WEBVTT - Surviving Breast Cancer 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:03.120 Follow Cheeky's and Chill on Amazon Music. Just head to 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:06.440 Amazon dot com slash Cheeky's and check out even more 0:00:06.440 --> 0:00:10.360 podcasts by Michaultura throughout Hispanic Heritage month. Listen to my 0:00:10.440 --> 0:00:13.640 latest episode of Cheekys and Chill on Amazon Music. At 0:00:13.680 --> 0:00:17.200 Amazon dot com slash Cheeky's and listen to Cheeky's and 0:00:17.280 --> 0:00:20.599 Chill on Amazon Music, or ask Alexa to play Cheeky's 0:00:20.600 --> 0:00:26.400 and Chill on Amazon Music. I'm actually getting my first 0:00:26.400 --> 0:00:27.720 mamogram tomorrow. 0:00:28.800 --> 0:00:31.280 When they first told me that they had found something, 0:00:31.480 --> 0:00:34.720 I was like, oh, not for me. It's not cancer, 0:00:34.840 --> 0:00:38.360 It's probably a cyst. It's probably something else. Doesn't run 0:00:38.400 --> 0:00:43.919 in my family. I am thankful that all I had 0:00:43.920 --> 0:00:46.360 to lose was my right breast and not my life. 0:00:46.840 --> 0:00:47.840 I mean, that is a gift. 0:00:51.040 --> 0:00:55.360 Hello everyone, Happy October. Today marks the first Monday of October, 0:00:55.440 --> 0:00:58.840 which is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Women tell this 0:00:58.920 --> 0:01:00.720 something we talk about a lot here on Cheeky's and 0:01:00.800 --> 0:01:03.040 Chill because it is something that is very important to me. 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:05.840 And today we're going to be hearing from a breast 0:01:05.920 --> 0:01:09.040 cancer survivor. I've said this before, but I think we 0:01:09.160 --> 0:01:12.039 learned by listening to other people's experiences. So I'm hoping 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:15.080 you all take something away from today's conversation. This is 0:01:15.360 --> 0:01:23.080 Cheeky's and Chill. Today's guest is Christina Guerrero. She's a storyteller, 0:01:23.120 --> 0:01:26.600 pop culture expert, and a television host. You may have 0:01:26.640 --> 0:01:29.320 seen her on E Entertainment, where she was the very 0:01:29.400 --> 0:01:34.040 first Latina correspondent. So welcome Christina, Welcome to the podcast. 0:01:34.720 --> 0:01:38.440 Thank you so much, No, thank you so much. I 0:01:38.480 --> 0:01:40.839 really appreciate you coming on, taking the time and also 0:01:40.880 --> 0:01:43.400 being so open about your story. I'm going through a 0:01:43.400 --> 0:01:45.400 few things and we'll talk about that later. As I 0:01:45.480 --> 0:01:48.559 was reading about you and your story, one thing that 0:01:48.560 --> 0:01:51.400 that caught my attention was that, and I totally understand 0:01:51.440 --> 0:01:54.120 as well as far as like how being a Latina 0:01:54.160 --> 0:01:56.400 wasn't like a cool thing, it wasn't celebrated. 0:01:56.640 --> 0:01:59.160 It is so interesting because you know, I grew up 0:01:59.200 --> 0:02:03.160 in the eighties and nineties and I grew up in 0:02:03.200 --> 0:02:07.240 a really small cow town in Washington State where it 0:02:07.360 --> 0:02:12.280 wasn't celebrated. It wasn't anything that people were wanting to 0:02:12.360 --> 0:02:15.560 throw around or like be proud of it. And I 0:02:15.720 --> 0:02:18.840 just feel like, you know, I had a lot of 0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:22.119 mixed messages. Be proud of who you are, but don't 0:02:22.160 --> 0:02:24.360 be too proud of who you are. You know, be 0:02:24.480 --> 0:02:27.280 proud of where you come from, but don't speak Spanish. 0:02:27.440 --> 0:02:30.680 You know those kinds of things. Now it brings me 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:34.080 so much joy. It gives me a depth in ways 0:02:34.080 --> 0:02:37.720 that other people just can't understand. It connects me to 0:02:37.880 --> 0:02:40.560 my ancestors, it connects me to my people. It's a 0:02:40.560 --> 0:02:42.680 beautiful thing. I love my culture. 