Podcasts about American Cancer Society

The American Cancer Society says colonoscopies on people aged 45 to 49 increased by 43% from 2019 to 2023. The tests are finding cancer cases earlier, when they're more curable. CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook explains what to know. In a rare move, Oprah Winfrey revives a 20-year-old novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Russo. The pair joined "CBS Mornings" to talk about the power of revisiting older stories, and the challenges of writing. "CBS Mornings" exclusively reveals select nominees for the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards, with big names featured across Best Pop, Best Country and Best Album categories. Emmy winner Julia Garner plays a teacher whose life unravels after her students disappear without a trace. She joins "CBS Mornings" to talk about the role and working with Josh Brolin. Named one of TIME's 100 most influential people of 2025, Daniel Dae Kim stars and serves as executive producer in the upcoming series, "Butterfly." He joins "CBS Mornings" to discuss the show's high-stakes story. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

My guest today is Valerie David. NYC-based performer/playwright Valerie David wrote and performs her award-winning solo show, The Pink Hulk: One Woman's Journey to Find the Superhero Within, to inspire and empower others through the courage and inner strength she found to become a 3-time cancer survivor—Stage III Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Stage II Breast Cancer, and Stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer. Through medical advancements, Valerie currently has no evidence of disease. The Pink Hulk has been accepted into over 60 different play festivals and 25 different cities worldwide, including England, Sweden, Iceland, and Finland, garnering multiple awards. Valerie and her show have impacted audiences since its 2016 debut with its motto: NEVER GIVE UP HOPE! She received the President's Lifetime Achievement Award: Resilience in Action for her patient advocacy work from the Biden administration. Her second award-winning solo show, Baggage From BaghDAD: Becoming My Father's Daughter, is about her Middle Eastern Jewish family's true inspirational journey of being forced to flee from religious persecution during the 1941 “Farhud” pogrom in Baghdad. It is the story of Valerie's father and his family's struggle to transcend their harrowing past and build a new home in America. It celebrates the resiliency of the human spirit and finds humor, even in the darkest of times. In this episode we discuss cancer, self-advocacy, speaking your truth, healing and performance.Website: https://pinkhulkplay.com/LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/valeriedavid/FB - https://www.facebook.com/pinkhulkplay/ https://www.facebook.com/valerie.david.96558/IG - https://www.instagram.com/valeriedavid_pinkhulkplay/YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyDPITlLi5AwO_1beXL2Ogw https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXRTfJ7EdCBEjlhsZw3bI-wIn this episode you will learn:1. The power of laughter to help get through immense challenges.2. The importance of finding and using your voice to advocate for yourself .3. How empathy can help lead to opening your heart and understanding others. “I think what inspired me was the fact that I had two different cancers. So in breast cancer, according to the American Cancer Society, less than 1% of all men get breast cancer."- 00:07:35“If you're not in perpetual motion Then there's something wrong and I think that's the opposite because you need time to take a break You need time for yourself." - 00:25:46“I think it taught me to be in the now, in the present moment what can I do now and not to worry, look too much into the future because you don't, you're only in control of what you can do now.” 00:47:33

Beau Simmons has been a professional photographer since 2009. Initially known for his work as a fashion photographer, collaborating with renowned brands like Marc Jacobs, Guess Jeans, and Converse, he became a sought-after photographer for top modeling agencies like Elite Models, IMG, and Ford Models. However, Beau's heart lies in the Western lifestyle and the beauty of the American landscape. Transitioning away from fashion, he now focuses on capturing the essence of this culture through medium and large-format film photography. He has worked on some of the largest ranches in the United States, both on and off horseback, documenting the lives of cowboys across diverse landscapes. Inspired by masters like Richard Avedon, Slim Aarons, and Steven Shore, his work evokes nostalgia and emotion, preserving authentic moments from a forgotten era. A strong advocate for veterans, Beau's storytelling culminated in his first coffee table book, The Twenty-Year War, created in collaboration with combat veterans, followed by a traveling exhibition in various museums after its release in 2021. He actively supports numerous causes, including cancer research, partnering with organizations like The American Cancer Society and the Careity Foundation. His collaboration with writer and Director of the hit television series Yellowstone, Taylor Sheridan, unveiled the timeless allure of the Four Sixes Ranch, offering an indelible tribute while championing cancer support services. In just three years as an artist, Beau showcased his work at Art Miami, one of the world's largest art fairs, where he gained significant recognition and established a strong presence in the art community. This experience has since opened doors for further leading art fairs, exhibitions, and collaborations, allowing him to share his unique vision with a broader audience. His dedication to authenticity and storytelling continues to inspire, paving the way for new and exciting opportunities in the art world. Beau Simmons Photography: https://www.beausimmonsphotography.com/ Today's Sponsors: Black Rifle Coffee: https://www.blackriflecoffee.com Incogni: Use code "clearedhot" at https://incogni.com/clearedhot to get an exclusive 60% off. 

How did Tripadvisor become every traveler's starting point?Steve Kaufer joins Joubin Mirzadegan on Grit to break down how Tripadvisor became the internet's trusted travel companion, built on over a billion reviews and decades of trust. He also shares why early personalization fell short and how AI is finally doing what travel agents once did by understanding the traveler, but faster, smarter, and at scale.Guest: Steve Kaufer, co-founder of TripAdvisorChapters:(00:00) Trailer(00:45) Introduction(01:32) Early days of Tripadvisor(08:14) Catching the startup bug(18:42) Luck and timing(26:54) $200M: a combo of money and risk(37:37) I love creating stuff(40:45) Hardest part of being a public CEO(46:21) Never let a good crisis go to waste(51:54) An average traveler(55:49) Social proof vs artificial intelligence(1:02:59) Back in the saddle(1:09:54) Not for the faint of heart(1:12:16) What “grit” means to Steve(1:12:31) OutroMentioned in this episode: Google, Expedia Group, Barry Diller, Interactive Corporation (IAC), Uber, Dara Khosrowshahi, OpenAI ChatGPT, IMDb, CJ Affiliate (Commission Junction), Amazon, Google Chrome, Give Freely, Honey, Rakuten, Macy's, American Cancer Society, Google GeminiLinks:Connect with SteveXLinkedInConnect with JoubinXLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.comLearn more about Kleiner Perkins

The tour is going strong and New Found Glory is having a great time with The Offspring and Jimmy Eat World!Jordan and Cyrus joined me for a fun conversation where we complained about the humidity, how it's a high energy rock show all night, our favorite songs from The Offspring and Jimmy Eat World, the new song "100%" with more music coming soon, doing a video at the wrong time, working on the Disney Pop Punk covers album and other soundtrack songs they love, New Found Glory & The News, supporting the American Cancer Society with Cymbals For Change (cymbalsforchange.band) and we're sending our love to Chad Gilbert!Big thanks to Jordan and Cyrus for a great interview. "100%" is out now and there's more music on the way, keep a watch out for that. And go see New Found Glory with The Offspring and Jimmy Eat World on tour! 

Send us a textReal Housewives of Miami Season 7 Episode 5 Miami GodIn this episode of Real Housewives of Miami, Alexia seeks advice from a young self-help guru named Daniel, whom she found on Instagram. Despite his age, she feels he has wisdom and invites him to her upcoming Greek-themed "narcissist party," which she insists is not about her husband Todd—but actually about everyone in the group.Meanwhile, Lisa vents to Jody about her ongoing issues with Lenny and jokes that Larsa needs "Imodium for her mouth." Stephanie celebrates the success of her Shoma Bazaar business and opens up about her estranged twin sisters, who once worked with her but are now out of her life despite her attempts to reconnect. She's proud of her leadership role but doesn't exactly win over the audience with her delivery.Kiki, Larsa, and Stephanie have a heart-to-heart about family, encouraging Kiki to rebuild a relationship with her father for her son Shamar's sake. Shamar, notably, is the first in Kiki's family to go to college—a touching moment in an otherwise drama-filled episode.Guerdy, absent from Julia's baby shower, reveals that she was in New York ringing the bell at the Stock Exchange with the American Cancer Society. She feels misunderstood and ignored by the group. Alexia dismisses her feelings, ironically mirroring the same defensiveness she criticizes in Guerdy. Later, Guerdy meets with Julia, and the two have a tense but emotional conversation about broken trust. Julia accuses Guerdy of exposing her facelift secret while her wife was undergoing chemo, but Guerdy defends herself, saying she was only responding to Julia's energy. After hashing it out, they agree to move forward—slowly.Amid all the emotional reckonings, the cast prepares for a hurricane. Stephanie and her husband rescue puppies, while Lisa, unsurprisingly, shows up an hour and a half late to Alexia's event. The women wait for her for over two hours, which frustrates everyone, especially Stephanie, who openly calls her out. Lisa, for her part, shows no remorse. The party, complete with togas and philosophical speeches, wraps up the episode with lingering tension and plenty of side eyeTakeawaysGina expresses skepticism about Todd's commitment to his marriage with Alexia.Kelli and Gina discuss the financial dynamics of the cast members.The hosts share their opinions on the new cast member, Stephanie.Gina highlights the importance of family relationships in the show.Kelli mentions the upcoming BravoCon and its implications for the cast.The conversation reflects on the staged nature of the current season.Gina emphasizes the significance of genuine relationships among the cast.Kelli and Gina critique the production quality of the season.The hosts discuss the conflict between Gertie and Julia and its resolution.Kelli expresses her dislike for the character Stephanie, calling her a 'flex'.Support the showhttps://www.wewinewhenever.com/

How does an organization host a successful kickoff party to keep guests excited about...and sets the tone for your upcoming gala or signature fundraising event?   Today, I talk with Jenny Todd, Vice President at the American Cancer Society to talk about one of their upcoming signature fundraising events: The 2025 Houston Cattle Baron's Ball.  The American Cancer Society is the nation's leading cancer fighting organization. Their innovative approach of effectively tapping into the spirit local communities is evident with the Houston Cattle Baron's Ball. One of Houston's top annual galas, the event draws well over a thousand attendees each year, raising well into seven figures for the organization. In this episode, Jenny discusses a wide range of topics including creating strong event committees to carry out your events vision, tips on selecting the right theme to connect with your audience, innovative event activations to keep your audience engaged, and so much more. This is one episode you will not want to miss.

What would you do if there was a way to reduce your risk of cancer by 40%?  Andrea Radford of the American Cancer Society joined RHV to discuss their new cancer risk screening tool. CancerRisk360 flyer to post in public areas Rural Health Voice Conference webpage    

A Return on Humanity: How the American Cancer Society Uses AI to Improve Patient Care by i3 Health

The American Cancer Society in Utah works to support local cancer patients and their families by connecting them to vital information about cancer and to resources like the Hope Lodge, a home away from home in Salt Lake City for patients and their caregivers. In this episode, FM100.3 Host Rebecca Cressman is joined by Senior Development Manager Anja McCracken and Development Coordinator Jeneanne Locke who share details on the "Community Kick-Off" Roller Skate Night on July 11th and the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event in October  that support survivors, patients, and their loved ones.  

In this episode, host Shikha Jain, MD, speaks with Don Dizon, MD, about innovation throughout times of uncertainty in medicine, challenges currently facing physicians and more. •    Welcome to another exciting episode of Oncology Overdrive 1:34 •    About Dizon 1:44 •    The interview 2:27 •    How did you decide to become an oncologist and navigate a traditional academic career with many non-traditional “add-ons”? 3:01 •    Jain and Dizon on the importance of providing humanity to physicians. 7:19 •    Jain and Dizon on finding balance when providing patients with information.  9:03 •    Jain and Dizon on federal funding challenges facing oncology advancements.  10:17 •    Can you tell us more about transitioning to your new role at Tufts? 12:50 •    Jain and Dizon on the growing amount of career shifts in medicine. 17:22 •    How do we move forward with these new guardrails up from corporatization? 18:34 •    Jain and Dizon on how the age of social media has changed the perception, training and demands of doctors. 24:56 •    Dizon and Jain on the power of being able to admit “I don't know.” 28:22 •    What are some tips that you have for new attendings and people just starting in their careers? 33:54 •    Dizon and Jain on the importance of humanizing patients during their care. 38:34 •    If someone could only listen to the last few minutes of this episode, what would you want listeners to take away? 44:17 •    How to contact Dizon 44:57 •    Thanks for listening 45:51 Don Dizon, MD, is a professor of medicine at Tufts University and is the system chief of hematology and oncology for Tufts Medicine. He is also the editor in chief of CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, the flagship journal of the American Cancer Society as well as the vice-chair of membership and accrual at the SWOG Cancer Research Network. We'd love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Jain at oncologyoverdrive@healio.com. Follow Healio on X and LinkedIn: @HemOncToday and https://www.linkedin.com/company/hemonctoday/. Follow Dr. Jain on X: @ShikhaJainMD. Dizon can be reached on Tiktok @drdonsdizon, Instagram @drdonsdizon and LinkedIn.  Disclosures: Jain and Dizon report no relevant financial disclosures. 

Valerie David, also known as The Pink Hulk, is a three-time cancer survivor (non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, stage 2 breast cancer, and stage 4 metastatic breast cancer) who turned her journey of resilience into an award-winning one-woman show. Through humor, raw honesty, and advocacy, she inspires audiences worldwide—proving that even cancer won't stop her from taking center stage.Check out Valerie's show, The Pink Hulk here: https://pinkhulkplay.comKey Highlights:- Valerie trusted her inner voice when symptoms appeared, even when doctors initially dismissed them. If you are able to get second opinions, advocate for yourself, and listen to your gut, you'll find this to be useful in other parts of your own life.- Balancing intuition with fear over symptoms can be tricky, but Valerie advises: don't panic over nothing, don't choose to live in fear. Instead, stay proactive by communicating with your care team about any arising symptoms.About our guest:Valerie David is an actor, playwright, writer and editor. Her greatest accomplishment in life is being a three-time cancer survivor. She was diagnosed and treated for Stage III Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 1999, Stage II Breast Cancer in 2014 and 2015, and Stage IV Breast Cancer in 2018. As of April 2019, she has beaten cancer again! Valerie reactivated her superhero within, and exactly 5 months after receiving hormone treatment only in pill form–no surgery, no radiation, no chemotherapy, Valerie no longer has active disease. She has since kept up a full schedule of performances–nothing has stopped her. Valerie's inspirational solo show, The Pink Hulk, has been accepted into almost 50 different play festivals worldwide since its 2016 debut, won multiple awards and has been touring since its very first performance, impacting audiences with the show's universal message of hope and empowerment. She has performed in over 25 different cities and globally, including in England, Sweden, Iceland, and Finland. A graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, her credits include the Off-Broadway production of A Stoop on Orchard Street, Cookie in Rumors and Claudia Shear's Blown Sideways Through Life. Films: How I Became that Jewish Guy, which premiered at a November 2015 NYC Film Festival, and Bridges and Tunnels. Valerie volunteers as a motivational speaker at the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training events and Make-A-Wish Foundation. As a marathon cyclist, she co-founded Cycle of Hope, which raises money for national and international cancer organizations through bike marathons. Her most recent biking event raised almost $5,000 for the American Cancer Society and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.Key Moments:At 7 minutes 28 seconds “What is my choice? Is my choice going to live in fear every single day? Is it going to be well, we'll deal with it when it happens. So I think what I've learned from cancer is don't worry until there's something to worry about.”Disclaimer: All content and information provided in connection with Manta Cares is solely intended for informational and educational purposes only. This content and information is not intended to be a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

According to the American Cancer Society, approximately one in eight men will be diagnosed with a prostate condition during their lifetime. Focused ultrasound offers a noninvasive, radiation-free treatment option for prostate conditions and has been approved in more than 50 countries, including the United States. In this episode of Curing with Sound, we explore focused ultrasound for prostate cancer through the lens of a patient and a patient advocate. Bob Palmer, who underwent the TULSA-PRO procedure—a minimally invasive, incision-free focused ultrasound treatment—discusses his decision-making process and treatment experience. He is joined by Eve Satterthwaite, a registered nurse and patient educator at Profound Medical. She provides an overview of what patients can expect from the procedure and her role in guiding them through treatment. Bob shares how Eve helped him evaluate treatment options after his prostate cancer diagnosis and what led him to choose focused ultrasound, particularly in light of potential side effects associated with surgery and radiation. Eve explains how she helps patients understand their options, outlines the clinical benefits of the TULSA procedure, and addresses common patient concerns. Discussion highlights: Modern Prostate Treatment Options – An overview of the TULSA-PRO procedure, an FDA-approved focused ultrasound treatment that offers an incision-free alternative to traditional prostate cancer treatments, with minimal downtime and reduced risk of side effects affecting quality of life. Informed Choices Through Education – Insights into how clear, comprehensive information about available treatments can help patients make confident, well-informed decisions. All patient stories featured on the Curing with Sound podcast are personal accounts of an individual's experience with focused ultrasound treatment. Please be aware that each patient's situation is unique, and outcomes may vary. The information provided in this story should not be considered as medical advice or a guarantee of specific results. It is important to consult with a qualified healthcare provider to discuss your condition and determine the best treatment options for you. The Focused Ultrasound Foundation does not endorse any specific treatment or medical procedure and encourages all patients to seek professional medical guidance tailored to their individual needs. Visit TULSAprocedure.com for more information EPISODE TRANSCRIPT ---------------------------- QUESTIONS? Email podcast@fusfoundation.org if you have a question or comment about the show, or if you would you like to connect about future guest appearances.  Email info@fusfoundation.org if you have questions about focused ultrasound or the Foundation.  FUSF SOCIAL MEDIA LinkedIn X Facebook Instagram TikTok YouTube FUSF WEBSITE https://www.fusfoundation.org SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.fusfoundation.org/newsletter-signup/ READ THE LATEST NEWSLETTER https://www.fusfoundation.org/the-foundation/news-media/newsletter/ DOWNLOAD "THE TUMOR" BY JOHN GRISHAM (FREE E-BOOK) https://www.fusfoundation.org/read-the-tumor-by-john-grisham/

Did you know that according to research provided by the American Cancer Society, more than 2 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer in 2025? Tune in for an inspiring discussion with Mohit Manrao, Senior Vice President of US Oncology at AstraZeneca, on the rising caner rates among younger adults.  Moments with Marianne airs in the Southern California area on KMET 1490AM & 98.1 FM, an ABC Talk News Radio Affiliate! https://www.kmet1490am.comMohit Manrao, Senior Vice President and Head of the US Oncology Business Unit at AstraZeneca, is responsible for leading commercial strategy and maximizing performance of their expansive oncology portfolio. Prior to assuming his current role in 2022, Mohit served as Vice President, Global Franchise Head Lung Cancer since 2020. Mohit joined AstraZeneca in 2012, holding various roles at the market, regional, and global-level across geographies, including Head of UK Oncology and Head of Daiichi Sankyo Alliance Europe. Mohit's education includes Bachelor of Technology, Mechanical Engineering, Punjab Technical University and Masters of Business Administration, Indian School of Business. https://www.astrazeneca.comFor more show information visit: www.MariannePestana.com

