WEBVTT - LFG 0:00:03.600 --> 0:00:06.040 Welcome everyone to Amy and TJ. 0:00:06.200 --> 0:00:08.880 We are at least I am coming in hot today, 0:00:09.400 --> 0:00:13.200 literally actually coming in hot. Were you embarrassed to be 0:00:13.240 --> 0:00:14.760 next to me on the way into work today? 0:00:14.880 --> 0:00:17.279 I am never embarrassed to be next to you under 0:00:17.320 --> 0:00:18.239 any circumstance. 0:00:19.000 --> 0:00:24.920 What's the temperature outside sixty something today? Yeah, so normally 0:00:24.960 --> 0:00:25.560 you would wear. 0:00:25.400 --> 0:00:27.520 A jacket, but this is Coke Wether. 0:00:28.080 --> 0:00:29.360 It's cold weather for sure, right. 0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:32.400 Uh. Yes, So by the time I made it to 0:00:32.440 --> 0:00:35.200 the subway, I had to strip down to my tank 0:00:35.240 --> 0:00:39.000 top and then walked out of the subway and felt 0:00:39.120 --> 0:00:41.080 amazing with a tank top on. 0:00:41.800 --> 0:00:43.239 You know, if I was listening to this and I 0:00:43.320 --> 0:00:46.239 heard Amy Roebox say she stripped down in public to 0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:48.479 her tank top, the visual I have is different from 0:00:48.479 --> 0:00:49.840 what I actually saw. When I was on the train 0:00:49.880 --> 0:00:52.920 with you. Still had you still had pants and other 0:00:52.960 --> 0:00:57.040 things on, right right, I was sweating profusely. And this 0:00:57.120 --> 0:00:59.240 is a problem I think a lot of women of 0:00:59.280 --> 0:01:02.000 a certain age understand. But I've been dealing with this 0:01:02.080 --> 0:01:04.680 since I was forty, when I was put into a 0:01:04.720 --> 0:01:10.480 medically induced menopause. That was something that happened from my 0:01:10.640 --> 0:01:13.200 breast cancer diagnosis and It's one of those things that 0:01:13.360 --> 0:01:15.839 just lives on like it's just it feels like it's 0:01:15.959 --> 0:01:19.319 never gone away. So for ten years, hot flashes have 0:01:20.600 --> 0:01:23.080 really ruled my life. In this morning, or at least today, 0:01:23.120 --> 0:01:26.160 that was an extra special fun commute, extra special fun. 0:01:26.319 --> 0:01:30.640 Yes, right, Eddie. I knew people were staring at me. 0:01:30.680 --> 0:01:31.520 It was embarrassing. 0:01:31.600 --> 0:01:34.680 But this happens every day, several times a day, and 0:01:34.760 --> 0:01:36.600 I know when it's going to I can tell when 0:01:36.640 --> 0:01:39.399 it's happening. It's fun for me now, it's game because 0:01:39.440 --> 0:01:42.520 you start ripping off like blankets and whatnot in the 0:01:42.560 --> 0:01:44.800 middle of the night, and all I do is reach 0:01:44.840 --> 0:01:46.840 over and I just take my finger and just give 0:01:46.840 --> 0:01:50.560 it a little slide up your back and soaking wet, so. 0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:53.960 Wet, so wet. I'm not being dramatic. No, no, no, 0:01:54.000 --> 0:01:56.320 I'm not being dramatic. This is a real thing. I 0:01:56.400 --> 0:01:59.520 go through sheets every three weeks. 0:01:59.640 --> 0:02:02.480 It is. Yeah, it's a dramatic event for me, multiple 0:02:02.560 --> 0:02:04.920 times a day, and it's just when it happens in public, 0:02:04.960 --> 0:02:08.120 it's so embarrassing. It's happened on planes, and today, I 0:02:08.120 --> 0:02:10.120 think for one of the first times it happened. 0:02:09.840 --> 0:02:10.680 On this subway. 0:02:11.400 --> 0:02:14.080 I say all of this to bring up because this 0:02:14.240 --> 0:02:17.400 is part of the theme of today's podcast. We are 0:02:17.440 --> 0:02:19.080 in the month of January, a lot of people are 0:02:19.120 --> 0:02:21.880 focusing on their health, and I really wanted to take 0:02:22.000 --> 0:02:24.880 the time today to remind women that. 0:02:26.320 --> 0:02:27.720 This is a month. 