Love the podcast? Send us a text! What happens emotionally after you've spent months—or years—focused on simply surviving cancer? Treatment may end. Scans may look good. Life may begin moving forward again. But that doesn't necessarily mean you've processed what happened to you. In this episode of Breast Cancer Conversations, Laura Carfang sits down with visual artist, therapeutic arts practitioner, author, and cancer survivor Nerissa Balland for an honest conversation about the emotional aft...

Love the podcast? Send us a text! Listen to hear three very different perspectives on what radiation for metastatic breast cancer can really look like and what these women want others to know before starting treatment. Radiation can play a very different role in metastatic breast cancer than it does in early-stage disease. It may be used to treat a specific metastatic site, help control cancer in the brain, liver or bones, relieve pain, or—as you'll hear in this episode—become part of a much ...

Love the podcast? Send us a text! What if a blood test could detect signs of breast cancer at the molecular level? Circulating tumor DNA, or ctDNA, is generating growing interest among people diagnosed with breast cancer, particularly those wondering about recurrence, treatment response, and what may be happening in the body before something appears on conventional imaging. One test you may have heard about is Signatera. In this episode of Breast Cancer Conversations, Laura Carfang talks with...

Love the podcast? Send us a text! What does life really look like five—or even ten—years after a metastatic breast cancer diagnosis? For many people, the initial diagnosis is filled with uncertainty, fear, and countless unanswered questions. But thanks to advances in treatment, more people are living longer with metastatic breast cancer than ever before, and with that comes an important conversation about what it means to continue living while navigating an incurable disease. In this episode ...

Love the podcast? Send us a text! Somewhere between the diagnosis and the last appointment, most of us stopped breathing all the way down. Not on purpose. The body braces, the jaw clenches, the shoulders come up — and then treatment ends, everyone tells you congratulations, and nobody mentions that your nervous system never got the memo that the emergency is over. In this episode, host Laura Carfang sits down with Brett Aldrich — Ayurvedic health counselor, breathwork facilitator, and former ...

Love the podcast? Send us a text! When you're living with breast cancer, the medical team treats the cancer — but who takes care of everything else? The fear that won't quiet down at 2 a.m. The diarrhea you're not sure is "bad enough" to call about. The FMLA paperwork, the school pickup, the light bill, the strange grief that shows up right when everyone expects you to feel grateful. In this episode, host Laura Carfang sits down with Dr. Julia Frydman, palliative care physician and medical di...

Love the podcast? Send us a text! Palliative care is one of the most misunderstood parts of cancer care. Many people hear the term and think it means hospice, end-of-life care, or giving up. But palliative care, also called supportive care, can be offered alongside active cancer treatment and is focused on improving quality of life. In this episode of Breast Cancer Conversations, we hear from Kacie Flaherty, Joyce Garber, Paula Bouckhuyt, Hillary Stackpole, and Aimee Hoes, who are living with...

Love the podcast? Send us a text! When many people hear the words "clinical trial," they immediately think of a last resort. But that's one of the biggest misconceptions in breast cancer care. In this episode of Breast Cancer Conversations, host Laura Carfang sits down with Dr. Ada Waks, breast medical oncologist and clinical investigator at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, to demystify clinical trials and explain how they are shaping the future of breast cancer treatment. Dr. Waks cares for pat...

Love the podcast? Send us a text! When you're diagnosed with breast cancer, your first thought is often survival. But what about everything that comes after? For many young adults diagnosed with breast cancer, questions about fertility, family planning, hormone health, identity, and future possibilities quickly become part of the conversation. Yet too many patients never learn about their options until after treatment has already begun. In this episode of Breast Cancer Conversations, Laura Ca...

Love the podcast? Send us a text! Getting a mammogram should not feel complicated. Yet many women face delays, confusion, long wait times, and unanswered questions when navigating breast cancer screening and follow-up care. In this episode of Breast Cancer Conversations, Laura Carfang and William Laferriere sit down with Dr. Ryan Polselli, radiologist, entrepreneur, and founder of Mammolink, a mobile breast cancer screening company designed to bring mammography directly to women while reducin...