Piece of Work with Danielle Tantone
Hi there. Welcome to Piece of Work, the Podcast. I’m Danielle Tantone. I’m a nurse, author, coach, and survivor.
I love inspiring people to live their best life, reach for those big dreams, and find joy even in the pain.
As I wrote my memoir over so many years, trying to make sense of a story where I was way too often the bad guy instead of the hero, I came to understand that we are all a piece of work. But we’re also a work in progress. And even in our messiness, we are a work of art, too. All at the very same time. In fact we are all beautifully unique pieces of one masterpiece, waves in the same ocean.
This podcast explores the stories and struggles that make us human, the miracles that surround us, and all the ways we work to make sense of it all. Welcome to Piece of Work, The Podcast, with Danielle Tantone.
Please follow us now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, or wherever you listen to your podcasts!
Piece of Work with Danielle Tantone
Cancer, Compassion, and Connection: A Voyage of Recovery and Hope
You are in for a treat with this week's episode. Katrina Dorow's attitude and energy in then face of continuing struggles with breast cancer are breathtaking and inspiring. Sometimes life's biggest trials bear the greatest gifts. Katrina is a breast cancer survivor and spiritual practitioner whose story of diagnosis and spiritual growth will touch your heart. Her work with equine gestalt therapy has been a beacon of light in her journey, and her resilience, strength, and transformation will empower you to face your own struggles with light and love.
Undergoing cancer treatment can be an uphill battle, even more so in the face of the global pandemic. As Katrina and I banter about our respective experiences, we are reminded of the significance of authenticity and compassion, even in the face of life's toughest challenges.
We talk about navigating negativity, faith, family, genetic testing, breast reconstruction choices, and more, leaving you inspired, moved, and hopeful.
Hi there, welcome to Peace of Work the podcast. I'm Danielle Tanton. I'm a nurse, author, coach and survivor. I love inspiring people to live their best life, reach for those big dreams and find joy even in the pain. As I wrote my memoir over so many years, trying to make sense of a story where I was way too often the bad guy instead of the hero, I came to understand that we are all a piece of work, but we're also a work in progress, and even in our messiness we are a work of art too. All at the very same time, in fact, we are all beautifully unique pieces of one masterpiece Waves in the same ocean. This podcast will explore the stories and struggles that make us human, the miracles that surround us and all the ways we work to make sense of it all. Welcome to Peace of Work the podcast.
Speaker 2:Hello, welcome back to Peace of Work, the podcast. I'm your host, danielle Tanton, and today I have with me a good friend, katrina Dorough, who I met at a breast cancer retreat in May of 2022. We really connected there and we've kept in touch since then and I just wanted to have her back. She's doing some really exciting things, katrina. Why don't you give a little background on who you are and what you do and what lights you up?
Speaker 3:Fantastic. Thank you. I'm so delighted to be here today. So I am Katrina Dorough and I am a spiritual practitioner and I'm licensed through the Center for Spiritual Living. I've been doing that since 2009, and I'm so excited because, of course, meeting you on my breast cancer journey, we both had this light or this optimism about what the gift could be in cancer treatment, and one of the gifts that came out of it for me is that I connected with an organization called Touched by a Horse and have been doing equine gestalt training to complement my practitioner license.
Speaker 2:That sounds amazing. Can you tell us a little bit about what is equine gestalt training?
Speaker 3:Oh, thank you. So basically, it is hosted by instructor Melissa Pierce and she is a psychoanalyst who has worked with gosh, I think 35 or 40 years worth of clients and she found that the gestalt method complemented wholeness and healing for people in a way that was non-diagnostic, a more humanistic approach to looking at mental health and yes, there's trauma that occurs in people's lives. But in supporting a person, in knowing that all the answers for healing are within them, we get the opportunity to support them. With the equine component, we partner with horses, and horses have this incredible natural sense where they vibrate at a high frequency and support healing and occurring at a much faster rate than if we were doing any kind of talk therapy.
Speaker 2:Wow, that just sounds amazing. I want to participate, are you? So? You're still getting certified, right? You're not completely set up to be your own practitioner yet. Is that correct?