0:02:27.840 --> 0:02:30.080 This is a reminder as we reset and we focus 0:02:30.120 --> 0:02:35.520 on improving ourselves, to make that appointment for your mammogram. 0:02:35.880 --> 0:02:37.360 I think a lot of people out there know that 0:02:37.400 --> 0:02:40.919 I'm a breast cancer survivor, and I am only a 0:02:40.960 --> 0:02:45.080 survivor and a thriver because I was pushed into a 0:02:45.120 --> 0:02:48.840 MAMMO van for a work assignment back in two thousand 0:02:49.000 --> 0:02:53.120 and thirteen, and I thought I was the picture of health, 0:02:53.440 --> 0:02:56.080 and turns out I had stage two invasive breast cancer. 0:02:56.200 --> 0:03:00.600 It had already spread to my lymph nodes, and curiously enough, 0:03:00.919 --> 0:03:03.760 at the time, the recommendation was that women who had 0:03:03.760 --> 0:03:06.160 no family history could wait until they're fifty, So I 0:03:06.200 --> 0:03:10.120 had no intention of going at any point before I 0:03:10.160 --> 0:03:13.120 was fifty. It was only because of a work assignment 0:03:13.160 --> 0:03:15.200 that I went ahead and did it at forty to 0:03:15.280 --> 0:03:17.200 kind of show other women, hey, it's not that bad, 0:03:17.280 --> 0:03:19.840 it's not that horrible of a test, and it can 0:03:19.880 --> 0:03:23.480 save your life. Well, it wound up doing just that 0:03:23.760 --> 0:03:27.160 for me, and I have been preaching mammograms. They're not perfect, 0:03:27.280 --> 0:03:29.040 but they're the best test we have. And so I 0:03:29.120 --> 0:03:32.040 just want to encourage any woman out there who's dragging 0:03:32.080 --> 0:03:35.240 their feet, who is at any age, honestly whenever you 0:03:35.360 --> 0:03:38.400 feel it's necessary, because and we'll talk about this, and 0:03:38.440 --> 0:03:41.120 I've said this so many times, this focus on family 0:03:41.200 --> 0:03:45.760 history is ridiculous. Only fifteen percent of breast cancer patients 0:03:46.080 --> 0:03:50.280 have family history with breast cancer. So eighty five percent 0:03:50.320 --> 0:03:53.440 of us who are survivors or who have been diagnosed 0:03:53.680 --> 0:03:57.280 have zero family history. So that shouldn't even be a 0:03:57.320 --> 0:03:59.560 part of your equation as to whether or not you 0:03:59.600 --> 0:04:02.200 should get a mammogram or when you should get a mammogram. 0:04:02.400 --> 0:04:04.600 And it's changed, I know. 0:04:04.640 --> 0:04:07.000 Interesting, it is a part of the equation, or should 0:04:07.000 --> 0:04:09.080 be if you do have a family est so you. 0:04:09.000 --> 0:04:11.440 Have twice the chance of having or developing bast. 0:04:11.320 --> 0:04:12.880 Can and you should get in there and beyond it, 0:04:12.960 --> 0:04:15.240 no matter kind of what age you got to be diligent. 0:04:15.320 --> 0:04:17.880 But to your point, and I've had this conversation with 0:04:17.920 --> 0:04:20.560 you when we've done shows before and we've been in 0:04:20.600 --> 0:04:25.800 commercial breaks or somewhere in the office that I was 0:04:25.839 --> 0:04:27.440 blown away, like, wait a minute, I thought it was 0:04:27.480 --> 0:04:30.640 all about family history, and you explained that it was not. 0:04:30.800 --> 0:04:32.960 And the numbers are so low. Don't get me wrong, 0:04:32.960 --> 0:04:35.000 it's still important to talk about, but it seems like 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:37.560 a lot of women do think, Hey, I don't have 0:04:37.600 --> 0:04:40.360 a family history. I'm good until forty forty five. 0:04:40.480 --> 0:04:43.040 Fifty that was me and I was definitely to fifty. 0:04:43.160 --> 0:04:45.040 So I just it's a reminder, and in fact, if 0:04:45.040 --> 0:04:46.960 you all have been following the news, I'm sure you have. 0:04:47.080 --> 0:04:49.440 In the last few weeks, we've seen two women, women 0:04:49.480 --> 0:04:51.599 who are in the public eye, who have come forward 0:04:51.600 --> 0:04:54.719 to announce that they too have breast cancer. Nicole Eggert 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:57.919 you may remember her from Baywatch Charles in Charge. 