WEBVTT - Ep 202 Cancer Part 1: What is it? 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:03.720 Throughout this series, we'll be discussing many aspects of cancer 0:00:03.760 --> 0:00:07.080 diagnosis and treatment, and we will be sharing several personal 0:00:07.120 --> 0:00:11.119 stories related to cancer. Some listeners might find this content upsetting. 0:00:11.320 --> 0:00:12.640 Please listen with discretion. 0:00:15.000 --> 0:00:17.720 Do you know that you can live without a jugular vein? 0:00:18.600 --> 0:00:21.640 Those were the first words my surgeon told us after 0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:25.400 he removed sed vein during my second excigen surgery for 0:00:25.560 --> 0:00:30.760 sway MISSL carcinoma six months earlier. The newly discovered cancer 0:00:30.920 --> 0:00:34.360 was isolated to my tongue and lymph. Notes the cancer 0:00:34.479 --> 0:00:39.280 was brought on by the human papaloma virus HPV. As 0:00:39.320 --> 0:00:43.159 a gen xer, I probably got it long ago. However, 0:00:43.320 --> 0:00:46.479 my children are likely to be spared HPV and this 0:00:46.640 --> 0:00:50.440 kind of cancer because of the gardess of vaccine. The 0:00:50.520 --> 0:00:53.840 cancer was removed with good margins me and that I've 0:00:53.880 --> 0:00:58.240 probably gotten at all. Then came the radiation to sweep 0:00:58.320 --> 0:01:02.520 up any stray cells hanging around. I received the largest 0:01:02.600 --> 0:01:06.679 dost possible, thirty sessions directed in my neck and mouth. 0:01:07.920 --> 0:01:11.759 Before radiation began, I was told there was a deterioration 0:01:12.000 --> 0:01:16.440 risk to surrounding bone structures. I brushed it off, thinking 0:01:17.040 --> 0:01:21.840 save my life. Nothing else matters. However, the radiation did 0:01:21.840 --> 0:01:25.839 not stop an immediate recurrence. That's when it was drapped 0:01:25.840 --> 0:01:30.119 around my jug of the rain. Then I began chemotherapy. 0:01:30.840 --> 0:01:33.920 This required me to mask after each treatment so as 0:01:33.959 --> 0:01:37.600 not to contaminate the air with chemo. I was only 0:01:37.680 --> 0:01:40.679 a few treatments in when the world shut down due 0:01:40.720 --> 0:01:44.640 to the cod pandemic. Because the public was buying up 0:01:44.680 --> 0:01:48.920 medical protection, supplies on cology ran short and I had 0:01:48.920 --> 0:01:53.800 to source my own masks. Chemo worked where radiation had not. 0:01:54.760 --> 0:01:57.240 I'm in a remission, but cancer is still a part 0:01:57.280 --> 0:02:01.920 of my life. As predicted, the large radiation dose ravage 0:02:02.000 --> 0:02:06.360 the bones of my jaw. It's been seven years since cancer, 0:02:06.400 --> 0:02:10.160 and I still faced an extensive eight hour surgery just 0:02:10.200 --> 0:02:15.320 to refer the damage from treatment itself. The inevitability is 0:02:15.400 --> 0:02:19.000 that without this procedure, it's only a matter of time 0:02:19.040 --> 0:02:23.720 before my jaw simply breaks. There was no saving my teeth. 0:02:24.639 --> 0:02:27.840 Eating without them and with a partial scarred tongue is 0:02:27.880 --> 0:02:32.120 difficult and limited. I needed physical therapy to learn to 0:02:32.200 --> 0:02:37.520 swallow again. Since Stentser's a contraindicated I'll be living with 0:02:37.600 --> 0:02:42.440 the stigma and drawbacks associated with toothlessness. For the rest 0:02:42.480 --> 0:02:45.639 of my life. Still beats being dead. 0:02:46.919 --> 0:02:49.240 My name's Louise Baines and I have stage four triple 0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:52.400 negative breast cancer. I was first diagnosed stage three eight 0:02:52.480 --> 0:02:54.359 years ago at the age of thirty nine. I have 0:02:54.480 --> 0:02:59.160 the standard treatment chemotherapy, surgery, radiotherapy was eventually back to 0:02:59.160 --> 0:03:02.240 some semblance of then in twenty twenty three, I found 0:03:02.240 --> 0:03:04.960 a suspicious lump in my armpit, a new lymph no tumor. 