Speaker 3:I'll be graduating September 2024.
Speaker 2:Oh, that is so exciting. My birthday's in September, so maybe I'll have to come do your thing.
Speaker 2:So Katrina's in Colorado, which is one of my favorite places. So I was thrilled I became aware of this organization that we met through called Image Reborn, where we did that retreat together, and they offer free breast cancer retreats to breast cancer survivors of all types. So that was an amazing just a weekend, but I flew up to Colorado and met you and some other wonderful women and just had this beautiful, restful retreat. It wasn't anything too deep or too crazy, it was just a time of relaxation For me. It was right in the middle of graduating from nursing school and about to take my NCLEX and become a nurse, so it was really good timing for me. But that sounds neat to go even deeper into that healing process Very cool.
Speaker 2:So tell us a little bit about you. Know, I've had a lot of guests on my podcast talking about different aspects of the breast cancer journey. I loved what you said about how we both had like a light and sort of a positive energy about us and I think that is what attracted me to you, because I did in some way see this diagnosis as a gift, as an opportunity, as I kind of see everything that happens to me and I think you sort of had that same idea. So tell me a little bit about your diagnosis and kind of how it landed and what was happening and what's happened since then for you.
Speaker 3:Definitely yeah. So my cancer journey was slightly different than yours. I was scheduled to go in and have my mammogram on March 13th of 2020, and it got canceled when the whole world shut down for COVID. I was on the wait list and, since there weren't a lot of high risk factors that we were aware of, it wasn't until June of 2021 that I actually got in for the mammogram, and what was interesting about that day is that they tell you what the process is going to be like. We're going to do the mammogram, you're going to sit for your results in the waiting room and then we'll release you. And, as it turned out for me, the radiologist then came in, and then other specialists came in. They immediately did the ultrasound and they said have you eaten anything today? If not, we're going to do the biopsy right now. And then they signed me up for a clinical trial and said because of your genetic makeup, is there a possibility that we can go ahead and take your blood and the tissue and submit it to multiple organizations to be studied?
Speaker 2:Wow, katrina, this is all in one day. Yes, I did not know this story. That is amazing.
Speaker 3:I can't even imagine they still hadn't told me you have cancer, but I had assumed that with all of this.
Speaker 2:They probably just assumed that you kind of understood that, and that's unbelievable.
Speaker 3:The final diagnosis didn't end up coming until a few days later, so I think it was a Thursday when I went in and it wasn't until June 30th that I actually got the diagnosis. I was at the park with a new person and her kids and our kids were playing together.
Speaker 2:I guess we have that in common being at the park when we get the diagnosis.
Speaker 3:And it was so fascinating because this new woman that I was speaking to is totally empowered and amazing and her child and her mother both had had a type of cancer, so it was almost like divinely. I was supported with this person to talk through what it would be like and I stayed super calm, went home, hosted a birthday party for my stepdad and all of our family were around. And then, of course, the big question of how did it go? And I was trying to keep it hidden from my family and just live a normal life and out of honesty, I directly told my family yeah, we'll be meeting with the oncologist to move forward. And yeah, so I kept positive, knowing that I can't really control the outcome, but I can control my attitude, that's true, it's about the only thing you can control in any situation.
Speaker 3:Exactly, and so I really looked at it is what milestones can I celebrate? What can I acknowledge as positive? I feel like the doctors and nurses showing up to do treatment and taking care of me, and all the right people coming together. Everything synchronistically came together to support me.
Speaker 2:It's beautiful. Yeah, yeah, it's such a. It's so funny how you know you. We've talked about how you're. You're an introvert, I'm an extrovert. But even being an extrovert, it is really hard to spit out the words I have cancer to your family or to anyone it's. It's because it doesn't seem real. It's like I Mean I have like they're gonna do this clinical trial, they're gonna I'm talking to the oncologist yeah, it's easy to say those things, but then I have cancer. I mean, like this morning I didn't have cancer, or I didn't know I had cancer and now I'm someone that has cancer.
