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Test Those Breasts ™️
This podcast by Jamie Vaughn is a deep-dive discussion on a myriad of breast cancer topics, such as early detection, the initial shock of diagnosis, testing/scans, treatment, loss of hair, caregiving, surgery, emotional support, and advocacy.
These episodes will include breast cancer survivors, thrivers, caregivers, surgeons, oncologists, therapists, and other specialists who can speak to many different topics.
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor and not all information in this podcast comes from qualified health care providers, therefore does not constitute medical advice. For personalized medical advice, you should reach out to one of the qualified healthcare providers interviewed on this podcast and/or seek medical advice from your own providers.
Test Those Breasts ™️
Episode 67: Thriving Beyond Cancer: Brynn Barale's Holistic Health Blueprint
How did a breast cancer diagnosis at age 26 transform Brynn Barale from a driven workaholic into a beacon of holistic health and empowerment? Join us as we chat with Brynn, a registered nurse and holistic health coach, who discovered her cancer through a simple itchy lump. Her story is both inspiring and educational, offering insights into her Life Beyond Program program, a specialized blueprint designed to help breast cancer survivors achieve sustainable weight loss and holistic transformation.
Coach Brynn passionately shares the indispensable role of holistic care during and after cancer treatment. We'll unpack the profound impacts of diet, mental health, and physical activity on overall well-being, and highlight the often-overlooked emotional toll that cancer brings. Listen to personal stories of resilience, the dynamics of caregiving within relationships, and the critical need for continued support post-treatment to prevent depression. This episode is a heartfelt exploration of how a strong support system and a comprehensive approach to health can make all the difference.
Empowerment is a recurring theme as we discuss how Bryn helps survivors lose weight without restrictive dieting, enhancing their strength and confidence. We challenge the misconception that only unhealthy lifestyles lead to cancer and emphasize the importance of personal advocacy in breast health. Brynn's story of persistence and early detection serves as a powerful reminder to listen to our bodies. Tune in to discover how nourishing your body with the right foods, being your own health advocate, and having a supportive healthcare team can lead to a fulfilling life post-cancer.
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I am not a doctor and not all information in this podcast comes from qualified healthcare providers, therefore may not constitute medical advice. For personalized medical advice, you should reach out to one of the qualified healthcare providers interviewed on this podcast and/or seek medical advice from your own providers .
Hello friends, welcome back to the Test those Breasts podcast. I am your host, jamie Vaughn. I'm a retired teacher of 20 years and a breast cancer thriver turned staunch, unapologetic, loud supporter and advocate for others, bringing education and awareness through a myriad of medical experts, therapists, caregivers and other survivors. A breast cancer diagnosis is incredibly overwhelming, with the mounds of information out there, and other survivors A breast cancer diagnosis is incredibly overwhelming, with the mounds of information out there, especially on Dr Google. I get it. I'm not a doctor and I know how important it is to uncover accurate information, which is my ongoing mission through my nonprofit. The podcast includes personal stories and opinions from breast cancer survivors and professional physicians, providing the most up-to-date information. At the time of recording Evidence, research and practices are always changing, so please check the date of the recording and always refer to your medical professionals for the most up-to-date information. I hope you find this podcast a source of inspiration and support from my guests. Their contact information is in the show notes, so please feel free to reach out to them. We have an enormous breast cancer community ready to support you in so many ways. Now let's listen to the next episode of Test those Breasts. Hey, hey, friends, welcome back to this episode of Test those Breasts. I am your host, jamie Vaughn, and today I am so excited to have my new breasty on my show, coach Bryn Burrell.
Speaker 1:Bryn is a registered nurse, holistic health coach and 17-year breast cancer thriver. She was diagnosed with stage 1 ERPR positive HER2 negative breast cancer when she was 26 years old. She is here today to share her story about the struggles of her life with breast cancer and also to share tips on how she empowers breast cancer survivors to lose weight without dieting. Brynn has been a registered nurse for 13 years with a strong expertise in women's health. She combines this clinical, evidence-based background with her health coaching expertise to focus on helping breast cancer survivors lose weight, be more confident and live a kick-ass life after cancer. Her Life Beyond program is a blueprint for weight loss and transformation after breast cancer. Brynn, thank you so much for being here. It's so good to see you, and thank you for putting up with my dogs. In the background I've got two German shepherds who just are so loud, but anyway, I just am really happy that you're here. How are you?