0:04:58.440 --> 0:04:59.360 She is now. 0:04:59.600 --> 0:05:02.080 She was just diagnosed with stage two breast cancer and 0:05:02.160 --> 0:05:05.840 she found it through a self exam. And then, wow, 0:05:05.880 --> 0:05:11.720 what an impassioned speech CNN anchor Sarah Seidner gave this week, 0:05:12.200 --> 0:05:15.800 just a powerful on air announcement and reminder about taking 0:05:15.800 --> 0:05:18.400 initiative and taking control of your own health. She was 0:05:18.480 --> 0:05:21.320 just diagnosed with stage three breast cancer. She's in treatment 0:05:21.400 --> 0:05:24.320 right now, and she reminded all of us, and this 0:05:24.440 --> 0:05:28.200 is staggering. Stage three now is absolutely curable. But if 0:05:28.200 --> 0:05:30.680 you're a Black woman or a woman of color in 0:05:30.720 --> 0:05:34.600 this country, you are forty percent more likely to die 0:05:34.960 --> 0:05:35.880 from breast cancer. 0:05:36.200 --> 0:05:36.880 That is appalling. 0:05:37.000 --> 0:05:39.400 It's appalling, and it's you start to read up on 0:05:39.400 --> 0:05:41.800 this stuff and it really pisses you off that that 0:05:41.920 --> 0:05:45.520 black women once again are bearing the brunt of something 0:05:45.640 --> 0:05:49.120 in this country at a disproportionate number. So black women, 0:05:49.279 --> 0:05:52.440 and again we talk about women. Of course it overwhelmingly 0:05:52.480 --> 0:05:56.160 breast cancer affects women. But every man that can hear 0:05:56.160 --> 0:05:58.320 our voice right now is impacted by breast cancer because 0:05:58.320 --> 0:06:00.760 you got all of us, got a mom, well, got aunts, 0:06:00.800 --> 0:06:04.520 got sisters, got cousins, got friends, got somebody is impacted. 0:06:04.560 --> 0:06:06.840 But black women, you have a if you're listening to 0:06:06.880 --> 0:06:09.359 our voices, and if anybody out there has a Black 0:06:09.520 --> 0:06:12.520 woman in their life that you care about, you need 0:06:12.560 --> 0:06:16.360 to be talking to them about this. Because it was 0:06:16.400 --> 0:06:19.479 staggering to me that under the age of forty the 0:06:19.600 --> 0:06:23.039 numbers for black women, you are, you your chances of dying. 0:06:23.080 --> 0:06:24.719 If you're a black woman right now, under the age 0:06:24.720 --> 0:06:26.840 of forty, you get diagnosed with breast cancer and you 0:06:26.960 --> 0:06:29.560 have a friend, a white woman who's under forty diagnosed 0:06:29.600 --> 0:06:31.880 with breast cancer. Both of you under forty diagnosed with 0:06:31.920 --> 0:06:36.599 breast cancer. Your chances of dying almost double hers chances 0:06:36.600 --> 0:06:38.400 of dying from it, and this is something we can 0:06:38.440 --> 0:06:42.120 do about it. Look, there's so many socioeconomic reasons for this, 0:06:42.279 --> 0:06:46.320 and you go back to just systemic racism in this 0:06:46.400 --> 0:06:51.440 country that has led to a position to where black folks, 0:06:51.440 --> 0:06:55.880 black women have less access to healthcare. They are in 0:06:55.960 --> 0:06:59.960 places and neighborhoods that oftentimes that don't have the best 0:06:59.720 --> 0:07:02.040 and our mental factors. You also have this issue where 0:07:02.040 --> 0:07:05.200 you talk about poverty, not eating the best, which also 0:07:05.360 --> 0:07:09.000 has an impact. We're disproportionately impacted by wave gain, obesity. 0:07:09.040 --> 0:07:10.680 All of those things have an impact. But I am 0:07:10.680 --> 0:07:13.560 blown away that the chances of a black woman getting 0:07:13.920 --> 0:07:17.239 breast cancer are still less than a white. 0:07:17.080 --> 0:07:19.800 Woman's, but they die more regularly. 0:07:19.960 --> 0:07:22.480 You yet it, you have a much greater chance of dying. 