Speaker 3:It's like Weird, you know well, and I think that people's reaction to it also is kind of weird, because there's so much fear around it. Mm-hmm and I know that there are different stages of cancer and different types of cancer that all have different impact.
Speaker 2:But the reaction that people have, I think, was the the opportunity for me to Stand in my truth, be patient, be grounded, as other people responded to that diagnosis that is such a beautiful Response and you know it's so easy to get to be very hurt by people's responses or lack thereof, by the things they say that are inadvertently hurtful, and I think the fact that you just took that road and took that Thought about it in that way right away is really beautiful and really shows you know that you're beautiful. Light oh.
Speaker 3:Thank you. I truly believe that we all have those experiences that we've, that we've had, that we've grown from, and People who haven't gone through a cancer diagnosis and all of the treatment. They just don't have a concept of what that would be like. And it's not that there's anything bad or wrong or the things that they say are intended to be hurtful. They just don't know and you don't know, you can't do anything about.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I think it's just like, yeah, loving people enough to realize that you know they're, they mean well, they're not trying to hurt you and people don't know what to say. I had a whole episode about this, about you know what, not to say what to someone who has cancer, with another friend of mine who really, who really, um, you know, has gone down that road in her professional life wanting to, wanting to really focus in on that it's. It's just people don't know what to say and they're they've. We even even like in my professional education as a nurse, we have so much education around trying, you know how to talk to somebody who's experiencing a loss or Whatever it may be. It's. It doesn't come easy. Whether you're, whether you're somebody who likes to talk or whether you're not somebody who likes to talk, it still doesn't come easy. Sometimes you don't know what to say. What did you?
Speaker 3:love.
Speaker 2:I love that episode. Oh, thanks for listening. What did you? What are some things that people said to you or didn't say to you, or that you wish they said, or how did you deal with some of those?
Speaker 3:Share some of those experiences with us, so most of my journey, I Basically set the framework of how to tell people, how to respond, and so I would, you know, say, yes, I'm going through cancer treatment and everything is going great. And you know, or I'm totally supported by my team and tried to frame it Optimistically. I would say the most uncomfortable situation I have had was After I had had the three surgeries, you know, the limb surgery, the double mastectomy and the hysterectomy. I had gone through, you know, chemotherapy and radiation, and so I had no hair and I had a baseball hat on and was sitting in the radiation lobby. The radiation lobby and an older man said to me how is it going through this transition?
Speaker 2:I remember this story. I forgot about this story. You shared this on the retreat and.
Speaker 3:I, I wanted to see the best in the situation. So I said well, the transition from, you know, chemotherapy is not quite complete, but transition into radiation and having chemotherapy and radiation at the same time has been really difficult and um you didn't?
Speaker 2:you're funny, katrina. How did you take that? Well, the gentleman was like confused, and so I felt like I legitimately thought you were doing a gender transformation, exactly.
Speaker 3:And so then you know, of course, I was, like you know, being a strong, powerful woman in this time, you know, and I tried to help the poor guy understand I'm not transitioning, and uh, so you know, we had a little bit of that moment and it took everything inside of me not to feel completely devastated by the words, but that's when I got to embody that personal power within me. That is only. I know the truth of my experience and that it's not my job to explain to others. It's my job to be compassionate and educate and support people in, you know, expanding their consciousness, rather than me trying to explain my choices or my experience.
Speaker 2:That is quotable. Right there I'm gonna have to pull that out. That was beautiful you you are a beautiful soul. That's amazing. I totally agree with that. Yeah, oh, what a beautiful story. I love it. So did he ever Figure it out that you're, that you're just a woman going through cancer treatment, not someone transitioning to a different gender?
Speaker 3:well, lucky for me, the nurse came and pulled me back and, um, you know, gave him an opportunity to sit and think. But I think a lot of times we make assumptions, assumptions about ourselves, assumptions about other people. And that was one of those assumptions where, you know, I made assumptions about him and he made assumptions about me, and we'll never fully know the truth. But if we stay authentic, then there's a better chance that we can understand one another and come to common ground.
