In September 2014, I went to my premier First Descents program. The experience changed my life, and I came away from the trip with a renewed sense of worth, of confidence, of understanding for other cancer patients of different diagnoses, and best of all some great friends. When you show up for camp, you have about 15 minutes to come up with a camp nickname. The first girl I met was in the airport. Her blue eyes were piercing, she had such depth without even saying a word. It was in her aura. On the ride to the house, she nicknamed me coconuts. She had already been dubbed Crush from when she started her journey with metastatic triple negative breast cancer. We have been friends ever since, and have toyed with the idea of creating some sort of platform to share our ridiculous thoughts/frustrations/experiences. That brings me to today, the first episode on our YouTube channel, Cancer Convos with Crush & Coconuts. It's a fun thing for us to do together, especially since we live on opposite sides of the country. We hope that over the coming episodes we can lightly touch on some of our stories, and help people navigate their cancers too. Today's episode is about #scanxiety, and the types of scans we love and hate. We touch on the pros and cons of different playlists, and the importance of third party independent scan reading centers.
I hope you guys laugh as much as we did during the filming. I felt a little awkward (Jessica quit fidgeting, and playing with your hair!), but I'll get better with more practice. If you like the video please subscribe, or share it with friends.
Our goal is to empower patients with knowledge. There are all sorts of nuances with cancer, and when we talk, and share our stories, everyone benefits!
Our goal is to empower patients with knowledge. There are all sorts of nuances with cancer, and when we talk, and share our stories, everyone benefits!
Thank you for the video, it helps me with the concept of who is in charge. We seem to put Dr's in high position when they are really our assistants in gaining good health. Bravo for trying to clarify the myth that MRI's and Pet Scans are exact science, they are not. Thank you so much.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you liked it!! That makes me very happy. :)
DeleteBeautifully done. Thank you both for sharing a little of what happens with MRIs, CT scans and such. You both have different cancers but your experiences are quite similar. Interesting information. Keep talking...
ReplyDeleteYou are so sweet! Thank you! Who would have thought I'd be encouraged to talk MORE. If my old teachers read this they would roll their eyes while laughing. :)
DeleteGreat job on the video. So true as you pointed out "they work for us" except when you challenge that you are the "problem patient "
ReplyDeleteKeep the videos coming Crush & Coconuts :-)
Thank you! And you're right, you have to be careful to not get "blackballed" by your doctors. Share what you feel is important, but be careful how you word things, be careful on your attitude. Try not to burn bridges, you may need that doctor at a later date.
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