Speaker 2:Good, and thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here. I have a snoozing dog at my feet as well, so we'll see what happens.
Speaker 1:You know it is what it is. I feel like when COVID hit, you know, all of us were working from home and we had our dog sitting at our feet and all the things, and I just feel like sometimes people take podcasting a little bit too seriously and don't really remember that we're all human and we all live with other people. So it's not a big deal. To me, this is all about conversation about breast cancer and how we can help others out there, help them advocate for themselves and empower them to be someone who can get through cancer as best that they can. So, yeah, thanks. So I want our audience to know more about Brynn. But first of all, can you tell us, because how old are you now? 44. Okay, so you were diagnosed when you were 26. Is there a little glimpse that you can give to us that you remember who Brynn was before breast cancer? That might be hard to do, I mean. Yeah.
Speaker 2:So I'm going to try not to get emotional, but if I would describe myself before breast cancer, I mean I was relatively carefree, but I was also very driven and not saying that I'm not driven now, but it was a different drive. It was more to like do the right things, right, oh, go to college, get your master's degree. At that time I was working in public accounting, so it was get your master's degree, sit for the CPA exam and do the right things, because that's what you're supposed to do. So if I had to say anything, I feel like I was very hard on myself before breast cancer. In a way, I feel like I'm living in reverse the older I'm getting, the more carefree I'm getting, and definitely life after cancer teaches you to really pay attention to the shit that really matters, right, right.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, that's so interesting because you know not a lot of people that usually everybody's doing it the other way, right? Well, I mean, I know a lot of young 20 something year olds who work their tail off to get to the place that they want to be and they just work so hard for all their lives. I mean, I've worked hard all my life. I was super, super driven, too busy I guess, had too many things on my plate. My husband would tell you that I still have too many things on my plate.
Speaker 1:But to me it's a different situation here, where I am driven, and I'm driven to help breast cancer patients and bring education to people who've never even had breast cancer, so that they have it on their radar and understand what, to people who've never even had breast cancer, so that they have it on their radar and understand what to look for and all those things. So that's why I like to talk to people like you is because we're all in this together. We're a sisterhood of all sisterhoods and now you know, obviously we have a brotherhood out there as well. So, yeah, I love the fact that you're doing it sort of backwards as to what society expects of people, I guess. So tell us about your treatment, your diagnosis and your treatment. What was that like?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I found my lump myself, not by doing a self breast exam, it was totally by just by chance. My tumor was at the top of my breast. The skin was starting to change and because of that skin change it was itchy. So I went to go scratch it and I was like, oh, what is that? Like, oh, ok, and of course you know this was in 2006. Google existed, but it was a much different land than it is now. But still, I got on Dr Google and the only thing it came up with was breast cancer. And I was like I'm 26. Like, that's not it, even though I have a very strong history of breast cancer in my family. I watched my grandmother die from metastatic breast cancer, very familiar with it, but it was not at 26. You know, that was when you were in your 60s. That's what happened.
Speaker 2:So I kind of dismissed that lump for a few months until I went to my annual GYN appointment and I was like, oh, by the way, I have this lump. Oh, we'll look at it, you know. And we discussed family history too. And so when my gynecologist did my breast exam, she's like, oh, let's do an ultrasound. And she still is a rogue doctor. I'm still friends with her to this day. But she was like we're going to do a biopsy today so that you'll know that nothing is wrong. And I was like, okay, I believe I held the ultrasound wand while she stuck the needle in and did a biopsy Literally. I've never heard anybody having that done. Oh my, I know it was a little, yes, anyways.
Speaker 2:So I found out two days after Christmas that I had breast cancer and all I could think about because the only people I knew who had breast cancer died my grandmother, my great grandmother. I had another grandmother who had breast cancer as well who died. So both grandmothers and great grandmothers, that's all I knew. You got breast cancer and you died. I didn't know anybody who was thriving after breast cancer, especially at such a young age. So it was like, of course, that's naturally where I wanted to go with my thoughts. I quickly put my big girl panties on and it was like you're going to do everything you can for that not to happen. And my healthcare team was outstanding and I had a lumpectomy within a month. Lumpectomy started chemo. As soon as I was healed from that. I feel like it was like three weeks later.