0:02:43.120 --> 0:02:45.360 That's awesome. Yeah, I totally get that. That's how I 0:02:45.400 --> 0:02:47.440 felt before. It was like, oh, don't speak Spanish. The 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:50.080 more English you can speak, the better, especially when I 0:02:50.160 --> 0:02:52.280 was like going to school and stuff. My first language 0:02:52.320 --> 0:02:55.359 was Spanish because my grandparents they raised me, so then 0:02:55.800 --> 0:02:57.880 having to go to school and learn English, and then 0:02:57.919 --> 0:02:59.920 after I learned English, it's like, Okay, don't speak Spanish. 0:03:00.000 --> 0:03:03.160 I kind of forgot how to speak the correct you know, Spanish, 0:03:03.240 --> 0:03:04.320 I guess the proper way. 0:03:04.560 --> 0:03:06.839 So I totally get that. Now we're on top. 0:03:06.919 --> 0:03:09.560 Now it's like everyone wants to be a Latina, which 0:03:09.600 --> 0:03:09.919 is cool. 0:03:10.480 --> 0:03:13.160 I'll take it. And we've made it so cool. It's like, 0:03:13.520 --> 0:03:15.600 come on the other side, we're we're having a good 0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:16.600 time over here. 0:03:16.760 --> 0:03:19.080 Yes we are. There's a lot of flavor over here. 0:03:20.200 --> 0:03:23.160 So when did this, like I want to become a 0:03:23.200 --> 0:03:26.440 television host happen? Or did it just happen by accident 0:03:26.520 --> 0:03:28.240 or you always knew? You know. 0:03:28.360 --> 0:03:31.600 It's so interesting because I get asked that question a lot. 0:03:31.680 --> 0:03:33.960 And I was just back home in Washington, in my 0:03:34.080 --> 0:03:37.920 small little cowtown, and I was amazed to myself. I'm like, 0:03:38.000 --> 0:03:42.960 how did a little girl who was dark and grenuda 0:03:43.200 --> 0:03:50.440 and you know, dirty and running around poor? My dad 0:03:50.480 --> 0:03:52.520 was an alcoholic and in jail. My mom was on 0:03:52.560 --> 0:03:55.720 welfare and food stamps. And I look at that time 0:03:55.800 --> 0:04:00.360 and I'm like, how did I believe the I was 0:04:00.440 --> 0:04:03.960 meant to do something beyond the small town that I 0:04:04.040 --> 0:04:06.200 was raised in. And I just have to give it 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:08.480 to God. I just have to give it to God. 0:04:08.520 --> 0:04:12.560 It was a divine purpose for me to I don't 0:04:12.560 --> 0:04:14.680 believe God was like, we want you to be an 0:04:14.840 --> 0:04:18.600 entertainment host. I believe that God gave me a voice 0:04:18.960 --> 0:04:22.800 and a purpose to reach people. And I believed it. 0:04:23.120 --> 0:04:26.120 I thought somebody has to do it, why can't it 0:04:26.160 --> 0:04:29.760 be me? And I never wavered from that, and I 0:04:29.880 --> 0:04:32.279 just I went to school. I hustled. I worked hard. 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:35.039 I did jobs for free, and I just worked my 0:04:35.120 --> 0:04:38.320 way all the way up the ladder until I realized 0:04:38.320 --> 0:04:40.320 my dreams. And then when I realized my dreams, I. 0:04:40.400 --> 0:04:42.479 Was like, oh, it happened. 0:04:42.760 --> 0:04:46.000 I did it. No, I'm here now. 0:04:46.120 --> 0:04:49.599 What that so awesome? 