0:03:05.400 --> 0:03:07.560 I had more surgery, more chemo, but at the end 0:03:07.600 --> 0:03:10.560 of that year, sadly, a ct scam found widespread bone 0:03:10.560 --> 0:03:13.280 mets and lymph no tumors in my chest. My world 0:03:13.280 --> 0:03:17.040 fell apart for the third and most ominous time. I 0:03:17.080 --> 0:03:18.840 was told I'd need to be on treatment for whatever 0:03:18.880 --> 0:03:21.239 time I had left, thought to be around two years, 0:03:21.639 --> 0:03:25.440 treatable to a point, but not curable. Seeing palliative chemo 0:03:25.480 --> 0:03:27.880 on my notes was a bit of a shock. Triple 0:03:27.919 --> 0:03:31.120 negative is aggressive and can become resistant to treatment. My 0:03:31.160 --> 0:03:34.639 first line of therapy, chemotherapy and immune therapy got me stable, 0:03:34.840 --> 0:03:37.560 pretty much obliterated all my bone mets, but I had 0:03:37.560 --> 0:03:39.640 progression after a year, so I moved on to a 0:03:39.680 --> 0:03:42.360 new drug. This was a targeted chemotherapy that I had 0:03:42.400 --> 0:03:44.640 only been around for a few years. It gave me 0:03:44.680 --> 0:03:46.640 hope to find some of the ladies on that original 0:03:46.680 --> 0:03:49.880 trial were still stable or no evidence of active disease 0:03:50.080 --> 0:03:52.960 even after five years. I took part in a clinical 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:55.680 trial with my primary chemo which added an extra trial 0:03:55.760 --> 0:03:58.640 drug into the standard treatment, and I became fascinated with 0:03:58.760 --> 0:04:02.280 the science behind the treatment. Researching the history and development 0:04:02.280 --> 0:04:05.600 of each drug became really interesting to me. That first 0:04:05.640 --> 0:04:08.640 study didn't show any better outcomes than standard treatment, sadly, 0:04:08.840 --> 0:04:10.680 but being part of the research made me feel like 0:04:10.720 --> 0:04:14.000 I was helping in some small way. After my second 0:04:14.040 --> 0:04:16.719 line of treatment started to show resistance after another year, 0:04:17.080 --> 0:04:20.360 I decided to look for another clinical trial. I only 0:04:20.360 --> 0:04:22.640 have a few options left for suitable chemos, and while 0:04:22.640 --> 0:04:24.240 I'm still pretty fit and well, I don't want to 0:04:24.279 --> 0:04:26.840 use them all up too fast. I was approved for 0:04:26.880 --> 0:04:29.320 a trial at the Royal Marsden in the UK, and 0:04:29.360 --> 0:04:32.200 I'm being really well looked after. I'm on my second 0:04:32.200 --> 0:04:35.160 cycle of a targeted immune therapy plus a standard immune 0:04:35.200 --> 0:04:37.479 therapy similar to what I had as my first line. 0:04:37.839 --> 0:04:40.479 It's a phase one expansion trial, so the drug has 0:04:40.480 --> 0:04:42.719 shown someone promising results in one type of cancer and 0:04:42.839 --> 0:04:45.880 is being expanded to include other difficult to treat cancers 0:04:46.160 --> 0:04:49.640 like mine. I'm quietly hopeful. I'm now two years into 0:04:49.640 --> 0:04:51.880 my diagnosis, and I didn't expect to still be here. 0:04:52.279 --> 0:04:54.240 Research is very important to me, and I will be 0:04:54.240 --> 0:04:56.960 forever grateful for the extra time I've been given with 0:04:57.000 --> 0:05:00.080 my son, my husband, and my friends. Statistics haven't quite 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:02.159 caught up with the current treatment, so I wouldn't recommend 0:05:02.160 --> 0:05:05.120 googling for a prognosis. According to that, I should be 0:05:05.160 --> 0:05:07.720 in the ground long ago. But right now I'm living 0:05:07.760 --> 0:05:10.280 well and hopefully we'll continue to do so for as 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:11.880 long as I can thanks to science. 