WEBVTT - BA Q&A: Surviving Breast Cancer with Comedian Marina Franklin 

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, Hey, Hey, ba fam it is Mandy Woodruff Santos.

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<v Speaker 1>I am here with a very special guest this week.

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<v Speaker 1>Marina Franklin is a veteran comedian. She's an actor. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>you say multi hyphen it, but there's not enough hyphens

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<v Speaker 1>I think in existence for what this amazing woman has

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<v Speaker 1>done and pioneer in her space. Actor writer, she's a host.

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<v Speaker 1>She has been a standout premier comedian for years now.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm not going to reveal her age, but when you

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<v Speaker 1>see her, I mean I swear you could not guess,

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<v Speaker 1>and she says it in her stand up. She ages

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<v Speaker 1>very well. But to be so experienced at her craft,

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<v Speaker 1>She's got some amazing work coming out now that's actually

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<v Speaker 1>available for y'all to check out. I encourage you to

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<v Speaker 1>check out her comedies special single Black Female, It's Hilarious

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<v Speaker 1>on Amazon Prime. She's also a part of this really

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<v Speaker 1>amazing documentary series on FX called Hysterical, which is taking

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<v Speaker 1>a real look behind the curtain at the comedy you know,

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<v Speaker 1>the comedy club scene, and what it's like to be

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<v Speaker 1>women in that scene, and especially for folks like Marina

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<v Speaker 1>coming up and trying to break out in the very

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<v Speaker 1>crowded space and a male dominated space, and it's a

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<v Speaker 1>wonderful project that she's a part of, which we'll talk

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<v Speaker 1>a bit about on today's show. But let me stop

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<v Speaker 1>with my rambling and introduce y'all and say hello to Marina.

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<v Speaker 1>Thank you so much.

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<v Speaker 2>It was a good ramble, Was it all right? Okay? Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>the intro was spectacular. I'm always cringing because I forget

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<v Speaker 2>I need to change the bio on my website. So

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<v Speaker 2>I appreciated what she did there.

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<v Speaker 1>Does that mean really not a viciously likable person, Marina?

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<v Speaker 1>I mean that was years ago, someone who gets asked

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<v Speaker 1>for bios all the time, and I'm just like, ugh,

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<v Speaker 1>someone else write this viciously likable?

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<v Speaker 2>Someone else wrote that. Yeah. I was like, okay, I

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<v Speaker 2>mean I think in that year, in that year.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, I don't even know what that means. Like that

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<v Speaker 1>means like, you know, you can't throw it, but you're

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<v Speaker 1>gonna smile afterward on stage?

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<v Speaker 2>You know. The thing is is they always wonder are

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<v Speaker 2>you a likable comic? Are you know? On stage? Like

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<v Speaker 2>some comics have an edge where you wouldn't want to

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<v Speaker 2>approach them afterwards, and some comics are likable. So that's me.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh, okay, you're the kind of comic that you want

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<v Speaker 1>to hang out with. I don't know. I kind of

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<v Speaker 1>feel like, don't I mean, to be a comic, don't

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<v Speaker 1>you need to have I mean, you need to have

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<v Speaker 1>this like bit like this, this razor sharp wit and

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<v Speaker 1>ability to give people shit and give them a hard

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<v Speaker 1>time and call them out. But then yeah, be likable

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<v Speaker 1>enough for folks to want to come back for more abuse.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, no, I mean I don't know. Most of the

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<v Speaker 2>comics I know, you wouldn't want to hang out afterwards.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh no, okay, Oh no, they're they're smart, they're quick.

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<v Speaker 2>I mean, the most of the ones that I know.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm not speaking for. There's a lot of comics these days,

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<v Speaker 2>so I'm not speaking for all of them. The comics

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<v Speaker 2>I know they're pretty, you know, they have very strong personality,

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<v Speaker 2>So hanging out with them after the show, you I

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<v Speaker 2>wouldn't do that.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, it does feel like, I mean, what's it like

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<v Speaker 1>from your perspective? Because you have been in this business

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<v Speaker 1>for how many years? Now?

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<v Speaker 2>Twenty two years now?

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<v Speaker 1>I guess yeah, yeah, so over the I mean that's

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<v Speaker 1>a generation, right, so over the past twenty years. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>how have you felt the scene has changed for black

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<v Speaker 1>female comics. Do you think that it is better than ever?

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<v Speaker 1>There's still so much we have so much room to

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<v Speaker 1>grow and so so much further to go. What's it

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<v Speaker 1>like from your perspective?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, it's definitely on the right path. You know. You

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<v Speaker 2>have a lot of black female comics working now at

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<v Speaker 2>the same club, like the Comedy Seller where I work,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, mostly that's where that's like my home club.

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<v Speaker 2>You'll have three black female comics on one show and

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<v Speaker 2>it's not even a thing anymore. And that's and they

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<v Speaker 2>don't mix y'all's names up, and they don't mix our

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<v Speaker 2>names up, all right, they better not, you know. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>I mean, but what's interesting is it's it's such a

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<v Speaker 2>good path to be on because now we're getting the

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<v Speaker 2>opportunity to see, oh, maybe I should change my joke.

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<v Speaker 2>Maybe we're talking about the same things. You know, when

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<v Speaker 2>I was the only black female comic in the room

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<v Speaker 2>going on stage, I was the only one representing black women.

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<v Speaker 2>Now there's three or four five black women there, and

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<v Speaker 2>I've got to go, oh, well, she's talking about that too.

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<v Speaker 2>Now I get to work on my craft the way

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<v Speaker 2>white men have been working on their craft for years,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, because they're always going up against someone who

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<v Speaker 2>may be talking about the same thing. And that's that's

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<v Speaker 2>part of the craft of stand up is having original

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<v Speaker 2>material that's unique to you. So it's on this way,

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<v Speaker 2>it's in a good direction. But I would say that,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, continue to do the work. You know, we

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<v Speaker 2>we can't all be Tiffany Hattish, you know, that's the

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<v Speaker 2>name that is commonly. This is what you know they

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<v Speaker 2>tend to do, is they'll they'll find one, you know token.

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<v Speaker 2>I would say, she's you know, black woman, and go,

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<v Speaker 2>that's the that's who we want you go into an

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<v Speaker 2>audition to go can you be more like her? Can

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<v Speaker 2>you be more like Tiffany? And we're not. You know,

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<v Speaker 2>we're not a monolithic right isn't that the word I

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<v Speaker 2>always get there? Word bro And we're yeah, we're not.

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<v Speaker 2>We're yeah. I think that's how it goes. But you know,

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<v Speaker 2>we're all we all have very unique different ways of

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<v Speaker 2>approaching comedy, styles, acting, everything. We all look different. There's

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<v Speaker 2>just Sheer' z Amata, There's Nicole Bayer, There's Yaminika Sanders,

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<v Speaker 2>there's Marina Franklin. You know, there's Wanda Sykes. You have

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<v Speaker 2>all these options now to choose from, so that shouldn't

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<v Speaker 2>be the excuse, and yet it does still happen. So

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<v Speaker 2>you you know, you go into these rooms, you have

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<v Speaker 2>these conversations, and you see that even though I'm having

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<v Speaker 2>the conversation with women and I see the change, I

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<v Speaker 2>still see some people are stock.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I was gonna say, it's it's

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<v Speaker 1>so ironic to me because I I don't know funnier

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<v Speaker 1>people than the Black women in my life, like hands down,

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<v Speaker 1>and that just may be, you know, indicative of just

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<v Speaker 1>the collective trauma that you endure as like a black

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<v Speaker 1>woman in this country. But we are the funniest people.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, I swear to god, I don't laugh harder

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<v Speaker 1>than I do when I go to the black female

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<v Speaker 1>Facebook groups for Peloton, black what is it? Black Girl Magic?

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<v Speaker 1>Peloton addition, and the I'm in a planting group black

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<v Speaker 1>women who love gardens, Oh my.

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<v Speaker 2>God, Oh I have to check that out because I

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<v Speaker 2>do love to garden kill the plant I'm trying to

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<v Speaker 2>bring back my baby tears.

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<v Speaker 1>There's a lot of there's it's a safe space for

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<v Speaker 1>any plant killers, plant homicide is a common topic. But

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<v Speaker 1>when I tell you the comments and I live for them,

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<v Speaker 1>so I am. I'm so excited because I agree with you.

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<v Speaker 1>Why don't I know more? You know, Why can't I,

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<v Speaker 1>at the top of my head come up with like

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<v Speaker 1>black female comics off the top of my head. But

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<v Speaker 1>you are sort of having this this big moment, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>well into your career now you are You're touring with

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<v Speaker 1>Jim Gaffigan, right.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, I'm not touring with him, but I do shows

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<v Speaker 2>for him when he's in the city or when he asks,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, so like I did shows for him, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>when the pandemic just started. We were doing like shows

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<v Speaker 2>for cars basically, you know, he had all these dates

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<v Speaker 2>like yeah, so, and it was just a way to

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<v Speaker 2>still honor those tickets and give people a chance to

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<v Speaker 2>get out the house, you know. And he asked me

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<v Speaker 2>if I was if I would want to every now

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<v Speaker 2>and then Jim would ask me to do a show.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm not his regular tour person. And then before you know,

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<v Speaker 2>I was booked actually to do Radio City Music Hall

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<v Speaker 2>with him. And the pandemic happened so recently, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>as things are in New York coming back to some

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<v Speaker 2>sort of normalcy. He asked me to do Radio City.

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<v Speaker 1>Music Hall and I said, yes, of course you did.

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<v Speaker 2>I was like that, I said, yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, what was so? I think you're from Chicago.

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<v Speaker 2>Right, Yeah, I'm originally from Chicago. I you all over Chicago. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>I moved around a lot, which is part of my

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<v Speaker 2>routine or was. I don't talk about that as much.

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<v Speaker 2>You know when I when you first start, you're kind

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<v Speaker 2>of do and you're like, you know, this is my ancestry,

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<v Speaker 2>this is what happened, this is who I am. So

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<v Speaker 2>I grew up in Highland Park, Illinois, which is predominantly white.

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<v Speaker 2>It's a Jewish neighborhood too, which by the way, i'm

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<v Speaker 2>twelve percent of my twenty three and meters. That's what

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<v Speaker 2>they told me. And actually it went up this summer.

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<v Speaker 2>I don't know why, anyway. So I grew up in

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<v Speaker 2>Highland Park and then moved to the South Side of Chicago,

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<v Speaker 2>which was a black neighborhood on the South Side Chicago.

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<v Speaker 2>Then moved to the suburbs of Chicago, which was a

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<v Speaker 2>multi like diverse neighborhood. It was like the utopia of diverse,

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<v Speaker 2>interracial you know, black and white people, schools, everything, So

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<v Speaker 2>I had all of those experience, so I'm like a chameleon,

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<v Speaker 2>you know. I had to adjust.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, absolutely. I know you've talked about in previous interviews

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<v Speaker 1>sort of feeling like, well, it was too late for me,

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<v Speaker 1>or in your stand up like it was too late

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<v Speaker 1>for me. By the time I moved to a black

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<v Speaker 1>neighborhood like or a black school area, I was white.

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<v Speaker 1>As far as they were concerned.

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<v Speaker 2>I didn't have the skills. I didn't know how to

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<v Speaker 2>I didn't know double Dutch. And I talk about that

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<v Speaker 2>in my routine because that was a very traumatic moment

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<v Speaker 2>because it was about playing, you know, kids play, and

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<v Speaker 2>the way the girls were playing on the South Side

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<v Speaker 2>of Chicago double Dutch, and I really wanted to play,

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<v Speaker 2>but I know I didn't know what it was, and

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<v Speaker 2>they didn't understand why I didn't know what it was.

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<v Speaker 2>And so on my block, I trained, Oh.

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<v Speaker 1>Really like Rocky, like black Girl Rocky double Dutch. Sure

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<v Speaker 1>that's got to be like a cartoon or something.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I mean, and I remember them like, you gotta jump,

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<v Speaker 2>you got you gotta jump wild at first, you gotta

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<v Speaker 2>make sure your legs are wide open. Sounds crazy, but

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<v Speaker 2>that's exactly how you jumped in order to learn and

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<v Speaker 2>then eventually your legs will close in and you'll be fine.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. I did some double dutch back in back in

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<v Speaker 1>the mean streets of Union City, Georgia.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh yeah, and turning right turning was important, like and.

