Breast Cancer Conversations is a podcast produced by Survivingbreastcancer.org where we inject positivity into the very fabric of a breast cancer diagnosis. Breast Cancer Conversations provides education, and inspiration, and offers hope. You will hear stories from those diagnosed with breast cancer, interviews with medical professionals, and thought-leadership emerging from the oncology field. Welcome to our breast cancer community! Welcome to the conversation.
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310. Surviving Cancer Is Only the Beginning: How to Process What Comes After
Love the podcast? Send us a text! What happens emotionally after you've spent months—or years—focused on simply surviving cancer? Treatment may end. Scans may look good. Life may begin moving forward again. But that doesn't necessarily mean you've processed what happened to you. In this episode of Breast Cancer Conversations , Laura Carfang sits down with visual artist, therapeutic arts…
309. Radiation for Metastatic Breast Cancer: Brain, Liver, and Bone Mets
Love the podcast? Send us a text! Listen to hear three very different perspectives on what radiation for metastatic breast cancer can really look like and what these women want others to know before starting treatment. Radiation can play a very different role in metastatic breast cancer than it does in early-stage disease. It may be used to treat a specific metastatic site, help control cancer in…
308. Can a Blood Test Detect Breast Cancer Recurrence? Two Patients Share Their Signatera Experience
Love the podcast? Send us a text! What if a blood test could detect signs of breast cancer at the molecular level? Circulating tumor DNA, or ctDNA , is generating growing interest among people diagnosed with breast cancer, particularly those wondering about recurrence, treatment response, and what may be happening in the body before something appears on conventional imaging. One test you may have…
307. What Long-Term Living with Metastatic Breast Cancer Really Looks Like
Love the podcast? Send us a text! What does life really look like five—or even ten—years after a metastatic breast cancer diagnosis? For many people, the initial diagnosis is filled with uncertainty, fear, and countless unanswered questions. But thanks to advances in treatment, more people are living longer with metastatic breast cancer than ever before, and with that comes an important…
306. Can Breathwork & Ayurveda Support Healing After Breast Cancer? With Brett Aldrich
Love the podcast? Send us a text! Somewhere between the diagnosis and the last appointment, most of us stopped breathing all the way down. Not on purpose. The body braces, the jaw clenches, the shoulders come up — and then treatment ends, everyone tells you congratulations, and nobody mentions that your nervous system never got the memo that the emergency is over. In this episode, host Laura…
305. Palliative Care Isn't Hospice: Whole-Person Support at Every Stage of Breast Cancer
Love the podcast? Send us a text! When you're living with breast cancer, the medical team treats the cancer — but who takes care of everything else? The fear that won't quiet down at 2 a.m. The diarrhea you're not sure is "bad enough" to call about. The FMLA paperwork, the school pickup, the light bill, the strange grief that shows up right when everyone expects you to feel grateful. In this…
304. Palliative Care Is Not Giving Up: Patients Living With MBC Share What It Really Means
Love the podcast? Send us a text! Palliative care is one of the most misunderstood parts of cancer care. Many people hear the term and think it means hospice, end-of-life care, or giving up. But palliative care, also called supportive care, can be offered alongside active cancer treatment and is focused on improving quality of life. In this episode of Breast Cancer Conversations, we hear from…
303. Clinical Trials Aren't a Last Resort: What Every Breast Cancer Patient Should Know | Dr. Ada Waks
Love the podcast? Send us a text! When many people hear the words "clinical trial," they immediately think of a last resort. But that's one of the biggest misconceptions in breast cancer care. In this episode of Breast Cancer Conversations , host Laura Carfang sits down with Dr. Ada Waks , breast medical oncologist and clinical investigator at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, to demystify clinical…
302. Breast Cancer and Fertility: What Every Young Patient Deserves to Know with Kara Bendle
Love the podcast? Send us a text! When you're diagnosed with breast cancer, your first thought is often survival. But what about everything that comes after? For many young adults diagnosed with breast cancer, questions about fertility, family planning, hormone health, identity, and future possibilities quickly become part of the conversation. Yet too many patients never learn about their options…
301. Why Are Women Still Waiting Months for Breast Cancer Answers? With Dr. Ryan Polselli
Love the podcast? Send us a text! Getting a mammogram should not feel complicated. Yet many women face delays, confusion, long wait times, and unanswered questions when navigating breast cancer screening and follow-up care. In this episode of Breast Cancer Conversations, Laura Carfang and William Laferriere sit down with Dr. Ryan Polselli, radiologist, entrepreneur, and founder of Mammolink, a…
300. The Club Nobody Wants to Join And the Community That Changed Everything
Love the podcast? Send us a text! What happens when breast cancer survivors and thrivers come together to celebrate 300 episodes of Breast Cancer Conversations? In this special milestone episode, host Laura Carfang welcomes members of the SurvivingBreastCancer.org community for an honest, heartfelt discussion about diagnosis, treatment, survivorship, metastatic breast cancer, advocacy, and finding…
299. The Messy Middle of Breast Cancer: Chemo, Surgery, Side Effects, and Survivorship with Jessica Thomas
Love the podcast? Send us a text! What happens when you give yourself one year to “get through breast cancer” — only to realize that the timeline is much longer and more complicated than you imagined? In this episode of Breast Cancer Conversations , I’m joined by Jessica Thomas, who was diagnosed with ER/PR-positive, stage 2B breast cancer with lymph node involvement. After finding a lump herself,…