Speaker 2:Ah, isn't that true about the world? Yeah, wow, that's a beautiful story. So tell us about your journey. So my, with my, in my case, I had, you know, very early stage, stage zero. So I chose to have a double mastectomy, which I didn't need to have. I could have had just a lumpectomy, but to me, you know, taking a lump out and then having radiation and then having a deform, you know still having saggy breast, cancer, hiding breasts, you know, dense breasts, was not attractive to me. I I chose a double mastectomy, um, and I didn't have to do any other treatment because mine was so early stage and because Of doing that, you know, radical double mastectomy, um, I just did a reconstruction a couple months later. What was your journey, though? I know a lot of times they do chemo before, after. I know you kind of. When I met you, you had very short hair, you had just finished a round of chemo. So tell us about, like, the progression of what you did first and what it's different in every person, I know.
Speaker 3:Yes, so, um, originally we weren't. We didn't know what type of cancer it was, um because um of where it was in the breast and the lymph involvement. So my first surgery was actually to see how severe the cancer was, and so I had that immediately. Um, you know, I think gosh the seventh or or somewhere around early july of that year, um later on in that month, on the 29th, I started um chemotherapy and there were a lot of decisions in the chemotherapy process in my situation, because you know they had said oh well, maybe you can do a cold cap to keep your hair, and With it being in the middle of covet it was a little bit different because there was nobody to help you put the cold cap on.
Speaker 3:And so I made the decision yeah, and without the extra support. You know going to all your appointments by yourself, without another person.
Speaker 2:That was one of the hardest parts of covet being in health care, I saw that a lot, you know. Just yeah, not being able to have the extra person there or people there, because it was not allowed because of, you know, disease prevention.
Speaker 3:And then the way that they had it set up is that we had to be six feet away from another patient, so getting scheduled for infusions especially when you have like a six hour infusion without the cold cap and then it would go up to about eight or nine hours I knew that by doing the cold cap it would prevent someone else from being able to get cancer treatment.
Speaker 2:Oh, my God, so you are such a thoughtful, wonderful person. Oh, thank you. So you sacrificed your own hair for others.
Speaker 3:Yes, and I realized that someone's life was way more important than how I looked, and so that was the first decision I made, and so I started the infusions and I met a wonderful nurse who consistently would come and check on me, but they were overtaxed with everything, and so I was really grateful for this nurse who every time would mirror my positivity and I would say I'm going to live for another 45 years and she would say, yes, you are, and it was just a really positive environment and I know that the tone for that. But it also helped that she reciprocated that.
Speaker 2:Totally. I bet you affected her life just as much as she affected your life being a nurse. It's really special when you have patients who have a spark like you do.
Speaker 3:Thank you. Yeah, she is absolutely fabulous and I loved how so many doctors and nurses came in to be with me at different times. So when I went in for my double mastectomy, it was quite interesting because the COVID numbers were so high that I had to check in at a certain time early in the morning Prior to the COVID numbers being taken, and then my surgeon actually worked out getting a pediatric anesthesiologist, and then I had a neonatal nurse come in and they were doing a favor to the doctor in order to squeeze me in.
Speaker 2:That's really cool.
Speaker 3:They made accommodations so that I could go through and get the surgery that I needed, and they didn't have to show up during the middle of a pandemic and go to work and risk their lives and yet they did, and I am so grateful for every person that supported me during my treatment.
Speaker 2:That's so beautiful and so meaningful that you mentioned them. Speaking of mentioning them, do you want to or do you feel comfortable mentioning any of your doctors or the organizations that helped you along the way? Because one thing I've been surprised by is I've mentioned a couple of my doctors and I've had people reach out and tell me that they listened to this podcast episode or that podcast episode and they actually made an appointment with my surgeon and now they're going to go ahead and have their treatment through them. So if you want to share it and feel comfortable and we're happy with anybody in Colorado tell us you never know, you might listen.
Speaker 3:So I was at, or I still am. I'm getting an infusion tomorrow. My oncologist is Dr Vashi and she's at Rocky Mountain Cancer at the Skyridge location. She is absolutely wonderful. She radiates.
Speaker 2:What city are you in? What city are you in in Colorado?