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<v Speaker 1>Sing during it because there were songs. So you were

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<v Speaker 1>like you had three, four or.

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<v Speaker 2>Five turn around, pop up, twist it off.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know. We got to show you double dutch aerobics. Anyway,

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<v Speaker 1>that's conversation for another time. There's actually aerobics now around

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<v Speaker 1>double dutch. Talk to me about since Brown Ambition. First

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<v Speaker 1>of all, our show we talk about everything under the

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<v Speaker 1>sun when it comes to wealth building and career and

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<v Speaker 1>as black women, especially just normalizing those types of conversations.

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<v Speaker 1>And so I want to hear you know, just before

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<v Speaker 1>we kind of get into a bit more personal story

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<v Speaker 1>and what I'm excited to talk to you about your

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<v Speaker 1>dirtey and your recovery from breast cancer. I would love

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<v Speaker 1>to talk to you and just hear you know, what's

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<v Speaker 1>it like making it as a comic financially you know,

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<v Speaker 1>and how has the pandemic impacted your business? And how

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<v Speaker 1>has that been for you and how have you been

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<v Speaker 1>able to get through it?

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<v Speaker 2>I mean it's not easy. I mean, but I I'm

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<v Speaker 2>a older comics, so twenty two years. I have a

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<v Speaker 2>sort of like the longer you do something, the more people,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, the more opportunities you have, the more people

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<v Speaker 2>take care of you, you know, the more you commit

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<v Speaker 2>to a career. So I was I did okay, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>I was fine. I wasn't working. I collected unemployment. I'm

0:11:51.200 --> 0:11:53.800
<v Speaker 2>not like, you know, one of the ones who had

0:11:53.880 --> 0:11:57.640
<v Speaker 2>so much money that I couldn't collect unemployment. I collected unemployment.

0:11:57.840 --> 0:12:01.640
<v Speaker 2>You know. I learned to pivot. That was the word, right.

0:12:01.720 --> 0:12:01.920
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:12:02.760 --> 0:12:07.840
<v Speaker 2>I did my podcast Friends Like Us, and I sold

0:12:07.840 --> 0:12:13.680
<v Speaker 2>T shirts and face masks and coffee mugs, and I

0:12:13.720 --> 0:12:16.840
<v Speaker 2>did my own virtual zoom shows instead of like doing

0:12:16.920 --> 0:12:19.640
<v Speaker 2>other shows. People would ask you to do their virtual

0:12:19.720 --> 0:12:22.440
<v Speaker 2>Zoom show. And I said, why, I know how to

0:12:22.480 --> 0:12:24.520
<v Speaker 2>get on the internet. Why am I always giving my

0:12:24.600 --> 0:12:28.560
<v Speaker 2>product away? So I did my own Zoom show and

0:12:28.640 --> 0:12:31.560
<v Speaker 2>I had people come on and open for me, and

0:12:31.920 --> 0:12:35.440
<v Speaker 2>I would make you know, like five hundred dollars just

0:12:35.480 --> 0:12:36.160
<v Speaker 2>in my kitchen.

0:12:37.280 --> 0:12:38.920
<v Speaker 1>So you were out there side hustling with the best

0:12:38.960 --> 0:12:39.679
<v Speaker 1>of us.

0:12:39.960 --> 0:12:42.320
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, yeah, I was. I was sorde hustling, and then

0:12:42.360 --> 0:12:45.400
<v Speaker 2>I had some money saved. So I was fortunate to

0:12:45.440 --> 0:12:48.360
<v Speaker 2>have done that. But a lot of times I thought

0:12:48.360 --> 0:12:50.800
<v Speaker 2>about what if I was just starting, Like I remember

0:12:50.800 --> 0:12:53.280
<v Speaker 2>when I first started as a comic, you know, how

0:12:53.400 --> 0:12:57.320
<v Speaker 2>I was really like struggling waiting tables or you know,

0:12:58.000 --> 0:13:01.080
<v Speaker 2>I was working at a consulting firm answering the phones.

0:13:02.120 --> 0:13:03.840
<v Speaker 2>What would have happened if I had nowhere to go

0:13:03.920 --> 0:13:08.640
<v Speaker 2>to and it would have been very tough. I really

0:13:08.679 --> 0:13:11.760
<v Speaker 2>don't know, you know. I think about the younger comics

0:13:11.800 --> 0:13:15.680
<v Speaker 2>and how difficult this must have been for them. Yeah,

0:13:15.760 --> 0:13:19.000
<v Speaker 2>So I try to keep that in mind whenever I'm

0:13:19.080 --> 0:13:21.640
<v Speaker 2>like kind of relaxed and oh I did this so well,

0:13:21.880 --> 0:13:24.280
<v Speaker 2>I go, you know, but it could have been different,

0:13:24.440 --> 0:13:26.280
<v Speaker 2>So I keep it in mind.

0:13:26.760 --> 0:13:29.480
<v Speaker 1>Absolutely, it's like it's time to count your blessings. But

0:13:29.559 --> 0:13:32.760
<v Speaker 1>also it's a bit of survivor's guild. I think a

0:13:32.760 --> 0:13:35.760
<v Speaker 1>lot of folks are like a teeny tiny bit well,

0:13:36.280 --> 0:13:39.280
<v Speaker 1>healthcare is also a big one, and that is, you know,

0:13:39.400 --> 0:13:41.679
<v Speaker 1>especially if you're an artist and you're or you're a

0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:43.880
<v Speaker 1>creative person and you're in the city, and I recently

0:13:43.960 --> 0:13:47.480
<v Speaker 1>became independent and launched my own business as well, and

0:13:47.520 --> 0:13:49.800
<v Speaker 1>I couldn't have done that as easily as I did.

0:13:50.320 --> 0:13:52.640
<v Speaker 1>And I'm I'm pretty transparent about that if I didn't

0:13:52.640 --> 0:13:56.120
<v Speaker 1>have my husband's you know, health care. And I think

0:13:56.600 --> 0:13:59.400
<v Speaker 1>what I wanted to ask you about is how do

0:13:59.400 --> 0:14:01.520
<v Speaker 1>do you have health care as a comic, Like, how

0:14:01.600 --> 0:14:05.520
<v Speaker 1>does that work? And is it expensive? Because in the

0:14:05.520 --> 0:14:08.800
<v Speaker 1>middle of a pandemic, you know, at a time when

0:14:09.000 --> 0:14:12.800
<v Speaker 1>our health is really in jeopardy, it's insane to me

0:14:12.960 --> 0:14:15.280
<v Speaker 1>that we have so many Americans still, you know without

0:14:15.280 --> 0:14:16.200
<v Speaker 1>that access.

0:14:17.080 --> 0:14:19.760
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I mean I have health insurance. I had to

0:14:19.880 --> 0:14:22.960
<v Speaker 2>when I was getting breast cancer, you know, dealing with that,

0:14:23.200 --> 0:14:26.400
<v Speaker 2>I was forced to really pay attention to what health

0:14:26.440 --> 0:14:27.200
<v Speaker 2>insurance I have.

0:14:32.400 --> 0:14:34.880
<v Speaker 1>When did you find out when were you diagnosed with

0:14:35.040 --> 0:14:37.520
<v Speaker 1>breast cancer? And at that time, what was your status

0:14:37.560 --> 0:14:38.360
<v Speaker 1>with your health care?

0:14:39.520 --> 0:14:42.120
<v Speaker 2>Well, so that was two years ago, and I was

0:14:42.160 --> 0:14:46.840
<v Speaker 2>paying for health insurance through SAG and it was very expensive.

0:14:47.520 --> 0:14:50.440
<v Speaker 2>And then when you have breast cancer and you have

0:14:50.600 --> 0:14:55.680
<v Speaker 2>these bills coming in and you find out, oh, they're

0:14:55.720 --> 0:14:58.720
<v Speaker 2>not going to pay for everything, and learning how to

0:14:58.800 --> 0:15:00.960
<v Speaker 2>navigate that that was all new to me. You know,

0:15:01.320 --> 0:15:03.400
<v Speaker 2>I never had breast cancer before. I never had like

0:15:04.360 --> 0:15:07.520
<v Speaker 2>emergency situation where I had to figure out how to

0:15:07.640 --> 0:15:11.160
<v Speaker 2>pay for stuff. So it was hard because you're you're

0:15:11.640 --> 0:15:15.600
<v Speaker 2>new in your diagnosis, you're afraid, you're not sure if

0:15:15.600 --> 0:15:18.080
<v Speaker 2>you're going to live, and then you're on the phone

0:15:18.360 --> 0:15:23.960
<v Speaker 2>with people begging them to pay for your bills. And

0:15:24.000 --> 0:15:26.800
<v Speaker 2>a part of that is humiliating because then you go, well, why,

0:15:26.960 --> 0:15:28.920
<v Speaker 2>you start going into like why didn't I do this

0:15:29.080 --> 0:15:31.080
<v Speaker 2>with my career? Why am I? Why am I in

0:15:31.080 --> 0:15:34.000
<v Speaker 2>this position? Why am I not married and using my

0:15:34.080 --> 0:15:38.400
<v Speaker 2>husband's insurance? You know all those things, and when you

0:15:38.440 --> 0:15:41.040
<v Speaker 2>have an emergency like breast cancer, you do need to,

0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:43.320
<v Speaker 2>you know, do what you need to do to take

0:15:43.360 --> 0:15:47.040
<v Speaker 2>care of those bills. And I had other friends who

0:15:47.200 --> 0:15:49.680
<v Speaker 2>told me this is what you need to do, this

0:15:49.720 --> 0:15:51.960
<v Speaker 2>is how you need to set yourself up, this is

0:15:52.040 --> 0:15:54.800
<v Speaker 2>you know, look ato all the programs and so that

0:15:54.960 --> 0:15:58.600
<v Speaker 2>was very helpful. Your friends really are your best advocate.

0:15:58.640 --> 0:16:02.040
<v Speaker 2>I had a young they write me this morning about

0:16:02.080 --> 0:16:04.600
<v Speaker 2>my set, and she was like, I really appreciated it

0:16:04.640 --> 0:16:08.280
<v Speaker 2>because I was just diagnosed and I'm thirty eight. And

0:16:08.320 --> 0:16:12.680
<v Speaker 2>I said to her, let your friends be your best advocate.

0:16:13.000 --> 0:16:16.960
<v Speaker 2>So keep them around, keep them, keep them, keep them around.

0:16:17.320 --> 0:16:20.840
<v Speaker 2>And you know whoever that is. You know, it could

0:16:20.880 --> 0:16:23.960
<v Speaker 2>be a stranger that all of a sudden becomes your

0:16:23.960 --> 0:16:27.880
<v Speaker 2>friend because they are better at being an advocate for you.

0:16:28.600 --> 0:16:30.560
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, well take me back to that.

0:16:30.600 --> 0:16:32.560
<v Speaker 2>So I'm going to flash as I'm talking about this.

0:16:33.080 --> 0:16:36.640
<v Speaker 1>No, I mean, well, it's fresh, right, I mean, so,

0:16:36.760 --> 0:16:39.720
<v Speaker 1>what's your So a couple of years ago you were diagnosed.

0:16:39.880 --> 0:16:42.720
<v Speaker 1>How did you find out that you had breast cancer?

0:16:42.720 --> 0:16:43.960
<v Speaker 1>And then what stage was it?

0:16:45.000 --> 0:16:48.840
<v Speaker 2>You want the real story or well see the joke.

0:16:50.240 --> 0:16:54.000
<v Speaker 2>And it is true. I say this on stage. I

0:16:54.120 --> 0:16:56.840
<v Speaker 2>was when I was having sex. I don't have it anymore,

0:16:57.080 --> 0:17:00.080
<v Speaker 2>but when I was, I don't I had. You know

0:17:00.200 --> 0:17:01.360
<v Speaker 2>you it is fine.

0:17:01.280 --> 0:17:03.120
<v Speaker 1>Married and it's not that great on the other side,

0:17:03.160 --> 0:17:07.360
<v Speaker 1>so keep going. It's just woo.

0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:13.520
<v Speaker 2>Well, but you're right, but they usually the truth of

0:17:13.560 --> 0:17:18.080
<v Speaker 2>the matter is you women usually do find it during sex. Huh.

0:17:18.119 --> 0:17:21.400
<v Speaker 2>You know a lot of women, well, their partner will

0:17:21.440 --> 0:17:25.000
<v Speaker 2>find it, you know, to fill something That wasn't my case.