0:07:22.520 --> 0:07:25.160 And that's just that We've got to keep beating that drum. 0:07:25.160 --> 0:07:27.240 And I'm glad Sarah sidon Or, who somebody I worked 0:07:27.240 --> 0:07:28.600 with when I was seeing and she's been there a 0:07:28.600 --> 0:07:30.920 long time and is as good as they come, and 0:07:31.120 --> 0:07:33.000 I'm glad she this has come to the forefront. 0:07:33.080 --> 0:07:36.040 Yeah, and if you can, anybody google her and google 0:07:36.240 --> 0:07:40.440 her speech that she gave on air. It is It 0:07:40.520 --> 0:07:43.280 is incredible, and it is powerful, and hopefully it will 0:07:43.320 --> 0:07:47.440 save lives. It will inspire people who haven't or don't 0:07:47.480 --> 0:07:49.440 want to, or have had a hard time finding a 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:52.680 way to get a mammogram, to push and to advocate. Unfortunately, 0:07:53.040 --> 0:07:55.280 as women, a lot of times we do have to 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:59.800 advocate for ourselves, and so that is part of the equation. Also, 0:08:00.120 --> 0:08:02.600 note you know, I know, and I've preached early detection. 0:08:02.760 --> 0:08:05.840 I have preached prevention because the sooner you find your 0:08:05.840 --> 0:08:07.960 breast cancer, the better chance you have of surviving it. 0:08:08.200 --> 0:08:08.640 Period. 0:08:09.080 --> 0:08:11.880 But it's important to note anyone, whatever stage you are, 0:08:11.880 --> 0:08:14.320 as zero to three, that's an early stage breast cancer. 0:08:15.520 --> 0:08:18.400 Thirty percent of those of us who had an early 0:08:18.440 --> 0:08:22.200 stage breast cancer will go on to develop stage four 0:08:22.400 --> 0:08:25.320 metastatic breast cancer. And a lot of people out there 0:08:25.400 --> 0:08:28.480 might not know the difference in the distinction. I certainly 0:08:28.480 --> 0:08:31.600 didn't before I was diagnosed. But this is the best 0:08:31.640 --> 0:08:37.080 way to describe it. While amazing drugs and treatments and 0:08:37.120 --> 0:08:40.640 therapies have come about in the last five to ten years. 0:08:41.440 --> 0:08:46.520 We can extend the lives and create a better standard 0:08:46.520 --> 0:08:48.920 of living for women living with stage four breast cancer. 0:08:48.920 --> 0:08:55.000 But right now it remains incurable and it is ultimately terminal, 0:08:55.840 --> 0:08:57.640 and people don't like to talk about it because it's 0:08:57.640 --> 0:09:00.520 sad and it's scary. But if we don't talk about it, 0:09:00.559 --> 0:09:02.440 we can't get the funding we need. Because there is 0:09:02.480 --> 0:09:05.760 a cure for breast cancer. It's called cash and that 0:09:06.720 --> 0:09:09.560 creates research which will eventually create a cure. And I 0:09:09.600 --> 0:09:12.880 know that every scientist I've talked to believes it is imminent. 0:09:13.360 --> 0:09:15.719 It will happen in our lifetime. But for people who 0:09:15.720 --> 0:09:17.920 are fighting for their life, it can't come soon enough. 0:09:18.600 --> 0:09:22.359 And one of those people is one of my best friends. 0:09:22.960 --> 0:09:27.959 Her name is Morgan Mitchell. She is a force. I 0:09:28.040 --> 0:09:32.040 met her five years ago April third, twenty nineteen, to 0:09:32.040 --> 0:09:34.520 be specific. We were at a cancer Gallas sponsored by 0:09:34.520 --> 0:09:36.920 five under forty. You mentioned women under forty. I was 0:09:36.960 --> 0:09:38.720 diagnosed at forty, but I had had my cancer for 0:09:38.760 --> 0:09:41.520 a couple of years according to doctors, so I absolutely 0:09:41.559 --> 0:09:45.840 got breast cancer in my thirties. Morgan found her breast 0:09:45.880 --> 0:09:49.840 cancer at the age of twenty eight, and that is happening. 0:09:49.920 --> 0:09:54.720 More and more younger women are being diagnosed with metastatic 0:09:54.760 --> 0:09:57.000 stage four breast cancer and doctors don't know why, but 0:09:57.040 --> 0:09:59.000 it's happening at a much higher rate than it has 0:09:59.440 --> 0:10:03.160 in the past. And get this, Morgan found her lump 0:10:03.640 --> 0:10:08.600 on the day she got engaged to her now amazing husband, Bob, 0:10:08.840 --> 0:10:14.720 who we love and adore. But what an unbelievable date. 0:10:15.440 --> 0:10:17.320 You know, you always remember the day you got engaged. 