0:05:58.240 --> 0:06:01.160 Thank you so so much for sharing your story with us, 0:06:01.200 --> 0:06:04.159 and a huge thank you to everyone who has written 0:06:04.200 --> 0:06:06.880 in with their experiences. It is, I mean, it is 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:10.679 so incredibly meaningful that so many of you are willing 0:06:10.720 --> 0:06:14.040 to put yourselves out there and share such an intimate 0:06:14.040 --> 0:06:17.600 part of your lives. These first hand accounts are truly, 0:06:17.800 --> 0:06:19.920 truly are the backbone of this podcast. 0:06:20.000 --> 0:06:22.440 They really are, Like this podcast would not be the 0:06:22.480 --> 0:06:25.520 same without all of you and all of your stories. 0:06:25.839 --> 0:06:27.400 And we have a lot more that we're going to 0:06:27.440 --> 0:06:30.640 be sharing throughout this episode and throughout this series that 0:06:30.640 --> 0:06:33.680 we're putting together. So truly, thank you so much to 0:06:33.800 --> 0:06:36.400 everybody who took the time to submit your story, to 0:06:36.440 --> 0:06:39.480 write in to record yourselves. We really wish that we 0:06:39.520 --> 0:06:41.760 could have included every single story because they all mean 0:06:41.839 --> 0:06:43.279 so much to us, So thank you. 0:06:43.520 --> 0:06:46.320 Yeah. Hi, I'm Aaron Welsh. 0:06:46.080 --> 0:06:47.680 And I'm Erin Alman Updike and. 0:06:47.720 --> 0:06:49.600 This is this podcast will kill you. 0:06:49.720 --> 0:06:52.400 Welcome to our series on cancer. 0:06:52.720 --> 0:06:57.840 On cancer. Yeah, well I don't know this, I mean 0:06:58.240 --> 0:07:00.560 such a big topic. I mean, we may the decision 0:07:00.560 --> 0:07:02.919 because it is. It is a checked so many people. 0:07:02.960 --> 0:07:05.479 It is such a big topic and if we ever 0:07:05.480 --> 0:07:08.080 want to go into certain cancer episodes in the future, 0:07:08.200 --> 0:07:09.760 we need to lay a foundation. 0:07:10.080 --> 0:07:13.440 And that's what we're doing. That's to today. 0:07:12.640 --> 0:07:17.320 Right right, We have got four absolutely info packed episodes 0:07:17.360 --> 0:07:19.080 ahead of us where we're going to be covering this 0:07:19.480 --> 0:07:22.000 tremendously huge, monumental. 0:07:21.480 --> 0:07:22.920 Topic and only four episodes. 0:07:23.000 --> 0:07:25.720 In only four episodes, Oh, there's like a lot of 0:07:25.960 --> 0:07:26.640 material here. 0:07:26.680 --> 0:07:29.240 Oh yeah, we'll yeah, you can't see our folders, but 0:07:30.320 --> 0:07:30.680 this is. 0:07:30.680 --> 0:07:34.120 One episode's worth. Yeah. But when we first decided that 0:07:34.160 --> 0:07:37.440 we wanted to do these episodes, we immediately kind of okay, 0:07:37.480 --> 0:07:39.440 we asked ourselves what do we want to cover, how 0:07:39.440 --> 0:07:42.640 do we want to approach this, what aspects to focus on, 0:07:42.920 --> 0:07:44.880 and how to organize them in a way that made 0:07:44.920 --> 0:07:48.480 sense so that we could just like again, lay a foundation. 0:07:48.920 --> 0:07:51.280 So our goal with this series is to do that, 0:07:51.440 --> 0:07:53.680 is to kind of give you the background information about 0:07:54.040 --> 0:07:56.840 what cancer is, how we treat it, and also where 0:07:56.880 --> 0:07:59.160 do we go from here? And so with that in 0:07:59.200 --> 0:08:03.080 mind are our first episode The one today explores what 0:08:03.160 --> 0:08:07.000 cancer is, both conceptually and clinically, and how we came 0:08:07.040 --> 0:08:10.560 by that knowledge. The second delves into what's happening inside 0:08:10.600 --> 0:08:13.080 and outside of our bodies to make cancer so prevalent, 0:08:13.640 --> 0:08:16.720 and the third is all about treatment, which. 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:18.840 Is a lot big it's a big top. 0:08:20.120 --> 0:08:23.560 And the fourth and final episode surveys the current landscape 0:08:23.600 --> 0:08:26.320 of cancer around the world and asks what can we 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:26.920 do about this? 0:08:27.040 --> 0:08:29.640 Where do we go from here? So it's a lot 0:08:29.720 --> 0:08:31.760 there's a lot of ground that we're going to be covering, 0:08:31.880 --> 0:08:33.920 but as much as we are covering, there is a 0:08:33.960 --> 0:08:38.800 lot that will necessarily remain unexplored in this first of 0:08:38.800 --> 0:08:42.719 our cancer series. So please everyone listening and watching, No. 0:08:42.840 --> 0:08:47.080 Two things Number One, we have a really huge list 0:08:47.080 --> 0:08:50.040 of sources for these episodes that we put together, so 0:08:50.080 --> 0:08:52.120 if you want to read more, there is tons that 0:08:52.160 --> 0:08:55.240 you can look up and read just as a starting point. 