0:17:25.119 --> 0:17:29.720
<v Speaker 2>My partner was asleep, so I had time to fill

0:17:29.760 --> 0:17:31.240
<v Speaker 2>around and found it on my own.

0:17:31.840 --> 0:17:34.040
<v Speaker 1>Oh man, So you were you. I mean you weren't.

0:17:34.280 --> 0:17:36.040
<v Speaker 1>Were you weren't intending. It wasn't like I'm going to

0:17:36.040 --> 0:17:38.160
<v Speaker 1>do a breast exam for my own health and benefit,

0:17:38.240 --> 0:17:40.560
<v Speaker 1>but you were. You found it yourself by feeling.

0:17:40.320 --> 0:17:44.119
<v Speaker 2>Badly basically, and I had time. I mean, that's really

0:17:44.160 --> 0:17:46.520
<v Speaker 2>what it was. I was like, oh, I know how

0:17:46.520 --> 0:17:48.440
<v Speaker 2>to take care of me. So and I was like, oh,

0:17:48.520 --> 0:17:51.600
<v Speaker 2>what's that. So that's how I found it seriously, and

0:17:51.640 --> 0:17:53.040
<v Speaker 2>then I was like and then I woke them up.

0:17:53.080 --> 0:17:56.720
<v Speaker 2>I said, hey, you feel this. Uh he was like, yeah,

0:17:56.720 --> 0:17:59.879
<v Speaker 2>I do feel that. Then I I would take showers

0:18:00.040 --> 0:18:01.520
<v Speaker 2>and I would do the thing like I felt like,

0:18:01.520 --> 0:18:03.359
<v Speaker 2>I was kind of ridiculous, but I would. I was like,

0:18:03.400 --> 0:18:08.000
<v Speaker 2>I do feel something. And so I went in and

0:18:08.080 --> 0:18:10.960
<v Speaker 2>I had it checked. And the first time I went in,

0:18:11.200 --> 0:18:14.560
<v Speaker 2>they said, we don't really think you have anything. That

0:18:14.680 --> 0:18:15.400
<v Speaker 2>was the first time.

0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:16.920
<v Speaker 1>This was a gynecologist.

0:18:17.680 --> 0:18:22.080
<v Speaker 2>That was the the the not the guynecologists. But they

0:18:22.119 --> 0:18:26.000
<v Speaker 2>send you to the person who does the mammograms. You know,

0:18:26.160 --> 0:18:28.640
<v Speaker 2>they could send you to different locations in New York.

0:18:28.680 --> 0:18:31.199
<v Speaker 2>Sometimes it's not all in the ones. That's that's another

0:18:31.240 --> 0:18:34.359
<v Speaker 2>whole thing. But sometimes you have to travel to like

0:18:34.440 --> 0:18:36.720
<v Speaker 2>eighty six Street, go to the place where they do that,

0:18:37.240 --> 0:18:41.920
<v Speaker 2>and that first time they said, well, we see something,

0:18:41.960 --> 0:18:44.760
<v Speaker 2>but it's not big enough. And that was the year

0:18:44.800 --> 0:18:51.080
<v Speaker 2>before I was actually diagnosed. And then that year, literally

0:18:51.119 --> 0:18:54.080
<v Speaker 2>a year afterwards, I went told my doctor again, I said,

0:18:54.119 --> 0:18:56.560
<v Speaker 2>I do still feel something, and I noticed when she

0:18:56.680 --> 0:19:01.040
<v Speaker 2>was doing feeling around doing the ultra sound. Which is

0:19:01.080 --> 0:19:03.760
<v Speaker 2>important to mention because a lot of women have dense

0:19:03.800 --> 0:19:08.119
<v Speaker 2>breast tissue. You can't find everything with the mammograms. Sometimes

0:19:08.160 --> 0:19:10.800
<v Speaker 2>you will find it with the ultrasounds. So it's important

0:19:10.800 --> 0:19:13.560
<v Speaker 2>to mention that if you have dense bress tissue, you

0:19:13.720 --> 0:19:16.880
<v Speaker 2>have to always ask for an ultrasound, and you have

0:19:17.000 --> 0:19:20.719
<v Speaker 2>to ask because a lot of times they don't offer it.

0:19:21.560 --> 0:19:23.119
<v Speaker 1>Okay, and they did not.

0:19:23.720 --> 0:19:26.560
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, they did not find mine. With a mammogram. They

0:19:26.600 --> 0:19:29.760
<v Speaker 2>found you know, calcium shows them a sign of something.

0:19:30.400 --> 0:19:33.240
<v Speaker 2>The ultrasound gives them a little bit more information. And

0:19:33.240 --> 0:19:35.320
<v Speaker 2>then that same doctor a year ago said, oh, it's

0:19:35.320 --> 0:19:38.200
<v Speaker 2>probably nothing. This time said, you know what, it's gotten

0:19:38.200 --> 0:19:40.439
<v Speaker 2>a little bigger, so we'll just do a biopsy just

0:19:40.480 --> 0:19:44.200
<v Speaker 2>to make sure. And I didn't understand what a biopsy meant.

0:19:44.240 --> 0:19:45.840
<v Speaker 2>So I was going to the commedy Stone. I was like,

0:19:45.840 --> 0:19:47.639
<v Speaker 2>I got to get a biopsy tomorrow and they were

0:19:47.680 --> 0:19:53.000
<v Speaker 2>like Marina. I was like what, completely close? And then

0:19:53.040 --> 0:19:55.399
<v Speaker 2>I realized everyone was like, Brina, that's serious. And then

0:19:55.440 --> 0:19:58.520
<v Speaker 2>I went back in for the biops, the biopsy I

0:19:58.560 --> 0:20:04.080
<v Speaker 2>had like to and that's when, Yeah, that's when he

0:20:04.200 --> 0:20:09.720
<v Speaker 2>was like, my doctor, my guynecologist actually called me, which

0:20:09.760 --> 0:20:13.280
<v Speaker 2>apparently they're not supposed to do. But she wanted to

0:20:13.720 --> 0:20:15.879
<v Speaker 2>get in touch with me right away. And it was

0:20:15.880 --> 0:20:20.600
<v Speaker 2>a Friday night, and she said, we're shocked, but yes,

0:20:20.760 --> 0:20:25.200
<v Speaker 2>you do. You have breast cancer. And then that moment

0:20:25.320 --> 0:20:28.320
<v Speaker 2>I was really I was in a state of shock

0:20:29.080 --> 0:20:29.720
<v Speaker 2>pretty much.

0:20:30.000 --> 0:20:31.840
<v Speaker 1>Did she leave it at that? I mean, I feel

0:20:31.920 --> 0:20:32.960
<v Speaker 1>like no.

0:20:33.119 --> 0:20:34.600
<v Speaker 2>She told me. She was like, I'm gonna have my

0:20:34.720 --> 0:20:38.160
<v Speaker 2>husband do this. He's gonna be the surgeon. You're gonna

0:20:38.160 --> 0:20:40.920
<v Speaker 2>go in on Monday. We're going to take care of this.

0:20:41.400 --> 0:20:43.720
<v Speaker 1>They wanted to do a lump, so it's called a lumpectomy.

0:20:43.800 --> 0:20:45.280
<v Speaker 1>Did you have the lump removed right away?

0:20:45.640 --> 0:20:48.480
<v Speaker 2>You don't really know exactly right away. That's the thing

0:20:48.560 --> 0:20:51.199
<v Speaker 2>that's sort of like a lot of women don't understand

0:20:51.320 --> 0:20:53.639
<v Speaker 2>is they have to make that decision. It takes time

0:20:53.640 --> 0:20:56.080
<v Speaker 2>for them to make that decision, and then you also

0:20:56.200 --> 0:21:00.440
<v Speaker 2>have to make that decision for yourself. So it's all

0:21:00.480 --> 0:21:05.320
<v Speaker 2>based on what your diagnosis is in the stage of

0:21:05.359 --> 0:21:09.359
<v Speaker 2>your cancer. So they can't really tell you that until

0:21:09.400 --> 0:21:13.080
<v Speaker 2>they know the stage. They kind of have an idea.

0:21:13.240 --> 0:21:15.159
<v Speaker 2>And that's what was confusing to me, because I was like,

0:21:15.280 --> 0:21:17.119
<v Speaker 2>I thought you said I was stage one. What happened?

0:21:17.119 --> 0:21:19.840
<v Speaker 2>What's going on? You're still doing more? Because what happens

0:21:19.920 --> 0:21:23.760
<v Speaker 2>is they'll tell you the initial stage and then they

0:21:23.800 --> 0:21:28.400
<v Speaker 2>still do more tests after. And I had several biopsies

0:21:28.440 --> 0:21:31.080
<v Speaker 2>after that, so I didn't just have the two in

0:21:31.119 --> 0:21:34.560
<v Speaker 2>the beginning. I had several. I had, like you know,

0:21:34.760 --> 0:21:37.200
<v Speaker 2>like I had to go in like two more times

0:21:37.320 --> 0:21:40.040
<v Speaker 2>or three more times. And then also they had to

0:21:40.080 --> 0:21:42.480
<v Speaker 2>do the left breast as well, just to make sure.

0:21:42.560 --> 0:21:45.159
<v Speaker 2>And then sometimes they see something and they're not sure,

0:21:46.440 --> 0:21:49.879
<v Speaker 2>so yeah, it's a lot. And then then they take

0:21:50.000 --> 0:21:53.760
<v Speaker 2>it and they go, well, we're seeing stage one, but

0:21:53.880 --> 0:21:57.280
<v Speaker 2>we have to really still figure it out. Now they

0:21:57.320 --> 0:21:59.680
<v Speaker 2>do a genetics test. Two.

0:22:00.359 --> 0:22:03.639
<v Speaker 1>If you do you have a history in your family.

0:22:04.000 --> 0:22:09.040
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, my aunt had breast cancer, but she was always like, oh,

0:22:09.119 --> 0:22:11.680
<v Speaker 2>you know, people don't really talk about it in your family.

0:22:11.720 --> 0:22:15.160
<v Speaker 1>It's really interesting in your family, they didn't talk about it. Yeah,

0:22:14.880 --> 0:22:17.719
<v Speaker 1>my neighbor and Lynn, I'll give her a shout out.

0:22:17.800 --> 0:22:19.760
<v Speaker 1>She was the inspiration for me to even do a

0:22:19.800 --> 0:22:22.280
<v Speaker 1>show like this because I had her over and she's

0:22:22.320 --> 0:22:24.119
<v Speaker 1>kind of like my auntie here in the neighborhood and

0:22:24.160 --> 0:22:28.080
<v Speaker 1>she had a double mass sectomy and told me that

0:22:28.119 --> 0:22:29.919
<v Speaker 1>about her breast cancer story. And she said that she

0:22:30.000 --> 0:22:33.520
<v Speaker 1>found out when she was at her grandmother's doctor's visit.

0:22:33.520 --> 0:22:36.159
<v Speaker 1>Her grandmother couldn't drive herself, so she Lynn was just

0:22:36.200 --> 0:22:38.280
<v Speaker 1>there in the background, like I'm taking your doctor, and

0:22:38.359 --> 0:22:41.240
<v Speaker 1>just casually her grandmother mentioned that she had had breast

0:22:41.280 --> 0:22:44.760
<v Speaker 1>cancer and so did her mother and everything, and Lynn said,

0:22:44.840 --> 0:22:46.240
<v Speaker 1>it just wasn't talked about.

0:22:46.600 --> 0:22:46.840
<v Speaker 2>You.

0:22:46.880 --> 0:22:49.399
<v Speaker 1>They would make up other ways people died, like they

0:22:49.400 --> 0:22:52.720
<v Speaker 1>would tell you that they, oh, they were just sick

0:22:52.800 --> 0:22:55.040
<v Speaker 1>or they had a you know, a heart condition or something.

0:22:55.080 --> 0:22:57.720
<v Speaker 1>But there was some kind of stigma to that breast cancer.

0:22:57.760 --> 0:23:00.159
<v Speaker 1>And that was how Lynn found out that she had

0:23:00.200 --> 0:23:04.680
<v Speaker 1>this family history of breast cancer and started to get

0:23:04.720 --> 0:23:06.800
<v Speaker 1>screened and then you know, they found it and it

0:23:06.840 --> 0:23:10.199
<v Speaker 1>was super aggressive, even though she had detected it early.

0:23:10.960 --> 0:23:13.680
<v Speaker 1>So I don't know why, why why do you why?