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:20.480 But she found her lump, and then a few days 0:10:20.520 --> 0:10:23.680 weeks later, she ended up getting the diagnosis that she 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:27.040 couldn't have imagined. That it wasn't just breast cancer, it 0:10:27.120 --> 0:10:30.959 was staged four metastatic breast cancer that had already spread 0:10:31.000 --> 0:10:34.960 to her liver. And so now she found herself planning 0:10:35.240 --> 0:10:39.120 treatment and surgeries at the same time she was planning 0:10:39.440 --> 0:10:39.960 a wedding. 0:10:40.559 --> 0:10:41.080 Well guess what. 0:10:41.320 --> 0:10:46.000 Six years later, Morgan is in studio with us to 0:10:46.040 --> 0:10:51.160 talk about her journey and to inspire you a to 0:10:51.200 --> 0:10:53.280 be an advocate for your own health, but be to 0:10:53.320 --> 0:10:57.080 live better, to live differently, and to live with purpose. 0:10:57.240 --> 0:10:59.920 So Morgan, welcome to the iHeart Studio. 0:11:00.600 --> 0:11:03.720 Who Amy TJ. Thank you guys so much. 0:11:03.840 --> 0:11:06.840 Okay, this isn't fair, all right, because people can't see 0:11:06.840 --> 0:11:11.160 your face, Okay, because what she just said metastatic and 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:12.840 people don't want to talk about it because it's sad. 0:11:13.840 --> 0:11:15.840 I've known you for I don't know how many years now, 0:11:16.440 --> 0:11:19.000 and the one thing that's never come across my mind 0:11:19.000 --> 0:11:21.400 when I'm around you is the word sad or a 0:11:21.440 --> 0:11:24.520 feeling of sad. I know when I first that run we. 0:11:24.480 --> 0:11:28.160 Took Williamsburg Bridge, there was a doozy that we took. 0:11:28.679 --> 0:11:31.800 I messaged her afterwards like, who the hell is this lady? 0:11:32.200 --> 0:11:34.920 Because you are you hear metastatic and you want to 0:11:34.920 --> 0:11:37.760 you think like, oh my goodness, what But you are 0:11:37.880 --> 0:11:41.080 a joy with every room you walk into. And there 0:11:41.080 --> 0:11:43.120 ain't nothing I've ever seen sad about you. 0:11:43.160 --> 0:11:44.559 Nothing, Thank you, TJ. 0:11:46.160 --> 0:11:48.360 I try to live that way for sure, but you know, 0:11:48.400 --> 0:11:51.599 the ups and downs. It's a roller coaster of emotions. 0:11:51.679 --> 0:11:53.560 But you got to look at the glass half full, 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:55.719 because looking at it the other way it's just too 0:11:55.760 --> 0:11:56.280 damn sad. 0:11:56.320 --> 0:11:57.160 Were you always like that? 0:11:57.840 --> 0:11:59.319 Yeah, for the most part. 0:11:59.480 --> 0:12:03.960 I mean retime marathon or before this, you climb mountains, 0:12:04.080 --> 0:12:08.040 you hike, you're so energetic and athletic and and had 0:12:08.080 --> 0:12:11.240 so many plants and still do, but they all got 0:12:11.280 --> 0:12:15.320 disrupted and interrupted and changed because of this diagnosis. I 0:12:15.360 --> 0:12:20.199 will say, you are a badass director of business at 0:12:20.200 --> 0:12:23.080 a major media company and you are wheeling and dealing. 0:12:23.160 --> 0:12:26.560 I have been with you when you are getting a 0:12:26.679 --> 0:12:29.800 chemo treatment and you are closing like what a seventy 0:12:29.840 --> 0:12:31.480 million dollars deal on the phone. I mean, I think 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:34.440 we have a picture of it. It was remarkable. Thank you? 0:12:34.480 --> 0:12:36.880 Maybe yeah, I know sometimes you say I don't have 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:38.439 a choice but to do that, but you do. You 0:12:38.480 --> 0:12:41.160 could curl up in fetal position and say, why me 0:12:42.080 --> 0:12:42.840 do you do that? 0:12:43.240 --> 0:12:44.400 Have you had those moments? 