0:04:49.680 --> 0:04:49.720 Was? 0:04:49.760 --> 0:04:50.640 You work so hard? 0:04:51.160 --> 0:04:53.600 Yeah? But I've always loved talking to people. My mom 0:04:53.640 --> 0:04:56.240 would always tell me you talk too much. Stop talking 0:04:56.240 --> 0:05:00.120 to strangers. I love talking to people, and so I 0:05:00.160 --> 0:05:04.320 had an innate sensibility for performance, and then I was 0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:06.600 such a curious little girl. So I just put the 0:05:06.640 --> 0:05:09.560 two together, and being a TV host was the perfect 0:05:09.640 --> 0:05:10.080 job for me. 0:05:10.640 --> 0:05:13.200 That's awesome. I think you're amazing at it. And yeah, 0:05:13.200 --> 0:05:16.200 you're a storyteller. You're a storyteller, and that's People always 0:05:16.240 --> 0:05:17.920 ask me, like, how do you get people to talk 0:05:17.960 --> 0:05:20.799 to you? Or sometimes like I can go somewhere random, 0:05:20.880 --> 0:05:22.400 they don't know who I am or anything. We just 0:05:22.400 --> 0:05:23.919 start talking and they tell me their whole life, and 0:05:23.920 --> 0:05:25.360 there I am giving them advice and then I tell 0:05:25.400 --> 0:05:26.400 them my whole life, and I'm. 0:05:26.240 --> 0:05:28.040 Like, I just love talking to people. 0:05:28.120 --> 0:05:30.520 I feel like it's part of like what I meant 0:05:30.560 --> 0:05:33.480 to do is just inform people you know what I mean? 0:05:33.920 --> 0:05:37.960 Yes, absolutely, yeah, it's the human connection, right, relating to 0:05:38.040 --> 0:05:43.200 people on the same level. Right, you're this like huge 0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:47.640 superstar and have had this extraordinary life. But like if 0:05:47.640 --> 0:05:50.400 we get back down to just the human experience, my 0:05:50.520 --> 0:05:53.160 story and your story and the story of the person 0:05:53.160 --> 0:05:56.479 who just got on the city bus, or the story 0:05:56.520 --> 0:05:59.479 of the person who is standing in the welfare line, 0:05:59.640 --> 0:06:03.880 or where all of our stories are kind of intertwined, 0:06:03.920 --> 0:06:06.000 and that's the human connection, I believe. 0:06:06.600 --> 0:06:09.360 Absolutely, I completely agree with you. Absolutely, I love that 0:06:09.440 --> 0:06:10.880 because that's what it is. At the end of the day, 0:06:10.920 --> 0:06:13.760 we're all equal. It's just you know, we're doing different 0:06:13.760 --> 0:06:15.800 things in the world, but we're all equal. So yes, 0:06:15.880 --> 0:06:18.560 I love that and I completely agree. And now talking 0:06:18.560 --> 0:06:21.080 about storytelling, you were telling your story. I saw that 0:06:21.120 --> 0:06:22.760 about a month ago. Was it a little bit over 0:06:22.760 --> 0:06:24.800 a month that you were talking about what you were 0:06:24.800 --> 0:06:28.120 going through? How did that feel? Did you feel the 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:30.560 need to share it? Did you think about I'm going 0:06:30.600 --> 0:06:32.880 to keep this to myself ever or did you always 0:06:32.960 --> 0:06:34.919 know I want to talk about this and be open 0:06:34.960 --> 0:06:35.360 about it. 0:06:36.120 --> 0:06:39.120 I've always been a very open book. The nature of 0:06:39.160 --> 0:06:42.159 our business is to connect to people and to relate 0:06:42.200 --> 0:06:44.279 to people, and then a lot of people just kind 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:45.800 of know who we are. So I've always felt like 0:06:45.800 --> 0:06:48.520 I had a platform to be able to share my story. 0:06:49.040 --> 0:06:53.120 But before I shared my story, I needed to process 0:06:54.520 --> 0:06:57.720 everything that was happening. I could not do it in 0:06:57.800 --> 0:07:01.080 real time. And so I always knew that this was 0:07:01.120 --> 0:07:04.159 going to be a great opportunity for me to connect 0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:08.000 to people, to hopefully inspire people, to educate people. But 0:07:08.160 --> 0:07:10.360 while I was going through it, I kind of talk 0:07:10.400 --> 0:07:13.120 about in my documentary, I was just walking through molasses. 0:07:13.160 --> 0:07:15.520 So I was just walking in this really kind of 0:07:15.560 --> 0:07:18.480 out of body experience. I had to still go to work. 0:07:18.560 --> 0:07:20.840 I have two little boys. I have to get to school. 