advocates
[00:21:50] who directly speak to recent clinical research findings and new treatments? This series focuses on the new science and technologies that are close to becoming available to patients. Thank you to AstraZeneca, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, and Relay Therapeutics for their support of the Breast Cancer Breakthrough series.
[00:22:13] Thanks for listening to Real Pink, a weekly podcast by Susan G Komen. For more episodes, visit real pink.Komen.org. And for more on breast cancer, visit Komen.org. Make sure to check out at Susan G Komen on social media. I’m your host, Adam. You can find me on Twitter at AJ Walker or on my blog adam j walker.com.