Speaker 2:I started chemo as soon as I was healed from that I feel like it was like three weeks later I started chemo. I did dose stents, chemotherapy, adriamycin and cytoxin, so the four cycles of that. And then during chemo I also started a clinical trial of ovarian suppression with an aromatase inhibitor, which is now the standard of care for so many women pre and obviously premenopausal. With the ovarian suppression Then I had radiation and was done and normal, right, that's what, like, I wanted that moment of radiation to be done so I could get back to working and doing all the things that I wanted to do. And you know, I was really swiftly reminded that there was no normal, nothing was ever going to go back to the way it was. And it doesn't mean that it has to be doomsday, right, it can be a beautiful life that you get to craft because of breast cancer. I was not in a good space those five years that I was in that medical menopause, for sure.
Speaker 1:You really were thrown into things way, way quicker than a lot of us. That just sounds so scary, and I'm just so grateful that your medical team was so amazing and that you had your doctor just say let's just go ahead and do this and not tell you oh, you're too young, it's probably just you're on your period, or whatever it is. She actually took it seriously and wanted to make sure that everything was okay. That must have been really scary too when you found out and thinking to yourself holy cow, everyone else I know has died from this. Things have changed dramatically since then, even since 2006. There's just so much more information out there and so much more support, medications and treatments and things like that, so luckily you were able to move through that. How did you move through that mentally?
Speaker 2:Hmm, like I was walking in through mud, like I was stuck in quicksand. To be honest, that, I think, is something that I didn't anticipate, because I've just always been an optimistic, positive, forward thinking person that I would be the one that was depressed. I would be the one that was depressed, and, oh, but, if I was depressed, I would know it. Bullshit. It took my husband to call me out on it before I realized that's what was going on. I just thought, oh, I'm tired, or oh, geez, you just went through all of this treatment you deserve to, whatever it is, take a nap or whatever. It was Right. But it was like, no, I was really struggling. And until I got called out on it, then it was like, oh, that's what's going on. Oh, that makes sense. And then it was literally, okay, one foot in front of the other, like how can I get on the other side of this? What's going to make me feel good right now, and then tomorrow, and then a month later and it was a matter of?
Speaker 2:At the time, I was an avid runner and it was like, oh, remember, when you get done running, you're always on that runner's high. Maybe that'll be the ticket. And so I just started running even more and I ran my first half marathon. I ran my second half marathon and it was just like, okay, this is wellness, this is taking care of my body, but it was also taking care of my mind and I don't think I understood that, how important that was, until again I was on the other side of things and the veil lifted and you're like, oh, this is how I'm supposed to feel.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And then, when I took things the next step further by paying attention to the food I was eating, I was like, oh my gosh, everybody needs to feel this way. Like, does everybody know that if you just do the quote, unquote, right things, that you can feel amazing and have energy and really have good mental health? It was just like how come we're not talking about?
Speaker 1:this, yeah, and I'm so glad that we are. There's so much out there now where people are talking about it. Like when we go through cancer, it's not just about the diagnosis and the treatments, like chemo and radiation and your surgeries and things like that. This is a holistic care strategy, and I was the same way before I even started chemo. I was so scared, depressed, pissed, all of it, and I knew, you know, like when I was 54 at the time, so I knew things that I should be doing for. You know anxiety and depression. I've kind of struggled with a little bit of that throughout my whole entire life and I used to be a runner too, until my knees and my hips were like nope, but I still love to get out there and get my heart rate up and things like that. I knew that those things did help. Actually, when my mother died in 2019, that just threw me to the ground and that put me just kind of tumbled me, and I had to think of things to do to get myself out of that depression and you know things like that. And so, before I started the chemo, I reached out to Eddie Ennever, therapist out of Australia.
Speaker 1:I think you and I may have had a conversation about this, and he's the one that said look, I'm a three time cancer survivor, survivor and I had to figure out why the hell I was getting cancer over and over again. And he wasn't really paying attention to why and what was happening. And he started figuring out okay, I got to take care of my diet, I've got to take care of my mental health to get through this, because there are some people who get the cancer and they just don't do anything. They're just so stuck. And so I love the fact that you're a living breathing cancer thriver who figured it out, and kudos to your husband for calling you out on it. This tells me that your husband was he a good caregiver for you.
Speaker 2:Yes, he was. I also had family who stepped up and came and visited and stayed with every chemo treatment as well, because I was working enough to keep my health insurance, because that was the game. Right, that's the game. I had to keep my health insurance, but it wasn't full time, so we needed him to keep working. It wasn't full time, so we needed him to keep working. So it was like, how is he going to keep working so that we can pay our bills?