Dr. Nathan Pennell and Dr. Cheryl Czerlanis discuss challenges in lung cancer screening and potential solutions to increase screening rates, including the use of AI to enhance risk prediction and screening processes. Transcript Dr. Nate Pennell: Hello, and welcome to By the Book, a monthly podcast series for ASCO Education that features engaging discussions between editors and authors from the ASCO Educational Book. I'm Dr. Nate Pennell, the co-director of the Cleveland Clinic Lung Cancer Program and vice chair of clinical research for the Taussig Cancer Center. I'm also the editor-in-chief for the ASCO Educational Book.  Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality worldwide, and most cases are diagnosed at advanced stages where curative treatment options are limited. On the opposite end, early-stage lung cancers are very curable. If only we could find more patients at that early stage, an approach that has revolutionized survival for other cancer types such as colorectal and breast cancer.  On today's episode, I'm delighted to be joined by Dr. Cheryl Czerlanis, a professor of medicine and thoracic medical oncologist at the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center, to discuss her article titled, "Broadening the Net: Overcoming Challenges and Embracing Novel Technologies in Lung Cancer Screening." The article was recently published in the ASCO Educational Book and featured in an Education Session at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting. Our full disclosures are available in the transcript of this episode.  Cheryl, it's great to have you on the podcast today. Thanks for being here. Dr. Cheryl Czerlanis: Thanks, Nate. It's great to be here with you. Dr. Nate Pennell: So, I'd like to just start by asking you a little bit about the importance of lung cancer screening and what evidence is there that lung cancer screening is beneficial. Dr. Cheryl Czerlanis: Thank you. Lung cancer screening is extremely important because we know that lung cancer survival is closely tied to stage at diagnosis. We have made significant progress in the treatment of lung cancer, especially over the past decade, with the introduction of immunotherapies and targeted therapies based on personalized evaluation of genomic alterations. But the reality is that outside of a lung screening program, most patients with lung cancer present with symptoms related to advanced cancer, where our ability to cure the disease is more limited.  While lung cancer screening has been studied for years, the National Lung Screening Trial, or the NLST, first reported in 2011 a significant reduction in lung cancer deaths through screening. Annual low-dose CT scans were performed in a high-risk population for lung cancer in comparison to chest X-ray. The study population was comprised of asymptomatic persons aged 55 to 74 with a 30-pack-year history of smoking who were either active smokers or had quit within 15 years. The low-dose CT screening was associated with a 20% relative risk reduction in lung cancer-related mortality. A similar magnitude of benefit was also reported in the NELSON trial, which was a large European randomized trial comparing low-dose CT with a control group receiving no screening. Dr. Nate Pennell: So, this led, of course, to approval from CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) for lung cancer screening in the Medicare population, probably about 10 years ago now, I think. And there are now two major trials showing an unequivocal reduction in lung cancer-related mortality and even evidence that it reduces overall mortality with lung cancer screening. But despite this, lung cancer screening rates are very low in the United States. So, first of all, what's going on? Why are we not seeing the kinds of screening rates that we see with mammography and colonoscopy? And what are the barriers to that here? Dr. Cheryl Czerlanis: That's a great question. Thank you, Nate. In the United States, recruitment for lung cancer screening programs has faced numerous challenges, including those related to socioeconomic, cultural, logistical, and even racial disparities. Our current lung cancer screening guidelines are somewhat imprecise and often fail to address differences that we know exist in sex, smoking history, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity. We also see underrepresentation in certain groups, including African Americans and other minorities, and special populations, including individuals with HIV. And even where lung cancer screening is readily available and we have evidence of its efficacy, uptake can be low due to both provider and patient factors. On the provider side, barriers include having insufficient time in a clinic visit for shared decision-making, fear of missed test results, lack of awareness about current guidelines, concerns about cost, potential harms, and evaluating both true and false-positive test results.  And then on the patient side, barriers include concerns about cost, fear of getting a cancer diagnosis, stigma associated with tobacco smoking, and misconceptions about the treatability of lung cancer. Dr. Nate Pennell: I think those last two are really what make lung cancer unique compared to, say, for example, breast cancer, where there really is a public acceptance of the value of mammography and that breast cancer is no one's fault and that it really is embraced as an active way you can take care of yourself by getting your breast cancer screening. Whereas in lung cancer, between the stigma of smoking and the concern that, you know, it's a death sentence, I think we really have some work to be made up, which we'll talk about in a minute about what we can do to help improve this.  Now, that's in the U.S. I think things are probably, I would imagine, even worse when we leave the U.S. and look outside, especially at low- and middle-income countries. Dr. Cheryl Czerlanis: Yes, globally, this issue is even more complex than it is in the United States. Widespread implementation of low-dose CT imaging for lung cancer screening is limited by manpower, infrastructure, and economic constraints. Many low- and middle-income countries even lack sufficient CT machines, trained personnel, and specialized facilities for accurate and timely screenings. Even in urban centers with advanced diagnostic facilities, the high screening and follow-up care costs can limit access. Rural populations face additional barriers, such as geographic inaccessibility of urban centers, transportation costs, language barriers, and mistrust of healthcare systems. In addition, healthcare systems in these regions often prioritize infectious diseases and maternal health, leaving limited room for investments in noncommunicable disease prevention like lung cancer screening. Policymakers often struggle to justify allocating resources to lung cancer screening when immediate healthcare needs remain unmet. Urban-rural disparities exacerbate these challenges, with rural regions frequently lacking the infrastructure and resources to sustain screening programs. Dr. Nate Pennell: Well, it's certainly an intimidating problem to try to reduce these disparities, especially between the U.S. and low- and middle-income countries. So, what are some of the potential solutions, both here in the U.S. and internationally, that we can do to try to increase the rates of lung cancer screening? Dr. Cheryl Czerlanis: The good news is that we can take steps to address these challenges, but a multifaceted approach is needed. Public awareness campaigns focused on the benefits of early detection and dispelling myths about lung cancer screening are essential to improving participation rates. Using risk-prediction models to identify high-risk individuals can increase the efficiency of lung cancer screening programs. Automated follow-up reminders and screening navigators can also ensure timely referrals and reduce delays in diagnosis and treatment. Reducing or subsidizing the cost of low-dose CT scans, especially in low- or middle-income countries, can improve accessibility. Deploying mobile CT scanners can expand access to rural and underserved areas.  On a global scale, integrating lung cancer screening with existing healthcare programs, such as TB or noncommunicable disease initiatives, can enhance resource utilization and program scalability. Implementing lung cancer screening in resource-limited settings requires strategic investment, capacity building, and policy interventions that prioritize equity. Addressing financial constraints, infrastructure gaps, and sociocultural barriers can help overcome existing challenges. By focusing on cost-effective strategies, public awareness, and risk-based eligibility criteria, global efforts can promote equitable access to lung cancer screening and improve outcomes.  Lastly, as part of the medical community, we play an important role in a patient's decision to pursue lung cancer screening. Being up to date with current lung cancer screening recommendations, identifying eligible patients, and encouraging a patient to undergo screening often is the difference-maker. Electronic medical record (EMR) systems and reminders are helpful in this regard, but relationship building and a recommendation from a trusted provider are really essential here. Dr. Nate Pennell: I think that makes a lot of sense. I mean, there are technology improvements. For example, our lung cancer screening program at The Cleveland Clinic, a few years back, we finally started an automated best practice alert in our EMR for patients who met the age and smoking requirements, and it led to a six-fold increase in people referred for screening. But at the same time, there's a difference between just getting this alert and putting in an order for lung cancer screening and actually getting those patients to go and actually do the screening and then follow up on it. And that, of course, requires having that relationship and discussion with the patient so that they trust that you have their best interests. Dr. Cheryl Czerlanis: Exactly. I think that's important. You know, certainly, while technology can aid in bringing patients in, there really is no substitute for trust-building and a personal relationship with a provider. Dr. Nate Pennell: I know that there are probably multiple examples within the U.S. where health systems or programs have put together, I would say, quality improvement projects to try to increase lung cancer screening and working with their community. There's one in particular that you discuss in your paper called the "End Lung Cancer Now" initiative. I wonder if you could take us through that. Dr. Cheryl Czerlanis: Absolutely. "End Lung Cancer Now" is an initiative at the Indiana University Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center that has the vision to end suffering and death from lung cancer in Indiana through education and community empowerment. We discuss this as a paradigm for how community engagement is important in building and scaling a lung cancer screening program.  In 2023, the "End Lung Cancer Now" team decided to focus its efforts on scaling and transforming lung cancer screening rates in Indiana. They developed a task force with 26 experts in various fields, including radiology, pulmonary medicine, thoracic surgery, public health, and advocacy groups. The result of this work is an 85-page blueprint with key recommendations that any system and community can use to scale lung cancer screening efforts. After building strong infrastructure for lung cancer screening at Indiana University, they sought to understand what the priorities, resources, and challenges in their communities were. To do this, they forged strong partnerships with both local and national organizations, including the American Lung Association, American Cancer Society, and others. In the first year, they actually tripled the number of screening low-dose CTs performed in their academic center and saw a 40% increase system-wide. One thing that I think is the most striking is that through their community outreach, they learned that most people prefer to get medical care close to home within their own communities. Establishing a way to support the local infrastructure to provide care became far more important than recruiting patients to their larger system.  In exciting news, "End Lung Cancer Now" has partnered with the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center and IU Health to launch Indiana's first and only mobile lung screening program in March of 2025. This mobile program travels around the state to counties where the highest incidence of lung cancer exists and there is limited access to screening. The mobile unit parks at trusted sites within communities and works in partnership, not competition, with local health clinics and facilities to screen high-risk populations. Dr. Nate Pennell: I think that sounds like a great idea. Screening is such an important thing that it doesn't necessarily have to be owned by any one particular health system for their patients. I think. And I love the idea of bringing the screening to patients where they are. I can speak to working in a regional healthcare system with a main campus in the downtown that patients absolutely hate having to come here from even 30 or 40 minutes away, and they'd much rather get their care locally. So that makes perfect sense.  So, under the current guidelines, there are certainly things that we can do to try to improve capturing the people that meet those. But are those guidelines actually capturing enough patients with lung cancer to make a difference? There certainly are proposals within patient advocacy communities and even other countries where there's a large percentage of non-smokers who perhaps get lung cancer. Can we expand beyond just older, current and heavy smokers to identify at-risk populations who could benefit from screening? Dr. Cheryl Czerlanis: Yes, I think we can, and it's certainly an active area of research interest. We know that tobacco is the leading cause of lung cancer worldwide. However, other risk factors include secondhand smoke, family history, exposure to environmental carcinogens, and pulmonary diseases like COPD and interstitial lung disease. Despite these known associations, the benefit of lung cancer screening is less well elucidated in never-smokers and those at risk of developing lung cancer because of family history or other risk factors. We know that the eligibility criteria associated with our current screening guidelines focus on age and smoking history and may miss more than 50% of lung cancers. Globally, 10% to 25% of lung cancer cases occur in never-smokers. And in certain parts of the world, like you mentioned, Nate, such as East Asia, many lung cancers are diagnosed in never-smokers, especially in women. Risk-prediction models use specific risk factors for lung cancer to enhance individual selection for screening, although they have historically focused on current or former smokers.  We know that individuals with family members affected by lung cancer have an increased risk of developing the disease. To this end, several large-scale, single-arm prospective studies in Asia have evaluated broadening screening criteria to never-smokers, with or without additional risk factors. One such study, the Taiwan Lung Cancer Screening in Never-Smoker Trial, was a multicenter prospective cohort study at 17 medical centers in Taiwan. The primary outcome of the TALENT trial was lung cancer detection rate. Eligible patients aged 55 to 75 had either never smoked or had a light and remote smoking history. In addition, inclusion required one or more of the following risk factors: family history of lung cancer, passive smoke exposure, history of TB or COPD, a high cooking index, which is a metric that quantifies exposure to cooking fumes, or a history of cooking without ventilation. Participants underwent low-dose CT screening at baseline, then annually for 2 years, and then every 2 years for up to 6 years. The lung cancer detection rate was 2.6%, which was higher than that reported in the NLST and NELSON trials, and most were stage 0 or I cancers. Subsequently, this led to the Taiwan Early Detection Program for Lung Cancer, a national screening program that was launched in 2022, targeting 2 screening populations: individuals with a heavy history of smoking and individuals with a family history of lung cancer.  We really need randomized controlled trials to determine the true rates of overdiagnosis or finding cancers that would not lead to morbidity or mortality in persons who are diagnosed, and to establish whether the high lung detection rates are associated with a decrease in lung cancer-related mortality in these populations. However, the implementation of randomized controlled low-dose CT screening trials in never-smokers has been limited by the need for large sample sizes, lengthy follow-up, and cost.  In another group potentially at higher risk for developing lung cancer, the role of lung cancer screening in individuals who harbor germline pathogenic variants associated with lung cancer also needs to be explored further. Dr. Nate Pennell: We had this discussion when the first criteria came out because there have always been risk-based calculators for lung cancer that certainly incorporate smoking but other factors as well and have discussion about whether we should be screening people based on their risk and not just based on discrete criteria such as smoking. But of course, the insurance coverage for screening, you have to fit the actual criteria, which is very constrained by age and smoking history. Do you think in the U.S. there's hope for broadening our screening beyond NLST and NELSON criteria? Dr. Cheryl Czerlanis: I do think at some point there is hope for broadening the criteria beyond smoking history and age, beyond the criteria that we have typically used and that is covered by insurance. I do think it will take some work to perhaps make the prediction models more precise or to really understand who can benefit. We certainly know that there are many patients who develop lung cancer without a history of smoking or without family history, and it would be great if we could diagnose more patients with lung cancer at an earlier stage. I think this will really count on there being some work towards trying to figure out what would be the best population for screening, what risk factors to look for, perhaps using some new technologies that may help us to predict who is at risk for developing lung cancer, and trying to increase the group that we study to try and find these early-stage lung cancers that can be cured. Dr. Nate Pennell: Part of the reason we, of course, try to enrich our population is screening works better when you have a higher pretest probability of actually having cancer. And part of that also is that our technology is not that great. You know, even in high-risk patients who have CT scans that are positive for a screen, we know that the vast majority of those patients with lung nodules actually don't have lung cancer. And so you have to follow them, you have to use various models to see, you know, what the risk, even in the setting of a positive screen, is of having lung cancer.  So, why don't we talk about some newer tools that we might use to help improve lung cancer screening? And one of the things that everyone is super excited about, of course, is artificial intelligence. Are there AI technologies that are helping out in early detection in lung cancer screening? Dr. Cheryl Czerlanis: Yes, that's a great question. We know that predicting who's at risk for lung cancer is challenging for the reasons that we talked about, knowing that there are many risk factors beyond smoking and age that are hard to quantify. Artificial intelligence is a tool that can help refine screening criteria and really expand screening access. Machine learning is a form of AI technology that is adept at recognizing patterns in large datasets and then applying the learning to new datasets. Several machine learning models have been developed for risk stratification and early detection of lung cancer on imaging, both with and without blood-based biomarkers. This type of technology is very promising and can serve as a tool that helps to select individuals for screening by predicting who is likely to develop lung cancer in the future.  A group at Massachusetts General Hospital, represented in our group for this paper by my co-authors, Drs. Fintelmann and Chang, developed Sybil, which is an open-access 3D convolutional neural network that predicts an individual's future risk of lung cancer based on the analysis of a single low-dose CT without the need for human annotation or other clinical inputs. Sybil and other machine learning models have tremendous potential for precision lung cancer screening, even, and perhaps especially, in settings where expert image interpretation is unavailable. They could support risk-adapted screening schedules, such as varying the frequency and interval of low-dose CT scans according to individual risk and potentially expand lung cancer screening eligibility beyond age and smoking history. Their group predicts that AI tools like Sybil will play a major role in decoding the complex landscape of lung cancer risk factors, enabling us to extend life-saving lung cancer screening to all who are at risk. Dr. Nate Pennell: I think that that would certainly be welcome. And as AI is working its way into pretty much every aspect of life, including medical care, I think it's certainly promising that it can improve on our existing technology.  We don't have to spend a lot of time on this because I know it's a little out of scope for what you covered in your paper, but I'm sure our listeners are curious about your thoughts on the use of other types of testing beyond CT screening for detecting lung cancer. I know that there are a number of investigational and even commercially available blood tests, for example, for detection of lung cancer, or even the so-called multi-cancer detection blood tests that are now being offered, although not necessarily being covered by insurance, for multiple types of cancer, but lung cancer being a common cancer is included in that. So, what do you think? Dr. Cheryl Czerlanis: Yes, like you mentioned, there are novel bioassays such as blood-based biomarker testing that evaluate for DNA, RNA, and circulating tumor cells that are both promising and under active investigation for lung cancer and multi-cancer detection. We know that such biomarker assays may be useful in both identifying lung cancers but also in identifying patients with a high-risk result who should undergo lung cancer screening by conventional methods. Dr. Nate Pennell: Anything that will improve on our rate of screening, I think, will be welcome. I think probably in the future, it will be some combination of better risk prediction and better interpretation of screening results, whether those be imaging or some combination of imaging and biomarkers, breath-based, blood-based. There's so much going on that it is pretty exciting, but we're still going to have to overcome the stigma and lack of public support for lung cancer screening if we're going to move the needle. Dr. Cheryl Czerlanis: Yes, I think moving the needle is so important because we know lung cancer is still a very morbid disease, and our ability to cure patients is not where we would like it to be. But I do believe there's hope. There are a lot of motivated individuals and groups who are passionate about lung cancer screening, like myself and my co-authors, and we're just happy to be able to share some ways that we can overcome the challenges and really try and make an impact in the lives of our patients. Dr. Nate Pennell: Well, thank you, Dr. Czerlanis, for joining me on the By the Book Podcast today and for all of your work to advance care for patients with lung cancer. Dr. Cheryl Czerlanis: Thank you, Dr. Pennell. It's such a pleasure to be with you today. Thank you. Dr. Nate Pennell: And thank you to our listeners for joining us today. You'll find a link to Dr. Czerlanis' article in the transcript of this episode.  Please join us again next month for By the Book's next episode and more insightful views on topics you'll be hearing at the education sessions from ASCO meetings throughout the year, and our deep dives on approaches that are shaping modern oncology. Disclaimer: The purpose of this podcast is to educate and to inform. This is not a substitute for professional medical care and is not intended for use in the diagnosis or treatment of individual conditions. Guests on this podcast express their own opinions, experience, and conclusions. Guest statements on the podcast do not express the opinions of ASCO. The mention of any product, service, organization, activity, or therapy should not be construed as an ASCO endorsement. Follow today's speakers:     Dr. Nathan Pennell    @n8pennell   @n8pennell.bsky.social Dr. Cheryl Czerlanis Follow ASCO on social media:     @ASCO on X (formerly Twitter)     ASCO on Bluesky    ASCO on Facebook     ASCO on LinkedIn     Disclosures:    Dr. Nate Pennell:        Consulting or Advisory Role: AstraZeneca, Lilly, Cota Healthcare, Merck, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Genentech, Amgen, G1 Therapeutics, Pfizer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Viosera, Xencor, Mirati Therapeutics, Janssen Oncology, Sanofi/Regeneron       Research Funding (Institution): Genentech, AstraZeneca, Merck, Loxo, Altor BioScience, Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Jounce Therapeutics, Mirati Therapeutics, Heat Biologics, WindMIL, Sanofi    Dr. Cheryl Czerlanis: Research Funding (Institution): LungLife AI, AstraZeneca, Summit Therapeutics

