Real Talk About Breast Cancer

[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. This is Real Talk, a podcast conversation where we’re digging deep into breast cancer and the realities patients and survivors…

[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] Support for The Real Pink Podcast comes from Menarini Stemline. No two breast cancers are the same, and researchers…

We still have a long way to go to conquer breast cancer, but we have made some big advances that are saving lives and making a difference. A new modeling study has recently published that the mortality rate for U.S. women with breast cancer decreased an estimated 58 percent between 1975 and 2019. Joining us on today’s show is Jennifer Caswell-Jin, MD who is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Standford Medicine, a former Komen grantee specializing in breast cancer care and research and a lead author on the study that published these findings. Dr. Caswell-Jin will help us understand why the mortality rate has gone down, the barriers that exist in getting the rate down further and what the future of breast cancer advancement looks like from her perspective.

March is Women’s History Month so it’s fitting that we talk about how Susan G. Komen started off making history and continues to make history as an organization dedicated to achieving health equity. At its inception in 1982, Komen started as a health equity organization dedicated to supporting women, at a time when even saying the word “breast” was taboo and women’s health was simply not centered. Since then, Komen has doubled down on its health equity focus and works to advance and ultimately achieve health equity for historically marginalized or underrepresented communities. Joining us today is Cati Diamond Stone, vice president of community health at Komen to talk about Komen’s origin story and how that work continues today.

1 in 5 women who have had breast cancer surgery and treatment are at risk for developing a potentially detrimental side effect of breast cancer – breast cancer related lymphedema— a condition in which lymphatic fluid gets trapped in lymph vessels and causes chronic arm swelling leading to reduced quality of life for many. We are thrilled to be joined today by two guests to help educate us on this topic: Dr. Steven Chen, a practicing surgeon, Chief Medical Officer at Impedimed, and past president of American Society of Breast Surgeons and Kathy Lahr, a patient advocate who will be sharing her personal experience with breast cancer related lymphedema.

Starting treatment for breast cancer can be overwhelming and confusing and you might feel scared or alone. Often, hearing from people who have been diagnosed themselves can help provide a sense of safety and support. Amanda Butler was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer at the age of 32, while living a life dedicated to health and fitness as a personal trainer, group fitness instructor and on-camera trainer for large platforms like Amazon and POPSUGAR. Since her diagnosis, Amanda has been sharing details of her cancer journey online to help inspire, support and provide resources to others who are also going through cancer. She’s joining us today share some of her wisdom and tangible advice on things that have helped her get through treatment.