Speaker 2:Well, my mom was here for my surgery, my dad came for my first chemo, my aunt came for my next chemo, my other aunt came for the next chemo, and then my brother came and his wife came for my last chemo. It was like, how can we keep other areas of our life kind of going while this storm is going on really inside the house? So he did take care of me, but we also had a lot of support. The thing is, we had literally moved to where we live now in Western North Carolina six months before I was diagnosed. So no family, no friends. It was like we were on an island all alone and had this catastrophic thing happen and it was like so I think it was a matter of just calling on the support that we needed.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you didn't have any familiarity as to where. You were only six months, and that must have been just so scary. Was your husband around the same age you were at the time? He's five years older than I am, okay, so you know. I mean, we talk about couples. My husband and I were interviewed on my podcast because we were talking about caregiving and husband wife dynamics throughout something like this, and I know that the last statistic I've heard is that 40% of marriages break up because of diagnosis like this. So I always just find it so inspirational when that doesn't happen and because it's a lot to go through for both people, and so kudos to your husband. What a wonderful person I want to talk to you about. Is there anything that you would have done differently, knowing what you know on the other side? What would you have done differently?
Speaker 2:If I knew what I know now, right, then I would have sought more support for when treatment was over, because you have so much support when all of that's going on, whether it's even support from going to the doctor's office all the time.
Speaker 2:Right, I mean, it doesn't have to be support from your family and friends, but I did have so much support from my family and friends and care packages in the mail and phone calls and cards and all of the things, and then you know you're done, Radiation was done, and then it was like crickets and it was like wait a minute, this is when I need the support. I was so busy with everything that I didn't even know what was happening and then all of a sudden it slows down and I did not anticipate the way I would feel, that void that I felt from being a patient all the time to not being a patient all the time. It was like wait a minute, where are all the people? So I did not anticipate that. So I think if I could have known that was coming to set up more support for when things kind of slow down, I would have really, I think, not fell into that pit of depression like I did.
Speaker 1:You know that's such a good point that you bring that up. That actually happened to me too on two different occasions after my breast surgery. So a year ago, february, I fell into quite a depression. So a year ago, february, I fell into quite a depression. And my audience some of my audience knows that I was diagnosed one week after I retired from the school district.
Speaker 1:So I was literally in my first year of retirement when I was diagnosed, and when I got out, when I was disease free, I was trying to figure things out. Like what am I going to do? Like there's no more doctor's appointments? I mean, I had doctor's appointments because of other things, but not to the capacity that it was Right, and so I really could not. I was like what the heck is going on with me? And my husband and I were not connecting. He was already in his second year of retirement. He's thinking to himself, yeah, she just needs to be back to normal. And I kept on saying I don't think there's such a thing, babe, you know.
Speaker 1:And so we really went through some hard times and ended up going to therapy together because of it. In fact we're still in therapy and I'm just very much advocate for couples to be in therapy even when things are going great. It is just so good for the marriage because there's so many changes that happen throughout life from the time that we get married through sickness and in health and all that. But we started going to therapy and I finally figured out that I needed to do something for the breast cancer community, which is why I started the podcast.
Speaker 1:But literally less than a year later, just last September and October, I was already about a year and a half out from my diagnosis and I fell into another crazy depression. I realized I was experiencing some really bad like some PTSD, and I continued to go to therapy to my own therapist and I still go to her, so I recognized it. So that is such good advice, brynn, for you to bring into this conversation, because I think that a lot of people really truly do think that you should go back to normal. You should be going back to normal, everything should be fine and it just isn't the same. And if we can recognize that early on and understand that, we can set ourselves up for success into our survivorship. You have some really amazing things going on in your survivorship. Can you share with us about who Coach Brynn is and what you do for the breast cancer community.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So in a nutshell right to summarize what I do and why I do it, I should say is that I get to work with breast cancer survivors every day now as a holistic health coach and what I focus on is really empowering breast cancer survivors to lose weight without dieting, and the benefits of that right are so that you're stronger, you're more confident and then, hopefully, so that you're living a kick ass life after cancer.
Speaker 2:I have created a program for my clients that I wish I had right. When my clients are working with me, they're like I didn't quite know what to expect, but this is everything I wanted. I just love that. I mean, it's like just this boost of their confidence. I literally see their energy levels shifting as I work with them and you know, you get to even on Zoom in this virtual world. You can feel people's energy through the screen and when you can see that shift, it's like it's so beautiful and so amazing. I'm moved quite frequently that I get to work with breast cancer survivors in this life after breast cancer. So yeah, in a nutshell, that's what I'm doing right now.