0:07:20.880 --> 0:07:22.600 I have to get to soccer practice. I have to 0:07:22.600 --> 0:07:25.200 pay bills, I have, you know, to get dinner on 0:07:25.240 --> 0:07:28.920 the table. Oh, and then I'm going through cancer and 0:07:28.960 --> 0:07:33.600 then my life is completely changing, and then I might die, 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:37.000 and then I might not be here for my boys, 0:07:37.040 --> 0:07:39.040 and then I'm going to lose a part of my body. 0:07:39.120 --> 0:07:42.440 So I was just I was on autopilot for a 0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:44.160 very long time. And I know a lot of people 0:07:44.400 --> 0:07:48.360 process not like on Instagram and publicly in real time. 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:50.960 I just I couldn't. I couldn't do it. 0:07:51.920 --> 0:07:55.280 Yeah, because you were documenting everything? Was it first and 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:58.640 foremost for yourself? And then you decided to say I'm 0:07:58.640 --> 0:08:01.440 going to share this, or because it was your husband, 0:08:01.480 --> 0:08:03.000 right who was recording everything for you? 0:08:03.120 --> 0:08:05.360 I was recording some stuff. He's the one who produced it, 0:08:05.400 --> 0:08:07.880 but he recorded some stuff as well. Okay, he's a 0:08:07.920 --> 0:08:12.559 filmmaker and I'm a storyteller. I'm a journalist, and Sour 0:08:12.840 --> 0:08:16.720 even though we were processing on this like really crazy level, 0:08:17.080 --> 0:08:21.000 we are both storytellers, and so, you know, we knew 0:08:21.000 --> 0:08:23.160 that we wanted to document it. I didn't know at 0:08:23.160 --> 0:08:24.840 that point what I would do with it. Maybe it 0:08:24.880 --> 0:08:26.640 was just going to be meet for me one day 0:08:26.760 --> 0:08:29.800 to you know, kind of look back and see all 0:08:29.800 --> 0:08:33.440 the craziness that was happening. But the way he sees 0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:36.200 life as a filmmaker and the way I see life 0:08:36.240 --> 0:08:40.080 as a journalist, everything is in story form. So we 0:08:40.200 --> 0:08:42.040 kind of we just kind of proceeded that way. 0:08:42.640 --> 0:08:44.640 Does breast cancer run in your family? 0:08:45.559 --> 0:08:52.439 Okay, let me tell you this. It was a huge shock. 0:08:53.240 --> 0:08:56.280 I go get my mammogram every year when I turned forty, 0:08:56.320 --> 0:08:58.880 because that's just like what you're supposed to do right. 0:08:59.000 --> 0:09:01.080 I've been in this business a long time. I report 0:09:01.120 --> 0:09:04.800 on breast cancer awareness every October. I do an interview 0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:07.360 on somebody. I never think it's for me. It's for 0:09:07.440 --> 0:09:09.400 somebody else because it doesn't run in my family. But 0:09:09.440 --> 0:09:12.280 I still, you know, my due diligence. I go get 0:09:12.280 --> 0:09:14.640 my mammograms so I can tell people I do it, 0:09:14.720 --> 0:09:18.040 you should do it too, right. And so when they 0:09:18.320 --> 0:09:21.080 first told me that they had found something, I was like, oh, 0:09:21.640 --> 0:09:24.760 not for me. It's not cancer. It's probably a cyst. 0:09:24.760 --> 0:09:28.439 It's probably something else. Doesn't run in my family. And 0:09:28.480 --> 0:09:31.040 they said, yeah, we don't think that it's anything either, 0:09:31.280 --> 0:09:36.160 and they did some more tests. It should take two 0:09:36.280 --> 0:09:38.760 days to get the results. It took six weeks to 0:09:38.800 --> 0:09:41.400 get the results. Because it's such a rare form of 0:09:41.400 --> 0:09:47.000 breast cancer, they didn't know what it was. So when 0:09:47.040 --> 0:09:54.440 I got that information, I was shook. Doesn't run in 0:09:54.480 --> 0:09:58.320 my family. I'm forty three years old, I'm very healthy. 