Speaker 3:Oh, okay, so I live in Aurora, colorado, so south of Denver. Okay, cool, yes. Then my surgeon was Dr Moore, and she was amazing, absolutely amazing. She always looked at making sure that wholeness was at the center of the treatment, and so she would often ask me so what would need to happen in this surgery in order for you to feel whole? What a wonderful question I never been asked that by a doctor.
Speaker 3:Well, I loved it because what I learned about myself which I didn't know before going through treatment, is that I have this incredible relationship with spirit source God. I have wholeness in myself and my soul and my spirit and how I connect with myself. I have this wholeness in my family unit, which is great, and then having that extend to the doctors and nurses in the community really felt like a good fit for me and so I realized, oh, I don't need to worry about the hair because hopefully it will grow back.
Speaker 2:I'm grateful it did. It looks beautiful, by the way, I love it. I love the new curls. Did you have curls before?
Speaker 3:I did it was just much longer.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and in terms of the decision around having surgery and having a plastic surgeon, I had a wonderful plastic surgeon and I did not actually get plastic surgery because it was in the middle of COVID and what that would have required was gosh, how do I say this? It would have required way more surgeries than what my body probably could have or should have handled. And when I told him that I was very athletic, I wanted to heal as quickly as possible, live in a place of vitality, be able to be with my kids he was very honest with me and said you know, katrina, I don't think that getting surgery is going to be your best interest. We would need to probably do somewhere between 20 and 29 surgeries to get it right.
Speaker 2:Wow, why?
Speaker 3:That's crazy. Well, because I had broken my ribs and the blood flow of the nerves that would have needed to be available in order to have a successful implant surgery wasn't a good idea. Wow, being able to coordinate with all of the medical team during the middle of COVID was going to be a challenge.
Speaker 2:These are things that people don't even understand. Don't even realize. That's amazing, Wow.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so for me, I'm actually flat. I have no nipples, no boobs, I'm a rib cage and it doesn't even look like a man's chest because it's just the rib cage. It's a concave almost, and it's fine. It's not like I'm flashing people or anything. Exactly.
Speaker 2:I was able to get back to being athletic and probably a lot less things to worry about as far as your athleticism. Do you even have to wear a sports bra, or do you wear one just because it feels weird if you don't?
Speaker 3:I wear one because it feels weird if I don't, but I don't need one.
Speaker 2:Do you use prosthetic breasts or no, nothing.
Speaker 3:Well, I have to be honest with you. I went and I got the most amazing. They took my measurements when I went to the plastic surgeon and those were given to the woman who does prosthetics and they did a pair that was supposedly the same size and everything. They are ginormous. I got so comfortable with working out without them and sleeping without them that sometimes I realized that, holy cow, they're in the way. I ended up ordering a smaller size and they're still ginormous. Ginormous, I like that word. I tend to wear just a tank top with a slight little pad in it. That's really mild, that I just can move, enjoy life with hike bike to athletic things without them getting in the way.
Speaker 2:That sounds actually very peaceful, very nice. I didn't go that route. I considered it. I really didn't consider it at the time, it was a passing thought, but I wasn't ready for that. Who knows, maybe down the line it's a continuing work of progress, but work in progress, that's very brave and very cool. I love that.
Speaker 3:I was amazed and delighted by how many companies have come out with completely cute clothes that support somebody in being flat. That's awesome. I've been grateful.
Speaker 2:What are some of those brands? I am not aware of that. There's so many things out there. It's amazing.
Speaker 3:Oh my gosh. My favorite bathing suit company is Hapari, because you can put in prosthetics or not put in prosthetics. They have a high neck which covers my port. I can go out in public and not have people looking at my port.
Speaker 2:That's protruding from my chest. Do you still have a port in there? Yeah, you're still getting infusions. You're still getting infusions.
Speaker 3:You're still getting infusions, yeah.
Speaker 2:Why is it that you needed to continue to get infusions? What was the progression? I interrupted the story. Sorry about that.
Speaker 3:Oh, no Apology necessary. Some people need a little bit more support, especially when they have a more advanced stage of breast cancer. At this point I'm not quite to the maintenance. I'm hoping to get to the maintenance phase this spring.
