Episode 34: Patient Advocacy: Living with Stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer
Release Date: 06/14/2023
Episode 78: Managing Scars Through Surgical Techniques at PRMA
DiepCJourney Podcast
We are going to discuss the topic of scars and cover several topics related to scars on this edition of the . It is understood, anyone who has surgery will have scars of some kind. There is a mechanism to how scars heal. In plastic surgery, if you think of the Greek word, plastikós (πλᾰστῐκός it means to shape or mold. Scars are a significant consideration in plastic surgery then. I invited an expert in the field to share his expertise on the topic. My guest is joined in San Antonio, Texas in 2021. Dr. Gassman completed his plastic and reconstructive surgery residency at UCLA...
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Episode 77: Nipple Reconstruction at PRMA
DiepCJourney Podcast
Do most people who have nipple reconstruction have breast reconstruction? Not necessarily. Do you think about nipple reconstruction if you’ve had breast cancer and are in a consultation for breast reconstruction? We are going to answer these questions and others on this episode of the . My guest is of in San Antonio, Texas. Dr. Carpenter is passionate about utilizing her extensive expertise and experience to help transform lives through reconstructive plastic surgery. I want to point out that PRMA uses the co-surgeon model in breast reconstruction, meaning there are two...
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Episode 76: Robotic Surgery and DIEP Flap in Hawaii
DiepCJourney Podcast
How much do you know about robotic surgery for DIEP flap breast reconstruction? What areas in the U.S. are performing these types of robotic surgery for those affected by breast cancer? What if I told you robotic DIEP flaps are being performed in Hawaii? It is important to share with you surgeons I meet to provide access to care for those affected by breast cancer. Thank you for listening to the podcast to find out who these surgeons are. We are going to discuss robotic surgery and DIEP flap being performed in Hawaii with my guests on this edition of the . Be sure to watch our conversation on...
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Episode 75: Diastasis Recti and Why to Repair it During DIEP Flap
DiepCJourney Podcast
This interview is another resource provided by DiepCFoundation.org specifically providing access to care for those affected by breast cancer. The slide presentation and interview are available on the Foundation educational channel for our listeners and followers who would like to access it at . We are discussing a topic that is often discussed in my community so I reached out to my guest to share her expertise on the repair of diastasis and recognizing what a hernia or bulge might look like after autologous breast reconstruction, specifically DIEP flaps. My guest is who practices with a team...
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Episode 74: Breast Cancer & What's Right for You: Options, Planning, and Decisions
DiepCJourney Podcast
When you have cancer you become a patient, and advocate, a student, and yes, I said student. It’s like taking one of those classes at university that you must take to learn the topic, but you don’t really want to take it. Have you ever met someone in the breast cancer community, and you think to yourself, “Damn! They really did a good job of navigating this whole process.” They view their life before cancer. They view their life during diagnosis, after treatment, after surgery, and what that should look like to them. Then they got on with it. I met one of those people and we chat on...
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Ep. 73: Breast Reconstruction Surgery at Southwest Breast & Aesthetics
DiepCJourney Podcast
As promised, season five presents our listeners with interviews from experts and shares with you all your options for breast reconstruction surgery after mastectomy. In this episode of the the expert we interview is who collaborates with a team of surgeons at in Phoenix, Arizona. One of our goals on the podcast is to provide access to care, no matter who you choose for your breast surgery. When you dial down to autologous reconstruction, using the patients own tissue, it becomes important to research the background, skill, and collaborative team effort of the microsurgeon you choose....
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Episode 72: Stacked Flap in Breast Reconstruction for Radiated Skin and to Achieve Volume
DiepCJourney Podcast
Listeners of the are familiar with the DIEP flap breast reconstruction procedure where the abdominal skin, tissue, and underlying blood vessels are used to replace the breast tissue lost due to mastectomy after being affected by breast cancer. On this episode we are going to discuss the “” in breast reconstruction. I’m speaking with of in Phoenix, AZ. He is a board-certified plastic surgeon who is specifically trained in microsurgery. It is the specialty of microsurgery that is required to perform a stacked flap procedure. Dr. Matatov and his team perform these and why I reached out...
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Episode 71: Rori Zura of Foobs and Fitness: Exercise and Breast Cancer
DiepCJourney Podcast
My guest on this episode of the is a young woman who during the height of the COVID pandemic, at only 33 years old, became diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer. Her Journey was not easy but, it is truly inspiring and motivating. She has a strong family history of distinct types of cancer. This is a quote from her website: “Tired of reactive approaches, that waited for symptoms to appear, I refused to let history repeat itself. Recognizing that others face similar challenges I knew action was needed." This quote reflects her work, her passion, and her profession. My guest is , who...
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Episode 70: The Gift of Patient Advocate Wisdom
DiepCJourney Podcast
This episode of the is our final edition in 2024. I share a discussion across continents with two women leaders I admire who engage in patient advocacy and the patient story. is well known for “” a platform where she gathers writers and bloggers sharing their stories across social media platforms. Her journey in patient advocacy began twenty years ago with a diagnosis of breast cancer. Marie poignantly tells us in the interview that, "We find when we are diagnosed with a serious illness, something is missing. We look around and see who can fix this. I discovered the person who could fix...
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Episode 69: A Decade of Collaboration: Celebrating a Mentor
DiepCJourney Podcast
Ten years ago, on December 1, 2014, I was in the trusted hands of a skilled microsurgeon who took tissue from my tummy area along with the skin and blood vessels, and rebuilt what cancer had taken away from me. I lost my breasts to a double mastectomy. For those of us who have been affected by breast cancer, a mastectomy is an amputation. The skilled microsurgeon is my guest on this episode of the . , president of in San Antonio, Texas, reconstructed my breasts using the training, skill, and compassion that makes him who he is as a breast reconstruction surgeon and is one of the finest human...
info_outlineMy guest today on the DiepCJourney podcast has a blog and website titled, No Half Measures, Living Out loud.
2017 was a pivotal year in the life of my guest, Abigail Johnston. Early that year, while dual nursing her twin boys she felt a lump in her left breast. The next few months involved multiple appointments with radiologists, oncologists, and surgeons. Abigail was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer.
Abigail Johnston is a wife, mother, writer, educator, earned her JD after completing law school and is a patient advocate. She begins the interview by sharing her experience at the National AACR conference held in early 2023. She sat on a panel with the FDA speaking about the importance of overall survival as an important end point in clinical trials. With all the complexities on that topic, she felt the FDA worked hard to make sure her voice was heard.
Attending conferences allows her to meet other patient advocates and for Abigail and me, this is always one of the highlights of traveling to these meetings. We met in person in December of 2022 at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. As she says, “Those in person hugs, nothing is better, honestly.”
She talks about the idea of “finding a purpose after a serious trauma.” Abigail states that trauma changes you fundamentally as a human being. The question becomes, how do you carry that trauma? Advocacy is the way Abigail has found some purpose in “the derailment of her life.” It has become an overarching theme in her life.
This was a podcast interview that felt comfortable, informative, and one I will go back and listen to myself often. You can reach out to Abigail and find more of her work in the following links:
Blog: No Half Measures: Living Out Loud
Bio: Abigail’s Story
Contact Information: Email Abigail
Place to find Abigail’s writing and work: Social Media and Elsewhere