Speaker 1:I think that's so amazing, and I know that incredible feeling becoming friends, really right, with these breast cancer survivors. I never knew that I could connect with so many women across the globe in this way, and so, yes, it is a club we don't want to be in, but it is the best club and it just it makes my heart happy every single day because of it, and so I know that feeling. You talk about losing weight without dieting. I think a lot of people have a different view of dieting, so, like you have to restrict this, restrict that, not eat certain things or whatever it is, and I know that eating in itself is our diet. What we put in our body is our diet. It's just making sure that you're putting the right things in your body. I always liken it to because I was a health coach with a program and I had lost some weight. That worked really really well for me. I did not feel deprived or anything, and it was great, worked really really well for me. I did not feel deprived or anything, and it was great.
Speaker 1:And I learned that our bodies are kind of like a car. You can't first of all, you have to put fuel into your body for it to work. A car is not going to even operate properly if you don't put oil in it, if you don't put gas in it, and things like that. It's the same thing with food is, if you put shitty things in your body, it's not going to run really well. I mean, you can go ahead and put shitty things in your body, but you're going to probably have some breakdowns and you're not going to have a car that operates for long. Right, you're going to run into something.
Speaker 1:And, by the way, I do want to myth bust a little bit about cancer. When I got cancer I don't know about you I was healthy, you know. I mean like I was hell. I was at the healthiest of my whole life, and it turns out that healthy people can actually get cancer. Right, we all have cancer cells. We have different situations that happen, like for me. I am thoroughly convinced it was stress and trauma that led to mine to being open, to being struck with cancer.
Speaker 1:They have found that people can move through cancer better. Yes, they can recover from certain things better, and so I think that's such a great connection. So thank you for doing that, and I know that in the show notes we have your website, your social media, how people can reach you. I think that's great. So this is really really such a huge topic that I talk to people about all the time. In fact, there is a week-long conference that's been going on. Dr Tiffany Troso Sandoval has been putting on, and it's a panel of doctors and other therapists and specialists that help us. They come on there and they have this talk and help us understand certain parts of cancer and how to get through cancer and things like that. And one of the conversations was and, by the way, tiffany Trusso is through Winning the Cancer Journey and it is recorded and people can go on to her Facebook and access that whole week. It's still going on tonight and tomorrow, but we were talking about this idea of doctors having a toolbox.
Speaker 1:I know that when I first went into my oncologist, I was given this huge stack of stuff at the beginning of my diagnosis and I'm like I don't even think I ever looked in it because I was so overwhelmed, right. But the point is is that if doctors recognize that a patient is having issues with something, they're having trouble, they're having mental problems, they're just really struggling with something, whether it be with their diet, what to eat, all the things taking care of their mental health. Those doctors need to have a toolbox. It's much like a teacher right. My whole entire teaching career I had a toolbox. If I recognize that a student was struggling with something, I had something in my toolbox that I could give to them to help them, or I would direct them in a way that it would assist them to be able to move forward. That it would assist them to be able to move forward.
Speaker 1:That is, to me, is crucial for doctors. A lot of doctors have not had cancer. They don't understand completely what their patients are going through. They know what to give them to help them survive physically, like get the cancer out of there but they don't really necessarily understand the mental health part of it, the other holistic care that's needed. If someone came into their doctor and they're really struggling with body image they're feeling sluggish or whatever it is perhaps they could have something in their toolbox that could help them with nutrition, right. So what are your thoughts on that?
Speaker 2:I love this topic, by the way, because I've been saying for years, I get invited to speak at a lot of support groups and to do different things and I always do my best to empower these people in the room and the way I feel like we can sum up what you just said right is that your doctor knew what chemotherapy you needed, how much you needed If you wanted it to be on tamoxifen or eczemestane or whatever. Right, they knew that information and thank goodness we have people who know this information. However, the true healing, the true healing is up to you. It's not them. They're not going to help you live a kick ass life after cancer. They're going to keep you alive. Yes, they're going to hopefully put you into remission or, if it's not able to be in remission, to keep you at a quality of life, to be able to do the things that you want to do while you have life. Their job is not really to heal you. That is our job. So if they had a toolbox right, it would be things different resources of oh, you're depressed. Okay, here's a couple names of some therapists to go see. Oh, you have no energy and you've gained 30 pounds because of tamoxifen. Oh great, here's somebody you could go see whether it's a health coach, a nutritionist, a dietician, somebody who understands the way the body works with food and how what you eat can impact your entire life.