Speaker 2:It's been a long time four years, huh, or more, no, two and a half, okay, I don't know why, my math is off. Mine was four years ago that I was diagnosed.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I just support whatever it looks like. I do love the naturopathic options that I've used to compliment. I have the absolute best acupuncturist and I go and get rakey regularly. I have a healing touch provider. It's just been really great to have these kinds of resources to support me through the treatment also.
Speaker 2:That's wonderful. Yeah, that's really awesome. Where do we want to talk about next? What questions do you have for me or what do you want to share? Okay, I think I have a couple of questions.
Speaker 3:Of course I read your book when it first came out and then when it went on off of all. I was so excited. I've listened to your book a couple of times.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh a couple of times. That's so awesome. Thank you for listening and supporting me in that way.
Speaker 3:My pleasure, my favorite part, is, honestly, your journey through faith. I know that I am one that loves God, loves faith, and I love the Jewish background and, of course, moving into Christianity, I am from a predominantly Jewish family from my mom's side and we actually have a encyclopedia of our family history that goes back for generations Wow. And, of course, getting the genetic testing of what looks like being from Jewish descent was important. The question that I had for you is did you have any kind of genetic component to your breast cancer?
Speaker 2:So I did do all the genetic testing, and it all came back negative. What's interesting, though, is that my mom had the exact same kind of cancer about 10 years almost exactly 10 years before me. So it's not genetic based on any of the current markers that they're testing for, and yet my mom and I both had the exact same kind of cancer. So I don't know. I am also a Vashkenazi, jewish descent, but I don't have the Brachagin or any other cancer markers. In fact, one of the most, one of the most, one of the funnest days of my cancer journey was I went to see the. So you have a. I had a surgical oncologist who did the double mastectomy, and then I had a. She wanted me to see a medical oncologist after the surgery just to review. She's like I don't think you're going to have to do anything ongoing because of you know how early stage you were, but you want, I want you to just meet with him, and he said basically nope, everything came back negative. I don't have to ever see you again. Maybe I'll see you in the grocery store, but that's it.
Speaker 2:He was a wonderful doctor too, dr Curley in North Scottsdale. I would highly recommend him. I was almost a little bit sad that I didn't get to keep going to his office because he was just so warm and wonderful. But what was I saying? I can't remember what I brought that up for. But no, that's. What's really interesting is that they all the things they test for all the other types of cancer. I don't have any of those markers, but I mean, I don't know, like still has to be a little bit genetic as far as I'm concerned. I think they just don't know they don't have all the markers yet, they don't know everything they're looking for.
Speaker 3:Right, and I know that some of the genetic markers are more popular than other genetic markers. So what we found in our line, in lineage, was the PMS2 gene mutation, and so that was interesting because I had never heard of such a thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, tell us about that. What's that?
Speaker 3:I don't know much, but if you are Jewish and you have a genetic marker, that's a component to keep in mind. The other question I wanted to ask you is how does this impact your relationship with your girls and being a parent and going through cancer treatment? How did that show up in your parenting?
Speaker 2:Well, it was really interesting because I, just like you, I really took. I immediately shifted to kind of almost like a. I wanted to be very careful how I presented it to the world and to my family and I presented it like oh, this is awesome, this is no big deal. Mommy's gonna face this, you know. Yes, I have cancer. But because of my lightheartedness about it in the way that I presented it to them and to everybody else in my life, they never really were worried about me dying or anything like that. That never even crossed their mind because truly it really was. I was not in danger. I mean, you know, it still could come up. We all could get cancer at any time of our life that metastasizes and is much more serious. I have a dear friend who just got a diagnosis years later after being cancer free. So, but that cancer, I don't think they.