0:09:58.480 --> 0:10:04.160 This is not happening to me. This is not in 0:10:04.240 --> 0:10:08.000 the cards, This was not in the plan. To get 0:10:08.000 --> 0:10:13.440 that news turned my world upside down. Getting that news, 0:10:14.720 --> 0:10:17.880 finding out it was an aggressive form of breast cancer 0:10:18.600 --> 0:10:20.880 that it was a rare form of breast cancer. Had 0:10:20.880 --> 0:10:25.920 I not gone to go get my mammogram, I would 0:10:26.559 --> 0:10:27.040 have died. 0:10:27.520 --> 0:10:29.040 Oh my goodness. 0:10:29.440 --> 0:10:34.880 I say that dramatically because I can't even stress to 0:10:34.920 --> 0:10:40.040 you how important early detection is. Again, I wasn't doing 0:10:40.080 --> 0:10:42.040 it because I was like earlier detection. I was doing 0:10:42.080 --> 0:10:43.840 because I'm like I tell other people to do it, 0:10:43.960 --> 0:10:46.720 I should do it too. Also, I need my medication refilled, 0:10:46.720 --> 0:10:48.320 so I'll just do it all at the same time. 0:10:48.720 --> 0:10:50.760 My doctor tells me, if we don't get this out 0:10:50.760 --> 0:10:55.400 of you, it will kill you. Wow. I've got two 0:10:55.400 --> 0:10:58.439 little boys at home. I've got my whole life ahead 0:10:58.480 --> 0:11:03.040 of me. We run our lives moving at a pace 0:11:03.920 --> 0:11:06.440 that is fast and quick, and we're not taking care 0:11:06.480 --> 0:11:11.360 of ourselves. We're not thinking. And when we run our 0:11:11.440 --> 0:11:14.520 lives like that, we miss right. Things fall through the cracks, 0:11:14.559 --> 0:11:20.840 We miss things. Had I missed this, I would have died. 0:11:30.880 --> 0:11:33.920 How did your voice take it? Did you take a 0:11:33.920 --> 0:11:34.760 while to let them know? 0:11:35.520 --> 0:11:37.640 I have little boys. So my little boys, I have 0:11:38.000 --> 0:11:39.400 a ten year old and a three and a half 0:11:39.480 --> 0:11:44.079 year old, and they just knew that mommy needed to 0:11:44.120 --> 0:11:46.000 get better, that there was something going on, and the 0:11:46.040 --> 0:11:47.640 doctor needed to take care of me so that I 0:11:47.679 --> 0:11:50.480 could be around for a really long time. And so 0:11:50.880 --> 0:11:54.720 I've been really grateful to shield them from kind of 0:11:54.760 --> 0:11:58.000 everything that's happening with my documentary. Though. My husband and 0:11:58.040 --> 0:11:59.800 I said, you know, when they're of age, we can 0:11:59.800 --> 0:12:02.040 break this to them and show them what I was 0:12:02.120 --> 0:12:06.240 going through, you know, for them to kind of see 0:12:06.240 --> 0:12:10.240 how it all unfolded. But for now, for now, I mean, 0:12:10.360 --> 0:12:12.439 had I had to go through chemo or have blast 0:12:12.520 --> 0:12:15.880 my hair or some of the other side effects that happened, 0:12:16.040 --> 0:12:18.520 then we probably would have told them, but we were 0:12:18.559 --> 0:12:21.199 able to shield them from that thankfully. 0:12:21.840 --> 0:12:24.280 Yeah, that's probably best for sure. And like you said, 0:12:24.280 --> 0:12:26.640 you guys have it in a documentary and well, from 0:12:26.640 --> 0:12:28.719 what it seems like, your husband was very supportive, and 0:12:29.559 --> 0:12:31.760 I think that makes a huge difference as well. 0:12:32.840 --> 0:12:38.640 Yeah. Yeah, no, he it's hard. He's funny. It's not funny. 0:12:39.760 --> 0:12:42.200 Cancer runs in his family. And I had just told 0:12:42.240 --> 0:12:44.600 him a couple of weeks before, go get checked. Cancer 0:12:44.679 --> 0:12:47.840 runs in your family. You're gonna get cancer. Go get checked. 0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:51.640 And then I'm the one who gets cancer. So unfortunately, 0:12:51.720 --> 0:12:56.000 he's very familiar with it. He is a great caretaker 0:12:56.040 --> 0:12:57.600 and he took really good care of me, so I 0:12:57.640 --> 0:12:58.640 was very thankful for that. 0:13:00.240 --> 0:13:01.720 To your husband, it's awesome. 