Speaker 2:I remember going to my oncologist and talking about sexual health after being put into medical menopause and it's like, oh, I don't know anything about that. It wasn't. It was like I don't talk about that. And it was like, oh, my gosh, ok, well, so I'll talk to my gynecologist, I guess. But on the form, you asked me if I have any enjoyment in my life or what you asked, if I have any enjoyment in my life or what like you asked. So if I put a negative answer, we should be talking about that, right?
Speaker 2:Or the other thing is oh, I remember talking to my oncologist even about like, should I be drinking alcohol? And oh, well, just enjoy your life. And it was like but should I be drinking alcohol? That's a different thing for me to understand what the alcohol is doing in my body to allow me to make that decision as to whether I want to drink or not. But it was just like no, you're fine. Oh, that's normal. I don't know how many times I heard that's normal and while it's really nice to normalize some of these things, it is good to know that a lot of us breast cancer survivors feel the same way but that doesn't mean that we have to be in that place. It doesn't have to mean you have to stick in that place. You can be better and have more energy and sleep better and have less hot flashes and all the crap that happens to us. So I feel like the toolbox would be resources.
Speaker 1:In an ideal world, we would have this integrative cancer centers, yes yes, I mean yes, I was just gonna say that I really feel like everyone should have a general on call or an oncologist, right, but also have an integrative oncologist, because there's so much more. There's so much more work that needs to be done. And what a great point that you make that they ask on those questionnaires, how's your sex life, or whatever, however they work, and for them not to be able to talk, even say anything, it's like no, you know what? Here is an intimacy therapist. I just interviewed one, tracy Owen, just last week and she was phenomenal. And let Tracy talk to you about it, because she is super well versed when it comes to sexual health, you know, with cancer, and the oncologist doesn't have to say, oh, you know, no, anything you know. But hey, here's her card, call her up, she has great discounts for cancer, whatever.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I mean, it's like, why are you asking me then? Right, what's the point? Is it just like protocol? You know, yes, it is. Is it just like protocol? You know, yes, it is. Yeah, so like that, the toolbox of resources is what we need, but those integrative centers would be so great to have for every single cancer patient, and if there's not one in your area. I know that there are integrative oncologists, at least in the area where people can consult with. We have one here, at least in the area where people can consult with. We have one here, at least one that I know of, and on that, the panel that I was just telling you about the conference that's going on right now, the very first night there was an integrative oncologist, which was it was really cool.
Speaker 2:Really neat.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, seriously. So I want people to go to winning the cancer journey on Facebook and find it, and then people can see who the panel is. It's just so. Knowledge is power, brynn.
Speaker 2:Yes, it is. I know Well, and that's what led me on my journey right Was I was diagnosed in that era of Chris Carr, who is a cancer thriver. She's been living 20 years with a cancer that can't be cured and she had come out with a books and she had a I guess I don't know a show on TV, but it was like a movie, but I guess it was real life. What's the word I'm looking for?
Speaker 1:Anyways, I recognize it as a documentary.
Speaker 2:Yeah, documentary, there you go, that's the word I'm looking for, and it was by watching that and it was like, oh okay, like making these connections. And then, plus, I'm kind of like a data nerd. So I started doing all this research into like scientific studies of like what actually works, like evidencebased research of what actually works to keep healthy. Yes, you can be healthy with cancer but, as you said, if you're healthy and you get a cancer diagnosis, you're gonna more than likely have a better outcome than somebody who goes into their cancer diagnosis unhealthy and I've witnessed that happening.
Speaker 2:We have all these different treatment options now and being empowered to know that you have decisions and you can say no to things if you want to, but to know what's going to happen and sometimes the oncologists, depending on where they are in their studies and how well they keep up with the data, they might not know those answers. And so it's a matter of being able to find out some of this stuff yourself, because I mean, I had somebody give me a really scary statistic the other day and I was like I don't think that's true, but I don't know for sure. But I'm gonna go find out if that's true or not, because that's just how my brain works. I'm not going to just accept it because somebody said it.
Speaker 1:Right, there's a lot of chatter out there, so you have to be real careful about who you're listening to, like people who are saying you know, mammograms are bad for you. It's like, oh, you know, mammograms save lives, yeah.