0:23:13.680 --> 0:23:15.000
<v Speaker 1>In your family? I know you can only kind of

0:23:15.040 --> 0:23:18.320
<v Speaker 1>speak about your experience, but why don't you think it

0:23:18.359 --> 0:23:20.680
<v Speaker 1>was something that was talked about.

0:23:21.080 --> 0:23:24.520
<v Speaker 2>I think it's just it's it is like specific to

0:23:24.800 --> 0:23:31.159
<v Speaker 2>black culture, black families, the mistrust in medicine. It plays

0:23:31.200 --> 0:23:34.320
<v Speaker 2>into all of that, you know, and the way we

0:23:34.359 --> 0:23:41.600
<v Speaker 2>talk about health in black circles. You know, that's my

0:23:41.720 --> 0:23:44.520
<v Speaker 2>assumption is that's where it's coming from. But I also

0:23:44.600 --> 0:23:46.919
<v Speaker 2>because I do remember my grandmother and the way she

0:23:46.960 --> 0:23:50.000
<v Speaker 2>would talk about the mistrust of doctors. You know, my

0:23:50.040 --> 0:23:52.720
<v Speaker 2>grandmother never had breast cancer, but I remember the way

0:23:52.760 --> 0:23:56.000
<v Speaker 2>she would talk about things. It was like, you know,

0:23:56.119 --> 0:24:01.040
<v Speaker 2>everything except for what the doctor said, you know. And

0:24:01.200 --> 0:24:03.480
<v Speaker 2>I would think, on my this is my aunt on

0:24:03.560 --> 0:24:08.400
<v Speaker 2>my mother's side. I think that, you know, that side

0:24:08.440 --> 0:24:11.040
<v Speaker 2>of my family's just not that close. And so you

0:24:11.320 --> 0:24:14.720
<v Speaker 2>you grow apart. You kind of hear about someone in

0:24:14.760 --> 0:24:18.120
<v Speaker 2>your family like having something, but no one's really invested

0:24:18.160 --> 0:24:21.840
<v Speaker 2>because we're all living our daily lives. But it's important,

0:24:21.880 --> 0:24:24.840
<v Speaker 2>I think you because you start to realize when you

0:24:24.840 --> 0:24:27.760
<v Speaker 2>have your own emergency how important it is to stay

0:24:27.800 --> 0:24:31.280
<v Speaker 2>connected with your family. And then you go, oh, well,

0:24:31.320 --> 0:24:35.159
<v Speaker 2>this is a learning lesson about family. You know, don't

0:24:35.200 --> 0:24:37.879
<v Speaker 2>don't do that. You know, if anything, the pandemic probably

0:24:37.880 --> 0:24:40.399
<v Speaker 2>taught us that too. It's like stay in touch with

0:24:40.480 --> 0:24:43.320
<v Speaker 2>your family because you just never know, you know, what's

0:24:43.359 --> 0:24:47.960
<v Speaker 2>going on with them. And I would say, like my

0:24:48.080 --> 0:24:51.359
<v Speaker 2>family on my mother's side definitely is very It's not

0:24:51.400 --> 0:24:54.560
<v Speaker 2>as connected, it's not as close the conversations were had.

0:24:55.359 --> 0:24:58.800
<v Speaker 2>You know, even with my father. My father will put

0:24:58.840 --> 0:25:02.240
<v Speaker 2>these drops in his eye. I was like, I just

0:25:02.320 --> 0:25:04.240
<v Speaker 2>knew him as putting those drops in his I guess

0:25:04.280 --> 0:25:06.320
<v Speaker 2>he just needed drops in his eyes. And plus I

0:25:06.400 --> 0:25:08.359
<v Speaker 2>was young. You know, when you're young, you go, you know,

0:25:08.400 --> 0:25:10.480
<v Speaker 2>the old people, they do things you don't really care.

0:25:11.000 --> 0:25:12.760
<v Speaker 2>You know, you're like, ah, how long are the old

0:25:12.760 --> 0:25:15.520
<v Speaker 2>man doing stuff? You know, But after a while, when

0:25:15.520 --> 0:25:17.680
<v Speaker 2>it starts to affect your life, you realize, oh, those

0:25:17.800 --> 0:25:21.680
<v Speaker 2>drops meant some day I may have glaucoma. Conversations should

0:25:21.680 --> 0:25:24.960
<v Speaker 2>have been had, you know. But you learn, and then

0:25:25.000 --> 0:25:27.560
<v Speaker 2>you try to tell people that are younger than you

0:25:27.600 --> 0:25:31.080
<v Speaker 2>how it's important. Hopefully they listen, Hopefully they retain it.

0:25:31.600 --> 0:25:33.400
<v Speaker 1>I mean, and just as you were speaking, I'm sitting

0:25:33.440 --> 0:25:35.920
<v Speaker 1>here like of course. I mean, you think about that.

0:25:36.400 --> 0:25:38.600
<v Speaker 1>They used to call this guy the father of gynecology,

0:25:38.640 --> 0:25:43.120
<v Speaker 1>and he pioneered so much research and advances and female

0:25:43.680 --> 0:25:48.760
<v Speaker 1>gynecology by practicing on black women, like practicing on our

0:25:48.800 --> 0:25:52.080
<v Speaker 1>bodies and using us like you know, using us like

0:25:52.359 --> 0:25:55.040
<v Speaker 1>mice in an experiment, and you think of that being

0:25:55.160 --> 0:25:59.280
<v Speaker 1>just like so horrific, but it's having real So bringing

0:25:59.359 --> 0:26:01.760
<v Speaker 1>it back to modern day, I mean, this is the

0:26:01.840 --> 0:26:05.280
<v Speaker 1>fact that we're not maybe talking about it or or

0:26:05.320 --> 0:26:09.080
<v Speaker 1>hearing about it so often. You know, you found yours luckily,

0:26:10.560 --> 0:26:14.240
<v Speaker 1>you know, because you're you know, doing your thing badly. Listen,

0:26:14.840 --> 0:26:17.879
<v Speaker 1>listen so bad? Did that? So do you do you

0:26:17.960 --> 0:26:21.679
<v Speaker 1>keep in touch with that guy to let him know

0:26:21.800 --> 0:26:23.520
<v Speaker 1>thank you so much for that night.

0:26:24.960 --> 0:26:26.160
<v Speaker 2>You think you save my life.

0:26:27.800 --> 0:26:31.560
<v Speaker 1>So after the testing, after the testing, when was it

0:26:31.600 --> 0:26:34.160
<v Speaker 1>that the you're dealing with so much? I mean, you're

0:26:34.200 --> 0:26:37.040
<v Speaker 1>you're probably emotional in stress and all of that. When

0:26:37.080 --> 0:26:40.919
<v Speaker 1>did the bills start coming? Was that immediately? Was it

0:26:41.000 --> 0:26:41.399
<v Speaker 1>later on?

0:26:41.440 --> 0:26:43.120
<v Speaker 2>Did you feel like a they started talking you about

0:26:43.160 --> 0:26:47.439
<v Speaker 2>the bills right away? Well? Really, oh god, there's no like.

0:26:47.520 --> 0:26:50.479
<v Speaker 2>Look I just gotta just I said. Look, So they

0:26:50.560 --> 0:26:54.680
<v Speaker 2>start they ask you for your insurance. The whole step

0:26:54.720 --> 0:26:57.840
<v Speaker 2>of the way. There's no like, oh, you know, you

0:26:57.840 --> 0:27:00.240
<v Speaker 2>don't come in and they're like, oh my god, you

0:27:00.280 --> 0:27:03.880
<v Speaker 2>have breast cancer. There's none of that, you know there

0:27:04.000 --> 0:27:08.080
<v Speaker 2>there it's a job for them. You know, they're dealing

0:27:08.119 --> 0:27:11.000
<v Speaker 2>with a lot of women who have breast cancer. You're

0:27:11.040 --> 0:27:15.600
<v Speaker 2>one of many. And I went to you know, I

0:27:15.640 --> 0:27:20.000
<v Speaker 2>went through it rough because I went to a city hospital.

0:27:20.640 --> 0:27:23.600
<v Speaker 2>And I went to that city hospital, which I don't recommend.

0:27:23.720 --> 0:27:26.720
<v Speaker 2>I mean, you know, if you if if you can

0:27:26.800 --> 0:27:29.639
<v Speaker 2>avoid going to a city hospital, if you can't, it's okay.

0:27:29.720 --> 0:27:32.360
<v Speaker 2>They do a great job there too. But I what

0:27:32.440 --> 0:27:35.199
<v Speaker 2>I would say is your wait time is going to

0:27:35.200 --> 0:27:38.080
<v Speaker 2>be longer. I used to sit and wait like sometimes

0:27:38.119 --> 0:27:41.720
<v Speaker 2>six seven hours just to be seen. Yeah, because it's

0:27:41.760 --> 0:27:43.960
<v Speaker 2>a city hospital, they're dealing with, like, you know, other

0:27:44.000 --> 0:27:48.399
<v Speaker 2>emergencies that come before you. Sometimes there's there's no like

0:27:49.160 --> 0:27:51.159
<v Speaker 2>there's no one holding your hand and being like oh

0:27:51.240 --> 0:27:56.479
<v Speaker 2>miss Franklin. You know, not not overwhelmingly no, you know,

0:27:56.560 --> 0:27:58.960
<v Speaker 2>it's like what insurance do you have? You know, that

0:27:59.080 --> 0:28:02.160
<v Speaker 2>question comes at you hard. It's almost like they take

0:28:02.160 --> 0:28:04.840
<v Speaker 2>you to the back, they counsel you about you know,

0:28:04.960 --> 0:28:07.840
<v Speaker 2>we need that money. Yeah, you know, I mean they

0:28:08.560 --> 0:28:11.280
<v Speaker 2>that it's a business. So when you walk in, you know,

0:28:11.359 --> 0:28:13.119
<v Speaker 2>that was the thing I didn't realize. I was like,

0:28:13.200 --> 0:28:16.560
<v Speaker 2>oh my god, Like this is what people were talking

0:28:16.600 --> 0:28:18.760
<v Speaker 2>about when they say they have a pre existing condition

0:28:18.840 --> 0:28:22.280
<v Speaker 2>and they get treated like this. It's it's horrible, you know.

0:28:22.320 --> 0:28:24.520
<v Speaker 2>And then you get that one person that works there

0:28:24.560 --> 0:28:27.080
<v Speaker 2>that's an angel and that is really taking care of

0:28:27.119 --> 0:28:29.720
<v Speaker 2>you and that's really listening to you, and that does

0:28:29.760 --> 0:28:31.480
<v Speaker 2>happen as well, So you just got to find them

0:28:31.480 --> 0:28:32.560
<v Speaker 2>in those spaces.

0:28:33.080 --> 0:28:35.960
<v Speaker 1>Did you feel prepared to advocate advocate for yourself? I

0:28:35.960 --> 0:28:38.560
<v Speaker 1>know you said that your friends were really important, but

0:28:38.720 --> 0:28:40.719
<v Speaker 1>when you were in that position and not feeling like

0:28:40.760 --> 0:28:43.880
<v Speaker 1>you had someone in charge of making sure that Marina

0:28:44.040 --> 0:28:46.239
<v Speaker 1>was okay and that you sort of had to be

0:28:46.240 --> 0:28:49.320
<v Speaker 1>that person, did you feel prepared to, you know, be

0:28:49.440 --> 0:28:52.120
<v Speaker 1>outspoken to to get the care that you needed. Did

0:28:52.120 --> 0:28:53.200
<v Speaker 1>you feel like you had to do that a lot?

0:28:54.120 --> 0:28:55.800
<v Speaker 2>I never had to do that before. This was the

0:28:55.840 --> 0:28:58.640
<v Speaker 2>first time that I actually had to like even think

0:28:58.640 --> 0:29:02.640
<v Speaker 2>about my body in the way. And I've learned a

0:29:02.640 --> 0:29:07.920
<v Speaker 2>lot about myself, like I don't listen well. And because

0:29:07.960 --> 0:29:11.640
<v Speaker 2>I had a friend and I knew right away because

0:29:11.640 --> 0:29:14.280
<v Speaker 2>I had a friend who had breast cancer and I

0:29:14.360 --> 0:29:18.840
<v Speaker 2>called her immediately. She was right after the doctors, the

0:29:18.920 --> 0:29:21.320
<v Speaker 2>doctor when she gave me the diagnosis. I called my

0:29:21.400 --> 0:29:24.400
<v Speaker 2>friend Jenny, my friend, and I cried, you know, and

0:29:24.440 --> 0:29:29.480
<v Speaker 2>I was like just bawling. And then she was just like, Marina,

0:29:29.520 --> 0:29:31.760
<v Speaker 2>it's okay. I know I'm gonna get you through this

0:29:31.920 --> 0:29:33.960
<v Speaker 2>because you just don't think it'll ever happen to you,

0:29:34.840 --> 0:29:37.120
<v Speaker 2>and then you just don't know how to process it.