0:12:44.520 --> 0:12:48.640 How do you keep living your life and at the 0:12:48.640 --> 0:12:53.840 same time dealing with this diagnosis that I'm sure you 0:12:53.880 --> 0:12:57.520 never forget any moment of any day? Yeah? 0:12:57.920 --> 0:13:01.319 Crazy to wake up? Hot flashes are a great room, Like, oh, 0:13:01.480 --> 0:13:03.360 I have cancer. How many do you get a day? 0:13:03.960 --> 0:13:07.679 It depends on the day, to be honest, probably once 0:13:07.760 --> 0:13:11.640 or twice. Yeah, but it's for real. The shedding is 0:13:11.679 --> 0:13:14.880 for real. But you had asked about do I ever 0:13:15.080 --> 0:13:18.439 you know, call up in a field position? Absolutely? Absolutely, 0:13:19.600 --> 0:13:22.600 But I am surrounded by amazing people who lift me up, 0:13:22.800 --> 0:13:26.679 like yourself, like family and friends, an amazing husband, And 0:13:26.720 --> 0:13:29.880 I think really finding the joy in life is how 0:13:29.920 --> 0:13:32.320 we've been able to just put one foot in front 0:13:32.320 --> 0:13:35.600 of the other and go. I also think a lot 0:13:35.640 --> 0:13:39.199 more rolls off my back. Pre cancer, I was stressed 0:13:39.200 --> 0:13:43.440 out about work, stressed out about everything, you know, very 0:13:43.480 --> 0:13:46.600 type A, cared way too much about what everybody thought. 0:13:47.280 --> 0:13:49.400 And you get this diagnosis and all of a sudden 0:13:49.400 --> 0:13:52.640 you're like, wait a minute, I'm the only one that can, 0:13:53.480 --> 0:13:56.200 you know, make this really better and make my life 0:13:56.400 --> 0:13:59.520 the way that I want to. And while six years later, 0:13:59.559 --> 0:14:02.920 I can be grateful for the diagnoses, which probably to 0:14:02.960 --> 0:14:06.520 some of you will seem insane, Thank you therapy. Are 0:14:06.559 --> 0:14:10.840 you grateful? I am, yeah, for the cancer. I am 0:14:10.880 --> 0:14:14.720 grateful for the diagnosis and the experience. But I think 0:14:15.320 --> 0:14:18.120 that it's allowed me to meet a lot of amazing 0:14:18.160 --> 0:14:22.440 women and really impact my life in such a positive way. 0:14:23.240 --> 0:14:26.320 Don't get me wrong, there are days when I just 0:14:26.360 --> 0:14:28.160 wish I didn't have it and life could be so 0:14:28.240 --> 0:14:31.800 much easier, and the what ifs and the what ifs 0:14:31.880 --> 0:14:35.360 really bring you down, And those are the hard questions 0:14:35.360 --> 0:14:38.800 to quiet the nerves, quiet the voices inside of your 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:42.160 head and work with a therapist or speak to your 0:14:42.240 --> 0:14:44.800 husband about it. You know, having lots of conversations with 0:14:44.880 --> 0:14:47.240 Bob about like what do we want to do, what 0:14:47.240 --> 0:14:49.040 do we want to get out of the next five years? 0:14:49.080 --> 0:14:51.560 What do they look like for us? I didn't want 0:14:51.640 --> 0:14:54.240 kids until I met Bob, and I knew that my 0:14:54.440 --> 0:14:57.640 life once I found out about breast cancer was going 0:14:57.720 --> 0:15:00.520 to be forever impacted. And I think that Amy has 0:15:00.560 --> 0:15:05.080 been the hardest challenge of them all, is kind of 0:15:05.120 --> 0:15:08.360 dealing with your whole future being kind of thrown up 0:15:08.360 --> 0:15:10.760 in the air and kind of lit on fire. 0:15:11.240 --> 0:15:14.240 You said, you guys talked about like what did the 0:15:14.280 --> 0:15:17.400 next five years look like? What have What did those 0:15:17.400 --> 0:15:18.200 five years look like? 0:15:18.680 --> 0:15:22.280 That's a great question. Lots of traveling, teach lots of traveling, 0:15:22.840 --> 0:15:26.840 lots of taking the girls trips. Bob would tell me 0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:30.280 