Speaker 2:I know, so true, yeah, so true.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I want to touch real quickly on alcohol. It was about a year and a half maybe about a year and a half, maybe a little bit less when I had lost my weight. I lost about 33 pounds and I heavily cut back on alcohol. So that's one of the biggest things that people are concerned about when you go into a diet, right, yeah, what am I going to do? I like to drink wine, okay. So my health coach told me okay, so, have a glass of wine every once in a while.
Speaker 1:So what I ended up doing to wean myself off because I had been a drinker all my life, right? So what I did is I took a big wine glass huge and filled it with ice all the way, and then I would literally measure out four ounces of white wine and then I would fill it up with bubbly water and I would sip on that thing all night long. So it wasn't like I was having one glass of wine after another after another, it was just that one glass of wine and it was a nice wine spritzer. And that's how I actually weaned myself off of alcohol. And when I got cancer, I did not have anything to drink at all as far as alcohol, throughout the whole entire time, except I had one glass of wine right Like the night before my surgery, and then every so often I'll have a glass of wine, or it's very, very rare, though I do know that, since I have drastically cut back to almost hardly ever I have felt so much better.
Speaker 2:It's amazing, I know, and yeah, that's a great way. I like the taste of alcohol. So if you have a spritzer like you described, you can still have that taste of alcohol. It's in a fancy glass, I mean, right, like it's a drink. But, and hormonally speaking, especially as we age and our livers have done a lot of work, especially after chemo and radiation and medication, our livers are even working harder. So we don't metabolize that alcohol like we did in our younger years and that's what makes us feel shitty. That's where the hangovers and the headaches and all of the things come from.
Speaker 2:I tell my clients you can have a drink here or there, absolutely. Just don't expect to be losing weight while you're drinking alcohol. Right, right, you can maintain your weight loss Absolutely. But typically it's because and it's part of it is the alcohol, but part of it's when we drink alcohol then we look, yeah, we lower inhibitions and we eat stuff or eat more of it is the alcohol, but part of it's when we drink alcohol. Then we lower our inhibitions and we eat stuff or eat more of it than we normally would have, or we eat later into the night or whatever it is. I know that's it. It's like alcohol. Oh, I want something salty.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:One more taco? Yeah, exactly Whatever it is. Then you wake up the next morning and your fingers are swollen, you can't get your rings off and you're like, oh, I don't feel good and it's like, yeah, ding dong. But I think the way is and you know it's about. And that's why I say the weight loss without dieting is because when we think of dieting, we think of deprivation, we think of restrictions, we think of all the things we can't do and, like you said, it's no, what about all the things that you can do and do more of that, do more of the other stuff and less of the wine?
Speaker 2:It's not that you don't have the wine, but there's so many people who are all or nothing. There's like no gray gray, right, it's all or nothing. And it's like no, life is not all or nothing. It's about celebrations, it's about having the cake and the wine and going out for these special things, and it's about finding that middle road that is sustainable and balance. Yes, it's the balance, and that is the weight loss without dieting is how to find that middle road for you. Yeah, yeah, it's truly possible. So you're so fun to find that middle road for you. Yeah, yeah, it's truly possible.
Speaker 1:So you're so fun to talk to. I love it.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
Speaker 1:First of all, I want to ask you another question, but I want to well and you can actually bring this into this next question, because you've already touched on this a little bit I always ask people what are some really good pieces of advice you would give someone who has never been diagnosed and I bring this up every single time because I really like to focus on an audience of people who've never been diagnosed because there were so many things I did not know before cancer and I knew a ton. I knew so much. You knew a lot because you had it in your family, right. But then you get hit with it and there's so many things that you don't know.
Speaker 1:I have had a couple of friends say why is part of your audience people who've never been diagnosed? It's not even on their radar? And I'm like that's why it needs to be on the radar. And look at you, I don't care if you're in your 20s and 30s, you're not too young. I mean, you got cancer when you were 26. And even people who do not have it in their families get it when they are younger. So we need to have it on people's radars. It's not to say it's gonna happen, knock on wood it doesn't, but you will absolutely know someone who will get it, and it's nice to be able to be educated and have awareness so that you can support those people. So what kind of advice do you have that you can leave with our audience and you can certainly bring in some of the resources that are going to be in the show notes.