0:29:37.640 --> 0:29:40.360
<v Speaker 2>And she was just listening, and then she says, I'm

0:29:40.400 --> 0:29:41.960
<v Speaker 2>going to go with you. I'll be an advocate for

0:29:42.280 --> 0:29:44.160
<v Speaker 2>advocate for you. I'll be your friend. You know, I've

0:29:44.200 --> 0:29:45.800
<v Speaker 2>been through this, I know how to take you through.

0:29:46.480 --> 0:29:48.280
<v Speaker 2>And you're going through all that, so you don't even

0:29:48.360 --> 0:29:51.120
<v Speaker 2>know what to think. You know, you have someone there

0:29:51.160 --> 0:29:54.240
<v Speaker 2>that's really helping you. So, you know, my instinct to

0:29:54.320 --> 0:29:57.640
<v Speaker 2>reach out. Thank god that was there so that I

0:29:57.640 --> 0:30:00.560
<v Speaker 2>didn't do it by myself because my family not here,

0:30:00.720 --> 0:30:04.160
<v Speaker 2>you know, my family's like all in Chicago and San Francisco.

0:30:04.680 --> 0:30:08.440
<v Speaker 2>So I really had to rely on friends. And then

0:30:10.120 --> 0:30:14.600
<v Speaker 2>eventually I I you know, I say this on stage,

0:30:14.640 --> 0:30:18.040
<v Speaker 2>I have thirteen friends with breast cancer. So you know,

0:30:18.280 --> 0:30:20.000
<v Speaker 2>you say, you say it's one, and it is one

0:30:20.040 --> 0:30:23.040
<v Speaker 2>and eight by the way, so it's a it's an epidemic,

0:30:23.400 --> 0:30:25.960
<v Speaker 2>you know. But when you say to that to people,

0:30:26.000 --> 0:30:27.600
<v Speaker 2>when you say one in eight to people, they don't

0:30:27.640 --> 0:30:30.000
<v Speaker 2>really respond, you know, because they don't they see those

0:30:30.000 --> 0:30:32.800
<v Speaker 2>little stick figures and they go, eh. But you say

0:30:32.840 --> 0:30:35.000
<v Speaker 2>you have thirteen friends with breast cancer, and all of

0:30:35.040 --> 0:30:39.600
<v Speaker 2>a sudden you go, I go, exactly, yes, it's real,

0:30:39.920 --> 0:30:44.440
<v Speaker 2>it's serious. And so I have thirteen friends with breast cancer.

0:30:44.480 --> 0:30:47.600
<v Speaker 2>I took three of them will go with you know,

0:30:47.880 --> 0:30:51.960
<v Speaker 2>I would swap out friends, you know, and they would

0:30:52.000 --> 0:30:55.080
<v Speaker 2>go in and listen for me. Sometimes I wasn't listening,

0:30:56.080 --> 0:30:58.560
<v Speaker 2>and then my one friend Jenny told me to record

0:30:59.640 --> 0:31:04.440
<v Speaker 2>big I do that biggest advice, Yeah, I do. Ask

0:31:04.480 --> 0:31:08.600
<v Speaker 2>the doctor's one. No, No, it's important because I yeah,

0:31:08.760 --> 0:31:11.320
<v Speaker 2>I would listen to it and I would hear myself

0:31:11.440 --> 0:31:16.280
<v Speaker 2>ask the doctor a question they had already answered. So

0:31:16.280 --> 0:31:18.520
<v Speaker 2>I knew I wasn't listening, and that's how I knew.

0:31:18.560 --> 0:31:20.520
<v Speaker 2>I was like, I got to continue to record every

0:31:20.520 --> 0:31:23.480
<v Speaker 2>time I go in because that's how I get the information.

0:31:24.000 --> 0:31:25.520
<v Speaker 2>Because I would hear and I go, oh my god,

0:31:25.520 --> 0:31:28.560
<v Speaker 2>they just answered this question. And also I didn't even

0:31:28.640 --> 0:31:30.280
<v Speaker 2>hear this while I was sitting there.

0:31:31.960 --> 0:31:34.440
<v Speaker 1>Was it just because you were overwhelmed? You think, or

0:31:34.560 --> 0:31:37.600
<v Speaker 1>kind of my mind wanders a million different directions during

0:31:37.600 --> 0:31:38.920
<v Speaker 1>a converse. It's a real bad happen.

0:31:39.160 --> 0:31:42.200
<v Speaker 2>No, I have a d D too. I used to Yeah,

0:31:42.280 --> 0:31:43.920
<v Speaker 2>podcasting taught me how to listen.

0:31:44.040 --> 0:31:47.920
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, my god, turn your tabs off, and yes, absolutely.

0:31:47.440 --> 0:31:50.760
<v Speaker 2>I'm so much better. People used to say that they

0:31:50.840 --> 0:31:54.200
<v Speaker 2>could see me fade while I was listening to them,

0:31:54.240 --> 0:31:55.920
<v Speaker 2>and I was like, oh no, you could see that.

0:31:56.000 --> 0:31:58.160
<v Speaker 2>I thought I was playing it off, and they're like, no, no,

0:31:58.240 --> 0:32:03.120
<v Speaker 2>it's obvious you're not listening. But this, this taught me

0:32:03.400 --> 0:32:07.640
<v Speaker 2>a lot. And yeah, listening to those audios back and

0:32:07.680 --> 0:32:09.640
<v Speaker 2>I can still listen to them to this day. If

0:32:09.680 --> 0:32:12.000
<v Speaker 2>I wanted to just get more information and it saved

0:32:12.000 --> 0:32:16.240
<v Speaker 2>my life. It actually taught me, Like, as I listened

0:32:16.280 --> 0:32:18.800
<v Speaker 2>to it, it taught me about my staging of cancer.

0:32:19.080 --> 0:32:20.960
<v Speaker 2>It taught me, you know that I have to get

0:32:21.000 --> 0:32:24.280
<v Speaker 2>like an uncle type test that tells me what type

0:32:24.320 --> 0:32:26.800
<v Speaker 2>of treatment I'm gonna get. And that's what I mean

0:32:26.840 --> 0:32:30.480
<v Speaker 2>by there's a certain point in this where your staging

0:32:30.520 --> 0:32:33.600
<v Speaker 2>goes up after they do the lump actomy. Now, when

0:32:33.880 --> 0:32:35.520
<v Speaker 2>you decide to get the lump act to me or

0:32:35.560 --> 0:32:38.400
<v Speaker 2>you decide to get a missect me, those decisions are

0:32:38.440 --> 0:32:43.280
<v Speaker 2>based upon your genetic you know, history, and your stage.

0:32:43.440 --> 0:32:48.640
<v Speaker 2>Well I was stage one, but after the lump actomy,

0:32:48.760 --> 0:32:52.480
<v Speaker 2>I was stage one, hey, which I was like, what's

0:32:52.520 --> 0:32:55.600
<v Speaker 2>that about? You know? And then my doctor told me

0:32:55.640 --> 0:32:58.040
<v Speaker 2>what that was about was that the cancer they found

0:32:58.040 --> 0:33:02.880
<v Speaker 2>it had traveled intro many marine nod which is in

0:33:02.920 --> 0:33:05.800
<v Speaker 2>the actual breast tissue. There's nodes within the you know,

0:33:05.880 --> 0:33:08.320
<v Speaker 2>you have your lymph nodes, there's nodes within the breast.

0:33:09.000 --> 0:33:14.040
<v Speaker 2>Rarely happens now very important. I listened to that tape

0:33:14.120 --> 0:33:17.160
<v Speaker 2>when she talked about that. So when I went for

0:33:17.920 --> 0:33:23.880
<v Speaker 2>my I forget, I'm forgetting the name of it. When

0:33:23.920 --> 0:33:26.800
<v Speaker 2>they do the HISS they do the information about your

0:33:26.800 --> 0:33:32.000
<v Speaker 2>actual cancer, I forget, oh genetic, I forget what it's call.

0:33:32.440 --> 0:33:37.760
<v Speaker 2>It's the uh, it's something. It's where they actually finally

0:33:38.280 --> 0:33:40.560
<v Speaker 2>analyze it and tell you what type of treatment you're

0:33:40.560 --> 0:33:43.000
<v Speaker 2>gonna get. Okay, and there's a different person for that

0:33:43.160 --> 0:33:44.360
<v Speaker 2>while they had read it wrong.

0:33:45.240 --> 0:33:49.360
<v Speaker 1>Oh lord, Yes, from the beginning or.

0:33:49.800 --> 0:33:53.840
<v Speaker 2>This was after everything, after my lumpectomy, after my surgeon.

0:33:53.960 --> 0:33:57.640
<v Speaker 2>It told me I was staged one job, one job,

0:33:58.080 --> 0:34:00.640
<v Speaker 2>and I went in. But the thing is in memory, no,

0:34:00.720 --> 0:34:02.640
<v Speaker 2>which is what I have, is very rare to see.

0:34:02.680 --> 0:34:05.040
<v Speaker 2>So what the person saw, or what they thought they saw,

0:34:05.200 --> 0:34:08.439
<v Speaker 2>was cancer that had spread to my chest. So they

0:34:08.440 --> 0:34:12.120
<v Speaker 2>had staged me wrong. They staged me at two like

0:34:12.280 --> 0:34:16.200
<v Speaker 2>B which told said that the treatment would be chemo

0:34:16.480 --> 0:34:20.479
<v Speaker 2>for a year and then radiation. It was wrong.

0:34:20.480 --> 0:34:22.160
<v Speaker 1>I thought you were going to be heading toward chemo.

0:34:22.239 --> 0:34:23.319
<v Speaker 1>You thought you were at stage two.

0:34:24.719 --> 0:34:27.799
<v Speaker 2>I knew I wasn't. And when I went back to

0:34:28.400 --> 0:34:34.839
<v Speaker 2>which was my Then you get an oncologist, right, which

0:34:34.880 --> 0:34:37.200
<v Speaker 2>is different from your surgeon. All these doctors. I thought

0:34:37.200 --> 0:34:39.719
<v Speaker 2>it was just one person you go to. No, so

0:34:39.760 --> 0:34:43.000
<v Speaker 2>I go to the oncologist, and then oncologist says is

0:34:43.719 --> 0:34:45.959
<v Speaker 2>And I remember my uncle saying to me, he's a doctor.

0:34:46.040 --> 0:34:48.840
<v Speaker 2>He said, make sure you don't get a doctor straight

0:34:48.960 --> 0:34:53.000
<v Speaker 2>out in June or July. I said, he goes, you

0:34:53.040 --> 0:34:55.200
<v Speaker 2>know why, and I go, no, he goes, they just

0:34:55.280 --> 0:35:00.520
<v Speaker 2>graduate from school. I go, oh, so city h hospital.

0:35:00.880 --> 0:35:04.279
<v Speaker 2>They give me it on colleges. She looks young I

0:35:04.320 --> 0:35:07.960
<v Speaker 2>bring my Irish friend in to advocate. She goes, Oh, Marina,

0:35:08.480 --> 0:35:10.520
<v Speaker 2>she goes, I'm going to tell you something. This young

0:35:10.600 --> 0:35:16.040
<v Speaker 2>lady should be good someday, should be good someday, but

0:35:16.120 --> 0:35:21.640
<v Speaker 2>not today. Run And sure enough she had told me

0:35:21.719 --> 0:35:24.760
<v Speaker 2>that I was staged two with you know, confidently, without

0:35:24.800 --> 0:35:28.360
<v Speaker 2>really looking at that chart. I said, can you get

0:35:29.080 --> 0:35:30.279
<v Speaker 2>can you get your father in here?

0:35:30.360 --> 0:35:30.440
<v Speaker 1>Now?

0:35:31.200 --> 0:35:34.000
<v Speaker 2>I said, can you get the head surgeon who's in

0:35:34.080 --> 0:35:35.880
<v Speaker 2>charge of all of you, can you bring him in?