to take more girls trips, and really focusing in on 0:15:31.080 --> 0:15:34.720 getting out in the mountains and renewing our sense of 0:15:34.920 --> 0:15:38.600 just exploration, so climbing a lot of mountains. Amy had 0:15:38.640 --> 0:15:41.240 mentioned we went to New Zealand on our honeymoon, we 0:15:41.360 --> 0:15:45.360 got married, We lived life to the fullest. I don't 0:15:45.440 --> 0:15:49.560 think that our wedding would have been the fairy tale 0:15:50.080 --> 0:15:53.680 slash celebration of life that it was if I wasn't 0:15:54.040 --> 0:16:00.640 diagnosed and dealing with something so chronic. And I think 0:16:00.680 --> 0:16:03.640 that was something Amy you had mentioned that stage four 0:16:03.720 --> 0:16:06.920 is ultimately terminal. And I think the biggest learning for 0:16:07.040 --> 0:16:09.440 me was when I had gotten my second opinion and 0:16:09.480 --> 0:16:11.720 the doctor at the time that on collegist said, we 0:16:11.880 --> 0:16:15.600 like to think about your life as an encyclopedia, lots 0:16:15.640 --> 0:16:19.560 of chapters. Some might be short, others might be really long. 0:16:19.720 --> 0:16:22.080 And so for me that was a good analogy to 0:16:22.120 --> 0:16:27.040 really take home and apply because some treatments I've been 0:16:27.080 --> 0:16:30.680 on for nine months, others I've been on for three years. 0:16:32.160 --> 0:16:34.520 Talk about I'm curious because a lot of people want 0:16:34.560 --> 0:16:37.680 to know what is treatment like for you? Yeah, when 0:16:37.720 --> 0:16:40.400 you're metastatic, where are you in your treatments and what 0:16:40.440 --> 0:16:42.760 are they like? How often are they just give us 0:16:42.800 --> 0:16:45.160 a sense of what it's like as a patient. 0:16:46.640 --> 0:16:49.680 So from diagnoses to now, I have been on a 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:55.200 three week regimen of infusions. They have varied from immunotherapies 0:16:55.600 --> 0:16:58.320 which are great, you don't lose your hair, I say, great, 0:16:58.400 --> 0:17:01.200 They're not fun, you get hot flashes, you get a 0:17:01.200 --> 0:17:04.959 lot of really not fun GI symptoms, let's be honest. 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:11.040 And it's been frustrating. So with each treatment and each 0:17:11.680 --> 0:17:14.959 kind of new drug that I've tried, the side effects 0:17:14.960 --> 0:17:18.120 are different. So it's all about symptom management. But right 0:17:18.119 --> 0:17:20.800 now I am on a drug that's a drug conjugate, 0:17:20.880 --> 0:17:24.480 which basically means chemo plus that immunotherapy that i'd speak 0:17:24.680 --> 0:17:28.960 or spoke about, and it's hard, it's challenging. I'm down 0:17:29.040 --> 0:17:31.600 for the count for about a week. A lot of 0:17:31.600 --> 0:17:34.080 my girlfriends would say, you're down for the count is 0:17:34.119 --> 0:17:38.960 like somebody's average day. So I'm thankful for that. I 0:17:39.040 --> 0:17:41.960 have probably had an abundance of energy. I always have 0:17:42.080 --> 0:17:43.960 been a ball of energy. I think that's amy why 0:17:44.560 --> 0:17:47.200 you and I are like of ken if you will. 0:17:47.680 --> 0:17:52.159 And it's just really stinks. I guess the week after 0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:57.800 treatment because you're really kind of nauseous. Your head could 0:17:57.840 --> 0:18:00.199 be in the porcelain bowl, and you just like, did 0:18:00.240 --> 0:18:02.600 I go out and have a three day bench or 0:18:02.920 --> 0:18:03.879 how am I feeling right now? 0:18:04.080 --> 0:18:06.520 Right? But you're still going to work, You're not missing 0:18:06.600 --> 0:18:09.199 days of work. And you know what I think of 0:18:09.280 --> 0:18:11.399 when I think of Morgan. She likes to type this 0:18:11.480 --> 0:18:14.960 to me or texas to me, LFG, let's can go. 0:18:15.200 --> 0:18:15.960 Yeah, that is you. 0:18:16.200 --> 0:18:17.919 And every time I hear that or see that, I 0:18:17.920 --> 0:18:20.280 think of Morgan like that is I feel like you're 0:18:20.280 --> 0:18:23.719 a mantra LFG. Even when you're going into treatment, even 0:18:23.760 --> 0:18:25.720 when you know you're gonna have a bad day. Let's 0:18:25.760 --> 0:18:28.960 do this, let's get this done. But this is you've 0:18:28.960 --> 0:18:32.640 explained this to me, the last treatment available to you 0:18:32.800 --> 0:18:34.000 right now. Explain that. 0:18:34.440 --> 0:18:38.840 Yeah, so it's been six years since I was diagnosed. 