Speaker 2:The ages of my kids were such that it was a little awkward. Actually, my littlest one, aria oh, I don't usually use her name in my book I changed the name, oh, but anyway, my littlest daughter was with me at the park. It was just me and her alone at the park when I got that diagnosis. She was the very first person I told she we would take baths together. I mean, she saw my, my breasts all the time and she knew that I was taking a look. I was going to the doctor, I'd gone for a biopsy, she had been with me at the biopsy because of an ouchie in my booby, and so when I found out, I told her you know what they found that the ouchie in my booby is is the bad stuff that they were worried about. It's called cancer, but it's okay, they're going to fix it and blah, blah, blah, and so, like the way I presented it was just, you know, we're just going to take care of it.
Speaker 2:And I think, if anything, my older girls were maybe a little embarrassed about it, and it was also there was, you know it was. It was an awkward time. My oldest was 13 and my, you know, the second one was 11 and then my little one was three when I was diagnosed, and so it was very interesting ages, you know, for that to happen. And so, yeah, I think, I think, if anything, my family and my both my immediate family and my extended family just sort of roll their eyes at the way I'm so boldly like share my life with the world. I think that it offends them in some ways not not necessarily offends, but they just don't always understand it. And they don't understand why I do that. And you know they see it in a negative light and I think that the reason I do it is because I have seen how it connects with people, how it touches other people, how it means something to other people. I'm going to keep doing it, yeah.
Speaker 3:Well in your story and meeting you at Imagery Born. It was inspiring. You had the medical knowledge and the experiential experience of having cancer. That was gosh I don't know what the word is. It really ignited in me to take more advocacy for myself. I, of course, presented it to my kids, very similar to you. It's fine, we're great and was very positive. I mean we did a boob voyage party to self-need.
Speaker 2:I didn't do anything like that and I wish I had.
Speaker 3:A getting wiggie with it, where, of course, we had to have wigs for everyone.
Speaker 2:That's so fun. You did so many fun things and you continue to do so many fun things.
Speaker 3:I tried to make it fun and, after an extended period of time seeking resources to psychologically help the mental health of my family members was necessary. There were some great kids programs Camp Kessum. I don't know if you've heard of it, but it's a camp for kids that supports them and each of the kids that go to this camp it's all over the nation it's for kids whose parents have cancer.
Speaker 2:That's so amazing.
Speaker 3:They came back empowered and changed and compassionate, and had a better understanding of what that journey is like for people.
Speaker 2:That's wonderful. There are so many amazing resources. I will say I sometimes feel almost a little guilty because breast cancer gets so much press. I guess there's so many resources and programs for people, women and their families that are experiencing breast cancer.
Speaker 3:It's pretty cool. It is very cool, yes. I'm very supportive because it's a tough journey and that extra support really helps.
Speaker 2:So, on my, as far as me, I was going to ask you. So you did that. Bon Voyage, boob Voyage party. That is really a cute idea. I didn't think of doing anything like that. What were your thoughts about that? What were your feelings about that? Was it a group of friends that decided to do that for you, or how did that come about?
Speaker 3:Yes, a group of friends decided to do that for me. Of course, I have a really supportive mother. She hosted it at her house, along with a couple of my friends. The hardest party moment for me was when my parents and friends invited over a group of people to celebrate my last day at chemo and I went in for my last treatment and I was so excited and I discovered that wasn't my last chemo, and so, of course, I came home and my support system is there.
Speaker 3:All ready to celebrate, and you yes, and so that was one of the moments where it was hard. But if you communicate what your needs are and sometimes that's harder easier said than done, because looking within and saying, gosh, what do I really need, what does my soul need, what does my mind need, what does my body need Sometimes it gets confusing because we want to be that same person we were before treatment. We want to be energized, enthusiastic, positive, optimistic all of those characteristics that we always were. And sometimes in those moments we have to speak up and say, gosh, I'm not okay. Right now I feel devastated that I still am going to be doing another year of treatment and then after that chemo didn't work at the level they needed it to. Going on to a third chemo was a little bit more challenging than I think any of us expected. But being able to communicate those difficult things and having people be open to still wanting to support you and love you in that truth is really important for cancer survivors.
Speaker 2:That is so important for cancer survivors and really for anyone. I think if the rest of us were half as emotionally mature as you are, this world would be a much better place. I mean, how beautiful to be able to recognize how difficult it is to communicate your needs or even know what your needs and wants and desires are. I think that if we would all be a little bit more in touch with our own emotional selves, we might have better results in everything we do.