0:35:35.960 --> 0:35:38.000
<v Speaker 2>And he looked at it and he said, yeah, this

0:35:38.120 --> 0:35:41.960
<v Speaker 2>is done wrong, this has been analyzed wrong, and it's

0:35:42.000 --> 0:35:43.320
<v Speaker 2>important for her treatment.

0:35:44.000 --> 0:35:46.440
<v Speaker 1>I mean, good for you and your friend to even

0:35:46.800 --> 0:35:49.080
<v Speaker 1>because I in that situation, I mean, you feel like

0:35:49.120 --> 0:35:51.399
<v Speaker 1>the doctors have all the power and everything they say

0:35:51.480 --> 0:35:56.520
<v Speaker 1>is you know, Bible, but that's so not true. And yes,

0:35:56.640 --> 0:35:59.160
<v Speaker 1>for you to advocate for yourself in that way. So

0:35:59.239 --> 0:36:04.000
<v Speaker 1>what was the treatment plan then when you were stage

0:36:04.040 --> 0:36:05.360
<v Speaker 1>one stage one A?

0:36:06.480 --> 0:36:08.759
<v Speaker 2>So after we figured out that they were wrong, and

0:36:08.760 --> 0:36:11.399
<v Speaker 2>we figured out the real treatment and with the real

0:36:11.520 --> 0:36:16.400
<v Speaker 2>number was one A. It's just radiation, so no chemo. Also,

0:36:16.440 --> 0:36:19.400
<v Speaker 2>the unco type test gives you a score. So the

0:36:19.480 --> 0:36:22.680
<v Speaker 2>doctor will say to you, you have an option to

0:36:22.719 --> 0:36:26.080
<v Speaker 2>do chemo. But the unco type test, which is not

0:36:26.120 --> 0:36:29.720
<v Speaker 2>available to everybody. It just depends on your exact cancer.

0:36:29.840 --> 0:36:35.080
<v Speaker 2>You know, mine is progested. I can't say it estrogen positive.

0:36:35.320 --> 0:36:40.000
<v Speaker 2>You know her too negative. So because of that, I

0:36:40.040 --> 0:36:42.520
<v Speaker 2>get that test. Not everyone gets that test, and that'll

0:36:42.520 --> 0:36:47.080
<v Speaker 2>tell you a score, and that score tells you whether

0:36:47.160 --> 0:36:49.279
<v Speaker 2>or not you do chemo or not. And I was like,

0:36:51.960 --> 0:36:52.200
<v Speaker 2>and my.

0:36:52.239 --> 0:36:54.360
<v Speaker 1>Score one that really puts you on your butt? Is

0:36:54.400 --> 0:36:54.759
<v Speaker 1>that right?

0:36:54.920 --> 0:37:00.000
<v Speaker 2>Yes, yeah it does. And so what happened was all

0:37:00.160 --> 0:37:06.240
<v Speaker 2>so the the rules had changed for radiation and chemo.

0:37:07.160 --> 0:37:11.440
<v Speaker 2>Women with one a just six years before I was

0:37:11.480 --> 0:37:16.799
<v Speaker 2>getting diagnosed, would go through chemo. So I had met

0:37:16.800 --> 0:37:22.120
<v Speaker 2>a woman. Actually I've done stand up to cancer comedy

0:37:22.160 --> 0:37:24.880
<v Speaker 2>show and after the show, I met a woman who said, oh,

0:37:24.920 --> 0:37:27.200
<v Speaker 2>you didn't do chemo and you were wanted I go it.

0:37:27.360 --> 0:37:30.240
<v Speaker 2>And I felt horrible because she was the same stage

0:37:30.280 --> 0:37:33.759
<v Speaker 2>that I was, but just six years ago. It just

0:37:33.840 --> 0:37:37.320
<v Speaker 2>you know, medicine is always learning. Yeah, So I did radiation,

0:37:38.280 --> 0:37:40.720
<v Speaker 2>and I did radiation for the month of October. Actually

0:37:40.719 --> 0:37:44.239
<v Speaker 2>we're going into the month the anniversary three years during

0:37:44.280 --> 0:37:46.720
<v Speaker 2>Breast cancer Awareness Month, I was getting radiation?

0:37:47.480 --> 0:37:49.120
<v Speaker 1>Was that last year or the year before?

0:37:49.440 --> 0:37:50.040
<v Speaker 2>Two years?

0:37:50.239 --> 0:37:55.279
<v Speaker 1>Two years? Okay? Yeah, so you when were you kind

0:37:55.280 --> 0:37:55.840
<v Speaker 1>of giving.

0:37:55.640 --> 0:37:56.720
<v Speaker 2>In twenty nineteen?

0:37:56.840 --> 0:38:02.000
<v Speaker 1>By nineteen? Yeah? Are you answer free? Now? Do you have?

0:38:02.160 --> 0:38:05.800
<v Speaker 2>I don't call it cancer free because you get cleared

0:38:05.840 --> 0:38:12.120
<v Speaker 2>within like five years. They say, really, But I you know,

0:38:12.280 --> 0:38:14.279
<v Speaker 2>I never really look at it as that. I look

0:38:14.280 --> 0:38:21.440
<v Speaker 2>at it as I'm good for now and uh, and

0:38:21.520 --> 0:38:23.040
<v Speaker 2>That's probably not the best way to look at it.

0:38:23.080 --> 0:38:26.120
<v Speaker 2>But I'm always being healthy. I'm always you know, since

0:38:26.120 --> 0:38:31.759
<v Speaker 2>that time I'm vegan, you know, I I've changed my

0:38:31.800 --> 0:38:36.120
<v Speaker 2>whole life around. I've made some strong choices. Try to

0:38:36.160 --> 0:38:40.160
<v Speaker 2>cut out sugar, you know, as much as I can.

0:38:40.239 --> 0:38:43.560
<v Speaker 2>I try not to have sugar, Okay, things like that.

0:38:44.080 --> 0:38:46.480
<v Speaker 2>Because also they wanted to put you on. They wanted

0:38:46.520 --> 0:38:50.799
<v Speaker 2>to put me on a hormonal drug called tamoxifin that

0:38:50.880 --> 0:38:53.520
<v Speaker 2>I opted out of. So that was like what that

0:38:53.880 --> 0:38:58.080
<v Speaker 2>was done. So tamoxifen is is commonly used for women

0:38:58.200 --> 0:39:01.760
<v Speaker 2>with hormonal cancer, you know, with estrogen, a strong level

0:39:01.880 --> 0:39:06.640
<v Speaker 2>of estrogen feeding the cancer, and that would have caused

0:39:06.840 --> 0:39:09.800
<v Speaker 2>hip it could it could, it could be. It's different

0:39:09.840 --> 0:39:14.360
<v Speaker 2>for everyone. Some women have no reaction to it. My

0:39:14.640 --> 0:39:18.960
<v Speaker 2>friends all said hell no. So three I did my

0:39:19.000 --> 0:39:21.879
<v Speaker 2>own research, right, since I have thirteen friends, I could

0:39:21.880 --> 0:39:24.319
<v Speaker 2>do my own studies. So I was like, how many

0:39:24.360 --> 0:39:27.279
<v Speaker 2>of my friends were okay with it? And like three

0:39:27.360 --> 0:39:30.400
<v Speaker 2>of them were like, hell no. And they told me

0:39:30.440 --> 0:39:32.280
<v Speaker 2>how long it took to get out of their system

0:39:32.360 --> 0:39:36.799
<v Speaker 2>a year even in trying it. And then I had

0:39:37.200 --> 0:39:38.640
<v Speaker 2>one of the nurses told me she had to get

0:39:38.640 --> 0:39:42.680
<v Speaker 2>a hip replacement because of it. So it's intense. It

0:39:42.719 --> 0:39:45.800
<v Speaker 2>can be intense. And then one another friend of mine,

0:39:46.000 --> 0:39:48.319
<v Speaker 2>out of you know, three of them said no. One

0:39:48.320 --> 0:39:50.840
<v Speaker 2>of them said she had no problems, she had nothing.

0:39:50.880 --> 0:39:54.000
<v Speaker 2>She had one night of sweats and then she was fine.

0:39:54.200 --> 0:39:56.319
<v Speaker 1>I have so many questions now because my neighbor Lynn

0:39:56.400 --> 0:39:59.240
<v Speaker 1>had a hip replacement not long ago. Ooh, I'm wondering.

0:39:59.320 --> 0:40:01.279
<v Speaker 1>And she was also a answer survivor. Lyn's going to

0:40:01.360 --> 0:40:03.600
<v Speaker 1>be like, stop talking to me about this, man.

0:40:04.440 --> 0:40:08.000
<v Speaker 2>Oh. I mean there's books about it. There's called Estrogen Matters.

0:40:08.800 --> 0:40:10.760
<v Speaker 2>I haven't read that book. There's so many cancer books

0:40:10.760 --> 0:40:12.240
<v Speaker 2>I have, but I need to still read.

0:40:12.800 --> 0:40:15.360
<v Speaker 1>I mean, it's the well, it's the diagnosis and the treatment,

0:40:15.400 --> 0:40:19.240
<v Speaker 1>but it's also I mean the I know in your case.

0:40:19.560 --> 0:40:21.600
<v Speaker 1>I mean, actually I didn't ask this, but you didn't

0:40:21.640 --> 0:40:26.360
<v Speaker 1>have to have any reconstructive breast surgery or anything like that, right.

0:40:27.000 --> 0:40:30.719
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, lumpectomy is just an entury taking it out. Then

0:40:30.760 --> 0:40:34.840
<v Speaker 2>they they do the testing, and that's what you know.

0:40:34.880 --> 0:40:37.400
<v Speaker 2>When they actually take the cancer out, they look at

0:40:37.440 --> 0:40:41.280
<v Speaker 2>it and that causes the difference of staging. Oh gotcha, okay,

0:40:41.480 --> 0:40:44.400
<v Speaker 2>and that. Yeah, and then it's just they just sew

0:40:44.480 --> 0:40:48.640
<v Speaker 2>everything back up. They take the lymph nodes out. Yeah,

0:40:48.680 --> 0:40:52.000
<v Speaker 2>they take your lymph nodes. They take a they'll tell

0:40:52.000 --> 0:40:55.440
<v Speaker 2>you how many they take out. And for about a

0:40:55.480 --> 0:40:59.399
<v Speaker 2>salad month, I couldn't lift above my I couldn't do this,

0:40:59.640 --> 0:41:03.560
<v Speaker 2>even that wall behind me. I used to do finger

0:41:03.680 --> 0:41:06.160
<v Speaker 2>crawls just to get my arms. I couldn't do this.

0:41:07.239 --> 0:41:09.359
<v Speaker 2>I couldn't lift a suitcase. I had to travel as

0:41:09.360 --> 0:41:11.759
<v Speaker 2>a stand up. I couldn't carry things. I had to

0:41:11.840 --> 0:41:15.480
<v Speaker 2>like decide which stuff I was going to take to

0:41:15.520 --> 0:41:17.040
<v Speaker 2>the gig.

0:41:17.440 --> 0:41:21.480
<v Speaker 1>And you've incorporated your your story into your stand up

0:41:23.520 --> 0:41:27.719
<v Speaker 1>what is funny about breast cancer? And also a lot

0:41:27.920 --> 0:41:31.160
<v Speaker 1>that you have turned well, actually I've laughed a lot

0:41:31.280 --> 0:41:35.680
<v Speaker 1>just from the story that you told. No I imagine that,

0:41:35.719 --> 0:41:41.759
<v Speaker 1>but I guess I'm just asking Irish accent. I wasn't

0:41:41.800 --> 0:41:44.200
<v Speaker 1>sure if you had said Irish. I was like, maybe

0:41:44.280 --> 0:41:45.560
<v Speaker 1>she didn't say that. I was waiting.

0:41:45.600 --> 0:41:49.040
<v Speaker 2>Sometimes it could sound Jamaica. Do you have a Macon

0:41:49.120 --> 0:41:51.600
<v Speaker 2>and Irish? But yeah, that was my Irish friend.

