Cancer, Casually

In this ep, Lindsay is visited by the fullest’s Editor-in-Chief, Nikki Bostwick (AKA: her boss-lady), and together they break down the moment Lindsay found out she had cancer three years ago. Lindsay shares how she was initially nervous to tell Nikki about her diagnosis, and, in turn, Nikki describes how she felt unsure about the best way to be there for her friend and employee. Turns out, they navigated the journey through a lot of conversations, empathy, and in the end... this very podcast. Thank you, Lindsay, for sharing your ups and downs, tears and laughter, love life and work life, as you’ve bravely navigated the journey that is cancer. We love you so much. That’s all. A special thank you to our sponsors for this episode. Foria (foriawellness.com) has offered Cancer, Casually listeners 20% off products with code Fullest20, and Patchology (patchology.com) has offered 15% with code Pink and is donating $1 from every sale to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

This week Matt Coulter joins the show to discuss the healing power of giving. Along with Riawna Capri and Nikki Lee, the amazing lady bosses at LA’s Nine Zero One Salon, Matt heads up the BeYOUtiful Foundation. Together they’ve created a community for people of all ages that have defied the odds against cancer. BeYOUtiful’s mission is to make everyone feel beautiful throughout their experience -- and because hair is such a major part of the cancer journey, they’ve connected with top salons and stylists throughout the country to create BeYOUtiful Days -- offering local cancer survivors help with styling, cutting, and wig education -- from diagnosis to remission. Feeling as inspired as we are by this positive tornado of support? If this episode taught us anything, it’s that to make a difference, sometimes you just need to start... and the rest will follow.

This episode is one of our most moving to date. (Full warning: it doesn’t have a happy ending. But it does have a mother that exemplifies resilience, compassion, and the true definition of unconditional love.) Mary Carrillo gave birth to her first child, a son named Calvin in 2006. Just six years later, however, she stood by him as he was diagnosed with Leukemia, passing a year later. But that wasn’t the end for Calvin. His mother went on to turn his namesake into the Calvin Preston Foundation aimed at helping other kids who are fighting cancer. Tune in this week to listen to one mother’s story of turning the unthinkable into hopeful as she shares her love and loss... and then love again.

Donna McNutt is Instagram's Cancer Fashionista and we are thrilled to have her unique brand of relentless authenticity and diehard optimism on the show. Happily married and a mother to three grown children, Donna was first diagnosed with a rare type of blood cancer called Multiple Myeloma in 2015. With no known cure, she bravely underwent chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant, going into remission for a few years until it just recently recurred. However, as you may have guessed from her Insta handle, Donna is the kind of lady who makes the best of any situation she’s given. A true woman of style, this episode is guaranteed to open your heart wide open and relish in that which makes you feel complete.

Most parents reading this can only imagine the devastating anguish that comes with discovering your child has cancer. This week’s guest, Audra DiPadova Wilford, is the powerful mom of Max, a powerful boy who at just 8-years-old was diagnosed with brain cancer. Inspired to make a difference, together the two created MaxLove Project — a testament of maximum love, endurance, and survivorship. Learn how they are bringing whole organic produce into cancer ward kitchens and turning hospital food into healing food.

Cancer. Twice. Two different types. And still not through the woods. It’s a reality most of our brains can’t quite compute. But one this week’s guest, artist Megan Krzmarzick, is currently living and breathing. Megan is an abstract artist, writer, wanderer, and 2x cancer fighter. She is a living reminder of the power of owning your struggles, of transmuting dark into creativity... and then getting back up. She’s been a major inspiration to Cancer, Casually host Lindsay on her own cancer journey and a complete illuminator to all of us here at Team fullest. Take a walk through her colorful garden this week as she shares her mind-blowing, incredibly inspiring journey with breast cancer, leukemia, and yes, even a bone marrow transplant. This woman is a warrior in every sense of the word.

In this episode, we’re out to normalize boobs in the hopes of creating more conversations around breast cancer awareness. But how exactly do you normalize boobs? For Keep A Breast founder, Shaney jo Darden, you turn them into art, create a self-check app, and bring men into the conversation. This episode is a true exercise in busting taboos, cracking open stereotypes, and creating a new container for breast cancer conversation.