0:13:01.800 --> 0:13:05.120 Yeah, he's great. But I you know, it's interesting because 0:13:05.120 --> 0:13:07.560 and I hope, I hope people still are listening. It's 0:13:07.640 --> 0:13:10.400 not a sexy topic, right, It's not a sexy topic 0:13:10.480 --> 0:13:13.120 to talk about breast cancer. It's like, oh, one of 0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:15.640 those things then one of those things you have to do, 0:13:15.760 --> 0:13:17.760 or one of those things somebody else is going through, 0:13:18.480 --> 0:13:20.800 one of those things that will happen to somebody else. 0:13:21.600 --> 0:13:25.760 And I'm just here to say that it can happen 0:13:26.040 --> 0:13:29.520 to anyone. And as I know who your audience is, 0:13:30.120 --> 0:13:34.319 breast cancer is the number one killer of Hispanic women. 0:13:34.800 --> 0:13:38.000 And that is because I believe we are not educated. 0:13:38.280 --> 0:13:41.440 We don't maybe value our health as much as we should. 0:13:41.760 --> 0:13:46.200 We are taking care of everybody else, and we're not 0:13:46.360 --> 0:13:49.000 thinking in those terms. You know. I talk to my 0:13:49.080 --> 0:13:51.319 sister who's older than me. She's like, Oh, I've been 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:54.560 meaning to get a mammogram. I'm like, what are you 0:13:54.760 --> 0:13:58.920 waiting for? But like there's like something in our culture 0:13:59.040 --> 0:14:01.440 that's like we get dit beaties and heart disease. Cancer 0:14:01.480 --> 0:14:07.080 doesn't happen to us, you know, and so it's happening 0:14:07.120 --> 0:14:10.559 to our people. It's happening to our women, our moms, 0:14:10.600 --> 0:14:14.520 our grandmas, our sisters, our cousins, and we need to 0:14:16.040 --> 0:14:17.200 we need to be aware of it. 0:14:17.880 --> 0:14:20.240 We need to be aware and also responsible, you know, 0:14:20.320 --> 0:14:23.720 because I think as Latinos we feel like, oh we're fine, 0:14:23.800 --> 0:14:25.920 especially a lot of men and women as well. There 0:14:26.000 --> 0:14:27.920 it's like the last thing you do. You just have 0:14:28.000 --> 0:14:30.520 to feel completely sick in order to say, okay, now 0:14:30.520 --> 0:14:32.680 I'm really going to the doctor. But you felt complete, 0:14:32.680 --> 0:14:35.880 you felt fine, you know, and yeah, you were just 0:14:35.880 --> 0:14:39.120 doing your the routine of like okay, you got to 0:14:39.120 --> 0:14:41.680 do this. Yeah, And that's exactly what happened with me 0:14:41.840 --> 0:14:44.680 because I'm actually getting my first mamogram tomorrow. 0:14:45.440 --> 0:14:48.320 Yay, hear that? 0:14:48.880 --> 0:14:49.280 Thank you? 0:14:49.320 --> 0:14:51.520 Because before been was like okay, until you turn forty. 0:14:51.600 --> 0:14:54.240 Now they're saying to do it as early as thirty five. Yes, 0:14:54.360 --> 0:14:58.600 So I am thirty eight, and I've had breast surgery 0:14:58.720 --> 0:15:01.400 like breast augmentation and breast reductions and all that stuff. 0:15:01.680 --> 0:15:05.120 And my gynecologist has you know, they do the little 0:15:05.200 --> 0:15:07.880 you know, the check or whatnot, and I've had lumps 0:15:07.920 --> 0:15:08.520 and stuff and. 0:15:08.520 --> 0:15:10.440 She's like, I think it's car tissue. And then I'm like, well, 0:15:10.440 --> 0:15:11.240 now it's growing. 0:15:11.720 --> 0:15:14.760 So I went to the doctor last week and some 0:15:14.840 --> 0:15:16.640 other stuff came up, and like you said, it's not 0:15:16.680 --> 0:15:19.000 a sexy it's not a sexy conversation, but it's a 0:15:19.000 --> 0:15:21.120 conversation that we need to have. Like I'm very good 0:15:21.120 --> 0:15:24.480 with every February, I get my PAP smear and I 0:15:24.480 --> 0:15:27.040 get all that stuff checked, I get check for STDs, 0:15:27.080 --> 0:15:29.080 the whole thing. But I was kind of bleeding. I 0:15:29.120 --> 0:15:31.440 was spotting a little bit. I'm like, something doesn't feel right. 