In the first episode of a special daily series during the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting, Dr. John Sweetenham discusses the results of 2 studies on the treatment of advanced colorectal cancer plus an additional study exploring the association of Medicaid expansion with cancer survival outcomes. Transcript Dr. John Sweetenham: Hello, and welcome to our special coverage of the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting on the ASCO Daily News Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. John Sweetenham, and I'll be bringing you brief analysis on selected abstracts from each day of the Meeting. My disclosures are available in the transcript of this episode.  Today, I'll be reviewing three abstracts, the first two of which address the treatment of advanced colorectal cancer. Today's first study is Abstract 3501. These data were presented by Dr. Heinz-Josef Lenz from the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and report on the expanded analysis of the CheckMate-8HW trial. This was a phase 3, international, multicenter trial in patients with MSI-high/MMR-deficient metastatic colorectal cancer, who were randomized between nivolumab (nivo) alone, nivolumab plus ipilumomab (ipi) or investigators' choice of chemotherapy (FOLFOX or FOLFIRI) with or without bevacizumab or cetuximab. The study showed that nivo plus ipi demonstrated superior progression-free survival compared with chemotherapy in the first-line setting and superior progression-free survival compared with nivo alone across all lines of therapy. These results led to the approval of nivo + ipi in the first-line setting in patients with MSI-H/dMMR mCRC in the U.S., the EU, and many other countries.  In today's presentation, Dr. Lenz reported on the expanded analyses of nivo plus ipi versus nivo across all lines of therapy and longer follow-up results for nivo and ipi versus chemo in the first-line setting. With longer follow up (the median is now at 47 months) nivo and ipi continued to show progression-free survival benefit compared with chemotherapy with a median PFS of 54.1 months versus 5.9 months, for a hazard ratio of 0.21.  Additionally, the analysis of the effects on PFS2, defined as the time from randomization to progression after subsequent systemic therapy, start of second subsequent systemic therapy, or death, showed that compared with chemotherapy, first-line nivo and ipi was associated with a 72% reduction in the risk of death or disease progression, despite the fact that 71% of those who progressed following chemotherapy crossed over to receive subsequent immunotherapy. The study also showed that across all lines, nivo and ipi demonstrated superior progression-free survival compared with nivo alone, the median not reached versus 39.3 months, for a hazard ratio of 0.62. No new toxicity signals emerged after further analysis. Most treatment-related adverse events with possible immune etiology were observed within the first six months of therapy. The results for PFS2 are particularly significant. Up to now, there has been some reluctance to use nivo and ipi as first-line therapy, partly because of its toxicity profile and based on the rationale that it would be active after other frontline therapies. The observation in this study that the beneficial effects of nivo and ipi are maintained downstream is compelling. The results suggest that delaying the use of this combination to the second line or later may compromise subsequent PFS and supports the use of nivo and ipi as a standard-of-care frontline option for MSI-H/dMMR metastatic colorectal cancer. Moving on, the next study I'm featuring today is Abstract 3503, presented by Dr. Jeanne Tie from the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and the Walter and Eliza Hall Medical Institute of Medical Research from Melbourne, Australia. This study reported the impact of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA)-guided adjuvant chemotherapy escalation in stage III colon cancer, focused on the primary analysis of the ctDNA-positive cohort from the randomized DYNAMIC-III trial. As background, about 30% of patients with stage III colon cancer will recur following standard-of-care adjuvant therapy with oxaliplatin-based regimens. And current data show that for those patients with high-risk disease, 6 months of chemotherapy is associated with a lower recurrence rate than 3 months. Circulating tumor DNA following initial surgery has been shown to be a strong independent prognostic factor for these patients, but questions remain about how ctDNA can be used for adaptation of treatment. Questions regarding treatment adaptation were addressed in the DYNAMIC-III trials – specifically, does treatment escalation benefit those who are ctDNA positive following surgery, and can therapy be de-escalated for those who are ctDNA negative. The first of these 2 questions – treatment escalation in the positive group – is the subject of this report. One thousand and two patients were randomized in this study, between ctDNA-informed therapy (502) or standard management (500). Of those patients included in the intent to treat cohorts, 129 were ctDNA positive in the ctDNA-informed arm compared with 130 in the standard management arm. Various pre-planned treatment escalation protocols were used, depending on the choice of first-line therapy. With a median follow up of 42.2 months, there was no difference in 3-year relapse free survival between the ctDNA informed group (48%) and the standard management group (52%). There was, however, a highly significant difference in relapse-free survival for patients who cleared ctDNA by the end of treatment compared with those who didn't. The authors concluded that the recurrence risk for this group remains high, at about 50%, after adjuvant therapy and that it increases with higher ctDNA burden, but treatment escalation didn't appear to reduce the recurrence risk. Clearance of ctDNA was associated with a favorable outcome, suggesting that as more effective treatments are developed in the future for this group, ctDNA will likely prove to have major utility. Changing gears now, my final selection for today is Abstract 11006, presented by Dr. Elizabeth Shafer from the American Cancer Society. This study explored the association of Medicaid expansion with 5-year survival after a cancer diagnosis.  Dr. Schafer began her presentation by providing some historical perspective on the impact of the Affordable Care Act on reducing the number of uninsured adults aged less than 65 years in the United States. She then reviewed some recent data on the impact of Medicaid expansion on cancer care, including improved screening rates, improved access to cancer surgery, and an increase in earlier cancer diagnosis. The current study builds on earlier data from the American Cancer Society which showed improved 2-year overall survival for patients with newly diagnosed cancer following Medicaid expansion. The new study reported by Dr. Schafer examined 5-year cause-specific survival in individuals with cancer since Medicaid expansion, analyzed according to cancer type and various demographic and social factors. Using data from more than 813,000 individuals from 26 states that expanded Medicaid compared with more than 610,000 from 12 states that did not, the authors reported that similar improvements in 5-year cause-specific survival were observed in the expansion and the non-expansion states, but when analyzed by other factors, differences in outcome emerged. For example, although similar improvements in survival between expansion and non-expansion states were seen in urban communities, there was a significant improvement of 2.55 percentage points in survival for individuals in rural communities in expansion states compared with those in non-expansion states. Similar trends were observed in high poverty areas, where improvements in survival were superior in expansion versus non-expansion states.  When examined by cancer type, the authors observed greater improvements in 5-year survival for those with pancreatic, lung, and colorectal cancer, possibly due to improvements in screening and early access to treatment.  The authors concluded that those residing in rural and high-poverty areas experienced the most improvement in cause-specific cancer survival following Medicaid expansion. In summary, it's encouraging to see an improving trend in cancer mortality overall, independent of Medicaid expansion, but it's also important to remember that this is yet another study which confirms how implementation of the ACA has improved cancer outcomes and begun to address some of the disparities in cancer care. Join me again tomorrow to hear more top takeaways from ASCO25. And if you value the insights that you hear on the ASCO Daily News Podcast, please remember to rate, review, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.   Disclaimer:   The purpose of this podcast is to educate and to inform. This is not a substitute for professional medical care and is not intended for use in the diagnosis or treatment of individual conditions. Guests on this podcast express their own opinions, experience, and conclusions. Guest statements on the podcast do not express the opinions of ASCO. The mention of any product, service, organization, activity or therapy should not be construed as an ASCO endorsement.     Find out more about today's speaker:  Dr. John Sweetenham    Follow ASCO on social media:  @ASCO on Twitter  @ASCO on Bluesky  ASCO on Facebook  ASCO on LinkedIn        Disclosures:  Dr. John Sweetenham:  No relationships to disclose 

The "Big Beautiful Act" turned into a big disappointment for Medicaid reform. Instead of adding ways to improve Medicaid benefits, like cutting non-medical spending, Republicans caved. Work requirements and eliminating provider taxes will help, but the failure to fix Medicaid spending now creates major debt headaches just a few years down the road.AnneMarie Schieber, managing editor of Health Care News, and Devon Herrick of the Goodman Institute Health Blog discuss how this golden opportunity was lost in the U.S. House.Also on tap: tips beyond the obvious to bring down your prescription drug bill. Plus, what happened to baby powder? Why does it now feel like chalk? Trial lawyers. Even the American Cancer Society isn't convinced talc is dangerous. And what's a realistic way to understand risk? Vox had a good read on how to consider risk. Devon and AnneMarie agree it's time to "take a deep breath, relax, and educate yourself." We all die; the only difference is when and how. In The Tank broadcasts LIVE every Thursday at 12pm CT on on The Heartland Institute YouTube channel. Tune in to have your comments addressed live by the In The Tank Crew. Be sure to subscribe and never miss an episode. See you there!Climate Change Roundtable is LIVE every Friday at 12pm CT on The Heartland Institute YouTube channel. Have a topic you want addressed? Join the live show and leave a comment for our panelists and we'll cover it during the live show!

The "Big Beautiful Act" turned into a big disappointment for Medicaid reform. Instead of adding ways to improve Medicaid benefits, like cutting non-medical spending, Republicans caved. Work requirements and eliminating provider taxes will help, but the failure to fix Medicaid spending now creates major debt headaches just a few years down the road.AnneMarie Schieber, managing editor of Health Care News, and Devon Herrick of the Goodman Institute Health Blog discuss how this golden opportunity was lost in the U.S. House.Also on tap: tips beyond the obvious to bring down your prescription drug bill. Plus, what happened to baby powder? Why does it now feel like chalk? Trial lawyers. Even the American Cancer Society isn't convinced talc is dangerous. And what's a realistic way to understand risk? Vox had a good read on how to consider risk. Devon and AnneMarie agree it's time to "take a deep breath, relax, and educate yourself." We all die; the only difference is when and how.

The American Cancer Society works to fund cancer research across the country, but the scope of their work and support is much greater.

The news last week of former President Joe Biden's advanced prostate cancer has more people thinking and talking about the condition.About 1 in 8 men in the U.S. are diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point in their lives. It's the most-diagnosed cancer in men and the second-leading cause of cancer-related death in American men after lung cancer. That's according to the American Cancer Society.In this installment of our series, "In Good Health," we talk about how to detect and treat prostate cancer. Then, we switch gears to talk about the Food and Drug Administration's plans to potentially restrict access to the COVID-19 vaccine.Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Are you struggling to cut through organizational resistance and win real buy-in for your customer experience (CX) initiatives? You're not alone. Even the most skilled CX professionals and change leaders often face the uphill battle of influencing executives and key stakeholders—especially when budgets are tight and positional authority is limited. That's exactly why the launch of the new on-demand course, "Becoming a Trusted Guide: Empowering CX Leadership," is so exciting for anyone looking to make meaningful change in their organizations. Gabe Smith, CCXP, Content Manager and Associate Director at the Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA), joins me to preview this new course and spotlights CXPA's new learning platform, CXeducation.com—crafted specifically so you can access high-impact learning anytime, from anywhere in the world. I explain how this program goes beyond traditional training: you'll discover strategies to shift your mindset, frameworks for building stakeholder trust, and practical tools you can apply immediately in your unique business context. Plus, if you're working toward your CCXP certification, the course qualifies for critical credit hours. Here are three pressing questions Gabe and I answer in this episode—each one explored through the lens of this innovative course: Why is it so challenging to secure real executive support for CX—and what new frameworks in the course will help you overcome this barrier? How does on-demand, asynchronous learning transform professional development for busy change leaders worldwide? What actionable steps can you take right now to move from being a “CX hero” to a “trusted guide” and win broader organizational alignment? Ready to transform how you lead change and champion customer experience in your organization? Dive into this episode and unlock details on the new course that could accelerate your CX career. Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or find Delighted Customers wherever you enjoy podcasts. Be first in line to benefit—this is a game-changer for anyone serious about leading CX transformation! Meet Gabe Smith Gabe Smith, CCXP, is the Content Manager and Associate Director for the Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA). With five years at the CXPA and previous hands-on CX experience at the American Cancer Society, his mission is to empower professionals to lead with impact. At CXPA, he drives content strategy, knowledge sharing, and global standards like the CCXP certification and on-demand learning through cxeducation.com. His focus is advancing the CX field and helping you sharpen your leadership. Show Notes & References Discover and enroll in the new on-demand course: www.cxeducation.com Explore more resources and the global CX community: www.cxpaglobal.org Learn more about Mark Slatin and other courses: www.empoweredcx.com Don't forget to subscribe and make the Delighted Customers Podcast your weekly CX leadership advantage!

On this Shop Talk episode, delve into water usage and policy, as well as skin cancer prevention, with Brad Haire, Farm Press executive editor.Episode linksTornado aftermath story – Delta Farm PressUSDA Secretary discusses water policy in TexasBrad's skin cancer awareness month articleSkin cancer preventionSkin cancer identification – American Cancer Society

This featured podcast includes a discussion with 3 experts on managing patients with hormone receptor–positive/HER2-negative (HR+/HER2–) metastatic breast cancer (mBC) from a satellite symposium held in conjunction with the 42nd Annual Miami Breast Cancer Conference® in March 2025. In observational studies of treatment patterns in older women with mBC, approximately half of the patients were undertreated, and only half received a CDK4/6 inhibitor (CDK4/6i)-based regimen in the first-line setting. Reasons for undertreatment include concerns about the patient's age, perceived frailty, and underlying health issues. Aging is a heterogeneous process; older patients must receive individualized treatment that is not based solely on their age but on a comprehensive assessment that objectively assesses their overall health and ability to tolerate treatment. This program is designed to help clinicians assess the fitness of older patients with HR+/HER2– mBC, review the efficacy and safety of CDK4/6i in this patient population, and individualize treatment decision-making appropriately. Acknowledgment of Educational Grant Support This activity is supported by an educational grant from Pfizer Inc. Today's faculty are: Hope S. Rugo, MD Director, Women's Cancers Program Division Chief, Breast Medical Oncology Professor, Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center Duarte, CA Professor Emeritus, UCSF Disclosures: Grant/Research Support: Ambrx; AstraZeneca; Daiichi Sankyo, Inc; F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG/Genentech, Inc; Gilead Sciences, Inc; Lilly; Merck & Co., Inc; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation; OBI Pharma; Pfizer; Stemline Therapeutics. Consultant: Napo Therapeutics; Puma Biotechnology; Sanofi. Honoraria: Chugai; Mylan/Viatris. Neil M. Iyengar, MD Associate Attending, Breast Medicine Service Program Lead, MSK Healthy Living Department of Medicine Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Associate Professor of Medicine Weill Cornell Medical College New York, NY Disclosures: Consultant/Adviser: Arvinas, AstraZeneca, BD Life Sciences, Daiichi Sankyo, Genentech/Roche, Gilead, Menarini-Stemline, Novartis, Pfizer, Puma, Seagen, TerSera Therapeutics. Speaker: Cardinal Health, Curio Sciences, DAVA Oncology, IntrinsiQ Health. Editorial Position: npj Breast Cancer, Oncology®. Equity/Ownership: Complement Theory, Bettering Company. Research Support (to institution): American Cancer Society, Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Conquer Cancer Foundation, Kat's Ribbon of Hope, National Cancer Institute/National Institutes of Health. Contracted Research: Novartis, SynDevRx. Komal Jhaveri, MD, FACP Patricia and James Cayne Chair for Junior Faculty Associate Attending Physician, Breast Medicine Service and Early Drug Development Service Section Head, Endocrine Therapy Research Program Clinical Director, Early Drug Development Service Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine Weill Cornell Medical College New York, NY Disclosures: Consultant/Advisory Board: AbbVie Inc, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP, Blueprint Medicines, Bristol Myers Squibb, Daiichi Sankyo Inc, Eisai Inc, Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, Gilead Sciences Inc, Jounce Therapeutics, Loxo Oncology Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly & Company, Menarini Group, Novartis, Olema Oncology, Pfizer Inc, Scorpion Therapeutics, Seagen Inc, Stemline Therapeutics Inc, Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company Ltd, Taiho Oncology Inc. Research Funding: AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP, Debiopharm, Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, Gilead Sciences Inc, Loxo Oncology Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly & Company, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer Inc, Puma Biotechnology Inc, Scorpion Therapeutics, Zymeworks Inc. The staff of Physicians' Education Resource®, LLC, have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies. PER® mitigated all COI for faculty, staff, and planners prior to the start of this activity by using a multistep process. Off-Label Disclosure and Disclaimer This activity may or may not discuss investigational, unapproved, or off-label use of drugs. Learners are advised to consult prescribing information for any products discussed. The information provided in this accredited activity is for continuing education purposes only and is not meant to substitute for the independent clinical judgment of a health care professional relative to diagnostic, treatment, or management options for a specific patient's medical condition. The opinions expressed in the content are solely those of the individual faculty members and do not reflect those of PER® or any company that provided commercial support for this activity.

Health care workers in Texas would have whistleblower protections for reporting legal, regulatory and ethical violations under a bill the Senate passed Thursday. The lawmakers voted 21-10 to send the proposal to the House. In other news, police are seeking the public's help to find a 76-year-old woman who was taken from an assisted living facility in Denton earlier this week. Karen May Taube was last seen about 5 p.m. Monday. A Silver Alert was issued Tuesday. An arrest warrant has been obtained for Eva Haron of Michigan. Haron and Taube's whereabouts were unknown Thursday, but police said the pair may be traveling together in a white 2018 Ford F150 with Michigan license plate DXZ9489. Also, Post Malone will headline the 2025 Cattle Baron's Ball, an annual North Texas party that's the world's largest single-night fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. And the Dallas Stars will at the very least, need another game to clinch their spot in the Western Conference finals. With a chance to end the series at Canada Life Centre in Game 5 in Winnipeg, the Stars offense went cold again, as the Jets secured a 4-0 win to force Game 6. The Stars still hold a 3-2 series lead with the opportunity to end it on home ice on Saturday.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Estás escuchando #JUNTOSRadio:        Si alguien de mi familia tiene cáncer, ¿yo también lo tendré?, ¿En qué consiste una prueba genética?, ¿Qué puedo hacer para reducir el riesgo si los análisis dan positivo?      Estas y otras preguntas nos responden nuestras invitadas: Laura Moreno, Consejera Genética especializada en cáncer en City of Hope e Isamara Cortés Cruz, Promotora de Salud en la comunidad del Centro Médico de la Universidad de Kansas.      Sobre nuestras invitadas:      Laura Moreno, también ocupa el cargo de profesora adjunta en Bay Path University. En 2020, obtuvo su maestría en Salud Pública con una concentración en Consejería Genética.      Laura ha sido autora de varias publicaciones que abordan las disparidades en salud dentro del campo de la consejería genética y que exploran estrategias educativas sobre el cáncer dirigidas a poblaciones minoritarias.       Además de su rol como consejera genética en cáncer, Laura comparte el curso de investigación para estudiantes de consejería genética en Bay Path University, donde fue reconocida con el premio de profesora distinguida en 2024. Laura está profundamente comprometida con incrementar la diversidad en el campo de la consejería genética y busca reducir las barreras que enfrentan las comunidades minoritarias para acceder a servicios genéticos. Ha creado y liderado numerosas sesiones de capacitación y seminarios web sobre el riesgo hereditario de cáncer, ofrecidos tanto en español como en inglés, diseñados especialmente para educadores de salud que trabajan predominantemente con la comunidad hispana.            Isamara Cortés Cruz, también ocupa el cargo como coordinadora de investigación clínica en el programa de investigación All of Us y participa en un programa de pruebas genéticas para personas con riesgo de cáncer hereditario. A través de diversas actividades de divulgación, eventos educativos y presentaciones, ella se esfuerza por mejorar la salud y el bienestar de su comunidad.      Recursos informativos en español:       American Cancer Society      https://www.cancer.org/es/cancer/prevencion-del-riesgo/genetica/sindromes-de-cancer-familiar.html      Clínica Mayo      https://www.mayoclinic.org/es/departments-centers/familial-cancer-program/overview/ovc-20198527            Facebook: @juntosKS           Instagram: juntos_ks           YouTube: Juntos KS   Twitter: @juntosKS           Página web: http://juntosks.org           Suscríbete en cualquiera de nuestras plataformas de Podcast: Podbean, Spotify, Amazon Music y Apple Podcast - Juntos Radio           Centro JUNTOS Para Mejorar La Salud Latina           4125 Rainbow Blvd. M.S. 1076,           Kansas City, KS 66160          No tenemos los derechos de autor de la música que aparece en este video. Todos los derechos de la música pertenecen a sus respectivos creadores. 