On this week’s episode, Lindsay brings along her boyfriend, Manny Frausto, to co-host as they chat with Michael Kuech and Kristel DeGroot, the founders of superfood powder brand, Your Super. In an inspiring episode for all men, Michael shares his story of being diagnosed with testicular cancer at the age of 24. It became a life-changing journey that ultimately pushed him towards a powerful path to healing. While on chemo, his girlfriend, Kristel (a self-proclaimed food nut), encouraged him to adopt a healthier approach to eating. The results astounded both of them, and immediately they set to bring their learnings and personal experience to others struggling with health issues. For many years, Michael wasn’t ready to share his story but now he’s in a place to speak about his experience in the hope that his plant-based discoveries can assist others — and we feel lucky to have him on the show!

This week we welcome Farzaneh Noori, the founder of Pasadena’s Yoga House to the show. Farzaneh is a yogi who found great comfort in her practice after being diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 52. Since then, Farzaneh has gone on to pay it forward, offering free yoga classes for cancer patients at Pasadena’s Yoga House. This episode truly reminds us that the real gift yoga gives is not a perfect yoga booty, but rather a profound sense of healing through mind, body, and spirit.

Lindsay welcomes owner and founder of Odacité, Valerie Grandury to the show. You may be fooled by looking at her, but it wasn’t Valerie’s ability to effortlessly blend Cali-cool with French chic that saw her start up her own clean beauty line… it was breast cancer. Valerie’s healing journey exposed her to the toxins in our beauty regimen. Since then, she’s gone on to beat cancer for over 13 years, and has taken the healing wisdom she’s learned and created a clean beauty line you can truly trust.

How do you make cancer feel less heavy? The same way you make everything feel less heavy… with kittens. That’s why it comes as no surprise that Cancer, Casually Season 2’s first guest, Gail Landau, opened Orange Country’s first cat cafe, Catmosphere Laguna after her breast cancer journey. On this episode, Gail shares some of her cancer-fighting wisdom including the importance of listening to your body, self-checks, and not settling for average oncologists. Tune in for an ep that’ll make you feel as warm and fuzzy as this kitten cuddling a duckling.

This week on Cancer, Casually we move from living with cancer to cancer prevention practices including our lifestyle, food, and genetic screening choices. To help guide us, Dr. Kristi Funk joins the show. Dr. Funk has treated thousands of women over her 17-year career (including Angelina Jolie and Sheryl Crow), is the founder of the Pink Lotus Breast Center in Beverly Hills, the author of The Owner's Manual: Every Woman's Guide to Reducing Cancer Risk, and a frequent breast expert on Good Morning America. A true advocate for prevention and integrated treatment, this episode could literally be life-saving.

As the name of our podcast suggests, Sara Weinreb has cancer -- a rare form that not many people know about called Mycosis Fungoides. In March of 2017 Sara was diagnosed with this slow growth lymphoma, and, like many of our guests, took it as an opportunity to change things up for the better. She promptly quit her retail job and began The M List, a daily newsletter that’s kinda like the Skimm but for holistic-ish news. A freelance writer, she’s a truly cool lady that’s whip-smart and totally down to talk the big C. We know you’re gonna love this week’s ep.

This week we sit down with Ericka Hart, a kinky, poly cancer-warrior, as well as an activist, sexuality educator, and performer. But it’s not Ericka’s impressive bio that leaves us inspired -- rather the powerful use of her voice to represent a silenced majority. If you’re interested in hearing a different cancer perspective than that shown in the mainstream media, or if you're simply looking to feel moved and empowered by a woman who speaks her truth no matter how far it falls outside the ‘cultural norm’ join us as we talk Cancer, Casually.

Lauren Chiarello is not your average fitspo influencer. Oh no, this woman is a living, breathing inspiration that has kicked cancer’s butt not once, but twice (and in her 20’s no less). Through her personal wellness brand, Chi Chi Life, Lauren combines her direct experience as a cancer survivor with fitness coaching and activism to empower others to find strength and beauty in their physical bodies as they go through life’s journey -- cancer or not. Prepare to be inspired to shoot higher, work harder, and laugh louder as you go after your own dreams, no matter what obstacles may arise.