0:08:56.360 --> 0:08:58.920 And number two, these are not the only cancer episodes 0:08:58.960 --> 0:09:02.120 that we've ever done that we ever will do. We 0:09:02.280 --> 0:09:04.200 have a lot of plans to cover a lot of 0:09:04.200 --> 0:09:06.600 the individual cancers that we'll be talking about and touching 0:09:06.600 --> 0:09:09.160 on in this episode. So we also would love to 0:09:09.160 --> 0:09:12.120 hear from you if you have particular cancers or particular 0:09:12.120 --> 0:09:13.560 topics that you want to hear a lot more about. 0:09:13.640 --> 0:09:15.920 I know, just like we know that we'll need to 0:09:15.920 --> 0:09:17.360 do callon Cancer very soon. 0:09:17.480 --> 0:09:20.360 Yeah, and we will be doing it. Let's tell your thoughts. 0:09:20.360 --> 0:09:24.439 Like again, we always ask for thoughts, but like especially 0:09:24.440 --> 0:09:26.560 in this what do you want to hear more about 0:09:26.600 --> 0:09:30.000 exactly exactly and as you'll hear you know, know to 0:09:30.280 --> 0:09:33.520 cancers or experiences with cancer are alike. And so we 0:09:33.600 --> 0:09:37.200 are again so grateful to our first hand account providers 0:09:37.200 --> 0:09:40.320 for showing us just a sample really like a sample 0:09:40.440 --> 0:09:43.880 of the diversity of ways that cancer can touch our lives. 0:09:44.400 --> 0:09:47.440 You know, in these episodes, what we focus on is 0:09:47.600 --> 0:09:52.240 primarily cancer as like a biological phenomenon, not necessarily the 0:09:52.280 --> 0:09:56.400 experience of cancer. And so we are again eternally grateful 0:09:56.640 --> 0:09:59.319 to all of you who have provided this important context 0:09:59.360 --> 0:10:02.839 and sharing your experience from of someone who has been 0:10:02.880 --> 0:10:06.400 diagnosed with cancer, who's undergoing cancer treatment, who's has a 0:10:06.559 --> 0:10:09.160 loved one who has cancer, who is a caregiver, you know, 0:10:09.200 --> 0:10:12.400 all all of these different facets that are so integral 0:10:12.440 --> 0:10:13.120 to the experience. 0:10:13.200 --> 0:10:17.080 We really like can't say enough I know how much 0:10:17.160 --> 0:10:19.640 these first hand accounts mean absolutely everything to us, and 0:10:20.000 --> 0:10:22.560 in this cancer series especially, it's been so meaningful to 0:10:22.600 --> 0:10:24.240 get to hear from so many of you, So thank 0:10:24.280 --> 0:10:24.760 you again. 0:10:25.480 --> 0:10:28.439 Okay, one more piece of business, just a little bit, 0:10:28.679 --> 0:10:33.640 and that is quarantine time. Quarantiny time, actually though it's 0:10:33.679 --> 0:10:34.800 play and that's. 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:38.720 Plassy Berita time. I guess this is an announcement. 0:10:38.200 --> 0:10:41.680 That we're making kind of is we've. 0:10:41.480 --> 0:10:45.600 Been doing this quarantiny business since we started the podcast, 0:10:45.600 --> 0:10:48.280 and it's actually one of the things that really clinched 0:10:48.280 --> 0:10:50.600 the idea of doing this podcast. Would kill you, because 0:10:50.600 --> 0:10:52.480 Aaron came up with the name Quarantini and it was 0:10:52.559 --> 0:10:59.000 too good to pass up. But we thought that as 0:10:59.040 --> 0:11:02.480 we'll learn, so we've talked about alcohol before and the 0:11:02.600 --> 0:11:05.320 problems with alcohol in the past, and so we thought 0:11:05.360 --> 0:11:08.320 that this series today, starting today, would be a fitting 0:11:08.360 --> 0:11:12.280 time to no longer include alcohol in our quarantini recipes. 0:11:12.760 --> 0:11:15.439 So they're technically all going to be plassy burritas. 