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Deborah Lang discuss the rise of skin cancer, particularly melanoma, and its causes. Dr. Lang explains that skin cancers are derived from different skin cells: basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, both linked to UV exposure, and melanoma, which can be UV-independent and linked to genetic susceptibility. Dr. Lang emphasizes the importance of early detection and personalized medicine, noting that melanoma can metastasize early. She also highlights the role of genetic mutations in cancer development and the impact of funding cuts on cancer research.    Key Takeaways: There are three major types of skin cancer. About 80% are basal cell carcinomas.  Because we are living longer, we have an increased chance of cancer. However, other reasons for increased skin cancer include increased UV exposure and tanning beds.  We are all born with moles, but if you notice a change or have a lot (such as over 100), it is worth getting them checked out.  Between 5 and 25 minutes of sun exposure per day is enough for your vitamin D production (less for lighter skin). However, sunlight has other benefits for your health and circadian rhythm.    "Melanomas are derived from a different type of cell - from cells that produce pigment called melanocytes. While this type of cancer is much rarer than basal cell carcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma, it is the most lethal type of skin cancer." —  Dr. Deborah Lang   Episode References:  NIH: https://www.nih.gov/  American Cancer Society: https://www.cancer.gov/  Leo Foundation: https://leo-foundation.org/en/    Connect with Dr. Deborah Lang: Professional Bio: https://profiles.bu.edu/Deborah.Lang  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborah-lang-691158208/  ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Deborah-Lang-38651370    Connect with Therese: Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net Threads: @critically_speaking Email: theresemarkow@criticallyspeaking.net   Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

Today, Brent sits down with Dr. Otis Brawley, a professor of oncology and epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University and former Chief Medical and Scientific Officer of the American Cancer Society. Dr. Brawley shares his expertise on cancer screening, shedding light on the often-overlooked risks of over-screening and unnecessary medical interventions. He challenges conventional wisdom, exploring how screenings can sometimes cause more harm than good and emphasizing the importance of evidence-based approaches to prevention and early detection. This conversation with Dr. Brawley highlights the need for prioritizing lifestyle changes, such as diet and exercise, over reliance on medical screenings alone. Hope you enjoy.

Everyone has a voice and a story worth sharing; public speaking is a powerful tool for personal and professional growth. This episode features Speaking Coach Laurie-Ann Murabito, who shares her journey from being a painfully shy individual to becoming a successful speaker and coach. We discuss the importance of public speaking skills, the various stages one can find to share their message, and the methodology behind crafting a compelling signature speech.  Laurie-Ann Murabito, Speaking & Visibility Coach, reformed painfully shy gal who accidentally became a professional speaker. She works with coaches and consultants to write and deliver captivating presentations to establish credibility, attract ideal clients, and monetize their authority. She combines her years as an award-winning professional speaker, executive leadership coach, and her obsession with neuroscience. Laurie-Ann is the best-selling author of Rethink Leadership and Rethink Your Leadership and hosts a Top 1% podcast, Be In Demand. A few of her clients are Johnson & Johnson, American Cancer Society, Bay State Wealth and Bali Mastermind by Sabrina Philipp.   To learn more, visit her website at SpeakAndStandOut.com or visit on IG at https://www.instagram.com/laurieann.murabito/ Links + Resources: ✨ Let's connect on IG--> instagram.com/kris10edwards_ ✨ Book a Free Call —> www.amplifyambition.com/links ENJOYING THE PODCAST? Follow/Subscribe, rate this show, and share it on social media too!

GDP Script/ Top Stories for May 3rd Publish Date: May 3rd PRE-ROLL: From the BG AD Group Studio Welcome to the Gwinnett Daily Post Podcast. Today is Saturday, May 3rd and Happy Birthday to James Brown I’m Peyton Spurlock and here are your top stories presented by Gwinnett KIA Mall of Georgia. GGC’s patient navigation program one of only a handful in the country Georgia Banking Company names new executive team members Truck driver, train crew walk away from collision in Buford without injuries Plus, the Stripers report with Dylan Dodd All of this and more is coming up on the Gwinnett Daily Post podcast, and if you are looking for community news, we encourage you to listen daily and subscribe! Break 1: 07.14.22 KIA MOG STORY 1: GGC’s patient navigation program one of only a handful in the country Patient navigators, a growing role in healthcare, help patients overcome barriers to care, improving outcomes for chronic and complex conditions. Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) offers one of the few bachelor’s programs in patient navigation, growing from 24 to 276 students since its 2021 launch. Eduardo Montero, a GGC student, chose this path to assist patients in navigating the healthcare system, emphasizing compassion and advocacy. Originating from a 1990 pilot program by the American Cancer Society, the field addresses financial, access, and emotional barriers. With demand projected to grow 14% by 2032, GGC’s program prepares students for diverse healthcare careers or advanced studies. STORY 2: Georgia Banking Company names new executive team members Georgia Banking Company CEO Bartow Morgan Jr. announced two leadership promotions. Jeff Kraus is now Chief Financial Officer, bringing 25 years of financial expertise, including roles as CFO and treasurer. He’ll oversee financial operations and strategic growth. Margaret Whieldon steps into the Chief Experience Officer role, leveraging her 25+ years in marketing to enhance customer and employee experiences. She’ll focus on fostering collaboration and ensuring customer voices are heard. Both joined the bank in 2021, and Morgan praised their leadership as key to the bank’s future success. STORY 3: Truck driver, train crew walk away from collision in Buford without injuries A train collided with a semi-truck in downtown Buford on Tuesday at the Little Mill Road railroad crossing, causing significant debris but no injuries. Videos on social media show the truck stopped on the tracks despite signage warning against it. The Norfolk Southern train, blowing its horn, struck the truck, tearing its trailer apart and scattering debris. Some trailer pieces remained attached to the train as it stopped further down the tracks. Gwinnett County Police confirmed the truck driver ignored posted warnings, and the accident report is pending release. We have opportunities for sponsors to get great engagement on these shows. Call 770.874.3200 for more info. We’ll be right back Break 2: STRIPERS INTERVIEW Break 3: STORY 6: Lawrenceville Announces Schedule For Summer Concert Series Lawrenceville’s LIVE in the DTL outdoor concert series returns this summer at the Lawrenceville Lawn, running from May 16 to September 12. The series kicks off with the Ultimate Dolly Parton Tribute, featuring a Dolly Look-Alike Contest with a $250 prize. Concerts are free, with food trucks starting at 6 PM, and VIP packages available for an upgraded experience. Guests can enjoy live music, local food, and explore downtown shops and breweries. Free parking is available, and event details, including food truck info, will be shared on The DTL website. STORY 7: Brookwood High grad wins Flavor of Georgia award for best barbecue sauce James Argo’s Oconee Gold Georgia Sweet Peach barbecue sauce won the Barbecue Sauce category in the 2025 UGA Flavor of Georgia competition, which featured over 170 entries. Argo, a Statham resident and Brookwood High graduate, has been perfecting his sauces since the early 2000s. Oconee Gold products are sold locally in Gwinnett County and online. The Flavor of Georgia contest, organized by UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, highlights innovative Georgia-made food products, boosting sales and recognition for participants since 2007. This year’s winners showcase the state’s rich culinary heritage. We’ll have closing comments after this Break 4: Ingles Markets 2 Signoff – Thanks again for hanging out with us on today’s Gwinnett Daily Post Podcast. If you enjoy these shows, we encourage you to check out our other offerings, like the Cherokee Tribune Ledger podcast, the Marietta Daily Journal, or the Community Podcast for Rockdale Newton and Morgan Counties. Read more about all our stories and get other great content at www.gwinnettdailypost.com Did you know over 50% of Americans listen to podcasts weekly? Giving you important news about our community and telling great stories are what we do. Make sure you join us for our next episode and be sure to share this podcast on social media with your friends and family. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home Briefing and be sure to like, follow, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Produced by the BG Podcast Network Show Sponsors: ingles-markets.com kiamallofga.com #NewsPodcast #CurrentEvents #TopHeadlines #BreakingNews #PodcastDiscussion #PodcastNews #InDepthAnalysis #NewsAnalysis #PodcastTrending #WorldNews #LocalNews #GlobalNews #PodcastInsights #NewsBrief #PodcastUpdate #NewsRoundup #WeeklyNews #DailyNews #PodcastInterviews #HotTopics #PodcastOpinions #InvestigativeJournalism #BehindTheHeadlines #PodcastMedia #NewsStories #PodcastReports #JournalismMatters #PodcastPerspectives #NewsCommentary #PodcastListeners #NewsPodcastCommunity #NewsSource #PodcastCuration #WorldAffairs #PodcastUpdates #AudioNews #PodcastJournalism #EmergingStories #NewsFlash #PodcastConversations See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dana Brown serves as President, CEO, and Chairman of the Board at iCAD Inc., which has developed a next-generation approach that leverages advancements in AI and imaging technology to improve the accuracy and efficiency of breast cancer screening.  This technology can help reduce unnecessary biopsies and additional tests while more accurately identifying cancers that need immediate attention. The concerning trend of rising breast cancer in younger women highlights the importance of early detection and personalized care plans. Dana explains, "Literally, iCAD's first FDA-cleared product in a first-generation AI was around 2002. So it's been well over 20 years. We're now on our fourth generation. So, yes, you're very accurate in describing this as a next-generation approach. So, not only has imaging technology improved over the past 20 years, but artificial intelligence has also improved. We continue to leverage the latest in artificial intelligence technology, how the artificial intelligence can be trained and learn, and a broad base of researchers that help us develop the solution. So you have new minds, new ways to think about solving the problem, and new technology that can be used to solve the problem. Then, there is a new underlying screening technology that gets better and better at clearer imaging." "The American Cancer Society reports that if we can catch a breast cancer very early in stage one, then the likelihood of, I'll say surviving breast cancer is 99%, so very, very high. So the earlier we can catch a breast cancer, the less invasive and costly and length of time the treatments can be. There are more options for those patients as well as the likelihood of a positive outcome, being able to again, have no further evidence of the disease is increased." #iCAD #BreastCancer #BreastCancerScreening #Radiology #CancerDetection #BreastBiopsies #Mammogram #WomensHealth #MedAI icadmed.com Download the transcript here

Dana Brown serves as President, CEO, and Chairman of the Board at iCAD Inc., which has developed a next-generation approach that leverages advancements in AI and imaging technology to improve the accuracy and efficiency of breast cancer screening.  This technology can help reduce unnecessary biopsies and additional tests while more accurately identifying cancers that need immediate attention. The concerning trend of rising breast cancer in younger women highlights the importance of early detection and personalized care plans. Dana explains, "Literally, iCAD's first FDA-cleared product in a first-generation AI was around 2002. So it's been well over 20 years. We're now on our fourth generation. So, yes, you're very accurate in describing this as a next-generation approach. So, not only has imaging technology improved over the past 20 years, but artificial intelligence has also improved. We continue to leverage the latest in artificial intelligence technology, how the artificial intelligence can be trained and learn, and a broad base of researchers that help us develop the solution. So you have new minds, new ways to think about solving the problem, and new technology that can be used to solve the problem. Then, there is a new underlying screening technology that gets better and better at clearer imaging." "The American Cancer Society reports that if we can catch a breast cancer very early in stage one, then the likelihood of, I'll say surviving breast cancer is 99%, so very, very high. So the earlier we can catch a breast cancer, the less invasive and costly and length of time the treatments can be. There are more options for those patients as well as the likelihood of a positive outcome, being able to again, have no further evidence of the disease is increased." #iCAD #BreastCancer #BreastCancerScreening #Radiology #CancerDetection #BreastBiopsies #Mammogram #WomensHealth #MedAI icadmed.com Listen to the podcast here

Why are more young adults getting cancer? It's a question researchers are racing to answer. In January, the American Cancer Society released a report detailing how despite the cancer mortality rate in the U.S. decreasing by 34% from 1991 to 2022, the progress is jeopardized by an increase in diagnoses of many types of cancer, especially in younger adults. As our guests this hour explain, navigating cancer diagnosis and treatment as a young person has unique challenges. We talk with them about the state of research and how to support young adults living with the disease. Our guests: Lauren Spiker, founder and executive director of 13thirty Cancer Connect Jamie Flerlage, M.D., chief, academic director, and associate professor of the Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Division at Golisano Children's Hospital and assistant director of clinical research at the Wilmot Cancer Institute Ashley Chittenden, survivor of acute myeloid leukemia and nurse practitioner in the Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Division at Golisano Children's Hospital/Wilmot Cancer Institute

April 28, 2025 ~ The Voices of Black Women study, conducted by the American Cancer Society, is designed to investigate health conditions affecting Black women. Dr. Carmen Stokes, the Voices of Black Women Ambassador at Henry Ford, joins Lloyd, Jamie, and Chris Renwick to talk about the study's goal to reduce health disparities and improving health results for Black women.

Recent statistics from the American Cancer Society reveal an increase in diagnoses of breast cancer among young women. We hear from two experts and a survivor about this trend, early detection, treatment and more.

Introducing Live from SXSW - Outdoing Cancer Is A Team Sport from Science Will Win.Follow the show: Science Will WinWhile cancer deaths in the United States have declined in recent years, some populations are being left behind—facing complicated challenges to accessing the care they need. Intervening at the earliest stages of disease onset is critical to cancer treatment success and to reducing the risk of recurrence. So how do we create a world where all people with cancer are quickly diagnosed and can live better, longer lives as science advances? In this conversation, patient advocates and healthcare leaders from Pfizer, the American Cancer Society, and the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association, discuss the power of collaboration in the effort to “Outdo Cancer.”Moderator• Tyrone McClain, Senior Director, Public Affairs, PfizerSpeakers• Carmen White, U.S. & Global Oncology Health Equity Lead, Pfizer• Pam Traxel, American Cancer Society, Cancer Action Network• Mary Stutts, CEO, Healthcare Businesswomen's Association (HBA)This episode was recorded live in Austin, TX on Monday, March 10, as part of Pfizer's takeover of the South by Southwest podcasting lounge.Please fill out our short survey so we can get to know our listeners better: pfizer.com/podcastsurvey DISCLAIMER: Please note, this is an independent podcast episode not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in conjunction with the host podcast feed or any of its media entities. The views and opinions expressed in this episode are solely those of the creators and guests. For any concerns, please reach out to team@podroll.fm.