0:18:39.119 --> 0:18:42.719 In those six years, this drug it's called in her 0:18:42.760 --> 0:18:45.360 two astra Zeneca came out with it. I want to say, 0:18:45.400 --> 0:18:48.000 now it's been two years, it'll be two years in 0:18:48.040 --> 0:18:51.280 the summer that they release this drug, and it was 0:18:51.359 --> 0:18:53.720 not available six years ago. And now I'm on it 0:18:54.440 --> 0:18:57.640 and you're constantly checking in with your doctors on how 0:18:57.680 --> 0:19:00.439 does your blood work look, how are your pet skins looking? 0:19:00.600 --> 0:19:04.000 And if this stops working, I don't have like another 0:19:04.080 --> 0:19:07.600 option of a new drug to try that could potentially 0:19:08.000 --> 0:19:10.359 continue to save my life. We would have to recycle 0:19:10.400 --> 0:19:13.040 and go back to a different chapter that I may 0:19:13.080 --> 0:19:15.800 have already tried, and for me psychologically, to go back 0:19:15.840 --> 0:19:19.920 to something that didn't work. I brain can't compute that. 0:19:20.200 --> 0:19:23.760 You know, it's hard to compartmentalize when you know that 0:19:23.800 --> 0:19:27.480 something didn't work and there's a potential. 0:19:27.080 --> 0:19:29.399 To have to go back to that, but right now 0:19:29.680 --> 0:19:33.320 it is working. Yes, yeah, all right, and you have 0:19:34.600 --> 0:19:37.240 something very big happening tomorrow. 0:19:37.359 --> 0:19:38.680 We're going to talk about that after the. 0:19:38.600 --> 0:19:42.080 Break because it's something that you've fought for that isn't 0:19:42.119 --> 0:19:45.840 necessarily something that doctors advocate for or even support in 0:19:45.880 --> 0:19:49.119 some cases. The choice you've made something you're doing tomorrow, 0:19:49.119 --> 0:19:51.120 and we're going to talk about that when we come back. 0:20:00.280 --> 0:20:01.680 Welcome back to Amy and TJ. 0:20:01.840 --> 0:20:05.720 We have one of my favorite people with us here today, 0:20:05.800 --> 0:20:10.160 Morgan Mitchell. She is a warrior, she's a survivor, she's 0:20:10.200 --> 0:20:15.280 a thriver. She is living with stage four metastatic breast cancer. 0:20:15.600 --> 0:20:19.919 And I teased something she's going to do tomorrow, but 0:20:20.080 --> 0:20:23.520 actually I wanted to before we get to that, go 0:20:23.640 --> 0:20:27.480 back a bit because you got emotional, not about yourself, 0:20:28.520 --> 0:20:32.720 but when TJ was talking about black women and how 0:20:32.720 --> 0:20:38.480 they suffer disproportionately to women of any other color, you 0:20:38.520 --> 0:20:43.520 got emotional. You actually have a personal connection to this 0:20:43.760 --> 0:20:45.960 and story to this, and it starts with five hundred forty, 0:20:45.960 --> 0:20:47.520 the organization in which we met. 0:20:47.720 --> 0:20:52.359 Yeah, you meet so many powerful women throughout a breast 0:20:52.400 --> 0:20:55.480 cancer journey, and I think for me being in a 0:20:55.560 --> 0:21:00.680 room with young professionals that are you know, I mean, 0:21:00.920 --> 0:21:04.600 this amazing African American woman. She is a doctor and 0:21:04.640 --> 0:21:06.719 she also has Stage four and I met her at 0:21:06.720 --> 0:21:08.960 five hundred and forty and I remember her saying that 0:21:09.040 --> 0:21:13.879 my own hospital didn't take me seriously. And it stuck 0:21:13.920 --> 0:21:18.080