0:41:52.239 --> 0:41:53.880
<v Speaker 1>Well I love that. You know you going back to

0:41:53.880 --> 0:41:55.879
<v Speaker 1>what you said earlier about being a black comic, there's

0:41:55.920 --> 0:41:58.120
<v Speaker 1>more of you now out there, black female comics, and

0:41:58.200 --> 0:42:01.279
<v Speaker 1>you do have you know, you storytelling in general. You know,

0:42:01.320 --> 0:42:03.319
<v Speaker 1>I'm a writer. I always just try to if it's

0:42:03.360 --> 0:42:07.000
<v Speaker 1>my story, I know it's unique. But incorporating into your

0:42:07.000 --> 0:42:08.520
<v Speaker 1>stand up, what was that like for you? When were

0:42:08.560 --> 0:42:11.040
<v Speaker 1>you ready to to tell that story and to laugh

0:42:11.080 --> 0:42:15.440
<v Speaker 1>about you know, this really serious issue that was terrifying.

0:42:17.080 --> 0:42:19.880
<v Speaker 2>I told it right well, not right away, but I

0:42:19.960 --> 0:42:23.319
<v Speaker 2>did have a mentor who told me who had also

0:42:23.360 --> 0:42:27.400
<v Speaker 2>gone through his own struggles. He had a stroke, so

0:42:28.400 --> 0:42:30.359
<v Speaker 2>he was like, you know, if you don't talk about

0:42:30.400 --> 0:42:34.040
<v Speaker 2>it now, you're going to forget it. So you need

0:42:34.440 --> 0:42:37.920
<v Speaker 2>to do it right away while it's still fresh. And

0:42:37.960 --> 0:42:42.680
<v Speaker 2>he was right, because it's an It's an amazing thing.

0:42:42.880 --> 0:42:46.239
<v Speaker 2>How even as I'm talking to you, some of the

0:42:46.280 --> 0:42:50.279
<v Speaker 2>things I've I've forgotten because I don't I don't I'm

0:42:50.280 --> 0:42:53.120
<v Speaker 2>not still dealing with it. Well, I don't talk about those,

0:42:53.520 --> 0:42:58.560
<v Speaker 2>you know, those specific moments, you know, and some of

0:42:58.600 --> 0:43:00.759
<v Speaker 2>the pain starts to fade a little bit, you know.

0:43:01.280 --> 0:43:05.279
<v Speaker 2>But I think in talking about it while I was

0:43:05.400 --> 0:43:09.239
<v Speaker 2>raw was very therapeutic for me. You know, I didn't

0:43:09.239 --> 0:43:12.000
<v Speaker 2>know what I was doing. You know, I've been a

0:43:12.000 --> 0:43:13.680
<v Speaker 2>comic for a long time, so I kind of had

0:43:13.719 --> 0:43:18.000
<v Speaker 2>the tools to know how to explore that material on

0:43:18.080 --> 0:43:21.479
<v Speaker 2>stage without feeling like horrible. But a lot of times

0:43:21.560 --> 0:43:23.960
<v Speaker 2>I would, you know, I was scared, you know, I

0:43:24.040 --> 0:43:27.200
<v Speaker 2>was vulnerable up there and not sure if people were

0:43:27.200 --> 0:43:31.880
<v Speaker 2>going to laugh, and sometimes they didn't sometimes because you know,

0:43:31.960 --> 0:43:36.279
<v Speaker 2>no matter what, the audience can read you. So if

0:43:36.280 --> 0:43:38.600
<v Speaker 2>you're not sure, they're not sure. And I could tell

0:43:38.640 --> 0:43:40.600
<v Speaker 2>they were like, oh my god, she's really going through

0:43:40.600 --> 0:43:43.400
<v Speaker 2>this right now, so you could they felt everything I

0:43:43.480 --> 0:43:46.480
<v Speaker 2>was feeling. And now when I talk about it, it's

0:43:46.560 --> 0:43:51.080
<v Speaker 2>just nothing but laughter, you know. Because that material, over time,

0:43:51.120 --> 0:43:53.359
<v Speaker 2>it got better. I started to chisel away at it,

0:43:53.880 --> 0:43:56.680
<v Speaker 2>you know, and I also made it, you know, more

0:43:56.680 --> 0:44:00.279
<v Speaker 2>of a show, and it was prepared material but also

0:44:00.440 --> 0:44:04.319
<v Speaker 2>it's not as raw, so I would say, you know

0:44:04.440 --> 0:44:06.480
<v Speaker 2>now that I do it. The one thing I do

0:44:07.080 --> 0:44:11.760
<v Speaker 2>try to remember is that this is not These aren't

0:44:11.800 --> 0:44:16.440
<v Speaker 2>just jokes. These are jokes that are possibly saving someone's

0:44:16.480 --> 0:44:19.439
<v Speaker 2>life in the audience. And that's why I always say,

0:44:19.640 --> 0:44:23.439
<v Speaker 2>you know, early detection is your best protection. It really is.

0:44:23.560 --> 0:44:29.120
<v Speaker 2>You know a lot of women, you know, I did

0:44:29.200 --> 0:44:33.560
<v Speaker 2>Radio City Music Hall and a doctor actually said to

0:44:34.239 --> 0:44:38.040
<v Speaker 2>Jim Gaffigan's wife, you know what, Marina mentioned something about

0:44:38.080 --> 0:44:40.520
<v Speaker 2>when was the last time you've been in for your checkup?

0:44:42.360 --> 0:44:45.920
<v Speaker 2>So you know, those conversations hopefully it sparked something in

0:44:45.960 --> 0:44:49.480
<v Speaker 2>that room. And Radio City Music Hall.

0:44:50.440 --> 0:44:53.120
<v Speaker 1>Well, the pandemic. I'm not even gonna lie. I did

0:44:53.200 --> 0:44:56.160
<v Speaker 1>manage to go to the gynecologist this year, but I

0:44:56.280 --> 0:45:00.520
<v Speaker 1>had I had a human child, maybe not or a

0:45:00.560 --> 0:45:02.839
<v Speaker 1>couple of years ago, and it had been I mean,

0:45:02.880 --> 0:45:05.239
<v Speaker 1>I hadn't been seen by a doctor since I had

0:45:05.320 --> 0:45:07.120
<v Speaker 1>I gave birth. I was like, that's it, I'm good.

0:45:07.280 --> 0:45:10.080
<v Speaker 1>Just no one touched me ever again for a very

0:45:10.120 --> 0:45:12.400
<v Speaker 1>long time. And you know, I got my check up.

0:45:12.480 --> 0:45:15.319
<v Speaker 1>But you mentioned earlier, and it's so true. It was

0:45:15.320 --> 0:45:17.839
<v Speaker 1>one of those appointments that was very easy to cancel

0:45:18.160 --> 0:45:24.040
<v Speaker 1>when the pandemic was raging, pre vaccine. In all of that,

0:45:24.040 --> 0:45:26.799
<v Speaker 1>that worries me. How do you what would you stay

0:45:26.800 --> 0:45:30.319
<v Speaker 1>to women at home who are I don't know, I mean,

0:45:30.320 --> 0:45:31.640
<v Speaker 1>and I for you, it wasn't even about going to

0:45:31.680 --> 0:45:34.719
<v Speaker 1>the doctor. It was just doing a self examination.

0:45:34.880 --> 0:45:37.520
<v Speaker 2>But it can be the difference of one year. I

0:45:37.520 --> 0:45:41.120
<v Speaker 2>had a friend who one year was had no stage

0:45:41.400 --> 0:45:45.960
<v Speaker 2>of cancer to the next year being staged four. So

0:45:46.160 --> 0:45:49.600
<v Speaker 2>you don't want to put it off, you can, you know.

0:45:50.400 --> 0:45:53.440
<v Speaker 2>It really is the difference of early detection, you know,

0:45:54.880 --> 0:45:57.480
<v Speaker 2>And that means you know, it's every six months. I

0:45:57.520 --> 0:46:00.920
<v Speaker 2>believe maybe that's just for me because I just came

0:46:00.960 --> 0:46:04.920
<v Speaker 2>out of radiation, But so after radiation you go in

0:46:04.960 --> 0:46:08.000
<v Speaker 2>every six months for a mammogram, just you know, after

0:46:08.000 --> 0:46:09.880
<v Speaker 2>you do the surgery. But I think you're supposed to

0:46:09.880 --> 0:46:13.000
<v Speaker 2>go in for you know, mammograms like once a year.

0:46:13.080 --> 0:46:14.239
<v Speaker 2>I believe I got it.

0:46:14.320 --> 0:46:16.840
<v Speaker 1>So we're going to put that. Don't worry, no pressure,

0:46:16.880 --> 0:46:19.160
<v Speaker 1>I know you are you were Marina Franklin. You are

0:46:19.200 --> 0:46:23.120
<v Speaker 1>not here to represent all medical professionals, but I have

0:46:24.040 --> 0:46:25.880
<v Speaker 1>no but for listeners, we're going to put in the

0:46:25.880 --> 0:46:28.960
<v Speaker 1>show notes I've got it the guidelines for your age.

0:46:29.520 --> 0:46:31.719
<v Speaker 1>I'm thirty four. My co host Tiffany is in her

0:46:31.760 --> 0:46:35.680
<v Speaker 1>early forties, and I know I'm just now. I'm like, Tiffany,

0:46:35.680 --> 0:46:37.200
<v Speaker 1>you get your mamogram. I don't know if she's done

0:46:37.200 --> 0:46:38.600
<v Speaker 1>it yet, but she's like, yeah, I need to do that,

0:46:38.640 --> 0:46:42.280
<v Speaker 1>because once you turn forty, it's it's it's definitely encouraged.

0:46:42.480 --> 0:46:44.839
<v Speaker 2>It's getting younger and younger. That's the thing. The woman

0:46:44.880 --> 0:46:49.200
<v Speaker 2>had just wrote me was thirty eight, I have young woman.

0:46:50.719 --> 0:46:55.680
<v Speaker 2>It's getting younger and younger, you know. And so you know,

0:46:55.760 --> 0:46:58.719
<v Speaker 2>I tell women you got to advocate for yourself. At

0:46:58.760 --> 0:47:04.239
<v Speaker 2>any point you feel something, go in and don't let

0:47:04.320 --> 0:47:07.920
<v Speaker 2>them tell you otherwise you are your best advocate.

0:47:08.920 --> 0:47:14.200
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and that's also free and your Irish friend it's

0:47:14.239 --> 0:47:16.880
<v Speaker 1>also I mean on this it's and I was, you know,

0:47:16.920 --> 0:47:20.440
<v Speaker 1>you wonder you mentioned younger women especially are getting it

0:47:20.480 --> 0:47:22.799
<v Speaker 1>at a higher rate Black women. Among younger Black women

0:47:22.840 --> 0:47:26.680
<v Speaker 1>getting breast cancer have double double the mortality rate of

0:47:26.719 --> 0:47:30.759
<v Speaker 1>white women. Like that is astounding to me. And part

0:47:30.800 --> 0:47:34.000
<v Speaker 1>of the reason is, like you said, access to quality healthcare.

0:47:34.480 --> 0:47:37.000
<v Speaker 1>Maybe you're going to the clinic in your area, but

0:47:37.120 --> 0:47:41.000
<v Speaker 1>is it you know, are they so overwhelmed with other

0:47:41.080 --> 0:47:45.560
<v Speaker 1>patients with seemingly more important or bigger and more emergent conditions,

0:47:46.520 --> 0:47:49.440
<v Speaker 1>And will you advocate for yourself or will you you know,

0:47:49.840 --> 0:47:53.319
<v Speaker 1>will you trust that that hairy doctor who's working on you?

0:47:53.360 --> 0:47:55.840
<v Speaker 1>And black women are just not as likely to have

0:47:55.920 --> 0:47:58.840
<v Speaker 1>that proper healthcare or to have the actual insurance to

0:47:58.880 --> 0:48:02.480
<v Speaker 1>pay for things like preventative care. And I a piece

0:48:02.520 --> 0:48:05.200
<v Speaker 1>of research that I was reading that really just blew

0:48:05.239 --> 0:48:07.520
<v Speaker 1>my mind because we talked about the self examination, right.

0:48:07.560 --> 0:48:09.520
<v Speaker 1>I went to the gynecologists earlier this year and she

0:48:09.560 --> 0:48:11.360
<v Speaker 1>felt me up and I always hate that part. I

0:48:11.360 --> 0:48:13.680
<v Speaker 1>feel like she's judging my my boob shape and things

0:48:13.760 --> 0:48:19.080
<v Speaker 1>like that. But like actual there, whether it's a clinical

0:48:19.239 --> 0:48:21.880
<v Speaker 1>physical exam or your own you know, clinical physic, your

0:48:21.880 --> 0:48:25.239
<v Speaker 1>own exam physically, you know that they you learn like

0:48:25.320 --> 0:48:27.799
<v Speaker 1>what to feel for and how to do a self examination.