*DISCLAIMER* This episode covers adult topics that are not intended for young ears.   260. Sex After Cancer with Dr. Kris Christiansen   James 1:19 (NIV) My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,   **Transcription Below**   Questions We Discuss: What is common mis-information that you want to set straight as it relates to cancer and sex? If someone is walking their own cancer journey right now, what would you advise them to both do and avoid doing so that they can still enjoy the healthiest sex life possible with their spouse? What hope do you have to share with people who have battled cancer and still desire to connect intimately with their spouse?   Dr. Kris Christiansen is a board-certified family physician who specializes in sexual medicine. She attended medical school and completed her residency in family medicine at the University of Minnesota. She practiced full spectrum family medicine for 10 years and then pursued additional training to specialize in sexual medicine. She works as a sexual medicine specialist at two different clinics in the twin cities.   Her clinical interests include both male and female sexual dysfunction, and she loves working with individuals and couples to restore an important part of life. Dr. Christiansen is involved with teaching medical students and residents at the University of Minnesota Medical School, and she has presented at multiple local, national, and international medical conferences. She is involved with the International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health (ISSWSH) and serves on committees, collaborates with other experts to publish articles for medical journals, and edits informational articles for the society's new patient facing website. She is passionate about teaching patients, students, and colleagues about the importance of sexual health and well-being. In her free time, she started her own business called Intimate Focus which provides information and quality products to enhance and restore sexual health and wellness. She also enjoys shopping, hiking, and spending time with her family.   Dr. Kris Christiansen's Website   Previous Episodes featuring Dr. Kris Christiansen on The Savvy Sauce: 215 Enriching Women's Sexual Function, Part One with Dr. Kris Christiansen 216 Enriching Women's Sexual Function, Part Two with Dr. Kris Christiansen   Additional Place to Find More Episodes from The Savvy Sauce Related to This Topic: One-Stop Shop for Marriage and Intimacy Resources   Dr. Kris Christiansen's Recommended Websites for Sexual Health: The Menopause Society Mayo Clinic National Institutes of Health International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health American Urological Association International Society of Sexual Medicine Sexual Medicine Society of North America American Cancer Society ISSWSH International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health SMSNA Sexual Medicine Society of North America  ISSM International Society of Sexual Medicine The Menopause Society   Find a provider: For a women's sexual health provider, pelvic floor physical therapist, (non-Christian) sex therapist ABCST American Board of Christian Sex Therapists (for a Christian sex therapist)   Thank You to Our Sponsor: Leman Property Management Company   Connect with The Savvy Sauce on Facebook or Instagram or Our Website   Please help us out by sharing this episode with a friend, leaving a 5-star rating and review on Apple Podcasts, and subscribing to this podcast!   Gospel Scripture: (all NIV)   Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”   Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”   Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”    Hebrews 9:22 (b) “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”    Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”    Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”    John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”   Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”    Luke 15:10 says “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”   Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”   Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession- to the praise of his glory.”   Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”   Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“   Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“   Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”   **Transcription**   Music: (0:00 – 0:09)   Laura Dugger: (0:10 - 1:22) Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, where we have practical chats for intentional living. I'm your host, Laura Dugger, and I'm so glad you're here.    Leman Property Management Co. has the apartment you will be able to call home, with over 1,700 apartment units available in Central Illinois.   Visit them today at lemanproperties.com or connect with them on Facebook.    Today's message is not intended for little ears. We'll be discussing some adult themes, and I want you to be aware before you listen to this message.   Not many people specialize in the same thing as our returning guest for today, Dr. Kris Christiansen. She specializes in sexual medicine, and today she's going to provide clarity, information, and direction for how to maximize sexual pleasure with our spouse after one receives a cancer diagnosis. Here's our chat.   Welcome back to The Savvy Sauce, Dr. Christiansen.   Dr. Kris Christiansen: (1:23 - 1:30) Well, thank you so much, Laura. We had so much fun last time, and I'm looking forward to this conversation again today.   Laura Dugger: (1:31 - 1:57) Likewise. I feel the same way. And it really wasn't that long ago that you were on The Savvy Sauce two times, so I'll make sure and link to both of those episodes in the show notes for today.   But hopefully everybody's already well acquainted with you, and that's why we're just kind of diving right into our topic today. So, for starters, how did this topic of sex after cancer become an interest of yours to study?   Dr. Kris Christiansen: (2:00 - 2:32) Well, so Laura, my job as a sexual medicine physician is that I work with both men and women and helping them with their sexual lives when they have problems or whatever. So, cancer is often a big part of that. So, through my journey with work, I've just developed a significant interest in learning how to really care for people to help restore this important part of life.   Laura Dugger: (2:33 - 2:52) Absolutely, because a lot is taken away when somebody gets that awful diagnosis, and so I'm very grateful for people like you who are experts. But is there any common misinformation that you would like to set straight as it relates to cancer and sex?   Dr. Kris Christiansen: (2:55 - 6:42) Well, interesting you say that, because there is so much misinformation out there just about sex in general. And then when we throw cancer in on top of that, it just makes it even more complicated. So, I think a common fear that people experience when they get that diagnosis that they hope they never hear, the C word, is that it's going to have a significant impact on their sexual intimacy.   And you know what, it can, but that doesn't mean that that chapter in life is closed. We just have to remember that sexual intimacy is much, much broader than just intercourse. So, if we can refer to this as PIV sex, penis in vagina sex, many people view it as kind of an all or none thing.   If they can't have vaginal intercourse or that PIV sex, then they don't want anything at all. Unfortunately, that just rules out or shuts out so much of sexual intimacy that God has intended for us. We may not be able to engage in the same activities for a time or even long term, but that doesn't mean that we can't connect.   So, if we try to remember that intimacy, sexual intimacy is all about giving and receiving pleasure, then there are so many more opportunities. So, we have to get beyond the fact that sexual intimacy, sexual intercourse is just vaginal intercourse because it's not. It's giving and receiving pleasure.   And however people want to connect or comfortable connecting, that they can still enjoy a very fruitful sex life. The other thing that is misunderstood and misconceptions is estrogen, vaginal estrogen, especially. Because, well, all women who enter menopause and you're in menopause for the rest of your life do experience some changes.   And it's so common that women experience the genital urinary syndrome of menopause. That's vaginal atrophy, or when the tissues get drier and thinner and there can be tearing and pain as well as bleeding and decreased sensation, decreased sensitivity. These things are common with aging, but oftentimes cancer treatments emphasize that or accelerate it or make it even worse.   And vaginal estrogen is really, really safe. It does not cause cancer. And most of the studies show that even in women who have breast cancer, that it doesn't cause recurrence.   So vaginal estrogen, being so safe, can really save our vaginas. And we're talking about vaginal health and bladder health. It's not just about sex, but it helps keep our bodies functioning properly and minimizing pain and discomfort.   So, if a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer and she's on treatment, then obviously we have to talk to the oncologist, make sure they're okay with that. But we get more and more studies showing it's safety and it's definitely effective and can help keep our tissues young.   Laura Dugger: (6:42 - 7:25) This is really helpful and brand new information to me. So someone, like you used that example, if they have breast cancer diagnosis and there's different types, but if they're doing the treatment where perhaps they go into early menopause or they have a hysterectomy or remove their ovaries and they even have an estrogen blocker so that they're not producing estrogen, for that type, you're still saying as long as you're working with the oncologist for that personal client, even in those situations, vaginal estrogen, which would be, I'm assuming, more of a cream or something you insert to the vagina, is that right? That that would be safe?   Dr. Kris Christiansen: (7:25 - 10:55) So, where it gets a little gray is if the woman is taking an aromatase inhibitor, which is the estrogen blocker. So, it pretty much wipes all estrogen out of her system. There's a little more risk there.   So most definitely we need to double check with the oncologist. But it often comes down to quality of life. I have a patient who, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, I believe, in her early 60s.   And she came to me at the sexual medicine clinic and she was just miserable. I mean, when we think of vaginal dryness, you think of, okay, it's annoying. You use a lubricant, right, and it's going to be just fine.   In the beginning, yes, that's the case. But this genital urinary syndrome of menopause, GSM, gets worse with time, especially with those anti-estrogen treatments. And for this poor woman, she couldn't exercise.   She loved to go hiking. She loved to go skiing. And just any kind of movement was painful.   And we don't think of that. We kind of take it for granted. But for some women who really experience severe side effects of the breast cancer treatments and causing dryness and irritation, it affects everything.   And for her, we tried all the non-hormonal things first. They didn't work. And her oncologist gave us the blessing saying, you know, we tried it.   This is really important to you. Let's give it a try. And so, we've monitored her, and the vaginal estrogen hasn't caused any problems.   So, a couple points on that. With the vaginal estrogen, yes, it comes as a cream. There's a tablet, which is like a little pill with an applicator that you insert in the vagina.   There are vaginal inserts. They look like little caplets that you just insert with the finger. There's a vaginal ring.   But with the localized treatment, it's meant to just act locally, meaning just on the vaginal tissues. And, oh, package insert. So, you know, here we tell patients, vaginal estrogen is safe.   Don't worry. It's not going to cause cancer, heart attack, strokes, or blood clots. But then they go home.   They get their prescription. They open up the patient insert, package insert, and it talks about risks and bad things that can happen and side effects. Unfortunately, the FDA says we have to use the class labeling or the side effects that are associated with systemic estrogen.   And it automatically gets applied to the localized or vaginal estrogen treatments. So, patients go home, they read that, and they think we're lying to them. But, unfortunately, it's just very misleading because we have plenty of studies to show that vaginal estrogen doesn't cause those terrible things.   And it's very safe. So, they just have to trust us. And there are groups and people out there trying to work with the FDA to get that class labeling effect removed because it just scares everybody away from using estrogen, which can be so helpful.   Laura Dugger: (10:57 - 11:04) Wow, that is helpful. Is there any other common misinformation you want to make sure we don't overlook before we continue on?   Dr. Kris Christiansen: (11:05 - 11:29) Well, I made a few notes here. No, I don't think so. Except that media, television, and all that other stuff that we see out there is so misleading when it comes to sexual intimacy.   Because sex in real life doesn't look like what you see in the movies. Yeah.   Laura Dugger: (11:30 - 11:45) Great, great point. And so, when somebody does get, like you said, that dreaded C-word diagnosis, what's a common path that they may experience as it affects them sexually?   Dr. Kris Christiansen: (11:48 - 14:00) Well, so, the different cancers are so different and treatments are so different that it's hard to generalize for everybody. But, you know, first thing most people experience is fear. What's this mean for me?   What's this mean for my life, my family? Am I going to be around in five years? So, it's that fear.   And the initial part of that journey is often involved with meeting with lots of doctors, having all the tests, trying to figure out what's going on, what we're going to do. And sexual intimacy often isn't part of that first steps that they take. So, but when things kind of finally settle down, then those questions start popping up.   What does this mean? It's important to talk with your cancer journey, your cancer team, the oncology team to find out what's going on. And it's important to ask all these questions because doctors really aren't very good about asking about sexual health and what that means to you.   Oncologists, generally speaking, they want to treat the cancer and their job is done when the cancer is treated, under control, gone, whatever. And they've done a good job. However, so many of us are just left afterwards saying, okay, thanks, cancer's gone, but now what?   And so, it's a matter of really trying to figure out what's important over time, learning what's going to work and what's not. And know that there are people out there to help you and that want to help you if it's not going as planned. You know, I just want to reiterate that people really need to advocate for themselves and they need to ask questions.   And if they're not getting the answers that they want, don't give up because there are people, organizations, information out there that can be helpful. So rather than just worrying about what's next, seek help.   Laura Dugger: (14:02 - 14:18) That's really great advice. And I think this may be an appropriate place to pause and just get some of those recommended places. Because if somebody, this is new to them and they don't know where to turn, do you have any places or websites off the top of your mind that you would recommend?   Dr. Kris Christiansen: (14:20 - 15:41) Well, so cancer.org, the American Cancer Society has a lot of resources on there. When it comes to menopause-type symptoms and such, menopause.org is the Menopause Society, which has a lot of information. And a website called PROSAYLA, it's P-R-O-S-A-Y-L-A.com, is a website that's managed by ISHWISH.   We've got all these acronyms. The International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health. So that is my go-to.   Okay, so that's the organization where there's so much research and science and such happening. And the PROSAYLA.org or prosayla.com, either one works, is a website where there are several articles written by experts in the field. So, these are articles backed by science.   It's not just somebody's opinion or somebody's blog. And I know there's an article on there about sex or cancer and sexuality. So, some generalities and some other references on that site too.   Laura Dugger: (15:42 - 15:51) Okay, that is super helpful information. We'll make sure and add links to those places as well. Anything else that you want to make sure we don't miss?   Dr. Kris Christiansen: (15:52 - 17:36) Well, when we talk about sexual concerns or sexual problems, we always try to approach it from a biopsychosocial aspect. Because those three different entities all play a big role in what works well and what doesn't. So, from the biological section, that's pain, medications, nerve problems, chronic medical problems.   So obviously cancer plays a big role in that. And with cancer treatments and such, pain may be part of that, nausea, fatigue. And so, we just don't feel the same going through these treatments because it's really hard.   As far as the psych bubble, I'm usually referencing a Venn diagram here. Psychological, so when we experience anxiety or depression or performance anxiety, that plays a big role. So, we need to take a step back and realize that what happens up here in our brain has a huge impact on how our bodies function physically.   And then as far as the social aspect, that's our relationships, our interpersonal relationships with our partner, our spouse, with our family and how things are going on at work. A cancer diagnosis and treatment can affect all of those. And so, it's not just a magic pill to improve your libido because if we don't treat all these other things, people continue to struggle with their sexual function.   Laura Dugger: (18:01 - 19:46) Duplexes, studios and garden style options located in many areas throughout Pekin. In Peoria, a historic downtown location and apartments adjacent to the OSF Medical Center provide excellent choices. Check out their brand-new luxury property in Peoria Heights overlooking the boutique shops and fine dining on Prospect.   And in Morton, they offer a variety of apartment homes with garages, a hot downtown location and now a brand-new high-end complex near Idlewood Park. Their beautiful, spacious apartments with private garages in a quiet but convenient location await you in Washington. And if you're looking in Canton, don't miss Village Square Apartments.   Renters may be excited to learn about their flexible leases, pet-friendly locations and even mini storage units available in some locations. Leman Property Management Co. has a knowledgeable and helpful staff, including several employees with over 30 years working with this reputable company. If you want to become a part of their team, contact them about open office positions.   They're also hiring in their maintenance department, so we invite you to find out why so many people have chosen to make a career with them. Check them out on Facebook today or email their friendly staff at Leasing@LemanProps.com. You can also stop by their website at lemanproperties.com.   That's LEMANproperties.com. Check them out and find your place to call home today.    Also, Dr. Kris, are there any certain cancers or treatments that have the most detrimental impact on a person's sex life?   Dr. Kris Christiansen: (19:48 - 23:15) We know that cancers that affect the breast, for women, but men too get breast cancer, and also the genital area have the biggest impact. We've talked a fair amount about breast cancer. Many of the treatments for breast cancer result in early menopause.   If a woman is premenopausal when this happens, menopause can have a definite impact. The treatments can cause the pain and dryness and decrease sensitivity. Also, if surgery is involved in a mastectomy, it can affect our own body self-image.   From a more physical standpoint too, when we have the mastectomy and those nerves are cut, it decreases the sensitivity. For a lot of women, breast stimulation is really important as part of their sexual play. If now her breasts are gone and she can't feel anything when her husband is touching her breasts, that can be a really hard adjustment.   Any cancers that affect the genital area, uterine cancer, ovarian cancer, or anal rectal cancer for both men and women, and prostate cancer for men, those all have a huge impact. In addition to working with a lot of women who have breast cancer and overcoming and improving those areas, I work with a lot of men who have prostate cancer. Those treatments usually result in erection problems and urinary incontinence, which can be hard to deal with.   Men who have a prostatectomy, so if they have their prostate removed, then 100% of them are going to have erectile dysfunction in the beginning. It's going to take time for those nerves to recover, and it may take up to two years to see that full recovery. In those first few months when I'm working with men, I'm trying to be their cheerleader, saying, don't lose hope, don't give up, because this is going to get better.   It just takes time for those nerves to regrow. In the process, though, it is important to do whatever we can to make sure that that tissue stays healthy. Remember that the penis is actually muscle, muscle tissue, smooth muscle.   If we don't use a muscle for several months, atrophy sets in, which is a bad thing. With atrophy, the penis can shrink in size, and scar tissue potentially can set in, and it just makes that recovery less optimal than what it would have been. Trying to maintain the blood flow during those first few months or first year is really helpful.   Just to help maintain the blood flow and the oxygen to help keep the tissues healthy, so when the tenders do recover as best as they're going to, we get the best outcome.   Laura Dugger: (23:16 - 23:36) This may be an ignorant question, but then if erectile issues are present during that first time period, but it's crucial to have the blood flow to that area, what can men do to increase blood flow there, even if erection is difficult or impossible?   Dr. Kris Christiansen: (23:36 - 25:01) That's a great question. Taking a medication like Viagra or Cialis. Cialis is my favorite because it stays in the system for a good 36 to 48 hours every time you take it.   If you're just taking a low dose every day, it just encourages a little bit of that blood flow every day. Using a vacuum device, which I just happen to have one right here, looks like this. A penis goes inside the cylinder, we create a vacuum or suction, and it pulls the blood flow in.   It's not the most sexy thing, but using it and using the vacuum device several times a week just to get that blood flow going is a very helpful way to keep the tissues healthy. Getting an erection with the vacuum doesn't get those arousal-type feelings, so it looks a little weird, but it does work. For men who want to use this for sexual activity, you can get the erection within the tube, and then it comes with these tight rings that are stretched over the edge of the cylinder.   Once you get the full erection within the tube, you slide that ring off to maintain the erection.   Laura Dugger: (25:04 - 25:14) That's incredible just to pause and think of God's grace and these inventions and how incredible that there are solutions. Please continue, but I find that encouraging.   Dr. Kris Christiansen: (25:16 - 27:39) There are all kinds of encouraging things, but if you're in the middle of this journey, it can be sometimes hard to keep going when you're not getting the results that you want to. But we believe in a big God, and he created sexual intimacy, and it's a gift. Other ways to help manage erectile dysfunction and a couple other show-and-tell things here.   This medication is called Muse. The actual medication is a pellet that comes preloaded in this applicator. You insert it in the tip of the penis, the medication gets absorbed, and 10 minutes later, magic happens.   I don't prescribe this very often because it's really, really expensive, a little harder to find. But the advantage to this medication is that it doesn't need the nerves to work, whereas the medications like Viagra and Cialis, they need the nerves. Guys usually kind of turn white when I pull this out.   For our listeners, I'm holding an insulin syringe and needle. There is such a treatment where you can actually inject a tiny amount of medicine directly into the penis, and it will give you an erection. I tell men that with the pills like Viagra and Cialis, just in general with ED, it works in about 60% of men.   We can get this to work, the injections to work, in 90-95%. It's such a tiny needle that men say it feels like a poke or a pinch once they get past that initial shock that they think is going to hurt. The usual response is, oh, that wasn't so bad, and it's very effective.   This can work within four to six weeks, so whenever your surgeon says it's okay to engage in sexual activity again, this will work. Then last but not least is a penile implant. That's surgery, and that you have to wait at least a year, if not two, after the prostate surgery.   That works in 99.99%. Wow.   Laura Dugger: (27:40 - 27:56) We were focusing a lot on men for that one. Is there any medication or any other injections or anything like that for women, other than the vaginal cream or different ways to get estrogen in the vagina?   Dr. Kris Christiansen: (27:58 - 31:15) Yes, we've got all kinds of treatments. If a woman has breast cancer, or for whatever reason we want to avoid hormones as much as possible, then generally we're starting with a vaginal moisturizer, which is different than a lubricant. A lubricant is just for sexual activity and just to make things slipperier and feel better.   That often helps in the beginning, but as the GSM or the atrophy continues, the lubricant isn't enough. A moisturizer, think of like a facial moisturizer or a moisturizer for your hand, in order for it to work, you have to use it regularly, which is probably at least three times a week. These moisturizers can come in forms of a liquid that gets injected.   They're little capsules that you can insert. Reveri is a hyaluronic acid suppository, which you insert in the vagina and over time that can be really helpful. One of my favorites is this Rosebud Everyday Balm.   It's a really nice balm that you can put on the tissues inside the lips and inside the vagina. It's just really, really soothing. Again, you've got to use these things regularly.   It will take a good two months at least to see the full effect, so it doesn't work right away. Just like with the guys where they've got to be patient with the nerves, we have to be persistent and patient with things that can work. A vaginal moisturizer is really helpful.   A lubricant for sexual activity. There are over-the-counter and prescription medications that can help with arousal and orgasm. There are two approved medications for the treatment of low libido in premenopausal women.   One is Addi, which is a pill that you take every day, also known as the pink pill. Another treatment is Vilece, which is an injection. It comes in a pen, so you never see the needle and really don't feel the needle.   You give it to yourself about 45 minutes to an hour before sexual activity. Both of these medications are working on the brain chemistry because the brain is the biggest sex organ in the body. It's the most important sex organ.   It works on the brain chemistry and improving the dopamine and norepinephrine and the good sex positive hormones. Like I said, it's only approved for premenopausal women, but many of us do prescribe it for postmenopausal women. We have studies to show that it's safe and it's effective.   The drug companies didn't go through with all the rigmarole they had to do to get the FDA-approved indication for that. We've got all kinds of tricks up our sleeve.   Laura Dugger: (31:16 - 31:26) Absolutely. Just piggybacking on that, they wouldn't oftentimes follow through on all those studies, would you say primarily because of financial restraints?   Dr. Kris Christiansen: (31:27 - 31:41) Totally. To get a medication approved for female sexual function, it's multi-million, if not a billion dollars. Studies and everything that needs to be done, it's crazy.   That's why these meds are so expensive.   Laura Dugger: (31:42 - 32:14) Then you also mentioned earlier bringing in the quality of life. There are so many options to consider, but such a personal basis. I had another question that arose.   You kind of were answering that because this one works with the brain chemistry. I'm thinking the body parts may be functioning and you can do different things to have an erection or be aroused with your genitalia, but how is desire affected with cancer?   Dr. Kris Christiansen: (32:16 - 35:03) It's huge, unfortunately. Again, if we go back to that biopsychosocial model and for everything to work well, everything's got to be working well. If we have pain, of course that drives down desire.   We use the analogy of putting your hand on a hot stove. Pain with sex can hurt just as badly as that. I have women tell me it's 10 out of 10 pain feels like shards of glass.   Obviously, that's not pleasant. If we compare that to putting your hand on a hot stove, why in the world would you want to do that? We've got to take care of the pain.   When it comes to pain, it becomes imprinted in the brain and the body responds by just amplifying that pain. You've got more pain and you have less desire. Part of GSM or surgery or chemotherapy and other treatments, radiation, can affect the nerves.   We don't get those positive sensations and the arousal anymore. There's arousal in the brain as well as arousal in the genital area. If we're not getting that positive feedback that this just isn't fun anymore, it's hard to get enthused about engaging in that.   Sex therapy can be really helpful. Sex therapy isn't going to fix thin tissues, but a sex therapist is very skilled and trained at working with people and working with couples on trying to process this, working through the process and the changes that are happening. Sometimes it is a permanent change in sexual function, so there's grief involved.   Helping to process through some of that is really important. But again, if we take a step back and remember that sexual intimacy is more than just PIV sex, that there are all kinds of ways to be able to give and receive pleasure, as long as each person is comfortable with this. And moving beyond the thinking that, well, if I can't have intercourse, I'm not going to have anything at all, then that may mean you might not have anything at all for the rest of your life.   That makes me sad. We just have to take a step back, work through some of this, because it's a journey, it's a cancer journey, it's an aging journey, and try to make the most of it.   Laura Dugger: (35:04 - 36:32) I want to make sure that you're up to date with our latest news. We have a new website. You can visit thesavvysauce.com and see all of the latest updates. You may remember Francie Hinrichsen from episode 132, where we talked about pursuing our God-given dreams. She is the amazing businesswoman who has carefully designed a brand-new website for Savvy Sauce Charities, and we are thrilled with the final product. So, I hope you check it out.   There you're going to find all of our podcasts, now with show notes and transcriptions listed, a scrapbook of various previous guests, and an easy place to join our email list to receive monthly encouragement and questions to ask your loved ones so that you can have your own practical chats for intentional living. You will also be able to access our donation button or our mailing address for sending checks that are tax deductible so that you can support the work of Savvy Sauce Charities and help us continue to reach the nations with the good news of Jesus Christ. So, make sure you visit thesavvysauce.com.   What are some of those examples for someone if they can't have PIV sex anymore? What are ways that you encourage continuing to build intimacy and a knowing of one another and offering and receiving pleasure?   Dr. Kris Christiansen: (36:34 - 41:17) Well, starting with making sure each person is on the same page as far as what they're comfortable with. Okay? Communication is key.   To be able to talk about what you want, what you desire, what your needs are, and listening to your partner say that same thing, trying to make no judgments and not forcing anybody into anything, but just so that we can help understand each other. And when it comes to actual giving and receiving pleasure, whether that's with manual stimulation, with your hands, with your fingers, or if you have a massager, oral stimulation, using a vibrator. And a vibrator can be really helpful for women in menopause, women dealing with cancer treatments, and also for men if they need a little extra help with the stimulation because their nerves aren't working so well.   A vibrator, using it together in the context of giving and receiving pleasure can help, just help with the response, help with the enjoyment, and make it a little more fun, as long as everybody's okay with that. Using a lubricant is really important. And a good lubricant, you want to use a good lubricant because some of the more common ones, unfortunately, have ingredients in them that can actually hurt or irritate.   And like KY and Astroglide, sorry to name names here, but they're basic water-based lubricants, have either glycerin, parabens, or propylene glycol in them, and those can irritate, so we want to try to avoid those. A silicone-based lubricant doesn't have those preservatives, and it stays slippery longer. Where we have to be careful with that is that if you're using a silicone tool, otherwise known as a vibrator, you don't want to use those together because it can ruin the tool.   And if the man is struggling with ED, using too much, especially of a silicone lubricant, can make it too slippery. And too slippery is not so good for him. Oil-based lubricants, they're very nice, except if you're using condoms, it will degrade the condom and create other problems, potentially.   Other ways to stimulate, manually, orally, and when women have pain with intercourse, I'm going to bring in another show-and-tell here, the pain is often coming from the vulva, not so much in the vagina. We talk about vaginal dryness and vaginal atrophy, but the part that's most sensitive is often just right inside the little lips here. And so, if we have terrible pain with penetration, we want to avoid that.   However, the whole surrounding vulvar area is very rich in nerves, can be very much stimulated, and it can feel really good, however each person is comfortable stimulating that area. And another fun fact is that this entire structure is the clitoris. You know, when we think of the clitoris, we think of the glands, this tiny little magic button right here, which, by the way, has 10,000 nerve endings in it.   It's incredible. But the legs, the legs are the cruise of the clitoris, as well as the bulbs. They come down on either side of the vagina.   So, the vagina is here. However, this part of the clitoris can easily be stimulated, so the legs of the clitoris can be easily stimulated, just inside the labia majora, or the outer lips. So, using a vibrator here can be really pleasurable, and you're avoiding the part that hurts.   So, stimulating externally the clitoris, the labia, and wherever else feels good can be very fun. And so, if you try to approach it may be like a game, making it fun and exploring each other's bodies so that you can really figure out ways to make the other person feel good or experience pleasure without causing pain.   Laura Dugger: (41:18 - 41:43) That's so great. And like you had mentioned, if they go see a Christian sex therapist, they would say the same thing as you to stop when there is pain, because it just makes it worse over time. And so, I love that you've given us other options, if that is the case.   Is there ever a time where orgasm is no longer possible after cancer?   Dr. Kris Christiansen: (41:46 - 43:14) It's possible. Yes. Depending on the cancer and the treatment, that it can make it really difficult or even impossible to get there.   But that's where we want to not focus on orgasm as the ultimate goal, because if we engage in sexual activity with orgasm as the ultimate goal, your brain's not going to let you go there, whether it's the male or the female, either one, the brain is the biggest sex organ in the body. Just trying to go for the gold just won't let you get there. So, you have to relax and enjoy the journey regardless.   So even if the cancer or the treatment didn't necessarily affect orgasm or if it's just our brains, my encouragement is to approach a sexual encounter as an experience. Enjoy the experience. It's not a performance.   We don't want to perform because then we get in our head, and we get nervous and our muscles all tighten up. So, we don't want to perform. We want to enjoy the experience, and it can be very pleasurable.   Even if orgasm isn't part of the picture anymore, it doesn't mean you can't have fun and can't connect because you can.   Laura Dugger: (43:15 - 43:25) But then I guess also to offer the hope, if I ask it a different way, are there times that orgasm is still possible after a cancer diagnosis?   Dr. Kris Christiansen: (43:27 - 44:01) Absolutely. We always have hope. We always have hope.   Just because you're diagnosed with cancer doesn't mean you're not going to be able to engage in PIV sex or be able to experience an orgasm because that's always a possibility. Don't focus on just getting to the big orgasm. You want to slow down, enjoy the journey, and oftentimes it will come.   There are medications that help with blood flow, that help with arousal and orgasm, and sometimes they can be helpful. Sometimes they're not, but usually it doesn't hurt to try them.   Laura Dugger: (44:02 - 44:26) There you go. That's a very helpful reminder. It's a piece of the puzzle, not the whole thing.   But if someone right now is walking through their own cancer journey, what else would you advise them both to do and to avoid doing so that they can still enjoy the healthiest sex life possible with their spouse?   Dr. Kris Christiansen: (44:29 - 47:19) That's going to involve several pieces. One, first and foremost, maintain the communication about wants and desires, what hurts, what doesn't, what can we do, what do you want to try tonight? Maintaining the communication.   It's much better to prevent problems like the vaginal dryness and pain than to try to treat it after you've been dealing with it for years sometimes, or even months. If you have, say, breast cancer, just getting in the habit of using one of those vaginal moisturizers from the get-go even before the dryness starts can help prevent problems. Seeing a pelvic floor physical therapist can be really, really helpful.   A pelvic floor physical therapist is a physical therapist who specializes in these pelvic floor muscles that help support everything on the inside. And so if these muscles are too tight, causes pain, and if they're already too tight, doing tangles is the last thing that you want to do, because sometimes it means being able to relax them. Or women who have, who need pelvic radiation, say for uterine cancer, the gynecologic oncologist is usually really good about giving you a vaginal dilator and to use it, but they're not always really good at telling you exactly how to use it, how frequently and how long, so be sure and ask.   Because again, we want to maintain the integrity of the tissues, because it's better to maintain them than try to get it back. That's often quite hard. For guys, especially with prostate cancer, it means participating in that, we call it penile rehabilitation.   So, it's basically physical therapy for the penis. You know, its muscle, so we want to keep that muscle healthy and to help maintain healthy tissues. And just trying to be as good to ourselves as we can, giving ourselves and our partners grace when we need it, because it's a journey and it's not an easy one.   But we believe in a big God and he's there to help us through this and he delights when husband and wife can unite as one, whatever that looks like. And it makes him happy and he's there to try to keep this going for us.   Laura Dugger: (47:21 - 47:40) And you may have already answered this question with that, but I love how you're always encouraging and gentle and full of hope. So, any other hope that you want to share with anyone who's battled cancer or is in the midst of their journey, but they're still desiring to connect intimately with their spouse?   Dr. Kris Christiansen: (47:47 - 48:33) Sometimes it means asking for help. So, for finding a provider, whether that's a therapist, a gynecologist, a sexual medicine provider, or even your pastor counselor to help you through this. In the show notes, we'll put in websites where you can find a provider because not everybody is educated.   Hardly anybody's educated on this, unfortunately. But there are people out there throughout the country, throughout the world, where you can find to help guide you on this journey. Don't suffer in silence.   We're here to help. So be sure to reach out so we can help you.   Laura Dugger: (48:33 - 48:50) That's so good, Dr. Christiansen. And are there any other proactive measures that all of us can take to set us up for a healthy sex life into aging or any diagnoses that we may get in the future?   Dr. Kris Christiansen: (48:53 - 50:38) Well, treating our body like a temple, like God says. We have to take good care of ourselves. And just in general, going for your preventative visits and checking your cholesterol and your blood sugar and your blood pressure and screening for cancer so we can prevent them or catch them really early.   And it's so much easier to treat. But things like smoking and diabetes and being overweight and high blood pressure, high cholesterol, they impact sexual function very negatively, especially smoking. Guys are still surprised when I tell them, or I show them a picture of a cigarette with ashes that are kind of wilting off the end.   This is your penis. This is what happens with smoking. Okay.   So quitting smoking. And in women, we have those same little blood vessels and nerves that men do. And so not taking care of ourselves as far as weight, exercise and diabetes and all that stuff, that affects our sexual function, too.   So just making sure that we take a proactive stance on just taking really good care of our medical and our mental health because that's so important. And our spiritual health. Can't forget that, too.   Yeah. Just, you know, taking care of ourselves because aging does impact sexual function. As we get older, our endurance isn't quite what it used to be.   Certainly not as flexible as we used to be. Things kind of hurt. Achy joints and whatever.   So, the more we can take care of ourselves, the more we can enjoy that sexual intimacy, which does involve a little bit of physical exertion.   Laura Dugger: (50:39 - 51:03) Absolutely. Well, you've shared a lot of places where we can go to seek help. But I would love to know where we can continue to learn from you or a website where people can find out more of your offerings because you mentioned not many people are educated in this field or on this topic, but you are a great resource.   So where would you direct all of us after this chat?   Dr. Kris Christiansen: (51:05 - 52:23) Well, I started my own business called Intimate Focus, Intimate-Focus.com. Where my goal is to offer education and quality products that people can use to help equip them and enhance sexual intimacy. As part of my clinical career where I see patients, we'd often talk about using a good lubricant or getting a vibrator to help with those nerves that just aren't quite as effective anymore.   And so many times they told me they were just not comfortable going to an adult store or they didn't want to purchase them on Amazon because it could be a shared account and kids or whatever may see what they're ordering. So, this is a private and secure site and I don't even know how to sell your email so don't worry, that's not going to happen. Where you can purchase good quality products, I vet them out myself to make sure that they don't contain the ingredients that I encourage women to avoid and no pictures with nudity or anything like that because I want it to be a comfortable space or at least as comfortable as we can make it for everybody.   Laura Dugger: (52:24 - 52:43) Wonderful. Well, I'll certainly link that in the show notes as well. And Dr. Christiansen, you are already a friend of The Savvy Sauce, so you know that we're called The Savvy Sauce because savvy is synonymous with practical knowledge. And so, as my final question for you today, what is your Savvy Sauce?   Dr. Kris Christiansen: (52:46 - 53:15) Well, you know, James in the Bible is a very practical kind of guy and I love his advice that we should all be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. And if we were all able to do that or at least just a little more of that, I think our world would be a much better place to live.   Laura Dugger: (53:16 - 53:42) This is so good. I cannot hear that verse enough and I just truly look so forward to the times that I get to spend with you. You are such a calming presence full of wisdom.   That's what we prayed for before we had the recording begin for today. And I am just overflowing with gratitude. So, thank you, Dr. Christiansen, for all that you've shared. Thank you so much for being my returning guest.   Dr. Kris Christiansen: (53:43 - 53:48) Well, thank you, Laura. This has been great. It's an honor to be on your show.   Laura Dugger: (53:50 - 57:32) One more thing before you go. Have you heard the term gospel before?   It simply means good news. And I want to share the best news with you. But it starts with the bad news.   Every single one of us were born sinners, but Christ desires to rescue us from our sin, which is something we cannot do for ourselves. This means there is absolutely no chance we can make it to heaven on our own. So, for you and for me, it means we deserve death and we can never pay back the sacrifice we owe to be saved.   We need a savior. But God loved us so much, he made a way for his only son to willingly die in our place as the perfect substitute. This gives us hope of life forever in right relationship with him.   That is good news. Jesus lived the perfect life we could never live and died in our place for our sin. This was God's plan to make a way to reconcile with us so that God can look at us and see Jesus.   We can be covered and justified through the work Jesus finished if we choose to receive what He has done for us. Romans 10:9 says, “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” So, would you pray with me now?   Heavenly Father, thank you for sending Jesus to take our place. I pray someone today right now is touched and chooses to turn their life over to you. Will you clearly guide them and help them take their next step in faith to declare you as Lord of their life?   We trust you to work and change lives now for eternity. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.   If you prayed that prayer, you are declaring him for me, so me for him. You get the opportunity to live your life for him. And at this podcast, we're called The Savvy Sauce for a reason.   We want to give you practical tools to implement the knowledge you have learned. So, you ready to get started? First, tell someone.   Say it out loud. Get a Bible. The first day I made this decision, my parents took me to Barnes & Noble and let me choose my own Bible.   I selected the Quest NIV Bible and I love it. You can start by reading the book of John. Also, get connected locally, which just means tell someone who's a part of a church in your community that you made a decision to follow Christ.   I'm assuming they will be thrilled to talk with you about further steps, such as going to church and getting connected to other believers to encourage you. We want to celebrate with you too, so feel free to leave a comment for us here if you did make a decision to follow Christ. We also have show notes included where you can read scripture that describes this process.   And finally, be encouraged. Luke 15:10 says, “In the same way I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” The heavens are praising with you for your decision today.   And if you've already received this good news, I pray you have someone to share it with. You are loved and I look forward to meeting you here next time.