0:11:15.360 --> 0:11:17.120 They are they are. I mean, we're still going to 0:11:17.280 --> 0:11:19.960 use the term quarantini because it's really good. I can't 0:11:20.000 --> 0:11:21.920 let it go. I can't let it go. 0:11:22.000 --> 0:11:24.680 But I'm also quite proud of plassy burrita. That's really good. 0:11:25.200 --> 0:11:27.680 And I remember when that we came up with that. Yeah, 0:11:27.760 --> 0:11:29.040 it was on the It was on the fly. 0:11:29.240 --> 0:11:31.440 Yeah again, it was I think while we were recording, 0:11:31.520 --> 0:11:33.000 wasn't it. Yes, Yeah, that was good. 0:11:33.160 --> 0:11:35.880 Yeah, yeah, Okay, So what is our quarantining? What is 0:11:35.920 --> 0:11:36.920 it for the series? 0:11:37.080 --> 0:11:37.240 Aron? 0:11:37.360 --> 0:11:42.240 We're drinking the crab, the crab because cancer. Yeah, that's 0:11:42.240 --> 0:11:45.760 what it is. Yeah, it's basically an aphagado. Yes, I 0:11:45.760 --> 0:11:47.680 actually really wish that we had one. That would be 0:11:47.720 --> 0:11:48.079 so much. 0:11:49.040 --> 0:11:51.440 I could use a little caffeine at a little boost. 0:11:51.520 --> 0:11:54.440 Yeah, yeah, but you can. You know, we'll still post 0:11:55.480 --> 0:11:57.560 on our Instagram or whatever. 0:11:59.280 --> 0:12:03.719 Wow, we'll bringing endorsement of our social media listen, still post. 0:12:05.040 --> 0:12:06.880 Our social media game could probably use some work at 0:12:06.880 --> 0:12:08.720 this point, but I know. 0:12:09.960 --> 0:12:12.559 We will post it there and you know it's fine. 0:12:12.920 --> 0:12:15.079 You can look it up the recipe, but also look 0:12:15.200 --> 0:12:18.520 up the crab because you know we did make the effort. 0:12:18.920 --> 0:12:21.520 You mean our version of ye yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah. 0:12:21.559 --> 0:12:23.280 So follow us on social media if you're not, is 0:12:23.280 --> 0:12:24.280 what we're saying to media. 0:12:24.440 --> 0:12:27.160 That's one way you can find what we're doing. It's 0:12:27.240 --> 0:12:29.440 one of the best ways. Another great way is through 0:12:29.440 --> 0:12:31.880 our website web podcast will Kill You dot Com. On 0:12:31.960 --> 0:12:34.839 our website, you can find all sorts of things like transcripts. 0:12:34.880 --> 0:12:37.360 You can find the sources for each and every one 0:12:37.360 --> 0:12:39.720 of our episodes. You can find a first hand account form, 0:12:40.120 --> 0:12:44.240 you can find a contact us form, other things. That's 0:12:44.280 --> 0:12:46.439 all i'm gonna say. Well, links to Patreon and merch 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:48.400 and other things. 0:12:48.360 --> 0:12:51.680 All kinds of things. Thank you for rating, reviewing, and 0:12:51.679 --> 0:12:54.679 subscribing on your favorite podcatcher or on you Tube. If 0:12:54.720 --> 0:12:58.000 you're watching this, yes we're hearing the exactly right studios. 0:12:58.000 --> 0:13:01.160 Thank you to everyone. Thank you working right now. 0:13:01.640 --> 0:13:03.160 This is the longest intro of all time. 0:13:03.200 --> 0:13:04.200 Are we done yet? Yes? 0:13:05.240 --> 0:13:08.360 Okay, great, we're done. Let's take a break. Okay, and 0:13:08.000 --> 0:13:09.920 then and then get in get into it. 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:10.800 Thanks great. 0:13:11.240 --> 0:13:23.120 Bye. 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:30.640 My name is Amanda. In twenty nineteen, at fifty two, 0:13:31.040 --> 0:13:34.400 I was diagnosed with stage three triple negative breast cancer. 0:13:34.760 --> 0:13:37.960 The diagnosis was a shock, not only because of its severity, 0:13:38.280 --> 0:13:41.280 but because I truly believed I was doing everything right. 