Speaker 3:Well, I think that one of the things I noticed from meeting you and also our friendship and the book and your podcast is that you have a real compassion for people and that you're present with them and you listen to their stories and you can understand and relate to them.
Speaker 3:One of the gifts that I've had in my life is those experiential moments of working in different types of situation, with trauma, whether it be working for the rape crisis center, working for the suicide prevention, the world ministry of prayer, taking death calls at a mortuary, working with inmates or the juvenile system. In all of these experiences, what I've learned is that if you show up open and in a place of love, no matter what the grief is, no matter what the situation is, whether it's cancer or somebody just lost a family member or, like you mentioned, the man with the toe who was getting amputated I think if we show up and ask the question of what is this like for you, whoever it is is going to answer and we don't have to fix anything, we don't have to change anything, we don't have to do anything except be present with where that person is.
Speaker 2:I mean, yes, that is the secret to life, Absolutely. I totally agree, Totally agree. Beautiful. Thank you for what you saw in me too. I think that's what life is all about, honestly we all. Otherwise, we're all going around doing our own thing just stumbling around. I think when we can connect and we can see ourselves in other people and when we can see them in us, that's meaning those connections and that compassion is everything to me.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and we never know who needs to hear that story or know that aspect of our lives. With you sharing your book cover with me at Imagery Born, it was exactly the inspiration that I needed that day. And oh, there's a life, there's a career after cancer, there's something you can create after cancer, and I just didn't know that was possible.
Speaker 2:Wow that you saying that just lit me up inside. I mean the fact I forgot that I got the book cover. I received a copy, a picture of the book cover, as I was there and I showed it to you on my phone as we were on a little hike that morning. I forgot all about that. So you were one of the first people to see my book cover and that just showing you my book cover would have such an impact on you is just so meaningful. Because you know you write a book and it's a painful and time consuming and frustrating experience a lot of the time. And then you put it out in the world and you know it connects with some people. Some people hate it. Most people have had a positive reaction. But just to think that even the cover, even just writing the book, made a difference in your life is so, so meaningful and it encourages me to keep going.
Speaker 3:The state that I was in on that day was okay. My oncologist said I'm not going to be able to work and that limitation was getting me down. And then you showed up with all this vibrance and all this excitement, show me the book cover and talk about, you know, creating a career after cancer. And so it planted a seed in me that, no matter what I'm going to, you know, create a life, create a career after cancer. And you inspired me to become an entrepreneur based on that and I've been working on my writing and being authentic in my own being, and it's going to show up completely different than how you have. But I was so grateful that you planted that seed of hope and that possibility for me by sharing your book cover while we were on our hike.
Speaker 2:Wow, thank you, katrina, for sharing that with me. That is so meaningful. Well, thank you for being here with me today. This has just been an amazing conversation. I knew I wanted you on my podcast. I really didn't know why, but now I know why. I think you have such a light, such a joy to share with the world, and you know however many days we have left, just keep doing it, keep being you. Thank you for listening to Piece of Work, the podcast. The book is available on Amazon. Piece of Work a memoir. We're all a piece of work, a work in progress and a work of art. Please like, share, subscribe to this podcast so that others can find it. You will never know how much that means to like an independent content creator. Author. My website is danieltantonecom. All of my social medias are at danieltantone. And what about you, katrina? Is there anything that? Do you have a website? Where can people find?
Speaker 3:you, I do KatrinaDorocom, and that is spelled D-O-R-O-Wcom, and the name of my business is mainly divine, like the main of a horse divinecom, beautiful, beautiful.
Speaker 2:I can't wait to experience your equestrian gestalt therapy. Is that what it's called? I can't wait.
Speaker 3:Yes, I am an equine gestaltist, thank you.
Speaker 2:Okay, I am so looking forward to that and, in the meantime, I just thank you. Thank you for connecting, thank you for sharing your story with us, and I wish you all the best. Go forth with light and love, thank you. You're awesome, thank you.