This week we sit down with Paige More, a young woman who proves you can move mountains, even ones beginning with C. Paige is a breast cancer previvor and one of the co-founders of the non-profit, The Breasties. But what is a previvor anyway you ask? A previvor is a person with a predisposition to cancer that hasn’t actually had the disease. In Paige’s case, she made a decision to have a preventative double mastectomy after finding out she was a carrier of the BRCA1 gene mutation which drastically increases the risk of getting cancer later in life. This crystallized her path and she knew it was her mission to be of guidance to those who were once in her shoes. If you’re looking for a podcast that’s all about taking charge of life, health, and yes, even tackling cancer with as much grit, kindness, and sisterhood as you can muster, this one's for you.

Sometimes you need to listen to your body, and sometimes you need to speak up for it. Such is the story for this week’s guest, Brooke Arthur. After being repeatedly dismissed by the medical system, Brooke Arthur demanded doctors do more investigative testing. And it turns out, her feeling that something was wrong, was actually right. Brooke was diagnosed with endometrial cancer in 2017 and — thanks to her own sensing ability — has now made a full recovery. This week’s episode is one of intuition and inspiration. A powerful and uplifting reminder for all of us, that while there are many incredible practitioners to help us walk the road to recovery, you are your greatest guide.

Kara Ladd is the founder of the cult ethical lifestyle brand, Boundless, an illustrious writer who regularly contributes to the New York Observer, Harper’s Bazaar, and Women’s Health, and she also had synovial sarcoma and totally kicked its ass. Kara is the kind of person you want around when you have cancer -- that person that’s walked the path, been through the ups and downs only a cancer survivor could understand, and now gleans the tools and wisdom to help others ride the wave. Some of her pearls of cancer wisdom include thinking of your chemo bag as a “toxic boyfriend” and thanking your cancer for the good things it gave you -- like the ability to trust your gut, follow your spiritual path, and quit that job that isn’t for your highest good. In this ep, we truly discuss Cancer, Casually and whether you’ve had cancer or not, this week there’s something to learn for everyone.

After defeating cancer by transforming her lifestyle, Elissa Goodman became one of LA's premiere Cleanse Experts and Holistic Nutritionists, creating juice cleanses for such health and wellness staples like Erewhon, M Kitchen, and her own delivery service platform. Fiercely following her inner voice, she merged western and eastern practices to heal herself from Hodgkin's Lymphoma and now helps thousands of others to do the same. This week, Lindsay sits down and chats with this high priestess of holistic health and gleans the best preventative and healing treatments for body, mind, and spirit. If you’re ready to take your personal healing into your own hands, Elissa is the perfect guide to help you walk your own transformational path.

Plants are a powerful source of healing and this week, host Lindsay DeLong sits down with a woman who has experienced their benefits both in her personal and professional life. Alison Burgos is the co-founder of SEED Food & Wine festival, a week-long celebration that highlights the benefits of plant-based living, wellness, and wine (for obvious reasons). It also boasts some of the biggest names in plant-based wellness (hi Moby!) and regularly draws over 10,000 health conscious peeps to its events. Alison’s story is incredibly inspiring, as she healed her own crippling rheumatoid arthritis through a raw plant-based diet. Yep, really! Join us this week as we sit down with this walking wellness Wikipedia and chat the best plant-based medicine, Netflix health docos, and how to run your own wellness festival. (Best enjoyed with a kale salad.)

Welcome to the first ever episode of Cancer, Casually! Hosted by none other than our very own Managing Editor and breast cancer survivor, Lindsay DeLong, this is a podcast that’s dedicated to those going through or coming out on the other side of cancer. Lindsay feels she’s at a stage where she can talk about her journey (almost without crying) and is here to gracefully and courageously walk us through all things cancer. For our first episode, we welcome Laura Rubin to the show, a fellow survivor and the founder of AllSwell, the notebook company on a mission to help everyone not only feel all the feels — but also leave them on paper. Join us as we, together, talk Cancer, Casually.