0:13:41.760 --> 0:13:45.200 For years, I followed a clean alternative wellness lifestyle. I 0:13:45.200 --> 0:13:49.559 it organic, avoided plastics, used non toxic products, took supplements, 0:13:49.640 --> 0:13:53.440 exercise regularly, maintained a healthy weight on a low carb diet, 0:13:53.520 --> 0:13:58.359 and didn't smoke. One pivotal decision was replacing annual mammograms 0:13:58.559 --> 0:14:02.720 with thermal imaging. Felt empowering in hindsight, it was a 0:14:02.760 --> 0:14:06.040 serious mistake. When I found a lump in my left breast, 0:14:06.360 --> 0:14:09.960 I turned to thermal imaging. The scan came back low 0:14:10.040 --> 0:14:13.079 risk for cancer. The practitioner diagnosed it as a cyst, 0:14:13.559 --> 0:14:17.760 suggested rebounding exercises and cost oil robes, and confidently told 0:14:17.800 --> 0:14:20.560 me it was far too large to be cancer. That 0:14:20.720 --> 0:14:26.400 reassurance was dangerously wrong. The lump didn't shrink, It grew 0:14:26.480 --> 0:14:30.280 quickly and painfully. When I finally saw a breast radiologist 0:14:30.360 --> 0:14:32.800 to aspirate what I believed was a cyst. My cancer 0:14:32.920 --> 0:14:36.800 journey began. I was thrust into aggressive treatment because my 0:14:36.960 --> 0:14:41.600 cancer demanded it. I underwent six cycles of chemotherapy, including 0:14:41.600 --> 0:14:44.480 the so called Red Devil. I tolerated it well and 0:14:44.520 --> 0:14:49.640 the results were remarkable. The tumor disappeared completely. Surgery followed, 0:14:49.920 --> 0:14:54.600 first to lumpectomy, then a unilateral mistectomy due to residial disease. 0:14:55.240 --> 0:14:59.360 Losing my breast was and remains a profound loss. I 0:14:59.400 --> 0:15:02.680 still wondered whether the earlier medical or intervention might have 0:15:02.800 --> 0:15:07.560 changed that outcome. Radiation and oral chemotherapy followed during South 0:15:07.600 --> 0:15:13.120 Africa's COVID lockdown. The treatments were challenging, but manageable cancer 0:15:13.200 --> 0:15:15.880 forced me to re evaluate everything I thought I knew 0:15:15.920 --> 0:15:19.280 about health. Over time, I stopped trusting methods that offered 0:15:19.320 --> 0:15:23.160 certainty without evidence, and learned to hold space for both 0:15:23.200 --> 0:15:27.080 intuition and science. My version of health today is far 0:15:27.160 --> 0:15:30.960 less rigid, less fear based, and more informed. I have 0:15:31.120 --> 0:15:34.200 seen how vulnerable people are to misinformation, wrapped in hope 0:15:34.480 --> 0:15:37.560 and sold as wellness. And if there's one message I 0:15:37.680 --> 0:15:41.280 hope people take from my story is that there's strength 0:15:41.440 --> 0:15:44.680 in questioning our beliefs and in choosing evidence based care. 0:15:45.960 --> 0:15:48.760 Hi. My name is mccannaugh Elvin ORMMBT, Florida, and when 0:15:48.760 --> 0:15:51.320 I was fifteen years old, I was diagnosed with stage 0:15:51.320 --> 0:15:55.440 three uing circoma aware from my bone cancer. My aud's 0:15:55.440 --> 0:15:58.440 survival were about fifty thirfty. I underwent countless runs a 0:15:58.520 --> 0:16:01.280 chemotherapy and had a serious to remove my left fibula. 0:16:02.080 --> 0:16:04.240 Because of how aggressive the type of cancer I had was, 0:16:04.280 --> 0:16:07.360 cancer immediately became my entire life. I was pulled from 0:16:07.360 --> 0:16:09.280 school and spent most of my time in the hospital. 0:16:09.760 --> 0:16:11.840 It felt like I didn't exist outside of my disease. 0:16:12.560 --> 0:16:14.520 There was also just this chance I wasn't going to 0:16:15.480 --> 0:16:18.360 Chemotherapy is also pretty violent in nature. It felt like 0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:19.800 every part of me had to be stripped away in 0:16:19.920 --> 0:16:22.400 order to get rid of the tumor. I lost my hair, 0:16:22.600 --> 0:16:24.720 my tone as will turn black and fall off. I 0:16:24.760 --> 0:16:27.240 had horrible mouse words that kept me from eating. I 0:16:27.280 --> 0:16:30.480 had chronic insomnia. Felt like I kept giving and giving 0:16:30.600 --> 0:16:32.360 until by the end I was just a shadow of 0:16:32.360 --> 0:16:35.280 a person with really only my life left. I ended 0:16:35.320 --> 0:16:37.160 up responding well to treatment, though, and I was able 0:16:37.200 --> 0:16:38.720 to go back to school for my senior year of 0:16:38.800 --> 0:16:39.240 high school. 