0:15:31.560 --> 0:15:33.760 And I've had cys and my ovaries and stuff, and 0:15:33.800 --> 0:15:35.960 now I have pulyps or something like that and the 0:15:35.960 --> 0:15:37.600 lining of my uterus and I have to get it 0:15:37.640 --> 0:15:40.840 like surgically removed. And I have all these like stuff 0:15:40.880 --> 0:15:43.480 going on on my breast, and I'm just like, what's happening. 0:15:43.760 --> 0:15:46.080 I had a meltdown last week because I'm like, oh 0:15:46.080 --> 0:15:48.200 my gosh, like i feel fine, I'm working like this 0:15:48.280 --> 0:15:51.240 is you know, And I'm like, wait, if I'm not okay, 0:15:51.280 --> 0:15:53.240 if I'm not healthy, I can't do everything I do. 0:15:53.320 --> 0:15:55.040 I can't help the world. So I have to put 0:15:55.040 --> 0:15:59.080 myself first. But it was definitely something that I was like, 0:15:59.120 --> 0:16:01.000 you know, I'm so glad we're having this conversation to 0:16:01.040 --> 0:16:02.720 be able to help other women and say, hey, if 0:16:02.760 --> 0:16:05.120 they've never gotten a mammogramm aror they don't go get 0:16:05.120 --> 0:16:08.160 their pap smear or just like the routine checks. It's 0:16:08.200 --> 0:16:09.920 so important, ladies, it really is. 0:16:10.400 --> 0:16:14.160 Also, it's like, no, that can't possibly be anything. I'm fine, 0:16:14.280 --> 0:16:17.800 I feel fine putting things off, like when I get 0:16:17.840 --> 0:16:19.600 really sick, then I'll go take a look at it. 0:16:19.760 --> 0:16:22.640 So just something that i'll share with you and with 0:16:22.720 --> 0:16:25.560 your legions of fans. But I also had a breast 0:16:25.600 --> 0:16:29.920 reduction two years ago, and so when I first got 0:16:30.240 --> 0:16:32.200 when she was like, oh, there's something here, we're going 0:16:32.280 --> 0:16:33.320 to go look at it. I was like, you know what, 0:16:33.400 --> 0:16:36.240 it's scar tissue. I already know it. It's all good. 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:38.040 It's scar tissue. And they're like, you know what, You're 0:16:38.080 --> 0:16:41.520 probably right, that makes sense. It tracks now. I could 0:16:41.520 --> 0:16:43.840 have left it at that and just been like, yeah, 0:16:43.880 --> 0:16:46.720 that's what it is. I just know because I know 0:16:46.920 --> 0:16:49.640 better than everybody else. But I was like, she's like, 0:16:49.720 --> 0:16:51.320 I'm not going to let you leave until we do 0:16:51.400 --> 0:16:53.560 more tests. I was like, oh, okay, let's do more tests, 0:16:53.560 --> 0:16:56.000 and then I find out it's an aggressive form of 0:16:56.000 --> 0:16:58.280 breast cancer that had I not taken care of it 0:16:58.320 --> 0:17:01.640 when I did, would have killed. I'm so happy to 0:17:01.680 --> 0:17:03.920 hear that you're going to go take care of yourself. 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:06.600 This like brings me so much joy and really like 0:17:06.680 --> 0:17:09.919 putting this out there, my story and the way in 0:17:09.960 --> 0:17:12.520 which I'm doing it is like, I am not the 0:17:12.560 --> 0:17:15.960 person cancer is going to come and get That is 0:17:16.000 --> 0:17:18.640 what I told myself. So somebody out there right now 0:17:18.720 --> 0:17:21.480 is listening and they felt a lump or something's not 0:17:21.600 --> 0:17:23.560 right or whatever, and they're like, oh, it's fine. I'm 0:17:23.560 --> 0:17:26.359 here to tell you go get yourself checked out. Yes, 0:17:26.640 --> 0:17:29.600 please get yourself checked out. It could save your life. 0:17:30.040 --> 0:17:32.800 I'm so nervous, and I'm so scared, to be honest, 0:17:32.800 --> 0:17:34.560 to get a mamogram because I have a friend that 0:17:34.560 --> 0:17:37.560 said it really hurts because I have implantsed. So she said, okay, 0:17:37.640 --> 0:17:39.960 that it hurts. It's uncomfortable. I don't know, you tell me, 0:17:40.200 --> 0:17:41.040 but I know I have to do it. 0:17:41.040 --> 0:17:42.240 But I'm a little scared. 