0:48:28.000 --> 0:48:31.480
<v Speaker 1>But it's actually not that good at detecting breast cancer.

0:48:31.520 --> 0:48:33.880
<v Speaker 1>And the best way is to get that imaging, to

0:48:33.920 --> 0:48:37.279
<v Speaker 1>get that MRI. And now we know ultrasound based on

0:48:37.320 --> 0:48:40.479
<v Speaker 1>your experience, so I don't I just wanted to say

0:48:40.520 --> 0:48:42.319
<v Speaker 1>that in case people are like, Okay, I'm gonna feel

0:48:42.320 --> 0:48:44.080
<v Speaker 1>a little bit here and there. But it's like, go

0:48:44.160 --> 0:48:47.279
<v Speaker 1>to the doctor, especially if you're over forty and ask

0:48:47.360 --> 0:48:51.440
<v Speaker 1>for that, Mammograham, because especially in your case, like you've

0:48:51.480 --> 0:48:54.600
<v Speaker 1>shown that even if you and you felt something and

0:48:54.600 --> 0:48:58.720
<v Speaker 1>they still were like, nah.

0:48:57.400 --> 0:48:58.359
<v Speaker 2>Not really a deal.

0:48:58.600 --> 0:48:59.720
<v Speaker 1>You know, that's wild.

0:49:00.040 --> 0:49:02.880
<v Speaker 2>Imagine if I had said, no, I actually want a

0:49:02.880 --> 0:49:06.279
<v Speaker 2>biopsy on this, which you can do so in that year,

0:49:06.320 --> 0:49:09.799
<v Speaker 2>when they said, oh, let's you know, we'll just it's

0:49:10.000 --> 0:49:11.680
<v Speaker 2>not I could have said I still would like a

0:49:11.680 --> 0:49:13.560
<v Speaker 2>biopsy and they would say they would have had to

0:49:13.600 --> 0:49:14.040
<v Speaker 2>have done it.

0:49:14.640 --> 0:49:17.640
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, that's great. Is that malpractice? I don't know, how

0:49:17.640 --> 0:49:18.120
<v Speaker 1>could you do?

0:49:18.400 --> 0:49:20.799
<v Speaker 2>No, it's not. That's the thing. As you go through this,

0:49:21.280 --> 0:49:23.799
<v Speaker 2>you're thinking about mail practice the whole time. If you

0:49:23.840 --> 0:49:27.080
<v Speaker 2>see all the stuff I've seen, I mean, the stuff

0:49:27.080 --> 0:49:31.920
<v Speaker 2>that I went through was like insane, you know, from

0:49:32.080 --> 0:49:38.080
<v Speaker 2>them reading my my chart wrong, you know, from one

0:49:38.200 --> 0:49:42.560
<v Speaker 2>A to two, you know, possibly a full year of

0:49:42.640 --> 0:49:45.920
<v Speaker 2>chemo had I Let's let's say I didn't speak English

0:49:46.080 --> 0:49:48.839
<v Speaker 2>very well. Let's say I didn't understand English very well,

0:49:48.840 --> 0:49:51.280
<v Speaker 2>and I'm just going in there and I'm here by myself,

0:49:51.320 --> 0:49:53.080
<v Speaker 2>and I don't have a family member in the room,

0:49:53.520 --> 0:49:55.440
<v Speaker 2>and they told me that I was I had cancer

0:49:55.440 --> 0:49:56.439
<v Speaker 2>and I was staged.

0:49:56.120 --> 0:49:57.920
<v Speaker 1>To be or whatever.

0:49:58.760 --> 0:50:01.640
<v Speaker 2>I would have gone through the chemo and I didn't

0:50:01.640 --> 0:50:07.160
<v Speaker 2>have to. So that is why it's it's super important

0:50:07.320 --> 0:50:10.839
<v Speaker 2>to pay attention. You know. It's like, there's no such

0:50:10.880 --> 0:50:13.840
<v Speaker 2>thing as paranoia when it comes to cancer. All of

0:50:13.880 --> 0:50:16.480
<v Speaker 2>it is is valid and legitimate. And when you go

0:50:16.560 --> 0:50:20.040
<v Speaker 2>in there and you have these concerns, you know, what's

0:50:20.160 --> 0:50:22.120
<v Speaker 2>what's going to help you from the fears. Bring a

0:50:22.160 --> 0:50:24.520
<v Speaker 2>friend in to calm you down, you know, but you

0:50:24.600 --> 0:50:26.360
<v Speaker 2>need to go in there and be like, this is

0:50:26.400 --> 0:50:28.279
<v Speaker 2>a life and death matter. Absolutely.

0:50:29.120 --> 0:50:31.400
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. I love that you said friend too, because sometimes

0:50:31.440 --> 0:50:33.399
<v Speaker 1>moms are not the best option if you have a mom,

0:50:33.440 --> 0:50:35.760
<v Speaker 1>like they don't exactly de escalate.

0:50:37.280 --> 0:50:42.360
<v Speaker 2>Mace. That was her gift to me, Okay, which we

0:50:42.440 --> 0:50:44.480
<v Speaker 2>had more time to talk about that whole other story.

0:50:44.560 --> 0:50:47.120
<v Speaker 1>It's been a couple of years. You mentioned the medical bills.

0:50:47.160 --> 0:50:49.440
<v Speaker 1>How are things now, I mean, how are they covered?

0:50:49.440 --> 0:50:52.040
<v Speaker 1>Were you able to fight for you know, the coverage

0:50:52.080 --> 0:50:53.960
<v Speaker 1>that you needed to get those bills taken care of?

0:50:54.080 --> 0:50:55.400
<v Speaker 1>What's the financial impact?

0:50:56.200 --> 0:50:59.120
<v Speaker 2>I mean, I mean now it's fine because I you

0:50:59.160 --> 0:51:01.120
<v Speaker 2>know I was able to get the insurance I needed

0:51:01.200 --> 0:51:05.400
<v Speaker 2>for it, and yeah, fine, you know I'm still paying

0:51:05.440 --> 0:51:06.839
<v Speaker 2>for some of it. You know, some of it you

0:51:06.840 --> 0:51:09.480
<v Speaker 2>pay off monthly. You can always talk to them about

0:51:09.520 --> 0:51:12.680
<v Speaker 2>lowering your bill. That's another thing. You know, a lot

0:51:12.719 --> 0:51:17.200
<v Speaker 2>of times you don't realize the conversations you have with

0:51:17.360 --> 0:51:20.120
<v Speaker 2>the in financial departments with all of this. It's just

0:51:20.120 --> 0:51:23.520
<v Speaker 2>it's just a conversation, you know. And they will knock

0:51:23.600 --> 0:51:24.800
<v Speaker 2>some off of your bill.

0:51:25.080 --> 0:51:32.040
<v Speaker 1>They'll do that for you, absolutely, and negotiations so hard. Yes,

0:51:32.160 --> 0:51:34.759
<v Speaker 1>be nice. My sister is an insurance claims adjuster and

0:51:35.280 --> 0:51:38.040
<v Speaker 1>she's she's the person I'm like, you're too nice for that.

0:51:38.040 --> 0:51:40.000
<v Speaker 1>She's probably not. She's probably like, yeah, you got it,

0:51:40.000 --> 0:51:44.839
<v Speaker 1>you're free, We got you. But well, Marina, it has been,

0:51:45.560 --> 0:51:47.520
<v Speaker 1>you know, such a pleasure to have you on the show,

0:51:47.719 --> 0:51:51.080
<v Speaker 1>and oh awesome and honor, thank you for thank you

0:51:51.120 --> 0:51:53.640
<v Speaker 1>for coming, and thank you for sharing and opening up.

0:51:53.680 --> 0:51:56.399
<v Speaker 1>I want everyone to check out Marina's work. We're gonna

0:51:56.480 --> 0:52:01.240
<v Speaker 1>link to your social handles. Go check out the documentary

0:52:01.360 --> 0:52:05.160
<v Speaker 1>on FX Hysterical, which has Marina and a bunch of

0:52:05.200 --> 0:52:08.719
<v Speaker 1>other amazing no it's literally called Hysterical that's a documentary

0:52:09.960 --> 0:52:14.000
<v Speaker 1>and oh what else You're special on Amazon? Single Black Female,

0:52:14.520 --> 0:52:17.239
<v Speaker 1>which I love? What what else is there?

0:52:17.280 --> 0:52:17.480
<v Speaker 2>Oldre?

0:52:17.480 --> 0:52:18.880
<v Speaker 1>I don't want to miss anything? What else you want?

0:52:18.880 --> 0:52:19.600
<v Speaker 2>Have podcast that?

0:52:19.680 --> 0:52:22.600
<v Speaker 1>I say, Yes, it's your podcast, Friends Like Us, Friends

0:52:22.600 --> 0:52:24.400
<v Speaker 1>Like Us. I love the tank.

0:52:24.680 --> 0:52:27.280
<v Speaker 2>This is my tanks chop. Friends Like This is my logo.

0:52:28.160 --> 0:52:30.520
<v Speaker 2>Friends Like Us is a podcast that features women of

0:52:30.560 --> 0:52:34.359
<v Speaker 2>color talking about hot topics and it's it's mostly comedians,

0:52:35.320 --> 0:52:38.080
<v Speaker 2>but we do have guests on that know more so,

0:52:38.120 --> 0:52:40.440
<v Speaker 2>we often have doctors on, and hopefully this month we'll

0:52:40.480 --> 0:52:42.480
<v Speaker 2>have my surgeon. I would love to have my surgeon on.

0:52:43.080 --> 0:52:46.640
<v Speaker 2>My surgeon. By the way, just a tag that story

0:52:46.640 --> 0:52:48.520
<v Speaker 2>about going to the City Hospital. The reason I went

0:52:48.560 --> 0:52:51.040
<v Speaker 2>to the City Hospital is because she was a black

0:52:51.080 --> 0:52:55.040
<v Speaker 2>surgeon and I wanted her, so I suffered.

0:52:55.000 --> 0:52:56.520
<v Speaker 1>There that I could have her.

0:52:56.600 --> 0:53:00.359
<v Speaker 2>And she's amazing. She's like one of the few in

0:53:00.400 --> 0:53:01.080
<v Speaker 2>New York City.

0:53:01.760 --> 0:53:05.400
<v Speaker 1>I finally did my research to find a black guynecologist

0:53:05.440 --> 0:53:07.560
<v Speaker 1>and it was I cried in her office and I

0:53:07.560 --> 0:53:09.239
<v Speaker 1>did not know that I was going. I did not

0:53:09.400 --> 0:53:13.200
<v Speaker 1>know that it meant something to me until I felt

0:53:13.239 --> 0:53:16.000
<v Speaker 1>the difference. I felt it in I get the.

0:53:15.920 --> 0:53:18.759
<v Speaker 2>Right black guy in a collegist. Not all black guy

0:53:18.840 --> 0:53:21.480
<v Speaker 2>know collegists as are the same. Because I had one

0:53:21.560 --> 0:53:24.080
<v Speaker 2>that I was like, I will not be going back to.

0:53:24.160 --> 0:53:25.120
<v Speaker 1>I've only the one.

0:53:25.200 --> 0:53:32.360
<v Speaker 2>Oh no, sounds like, but no, so get the right one.

0:53:32.600 --> 0:53:35.080
<v Speaker 1>Yes, absolutely do your and it's such a pain in

0:53:35.120 --> 0:53:38.080
<v Speaker 1>the ass to shop doctors, but it is important, especially

0:53:38.120 --> 0:53:38.840
<v Speaker 1>when it's your health.

0:53:39.400 --> 0:53:39.680
<v Speaker 2>Well.

0:53:39.760 --> 0:53:43.719
<v Speaker 1>Yes, thank you so much again, Marina, y'all, thanks for listening.

0:53:44.680 --> 0:53:48.319
<v Speaker 1>Back to our regular Brown Ambition next week. Marina, I

0:53:48.360 --> 0:53:50.920
<v Speaker 1>can't wait to see more of what you accomplished and

0:53:50.920 --> 0:53:52.799
<v Speaker 1>I'm definitely going to be following you and thank you

0:53:52.800 --> 0:53:54.120
<v Speaker 1>again for joining Brown Ambition.

0:53:54.960 --> 0:53:56.239
<v Speaker 2>Thank you for having me