0:16:39.280 --> 0:16:41.240 Two years after my initial diagnosis. 0:16:41.840 --> 0:16:43.720 At first, I was excited to go back and built 0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:45.360 it'd be a new chapter for me, we where I'd 0:16:45.400 --> 0:16:47.920 be a normal kid again. Instead, I began a whole 0:16:47.920 --> 0:16:51.040 different type of suffering. Sitting in a desk, I felt 0:16:51.080 --> 0:16:53.000 like I didn't know how to exist as a person anymore. 0:16:53.320 --> 0:16:55.560 I'd gone from being fifteen so coming into my own 0:16:55.600 --> 0:16:58.760 to cancer becoming my entire life. I now couldn't claim 0:16:58.760 --> 0:17:01.480 the cancer identity, but also physically and mentally, I didn't 0:17:01.480 --> 0:17:04.480 resemble the person I was before. Looking in the mirror, 0:17:04.520 --> 0:17:07.199 I followed disassociation to that person and couldn't grasp who 0:17:07.280 --> 0:17:10.400 I was the same time I was suffering from PTSD, 0:17:11.040 --> 0:17:13.520 I was continuously having panic attacks and took myself to 0:17:13.600 --> 0:17:16.520 the emergency room on a couple of different occasions, convinced 0:17:16.560 --> 0:17:18.280 my cancer had returned and I was going not to 0:17:18.280 --> 0:17:21.200 start the process all over again. I ended up becoming 0:17:21.240 --> 0:17:23.360 severely depressed and got to the point where I really 0:17:23.400 --> 0:17:25.680 didn't want to be alive anymore, which brought on a 0:17:25.760 --> 0:17:29.240 deep survivor's guilt for even having these feelings. People weren't 0:17:29.320 --> 0:17:31.879 very understanding of. This ended up being a really isolating 0:17:31.880 --> 0:17:33.760 and lonely time in my life, and I just wish 0:17:33.840 --> 0:17:35.240 someone had told me that what I was feeling was 0:17:35.280 --> 0:17:38.600 completely normal. One in five people ended up with PTSD 0:17:38.640 --> 0:17:41.520 after cancer treatment. It took me years to find a 0:17:41.560 --> 0:17:44.199 sense of self and peace again. This past July was 0:17:44.240 --> 0:17:47.359 my ten years cancer free. I'm eternally grateful for all 0:17:47.440 --> 0:17:49.399 the moments and experiences and things I've been able to 0:17:49.400 --> 0:17:51.760 accomplish since I was at fifteen year old. I am 0:17:51.800 --> 0:17:54.280 truly so happy for my life. But I also want 0:17:54.320 --> 0:17:55.600 to go back to tell myself that what I was 0:17:55.600 --> 0:17:58.199 feeling was okay. I didn't need to feel grateful for 0:17:58.240 --> 0:18:00.000 something that should have never happened in the first place. 0:18:00.680 --> 0:18:26.080 No matter what, I was always deserving of my life. 0:18:30.240 --> 0:18:33.359 Forty percent of us will develop cancer at some point 0:18:33.400 --> 0:18:38.600 in our lives. Seventeen percent of us will die from cancer. 0:18:39.520 --> 0:18:42.200 Gosh, those are such sobering statistics, Aaron. 0:18:42.080 --> 0:18:45.640 Really, yeah, I know the number of times I double 0:18:45.720 --> 0:18:50.000 checked it and was like, confirm other sources. Is this right? 0:18:50.280 --> 0:18:53.760 It is? And again you know these are estimates, they 0:18:53.800 --> 0:18:57.960 are not destinies. Our knowledge is always evolving, treatments are 0:18:58.000 --> 0:19:02.040 always improving, We're putting more fun into prevention and so 0:19:02.119 --> 0:19:05.280 we might see those numbers shift in the upcoming decades 0:19:05.400 --> 0:19:10.160 or for future generations. And neither are these numbers globally consistent. 0:19:10.280 --> 0:19:13.920 You know, diagnosis, access to treatments, and screening, and demographics 0:19:14.000 --> 0:19:19.600 vary dramatically across countries. But no matter how much you 0:19:19.680 --> 0:19:24.720 hedge or qualify these estimates with well technically, the undeniable 0:19:24.920 --> 0:19:29.200 reality is that cancer is extremely common and quite deadly. 