0:17:42.920 --> 0:17:44.760 I know, you know what. Honestly, I've heard that a lot. 0:17:44.800 --> 0:17:46.480 I've heard that from a lot of women who are like, oh, 0:17:46.520 --> 0:17:48.240 I don't want to do it because I hear it hurts. 0:17:48.359 --> 0:17:51.200 It doesn't hurt. It's a little uncomfortable, it's a little 0:17:51.240 --> 0:17:54.080 bit of pressure, it's a little awkward, you know, and 0:17:54.119 --> 0:17:56.680 the whole scheme of things. It really doesn't hurt. It's 0:17:56.680 --> 0:17:58.840 a little uncomfortable. But so is a pap smear. So 0:17:59.000 --> 0:18:02.560 is it is life? I promise it's nothing to be 0:18:02.680 --> 0:18:05.439 scared of. I've done it every year since I turned forty, 0:18:06.000 --> 0:18:09.200 and one way that I kind of remember that it's 0:18:09.240 --> 0:18:11.040 time to get it, so I don't forget it as 0:18:11.119 --> 0:18:13.800 I always go on my birthday or like my birthday month. 0:18:13.920 --> 0:18:16.920 It's a gift to myself that I know that I'm okay. 0:18:17.160 --> 0:18:20.480 So I always go in October to get my mammogram 0:18:20.560 --> 0:18:22.600 and my paps mayor both of them are super important. 0:18:22.880 --> 0:18:25.280 Yes, absolutely, Okay, that's good. It's like, hey, this is 0:18:25.320 --> 0:18:28.200 a gift. This is the gift for myself, peace of mind. 0:18:28.280 --> 0:18:28.719 You know what I mean. 0:18:28.760 --> 0:18:29.920 I'm gonna they get it exactly. 0:18:30.440 --> 0:18:31.359 Okay. I love that. 0:18:32.320 --> 0:18:34.399 Okay, I'm gonna do it scared even if I am, 0:18:34.440 --> 0:18:35.720 it's like whatever, but now I feel better. 0:18:35.840 --> 0:18:38.000 Now I feel better. Is it a long process? 0:18:38.760 --> 0:18:42.439 It's not you're in there for fifteen minutes. It's easy, breezy. 0:18:42.520 --> 0:18:44.880 It's it's really not hard. You go in, they check 0:18:44.920 --> 0:18:46.879 one side and then they check the other side, and 0:18:46.920 --> 0:18:50.760 then they do some some pictures. Nothing like sexy. There's 0:18:50.800 --> 0:18:54.040 no like sexy cleavage pictures or anything like that. There's 0:18:54.040 --> 0:18:57.640 just no Instagram. And yeah, there's no filters. 0:18:58.920 --> 0:19:01.679 I know, like shit, okay, okay, awesome, all right, so 0:19:01.680 --> 0:19:03.359 it's not too crazy long. I was like, oh am, 0:19:03.400 --> 0:19:05.520 I going to be in there for hours because pap 0:19:05.520 --> 0:19:08.400 smears are so uncomfortable, but they're super quick, and it's 0:19:08.400 --> 0:19:10.160 just like, oh my gosh, they are they gonna grab 0:19:10.200 --> 0:19:14.439 my freaking uterus. But it's important, it's it's okay. So 0:19:14.480 --> 0:19:16.760 many things in life, like you said, are are uncomfortable. 0:19:17.600 --> 0:19:19.439 Yeah. I was gonna say it's in and out, but 0:19:19.480 --> 0:19:22.639 then that seems really inappropriate when we're talking about. 0:19:24.560 --> 0:19:27.560 True You're right, And it also made me hungry now, 0:19:27.680 --> 0:19:29.600 like I want some in and out in and out sounds. 0:19:30.560 --> 0:19:32.600 I'm always thinking about food. Oh my gosh. 0:19:33.000 --> 0:19:42.080 Anyways, that's hysterical. And so how are you feeling. 0:19:42.240 --> 0:19:43.760 I'm feeling. I'm feeling better. 0:19:44.240 --> 0:19:47.280 There is a little like a little lump or bump 0:19:47.320 --> 0:19:49.240 that is kind of concerning me on my left breast. 0:19:49.359 --> 0:19:51.679 But the good thing is I'm going tomorrow, and I'm like, 0:19:51.760 --> 0:19:52.400 you know, what. 0:19:53.840 --> 0:19:54.600 Did I think about it? 0:19:54.600 --> 0:19:58.320 Well, because my grandmother she had cancer, I believe twice 0:19:58.359 --> 0:20:00.720