In this heartfelt episode of the Unbroken Podcast, we sit down with Hailey Kolstad, a dedicated community leader whose journey exemplifies resilience and the pursuit of balance.​ Hailey shares her inspiring story of entering the foster care system at 14 and how her adoptive parents' unwavering support not only transformed her life but also ignited a family commitment to aiding others in foster care. ​ We delve into Hailey's extensive involvement with various organizations, focusing particularly on her work with the American Cancer Society. She discusses the motivations behind her volunteerism and the fulfillment it brings. However, Hailey also candidly addresses the challenges of overcommitment, emphasizing the importance of setting boundaries and recognizing when saying "yes" to too many good things can become overwhelming.​ The Grill Guys Your ultimate destination for all things grilling! Whether you're a seasoned pitmaster or just starting out, The Grill Guys offer top-quality grills, accessories, seasonings, and expert advice to elevate your BBQ game. Located in Republic, Missouri, they've been serving Southwest Missouri since 2021, helping customers build their dream outdoor kitchens and perfect their grilling skills. Visit them at grillguys417.com or call 417-647-5002 for all your grilling needs.​ Raptor Renovation Delivering top-quality home renovations and craftsmanship in Southwest Missouri. Since 2018, Raptor Renovation has been transforming homes with expert remodeling services, including kitchen and bathroom remodels, deck work, and exterior renovations. Their team ensures quality by handling all work themselves, without relying on subcontractors. Serving Republic, Nixa, Battlefield, Billings, Marionville, and Mt. Vernon, they're ready to bring your vision to life. Visit raptorrenovation.com or call 417-597-4208 to schedule your consultation.

What's up Bros? This is a great season of Summer House. In this episode, Paige deals with major anxiety as the Craig situation is clearly coming to a head. Jesse and Lexi get into an argument because Jesse didn't like how Lexi was "flirting" with West... This dude needs to reel it in. Yesterday. West has one of his more relatable episodes as he nurses a hangover from hell. Carl broke the streak up in Montauk last weekend and he and Ciara continue to... bond? Imrul rubs the house the wrong way with the repeat ladies staying over. We agree, maybe play some away games pal. Is there more to him? can we call bad edit? Time will tell. Jesse takes the group to the Hope Lodge at the American Cancer Society in a touching scene that was overshadowed by Jesse "joking" with Ciara not to touch him. This seemed like the last straw for Ciara and hopefully she moves on from these Bravo dudes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get ready, Dallas—Cattle Baron's Ball is back and bigger than ever!In this episode of The Bubble Lounge, we're celebrating our fifth annual interview with the powerhouse women behind the most iconic fundraising event in town. Join us as we sit down with this year's dynamic Cattle Baron's Ball chairs, with chairs Dr. Courtney Derderian MD & Nina Saches to go behind the scenes of the planning, passion, and purpose that fuels this legendary night.From show-stopping entertainment and unforgettable fashion to jaw-dropping auction items and heartwarming stories of impact, we're covering it all. Find out what's new this year, what surprises are in store, and why this event continues to raise millions for the American Cancer Society.Whether you're a longtime supporter or curious about attending for the first time, this episode will leave you inspired—and ready to dust off your boots!Don't miss the scoop on one of Dallas' biggest nights for a cause.To learn more about Cattle Baron's Ball and to purchase tickets and tables click here This episode is sponsored by: Kathy L Wall State Farm Agency Long Cove, Mother Modern Plumbing and SA Oral Surgeons Please show your support for the show by visiting our amazing sponsors.