0:19:30.240 --> 0:19:36.880 Why Why Why? That one word question has inspired countless 0:19:36.920 --> 0:19:43.719 research articles, medical foundations, textbooks, hospitals, memoirs, documentaries, podcasts. It 0:19:43.760 --> 0:19:50.399 has shaped lives, careers, relationships, perspectives. It holds the key 0:19:50.480 --> 0:19:55.520 to understanding not just this disease, but multicellular life itself. 0:19:56.240 --> 0:19:58.960 Over these four episodes, we might not fully answer this 0:19:59.080 --> 0:20:02.600 question of why why, Yeah, but we are going to 0:20:02.680 --> 0:20:07.920 explore many different aspects, many dimensions of it, like why 0:20:08.000 --> 0:20:11.680 cancer is so prevalent, why it's so challenging to treat 0:20:11.760 --> 0:20:16.360 and prevent, why each cancer is unique, and why despite 0:20:16.480 --> 0:20:20.080 all these whys, we should still be optimistic about the 0:20:20.119 --> 0:20:23.639 future of cancer research. I like that part, yeah, But 0:20:23.760 --> 0:20:26.760 before we approach any of these individual questions, we need 0:20:26.800 --> 0:20:29.840 to start at the beginning. What is cancer? 0:20:30.040 --> 0:20:31.720 What is cancer. 0:20:32.560 --> 0:20:35.520 Drawing the bounds around what cancer is and what it 0:20:35.600 --> 0:20:38.160 isn't is trickier than it sounds like. Just ask our 0:20:38.160 --> 0:20:43.280 immune systems, and those boundaries have changed substantially over history, 0:20:43.640 --> 0:20:46.080 and so for my part of this first episode, I'm 0:20:46.119 --> 0:20:49.040 going to explore how our understanding of cancer has changed 0:20:49.080 --> 0:20:52.679 over time and how that has influenced the noise or 0:20:52.720 --> 0:20:54.119 the silence surrounding it. 0:20:54.200 --> 0:20:55.880 Okay, okay. 0:20:56.040 --> 0:20:58.680 In the early decades of the twentieth century, after the 0:20:58.760 --> 0:21:02.720 dust had settled from that vaccines, pasturization, sanitation and a 0:21:02.720 --> 0:21:06.680 septic technique and antibiotics, much of the world was surprised 0:21:06.720 --> 0:21:11.560 to find that a health revolution had taken place. Infectious disease, 0:21:11.600 --> 0:21:15.320 which had for millennia made an early, gravely expected norm, 0:21:15.920 --> 0:21:19.360 no longer held the power that it once held. Children 0:21:19.720 --> 0:21:23.840 drinking pasteurized milk and vaccinated against smallpox could now more 0:21:23.920 --> 0:21:27.320 reliably expect to live long enough to experience the joys 0:21:27.320 --> 0:21:31.920 and disappointments of adulthood, and adults drinking clean water and 0:21:32.080 --> 0:21:35.520 operated on by a surgeon with a clean blade were 0:21:35.600 --> 0:21:38.359 now more likely to feel the mixed blessing that came 0:21:38.560 --> 0:21:40.720 with the aches and ailments of old age. 0:21:42.080 --> 0:21:45.920 Well this is so interesting already, Aaron like, I just okay, 0:21:46.000 --> 0:21:48.400 keep going, keep going. I just want to know more. 0:21:50.480 --> 0:21:55.719 Is this cliffhanger? Yeah, you're just like, what is something 0:21:56.400 --> 0:21:57.160 on the horizon? 0:21:57.800 --> 0:21:58.399 It's cancer. 0:21:58.480 --> 0:22:02.399 It's cancer. Yeah. As infectious disease stole less of the spotlight, 0:22:02.560 --> 0:22:05.840 other diseases became more visible. We've talked about this phenomenon 0:22:05.880 --> 0:22:10.040 many times on the podcast, and among these diseases is cancer. 0:22:10.960 --> 0:22:14.040 Cancer was not a new disease, of course, but at 0:22:14.040 --> 0:22:16.600 the beginning of the twentieth century, cancer was not even 0:22:16.680 --> 0:22:19.800 in the top five leading causes of death in the 0:22:19.880 --> 0:22:25.920 United States. Really. Yeah, it was eighth on the list. Wow. 0:22:26.920 --> 0:22:29.680 Yeah, sorry, remind me of the year because my brain is. 0:22:30.280 --> 0:22:33.480 Like nineteen hundred okay, yeah, yeah, not even in the 0:22:33.520 --> 0:22:34.960 top not even in the top five. Wow. 0:22:35.040 --> 0:22:35.399 Okay. 0:22:35.640 --> 0:22:39.199