Speaker 2:So the advice that I have for folks who have not been diagnosed with breast cancer is one to be your own advocate. So if you were to find something in your body that just doesn't feel right, be the advocate for yourself. Be empowered to go and see a specialist, a doctor, somebody who you know will listen and take your concerns seriously. Because I found my own lump at 26 years old. I waited months until I went to the doctor, but that doctor at that time was like, hey, let's be sure this is nothing. And if she told me to come back in six months or a year, I probably would have done that. Because, yeah, dr Google told me that I, the only thing that I could have was breast cancer. But I was 26 years old. So I was like, well, 26 year olds don't get breast cancer. And that was, you know, pretty much her thing too was you're so young, but we're going to still do the biopsy to prove that this is nothing. So I thank her all the time, sent her cards. We're good friends, you know, and I'm grateful that she listened, but you don't always have someone who listens or is willing to do the next step to prove something, whether it is cancer or benign. So you have to be willing to find that provider and advocate for yourself that, hey, something's not right.
Speaker 2:I'm not feeling right because for the five years leading up to my diagnosis I wasn't feeling right. I went to multiple doctors and I got these silly diagnoses of. I was even told once I had an overactive colon. Instead of somebody like listening to me and being like, oh, this young girl is falling asleep at a red light, her lab work is normal, and I'm using air quotes here right, like normal, your lab can be normal, lab work can be normal and you can have cancer y'all.
Speaker 2:So that's where, speaking up for myself, I gave into the system at some point in time and was like, oh, I'm just tired. That's what they keep telling me is I'm just tired, everything is normal. And you know, I don't know what that five year earlier, like if they would have done imaging if the breast cancer would have showed up, I don't know. But you know, it's still that thing that you do get worn down quickly by these folks in healthcare and it was like, okay, well, everything must be fine. So that would be my advice Advocate for yourself, talk to people you know about what's going on with your health and kind of get a gut check that way too, because I kept things to myself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you were so young, so why would you even think something like that in the first place? You know, I've interviewed several people who had breast cancer at such a young age and it's just appalling and it seems to be increasing. And I don't want people to be like hypochondriacs thinking every little thing is something, but we should know when something is not normal and you're right Like I'm sorry. Falling asleep at a red light, that's pretty scary. When I was like exhausted like that and I was forgetting things or falling asleep, it was Hashimoto's for me.
Speaker 1:I had an autoimmune and so I know that that can affect a lot of bodies as well. Making sure that we're not ignoring and, at the very least, getting checkups and letting your voice be heard and listening to podcasts and we're not doctors, but we do have our own lived experiences and I feel that that is incredibly powerful. And of course, you know I do bring experts, surgeons and oncologists and radiologists and therapists and things you know people like that which helps really build our awareness and knowledge. So I just really appreciate, brynn, your being here to tell your lived experience and helping other people. I appreciate what you do in your survivorship, yeah, so is there anything else you'd like to leave us with before we wrap up?
Speaker 2:No, just if you are a breast cancer survivor and you are curious about what it looks like to work with a health coach like I, would love to talk to you and give you a free coaching session. So seek me out on the socials. I love that. I'm on Instagram at your kick-ass life after cancer and I share good things on there all the time and by email. But really the way I give back to our community is by doing. I mean, of course, I have clients who pay me for health coaching too, but I do so many complimentary sessions and I promise you'll get something from it that'll help you live a kick-ass life after cancer.
Speaker 1:I love that you do that for people and that your expertise in that, in you know, being healthy, having a healthy body because, again, as we know, healthy having a healthy body because, again, as we know, having a healthy body, both nutritionally and physically, really is instrumental, very helpful in helping us move through the cancer process. I know that I had a very healthy body when I got cancer and I do believe that, because of the way I was eating and because of what I was doing physically with my body, really did help me get through it better than someone who does not have that healthy body. So thank you for that. Well, I appreciate again your expertise, your lived experience, your everything that you have brought to this conversation, brynn, to my audience. Thank you once again for joining us on this episode of Test those Breasts and I really would appreciate it if you would go to your favorite platform that you listen to and rate and review this podcast. It's very, very helpful.
Speaker 1:We will see you next time on the next episode of Test those Breasts. Bye for now, friends. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Test those Breasts. I hope you got some great much needed information that will help you with your journey. As always, I am open to guests to add value to my show and I'm also open to being a guest on other podcasts where I can add value. So please reach out if you'd like to collaborate. My contact information is in the show notes and, as a reminder, rating, reviewing and sharing this podcast will truly help build a bigger audience all over the world. I thank you for your efforts. I look forward to sharing my next episode of Test those Breasts. Thank you,