On this episode of the Doing What Matters podcast, Teresa has the joy of sitting down with  special guests Mary Valloni and Mike Kim, who discuss their new book aimed at helping Christian missionaries with fundraising. They delve into the origins of their partnership, the challenges they faced, and the meaningful journey that led to the book's creation. Mary and Mike share insights on marketing, cutting through Christian jargon, crafting mission statements, and the transformative impact of their work. They also reflect on the deep trust and friendship that has been foundational to their collaboration. This episode is filled with practical advice and heartfelt storiesand bringing meaning to your life work. TIME STAMP:00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome00:55 The Journey to Writing the Book03:35 Target Audience and Mission04:58 Personal Stories and Partnership08:02 Challenges and Mindset in Fundraising11:21 Simplifying Mission Statements15:47 Practical Advice for Missionaries20:17 Encouragement and Final Thoughts24:40 The Importance of Authenticity in Ministry25:54 Building Trust and Partnership27:13 Navigating Personal and Professional Challenges28:56 The Power of Mutual Support34:50 Reflecting on the Journey and Future Goals45:31 Concluding Thoughts and ResourcesCLICK HERE for a link to the bookGuest Information:Contact Mike Kim & Mary Valloni at mary@maryvalloni.com  http://fullyfundedacademy.com Mary Valloni is a respected expert on fundraising, a podcast host, and the award-winning author of the book Fundraising Freedom. With over twenty years of fundraising experience with organizations, including the American Cancer Society, the ALS Association, and the Special Olympics, she now shares her expertise as a coach, trainer, and mentor to nonprofit leaders around the world. For more information about Mary, visit MaryValloni.com. Mike Kim is a marketing strategist and author of the Wall St. Journal and USA Today bestseller, You Are the Brand. His clients include faith-driven organizations such as Catalyst, People of the Second Chance, and Global Mission Awareness, as well as numerous churches, ministry schools, and para-church organizations. Mike has been featured in and written for Inc., Entrepreneur, and The Huffington Post. For more information about Mike, visit MikeKim.com.  Email: mary@fullyfundedacademy.com Our bestselling book, Fully Funded: The Christian Missionary's 7-Step Guide to Raising Support and Growing Your Donor Base in Today's Modern World.FREE RESOURCES:Take the FREE Intro to Needs & Values AssessmentReady to discover what uniquely matters to YOU? CLICK HERE to take our FREE Intro to the Needs & Values Assessment.FREE Download: 4 Steps to Simplify Your CalendarReady to uncover more time on your calendar? This FREE download will help you remove what doesn't matter, so you have space for what does. Click here to get this FREE resource!OTHER RESOURCES:Check out our YouTube Channel!Prefer to watch AND listen? Check out our YouTube channel for the podcast episode on video! Make sure to subscribe so you get all the latest updates.My Book LinkMy new book, Do What Matters, is available NOW! Banish busyness and discover a new way of being productive around what truly matters. Learn more at DoWhatMattersBook.com.LifeMapping ToolsWould you life to discover  Life Mapping tools to help you recognize and respond to God in your Story. Check out these tools here https://www.onelifemaps.com/JOIN OUR COMMUNITY & CONNECT WITH ME:Become part of the FREE REALIFE Process® Community! Connect with Teresa and other podcast listeners, plus find additional content to help you discover your best REALIFE.Connect with your host, Teresa McCloy, on:Facebook - The REALIFE Process® with Teresa McCloyInstagram - teresa.mccloyLinkedIn - teresamccloyAbout Teresa McCloy:Teresa McCloy is the founder and creator of the REALIFE Process®, a framework designed to empower individuals and groups with the tools, training, and community needed for personal and professional growth. Through the REALIFE Process®, Teresa is on a mission to help others grow in self-awareness, establish sustainable rhythms, and enhance their influence and impact by integrating faith and work into their everyday lives. She lives with her husband of 42 years on their 5th generation family farm in central Illinois and enjoys great coffee, growing beautiful flower gardens and traveling as much as possible. About Erica Vinson:Erica Vinson helps clients walk through defining moments with confidence and courage enabling them to move forward in freedom and embrace fearless living. As an ACC Credentialed and Certified Professional Life & Leadership Coach, she uses wisdom from all 3 Centers of Intelligence to help clients gain deeper self-awareness and grow in relationships with others both personally and professionally. Erica is a certified REALIFE Process® Master Coach, an ©iEnneagram Motions of the Soul Practitioner, and has a certificate in Spiritual Transformation through the Transforming Center. She lives in the Metro East St. Louis area and enjoys spending quality time with friends and family, golfing, tennis, boating/water skiing, traveling, is a bit of a technology nerd and loves learning!

Running a nonprofit might sound like a mission of the heart. But it’s also very much a business. These organizations have to pay staff, keep the lights on, and provide services. Yes, they rely on philanthropy. But they also need to generate revenue, build partnerships, and constantly make the case for their value—not just to donors, but to the community at large. Acadiana has hundreds of nonprofits big and small. And to some extent they compete just like for-profit enterprises. There’s only so much money and attention in the world, even for a good cause. And what better cause is there than kids? Lore Linton is the Executive Director of the Children’s Museum of Acadiana, a nonprofit that blends play and learning for kids and their families. Lore has a long history with the museum, starting as a volunteer and working her way through nearly every role. She became Executive Director in 2023 and has since expanded programming, grown attendance, and taken on the everyday challenges of operating a museum inside a 100-year-old building. While half of CMA’s revenue comes from admissions and events like birthday parties, the other half comes from donations, grants, and sponsorships—the nonprofit hustle. Annie Spell has seen nonprofits from the other side of the ledger. A psychologist by training , Annie is also a longtime donor and board member of organizations like the American Cancer Society, Hearts of Hope, Miles Perret Cancer Services, and the Children’s Museum of Acadiana itself. Annie says she grew up in a family that modeled community involvement—her grandfathers included both a longtime judge and entrepreneur. Annie ran a small, focused clinical practice working with adolescents, and did pro bono work for children in the court system. In 2025, she was elected unopposed to the Louisiana Legislature. A major vehicle for Annie's philanthropy is the Tides Medical Foundation, a fund associated with the biomedical firm founded by her husband. Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded live over lunch at Tsunami Sushi in downtown Lafayette. You can find photos from this show by Alisha Zachery Lazard at itsacadiana.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nicholas Klingensmith says that he grew up a punk and not so nice kid. As he will describe, he was quite self centered, but it was all a façade. He will tell his story of finally realizing that he needed to change both his thinking and his concept of himself. Nick is a type one diabetic. He also is a 4-time cancer survivor and he has a number of herniated disks. He also is a recovering alcoholic. Nick finally realized he had to change after being thrown out of a Las Vegas hotel the night before he was to deliver sales speech. Nick was ejected because he was in, as he says, a “drunken haze”.   Today Nick is a successful author, a public speaker and a successful obstacle course racer and so much more. He also is a survivor of the October hurricane that struck near his home in Tampa Bay Florida.   We talk about all of this during this episode. Nicholas talks about resilience, controlling fear and even why he and his wife made the conscious decision not to evacuate their home as the hurricane approached. Nick offers many insights about how we all can learn to control fear and not only survive obstacles that are put in our way, but he will talk about how we can truly overcome them. As he will tell us, it is all about choice and making informed decisions.   This episode to me is especially poignant because so many of the things we discuss are illustrations of what is going on all around us. I think Nick's experiences and the stories he tells about them are the kinds of things to which we all can relate. I hope you like Nick's discussion and that you will let me know your thoughts.       About the Guest:   After being thrown out of a Las Vegas hotel in a drunken haze, jeopardizing his career and relationships, Nick Klingensmith had to make a change. A 4-time cancer survivor, type-1 diabetic, recovering alcoholic with herniated discs, nerve damage and sleep apnea, he defies it all when he finds Obstacle Course Racing. Refusing to accept his limitations, he's completed over 100 Spartan Races, 6 Major Marathons, several Ultras and scores of other obstacle and endurance events.   As someone who has walked the path of a sales professional, Nick is an expert in propelling other achievement-driven professionals and leaders to overcome fear and rejection and push past self-limiting doubts, by inspiring them to take purposeful action towards their goals. Nick is a raw and passionate storyteller who holds nothing back when revealing who he used to be and the person he is now.   A true testament to the power of resilience, with an unwavering belief in his purpose to overcome obstacles and inspire others to do the same, Nick delivers powerful and transformative speeches, drawing from personal experiences to illustrate the extraordinary potential of pushing through adversity. 1)    The power of perseverance: Pursuing personal growth and overcoming obstacles for success 2)    Pursuing Something Greater: Taking Risks, pushing boundaries and exploring your unlimited potential 3)    Living Inspired: Embracing Purpose, overcoming adversity, and finding belonging   Ways to connect with Nick:   Instagram: @stridemotivation https://www.instagram.com/stridemotivation/ TikTok: @stridemotivation https://www.tiktok.com/@stridemotivation?lang=en Twitter: @stridemotivatio https://twitter.com/stridemotivatio YouTube: @stridemotivation https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOiV2sNB3g4meufvBg3a9sA Threads: @stridemotivation LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nklingensmith/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100069207242260 www.stridemotivation.com Email: nick@stridemotivation.com   About the Host:   Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/   https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening!   Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast   If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset .   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review   Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.       Transcription Notes:   Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Well, hi everyone, and welcome to another episode of unstoppable mindset, where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet unexpected. Boy. It's been a crazy time in the world in general, and for our guest, Nick Klingensmith, it's really been kind of unexpected. Nick lives down in the Tampa St Pete area, and we as he knows, and I know, just went through a week ago hurricanes down there, which tells you about when we're recording this. He lost power for a while, but Nick is a pretty resilient guy, and he's going to going to talk about some of that. He's a keynote speaker. He's an author. Does a lot of different kinds of things. He is a coach, conducts master classes, and some things happen along the way that caused him to get to be where he is today. So we're not going to give any of that away. I want Nick and and while I'm Nick to talk about it and you to hear it, so we'll leave it at that. Nick, thanks for being here, and welcome to unstoppable mindset. We're glad you're here.   Nick Klingenmith ** 02:20 Michael, thank you so much for having me. I'm I'm really excited to be here today,   Michael Hingson ** 02:24 and I'm glad I was out in Southern California. Actually, that's not totally true last week or when the hurricane hit. I was in Kansas City and so but I one of the people who spoke when I was there was an economist who lived down in Florida, and I don't know exactly where she lived, but she went out as soon as her talk was over to get back to Florida, because she felt that her home was right in the middle of everything. So gosh, what do you do?   Nick Klingenmith ** 02:53 I'll tell you. Man, with the hurricanes, the most dangerous thing you can do is the reactive decisions before the hurricane. And part of what I'm talking about is being right where we are, right just north of St Petersburg, just north of where ground zero was supposed to be, right up until the like the late hour. You know, there's a lot of factors you have to consider when you like what want to evacuate or not. You know, we have a senior dog. We can't we can only drive so far with him. We have a reactive dog. There's only so many places we can take him, and if you didn't leave early, you risk running out of gas on the side of the highway. So there comes a point where, you know, we decided it our house was as secure as a home can be, even for a direct hit, we're just going to ride it out. We buttoned down. We were as safe as we could be. But, you know, with people telling you, like, run, run, run, right? Like, well, I have a friend who evacuated to Sarasota, where the direct hit actually ended up being, you know, I mean, where was I going to go to? To Orlando. It was directly in the path of the storm. Where was I gonna go? To the mountains? Because clearly, that's not so safe after all, the 72 hours leading up to a hurricane where just everybody panics and, you know, I think honestly, and this is what we'll unpack here, what I've learned from what not just not what I've been through, because what I've been through didn't teach me anything. It was what I had to what I had to do to put it all in perspective, and didn't understand it, but all those lessons in resilience give you the ability to pause and make better decisions in the face of adversity well,   Michael Hingson ** 04:32 and that is absolutely true. You know, should you have evacuated well? You know, as you said, there are a lot of ways to go. And the question is, where could you really go? You'd have to leave really early to make sure you could evacuate far enough away. But then, as you said, you have a dog that that can't travel this far, and that becomes an issue. Just, you know,   Nick Klingenmith ** 04:56 I'm not Florida. Man, all right, right. I am. Out three and a half miles from the shore. Yeah, I am just beyond, like, the line of demarcation, but if I was on the other side of the bridge, there's no way I would have stayed. Yeah, you   Michael Hingson ** 05:12 know, well, you know, you can only do what you can do and decide what you can decide. But the real issue, as you point out, is being able to pause and analyze it. And one of the things that I love to tell people is I love information. For me, when September 11 happened, there were a couple of times I asked people like an FBI agent, what's going on, and they wouldn't tell me. And I understand why, intellectually, they wouldn't because they didn't want to cause panic. As we were coming out of the stairwell, none of us knew what happened. The hundreds of people on the stairs didn't know. Of course, people always say, well, you're blind. You didn't know. Well, that has nothing to do with it. The plane hit on the other side of the building, 18 floors above us, and you know, the reality is, we don't see through concrete, steel and rebar. So the bottom line is, none of us knew, and when I asked, he said, Well, just no time to tell you, but I'll take you where you need to go, me and other people who are with us. I wish he had told me, it would have changed some decisions I made, but I also understand why he didn't. He didn't know me. He didn't know whether I panic or go crazy or whatever, and and so he did what he did. And actually, I shouldn't say that I would change what I did and the direction that we went I might have. But the bottom line is, it's all about being able to pause and analyze, and you have to have the information to do it. And you clearly were in a position to have as much information as you could have and make the decision that you made.   Nick Klingenmith ** 06:48 You know, when you hear seals describe like certain engagements and these split seconds that go by, and just the decision making process and the the way that, you know, time slows down for that. I mean, that's what they train for. That's why they train through adversity, and that's, that's how I look at more adversity now. And it's not that I welcome it. Don't get me wrong, you know? I mean, who really wants bad things or uncomfortable things? You don't want them. But I like to say this because somebody had asked me once that, if I wasn't a diabetic, would I be a better athlete? And I said, No, if I wasn't a diabetic, I wouldn't be an athlete at all. I wouldn't have become one so. Well, why is that I have these tools? I've accepted that life is always going to keep coming, so I just don't need to panic anymore. I know I have the tools and ability to slow down and make that decision making tree to get through it.   Michael Hingson ** 07:46 Yeah, okay, and that makes sense, but it is this, we, what if everything in the world anyway, too many people, what if everything, well, what if you weren't a diabetic, would you have done? You know, we, we, we always have to see those questions coming at us. And it's unfortunate that all too often we What if so much that we create a lot of fear that we don't need to create, yeah, which you know, makes sense. Tell us a little about if you would. I love to start out this way, the early Nick growing up and all that, and kind of what, what started you to where you're going and where you are,   Nick Klingenmith ** 08:26 man, I was a little shit. There you go.   Michael Hingson ** 08:29 That's Thanks for being on the podcast. Nick, we just summarized. No, no, go ahead. I   Nick Klingenmith ** 08:35 was such a punk, not a bad not like a I didn't like to get in trouble, but I, I was a little punk, you know, from the time I was a little kid. And I think I realize now, you know, part of, part of what I've uncovered in my history here is that my my father left me, left my mom, not me at a very young age. I grew up on an island, all right, it wasn't an after school special. He moved down the road, but the problem was that my mom wasn't she was still active with drugs, and she simply just wasn't capable of actually like caring for me. And so I grew up not necessarily looking for other people's validation so much as trying to prove that I didn't need it. So, I mean, I had a, I like, I was, I had a side hustle when I was in the second grade, like, I was hustling kids playing cards out of the playground, like, I just kind of like to buck the rules. I liked, I liked the bad guy in the movies. You know, it was, that's who I related to. But that, that sort of grittiness, actually turned into something after a while, because as I continue to look at myself as more independent and having to do it on my own, I also started working at a young age. I went to a boarding school for high school because I wanted a better education. Something else. I sought out myself, financial aid. I sought out myself. I went to college back. At the University of Massachusetts, and I also paid for that. Paid my own way through summer jobs and well, the last 20 years. So that was all working for me as something for a very long time, I was active in life. I like to play sports. I played competitive beach volleyball for 20 years. I I like to I liked to socialize. I often find myself in relationships, and there just came a point, though, where that sort of me against a world attitude changed. It was something that was giving me fuel and armor for a long time, right when I found out is that it was actually more like the rally cry of the victim mindset that I had been developing.   Michael Hingson ** 10:45 So what happened that brought that realization and that change?   Nick Klingenmith ** 10:51 I needed to start having real things happen to me, such as the four times I've been diagnosed with cancer. I'm a type one diabetic. I just celebrated 10 years of recovery from alcoholism. I have seven herniated discs from two different rollover fatality car accidents, nerve damage in several areas, sleep apnea. I almost died from meningitis. All those things had happened, and all those things had only contributed, though, to the victim mindset. It wasn't until I became an obstacle course racer, until, actually, after my boss walks in my office and challenges me to do a Spartan Race. And this was at a time where I was on top of the world. At that point, I was two years sober. I was a VP of sales. I was doing really well in my career. I was in a new relationship with an amazing woman that's now my wife. And I had just decisively beaten cancer for the fourth time, and I was I was kind of stuck, and so when he challenged me to do this obstacle course race with him. I knew I needed a change, and I didn't know what it was, so I said yes to this event. And it was through that process that I began to defy everything that I had previously believed about myself. I had created such limiting beliefs. I had created this narrative again, me against the world. I'm the victim poor me, right? I was convinced that I couldn't run because of my diabetes. I couldn't adventure because of my sleep apnea. I'd always be a piece of crap because of my addiction. When I went out there and I did my first obstacle course race. So I'm out there in the woods, crawling under barbed wire, carrying heavy objects, climbing up ropes, swinging from things, just like a little kid out there in the world with no fear and no doubt. And it wasn't me against the world, it was me in the world. And I felt just liberated. And I realized that everything I had convinced myself before of that had been a lie, and I didn't know yet what I had just, you know, told you about the victim mindset. It was just that point, I realized I was capable. I had this blank slate in front of me, and so for the next six, seven months, I got into this world of endurance sports and obstacle course racing. And I was improving through better nutrition, better exercise, yoga, meditation. I was improving through mind, body and spirit in all aspects of my life. And that's when I was in a second car accident, and that's where I got several more of my herniated discs, and that's where I got nerve damage. And the same day that happened, my cat of 12 years died, and 10 days after that, the lady who hit me died. And even though all I was doing was sitting at a red light when that happened, I felt responsible, and I was home couple weeks later, just heartbroken and devastated. You know, the last six, seven months have been like a dream to me. I felt like I was becoming this better person in all aspects, and now I felt like it was being all taken away from me, and you want to give up. And I'm sure I'm not the only person who's ever felt that way. I just didn't know what that meant. So I kept going to work. So I keep taking showers, I keep walking the dog, I keep meeting my responsibilities. And so I decided to put another race on the calendar, and when I was trying to train. I just I wasn't in it, and I was listening to this, like motivational compilation on YouTube, this guy's going back and forth about, are you a survivor? You are or victim? Are you a victim or survivor? And that's when I realized that even though I had already been progressing and I had just like found this new found lifestyle that I was still playing the victim. I was still saying, Woe is me, why me? Why me? And I? When I recognized it, that's when I realized that it's also a choice. You may not have chosen to be a victim, but you do choose to remain one, and I decided that that point that I will not be defined by my adversity, but rather. They're my triumph over it, and so it's been a decision. I have to only what. There's only one way I can tell that story, and it's a long version.   Michael Hingson ** 15:07 No, that's fine. You know, one of the things that that I realized during September 11, and it was partly because as tower two was falling and I was falling and I was running away from it, one of the things I said to myself was, God, I can't believe that you got us out of a building just to have it fall on us. And I'm a guy who has a lot of faith and so on, and I don't tend to panic. But I said that, and then immediately I heard in my head of voice as clearly as you hear me now, that said, don't worry about what you can't control. Focus on running with Roselle, who is my guide dog, and the rest will take care of itself. And I've adopted that mindset, which is really what you're saying. Focus on what you can control. There are things that happen to us that we didn't and wouldn't have any control over them happening. I've been well, I'm still yet to be convinced that we truly could have predicted September 11 as a country and stopped it. I don't think that we had the information, which says something about what a team dedicated to trying to create so much chaos and destruction was able to do because they functioned as a team. But the bottom line is that they did what they did. I don't think we could have stopped it, but what I do have control over is how I deal with what happened. I couldn't control what happened, but I can deal with what happened, and I think that's the important part of it, you know, I think   Nick Klingenmith ** 16:42 part of what you just it's not that you can do with it. I think the difference is you recognize it as yours to deal with. That's the first step. You know, too often we we refuse to recognize that we have an option, just because we don't like the options and dealing with it. We have to accept whatever happened happened. I have to accept that I'm a diabetic. I said this in a speech the other night. I said, like it's I'm not to blame that I'm I'm a diabetic, but when I take responsibility for being diabetic, I can be an ultra endurance athlete. Gotta accept our starting line, whatever, whatever that is. And, you know, there's a friend of mine, she's also a diabetic. She has a kind of a special something. I don't really understand diabetes thing, but, you know, she she, she struggles because she tries to control it, instead of just manage it, or instead of live with it. You know, they're basically kind of, now I'm going to mess this one up, but she doesn't focus on what she can control. She's so focused on what she can't. Mm, hmm. And that's what keeps   Michael Hingson ** 17:57 her stuck, yeah, and it happens so often, which is one of the things I talk about in my new book that we published in August of 2024 the book called Live like a guide dog, is that we What if everything to death. And the problem is well over 90% of what we what if about we don't have any control over. And that's the difference between us and dogs. Dogs don't do what ifs. And on September 11, when I was working with my fifth guy, dog, Roselle, nothing directly, really threatened her, and so as soon as we got home, she is ready to play. It was all over, and it's because she doesn't deal with it the way we have taught ourselves, or have been taught, to deal with things. And we What if everything so much that we create a lot more fear in our lives than we need to have, which is, which is so unfortunate, if we could learn to step back from that the   Nick Klingenmith ** 18:52 the speech I gave the other night told my story, as well as centered on a couple of themes that really would have resonated with that particular crowd, but one of them we talked a lot about, was fear was one that they kept kind of bouncing around after the fact. And I say that fear only exists in my imagination, and it's only power sources me, and it's that we suffer more from our own imaginations than we do reality. Sure, we create these things, but if we take just even a moment, and it's hard, even if you think, even if you think through logically, I don't think you can necessarily think through fear. And I'll, I'll speak to that in just a moment, but look back at all the times we were afraid. I found no monsters under the bed or in the closet. Like 90% of the things that I've been afraid of. Also, not only can I get out control, but they also haven't happened, right? Most of them will never manifest. You know, that said, the reason I think that you can't net even though you should be able to logically think through fear and understand that it probably doesn't exist, fear also hits on our emotions and stuff like that. So you. The I do believe that we can then move beyond fear, and therefore action is how we conquer fear.   Michael Hingson ** 20:07 Well, I think that, I guess I differ just a little bit. I think fear is a real thing in a sense, and partly it's a physical physiology, physiological reaction. I will never tell people not to be afraid, because I don't think that overall, we can do that. But what I tell people absolutely is you can learn to control fear and use it as a very powerful tool to help you. If you choose to do that, fear is is something that can cause you to focus, or if you don't learn to control it, it will overwhelm you, or, as I put it, blind you or paralyze you. But it is, it is there, and maybe the time will come when we can completely eliminate the concept. But mostly it's there, in part, because it's a physiological thing that we also encounter. But again, you mentioned the seals earlier, and they've learned to control fear. They're not going to tell you they're not afraid, but they're going to tell you that they can control it and use it to their advantage. Um,   Nick Klingenmith ** 21:12 we don't. We don't differ at all. By the way, the because I didn't fear itself isn't, isn't real. It's our fears are liars, those, most of the time, are the manifestations of the doubt. Fear, of course, is a real thing. Here's what I like to say, Okay, I'm with you, yeah, because I'm afraid of snakes and heights, yet I spend my weekends crawling around swamps and climbing up mountains. But it's not because I'm unafraid. It's I move beyond the fear. I do it anyway, and it I'm still afraid. I'm never going to handle a snake if I see one on the course, I'm going the other direction as fast as I can. It's just that I've, I have to find a way to not let it prevent me from living my life. And so I look for those things to you know, whatever I step into fear, I create. I make my world broader. But I don't know if you ever read the book, fear is fueled by Patrick Sweeney, great book, but he really talks a lot about the difference between fear and courage. Because or being fearless, you'd have to be a sociopath. Yeah, you'd have to have a complete disconnection from reality. And plus, like you said, Fear is very healthy. It is a good idea to fear the hot flame over the stove. It's a good idea to fear the Mack truck going down the highway if I want to go run into the street. Also, fear can be an indicator. You know, I when I was afraid for my job, I knew it's because I wasn't doing it. If I'm afraid for my home, it's because I'm not financially prepared. You know, if fear tells me what's important to me as well. So it's not always a bad thing, like, like we've been saying, though it's what you do with it or what you do about it. So   Michael Hingson ** 22:51 you wouldn't even want to pick up a garden snake or a king snake or anything. Oh, no way, huh?   Nick Klingenmith ** 22:57 I don't care if it had, like, tickets for Vegas and a cure for cancer in its mouth. Put that demon thing, that demon cord away.   Michael Hingson ** 23:07 Well, I have, I have played with some snakes, but I also recognize that they're, they're not like me, and you have to be cautious even among the most non poisonous snakes, and that is something that we have to deal with. But I guess I don't fear them. I'm probably more cautious around a black widow spider than a snake than my wife. There you go. Well. But the other part about snakes is, of course, not knowing necessarily, if I encounter snakes, what they are, I'm going to probably avoid them until I know a whole lot more from somebody else about them. And if I hear rattlers, I'm going to definitely deal with that accordingly and freeze or whatever. So   Nick Klingenmith ** 23:55 that's why my fears are rational, because you would be naturally afraid of the potential consequences of the snake, which is what we should be afraid of, right? If we're getting afraid of something, right? I'm afraid of the snake. I'm afraid it's of its sheer existence. My   Michael Hingson ** 24:10 My brother in law, when he was a kid, my wife used to tell this story, and her parents told the story, and they all passed now, but he came in one day, or came from somewhere, and he was holding a Black Widow and going, Yeah, that's really strange, but eventually he let it go, but he was just holding on to it and showing it to everybody. Fine. I don't think he would do that today, though. Yeah,   Nick Klingenmith ** 24:41 Mo, I feel like again, maybe logic and thinking prevents us from doing really silly things like that from time to time. Yeah, there   Michael Hingson ** 24:48 is that. On the other hand, I've never been a skier, and I'm not afraid of skiing, but I love to tease people and say I'm not going to go skiing, because I know what happened to Sonny Bono and I know. Those trees are out there waiting for me. And no matter where I am in relation to the trees, they're going to come out and get me. And in reality, I know intellectually that if somebody said, Come on, really ski. If I were up in an area where there was a ski resort and we had snow and all that sort of stuff, and there was a reasonably gentle ski slope, I would try it, but it's fun to tease people and say, heck no, I'm not going to go out there and let those trees get   Nick Klingenmith ** 25:28 me. I think what you just said is kind of important, because I look at it like hot sauce, all right. I when I was younger, I could eat the hot or the hot. Nowadays, not so much, but I still enjoy hot sauce, but if it gets too hot, I can't enjoy it at all. It will ruin the entire meal. I can't even eat it. And that's sort of where the fear comes in, or doing things that we're fearful of, because if you just throw me right into it, that's not going to be exhilarating, and that's not going to be something I'm going to come back from and want to come back from and want to do again and say, I conquered that. That's not going to expand my universe. That's going to send me crawling under the bed. So, yeah, if you don't like the ski, if you're afraid of the trees, the bunny slope is where you need to be. Well,   Michael Hingson ** 26:14 having having never skied, I would want to start out there anyway, but, um, but I know intellectually, I'm not really afraid of it. I've just never really been around skiing. Now, my wife was in a wheelchair her whole life, so we really never were up visiting her, her brother, my brother in law, or in any other area, when we were really around in a skiing environment, which is what it's really about i i would never avoid skiing, but it's just not the thing that is the most exciting thing for me to do. I've ice skated in my life, and I was out on an ice skating rink for a few hours, and at the very end, I fell and sprained my ankle. And I haven't really been ice skating since, but I am, but I I'm not afraid to go do it. It's just again. It's not something that that I've done, but I, I think life is an adventure, and I love to explore things. And you mentioned hot sauce, there used to be a show on Food Network with Bobby Flay, and I'm forgetting the other guy, who was, oh, I'm blanking out on his name, but it was called grilling and chilling. And he was from, he owned a restaurant down in in Philadelphia called Jack's Firehouse. And we ended up having to go there. Well, we'd end up going there. Didn't have to go there, but Karen, my wife, and I, went there. They have something there, which is made of the hottest peppers and so on that. You can imagine. It's called hot lava, and they bring you a bowl of it, and I touched my finger to it, and then just tasted my finger, and I went, I'm not going to eat that stuff. That's just too hot for me. But again, I can say safely that if I had to, because I didn't have any choice, I wouldn't be so afraid that I wouldn't do something like eat it if it had to be on something to make it edible or whatever. But I do think you're right. I think that fear is really all about what we do and how how we learn to control it, and that's the important part about it. And all too often, we just don't learn to do that. And so as you point out, well over 90% of the things that we fear never will come to pass, never have come to pass, and we're just the ones who are creating the environment that makes it so much scarier for us.   Nick Klingenmith ** 28:36 Plus, are we really afraid of the thing, or are we afraid of the consequences of the thing, yeah? You know, when you really take it all the way back down to the thing you're most afraid of, you may realize what you're most afraid of is a nuisance and not a catastrophe, right?   Michael Hingson ** 28:55 Yeah? And, and for me, um, I'll, I'll face consequences, and what I the only thing I want to as much as possible know is what the consequences are, and then I'll make a, what you would call a rational decision as to whether I want to do it. But I can take the basic fear out of the situation and turn it into making it somewhat analytical. And the result of that is that it becomes what we're talking about here, which is a choice, you   Nick Klingenmith ** 29:29 know, I'll take it back down in the beginning, because I'm sorry, did I cut you off just now? No, no, okay, you know the decisions that went into the storm, right? So we, I gave you the reasons as to why we were there, but why we decided to stay. But then there were other things to consider. Um, I mean, the house is, like, rated for whatever the wind the windows go 140 like it's a new roof, blah, blah, blah, like it's, it's about as safe as it can get, all right, we we weren't going to die. We weren't going to get flooded. We sandbagged. Everything we did, all this, whatever. So then the decision had to be like, if it is bad, we have to understand, if there's like, catastrophic damage to the area and something goes wrong, they're not going to be able to get to us. So we might be without days. You know, we know. We knew we would lose power. We might be without food, water and access to other human beings and communications for up to, like, a week. So we prepared for that. That said, right, we were as logically prepared as possible. When you're sitting in the middle of a cat four hurricane, I'm not going to tell you I wasn't scared. I mean, like you could look out the window and even the middle of, I mean, it was, it was late when it hit, I mean, trees that don't move were swaying hard back and forth, and you weren't totally unsure that one of them wasn't going to end up in your living room. So those were completely natural fears, even though I was as secure as it could logically be. It's a cat four hurricane, and it can do what it wants.   Michael Hingson ** 31:00 Did did you though, while that was happening and you were seeing all that, did the thought also flash in your mind? Yeah, but I did make the choice to stay here so I can deal with it, or I will deal with as best I can. I   Nick Klingenmith ** 31:13 was already prepared for, you know, in my mind I had, I mean, by the door, we had two doors that were accessible because we barricaded everything else up. And by each of them were, you know, shoes, towels, wet gear, things of case I needed to, case a tree came through and crushed and I had to do something I don't know, whatever, like, you know, the the car was in a position. If we had to bug out, we could bug out. If it, you know, we kept the lifted vehicle here, move the other one down the road. Preparations were about as made. But this is where obstacle course racing literally taught me the process to this. Because I love running Ultras, 50 Ks, you know, 70 obstacles up mountains, 10 to 12 hour days of just misery, because everything will go wrong. Everything will go wrong. Whatever your race plan is, things are going to go wrong. And so I've literally just been practicing tackling one unexpected obstacle at a time, and that's all it is. It's a mental process of right? You prepare for what you can and when things happen, you have to just pause and say, what is the obstacle? What is the challenge I'm facing? What is the outcome I need, and what needs to be done to achieve it? Go   Michael Hingson ** 32:29 deal with that obstacle, and then go to the next one. That's   Nick Klingenmith ** 32:33 That's it. I mean, if, if Windows got punctured out, and then we do this, if something else happened, then you begin to prioritize, protect the dogs. My wife is fully capable of taking care of herself and also doing things to protect the home. So we had our assignments, but instead, you know, because of that, she fell asleep in the middle of the worst of it, which is a good thing. The dogs were comfortable. Nothing bad happened. And I mean, we lost power. But whatever that happens.   Michael Hingson ** 33:01 I was in a sports car rally once, and I was the navigator, so the the course, the instructions were in braille, and I started to read it, and then, and I was reading to the driver, so that the driver followed directions, and I started to get a little bit ahead, and the driver said, no, no, no, don't do that. All I want to know is, what's our next job? And that struck a chord with me, because I I realized, Oh, he wants to focus on just the one thing which makes perfect sense. And that's been a and I was like, 13 at the time. That was a life lesson, though, that I that I really took to heart. Again. You can think about all sorts of things. You do need to make preparations, but when you're in the middle of something, ultimately, you've got to deal with it one step at a time. It's   Nick Klingenmith ** 33:57 It's like chess. You want to consider all your moves, but you only make one move at a time, and I'll tell you, this is something that is so idiot proof I hate that it's taken me 45 years to really get the hang of it, but there's been no better teacher for me in that than sobriety, because I truly learned one day at a time, living and as an entrepreneur and A new speaker and a new coach. This past 18 months, it's sometimes been hour at a time living because life continues to happen, but the way that I will solve most of my problems is with the new action. And so I and you can't just ignore things all the time, but I can say for one hour, I'm focused on this right now. And I literally will say out loud often, no, I'm doing this right now. I'm doing this right now. Even on my run, sometimes I'm like, nope, hey, I'm here right now.   Michael Hingson ** 34:51 Do you do things like, when you're running, listen to podcasts or anything like that, or do you just focus on the running? Neither I listen to music and day. Mean, okay, well, so you you do other things while you're running. Okay, why? I shouldn't have just said podcast. But rather, I pay   Nick Klingenmith ** 35:07 attention to because I run by heart rate. So it'll be like 10 minutes at this zone, 10 minutes at this zone, back and forth. So I have to pay attention. But I set my watch to heart rate. I don't even look at the pace and and so I have to monitor that loosely every, you know, just a little bit at my watch. Also, I will have to look at my diabetes, my blood sugar, every 10 minutes, 15 minutes or so. But beyond that, glucose monitor, yeah, I have it on my phone, yeah. So I'll do that. And then, other than that, I listen to music, and my playlist is very eclectic, but I, I will daydream of things, you know, this is where I set and just daydream of really big goals, or race goals or life goals, and just just fantasize like just, let's say it drift away into that. But running   Michael Hingson ** 35:59 gives you the opportunity to do that, which is what's so cool. I There are things that that I do that I call them sort of brainless activities, but I do them with the idea that while they're going on, I can be thinking about other things. I don't have to focus my full attention on them. And the result of that is that I do accomplish other things, or I set goals, or, as you say, daydreaming things happen because of that.   Nick Klingenmith ** 36:28 And for me, I learned a long time ago. Even though I can be a fierce competitor, I'll go back to my beach volleyball days. Let's say you and I met before the game. You were we're going to play against each other, and I liked you. We were casual with each other. Whatever I would play great. But let's say for some reason we didn't like each other, and then all of a sudden I was kind of pissed off. I would play terrible. I I don't play well, like that. I play well, and I'm loose having fun, yeah. And so since I run my heart rate, I am acutely aware of what a negative a negative thought does to your body, because I literally will turn my thoughts to something negative. And even though I am not making any more effort, I'm not running any faster, my heart rate is jumping six to eight beats a minute. Yeah, so that's also why I don't want to solve problems when I'm out there. You know, that's where I do want to drift away, because when I'm in my work day, right? I'm not daydreaming, I'm working. I'm focused on tasks and things that I can do with other people or places that are required to do during work time.   Michael Hingson ** 37:37 But it's great to have the opportunity to just let your mind go. And I think we need to do more of that. One of the things I also advocate a lot is that people should take time at night, when they're falling asleep or just before, and be introspective, think about what happened during the day, and do it in a in a constructive way. Never say, why did this fail? Why was I a failure here? But rather, what can I learn from this that didn't go as well as I expected? I've learned to not ever call myself my own worst critic anymore. I'm my own best teacher, and that's the way it should be, because first of all, it's a positive thing, and secondly, I am my own best teacher. No one could teach me anything. They can provide me with information, but I really have to teach myself and understand it and emotionally and intellectually deal with it. But I think it's it's so important to have that time just to let your mind go off and do things.   Nick Klingenmith ** 38:36 One of the worst things as people that we do is we start the day with yesterday, yeah. And one of the ways to prevent that, which takes practice, because we're used to it, is we also have to finish the day the day before. So like you're talking about, and this is part of my sobriety, too. It's take that daily inventory, and then I like to after doing sort of doing that exercise myself, I'll also say a nightly prayer, and then I'm going to meditate for at least five minutes, sometimes 30 to 45 probably five. And at that point I'm not trying to think about anything. And I go that that point is when I'm I'm listening or, right, you know, just trying to clear it out. But I think I remember a couple years ago, I was training for this race, and it was a big race, 50k mountain race, and I started to kind of have a panic moment of like, Oh, my God, I have to do all this training. What am I going to do? How am I going to prepare for this? I'm never going to do it in time. And so I asked myself, well, what's the most important thing I need to do right now to hit my goal? And the answer was, I needed to make sure I woke up to do my training in the morning, because that's the only other thing I can impact right I can't do anything about the next three months. So then I asked myself, well, if I need to make that happen, what is the most important thing that needs to happen right now for me to hit my goals? And this is when I was stretching and meditating at night. And I was like, well, I need a good night's sleep so I'll wake up and exercise. Okay, what's the most important thing I can do right now to make sure I have a good night's sleep? Go to sleep. Mountain came down to one breath. Yeah, I hear you. And that's it. I mean, it's I have it written on my whiteboard over here. It says, break things down to the stupid Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 40:26 and eventually get to sleep.   Nick Klingenmith ** 40:28 I mean, it's just the one, the baby steps that I can take. I remember, I was reading Miracle Morning at that same time, and I used to, because I was, I was struggling, and so I was using my meditations for visualization, and I was spending too much time there trying to create a future. And it wasn't giving me that relaxation, and it wasn't. It was actually stressing me out more, and I just needed to relax and just to focus on the single most controllable thing I could and just taking it, you know, take some pressure off myself, and that really was such a simple fix.   Michael Hingson ** 41:01 Yeah, I hear you, if I may, you've talked about being sober now for I think you said 10 years, yep, what? What led you to finally make that decision that you had to change and be sober.   Nick Klingenmith ** 41:17 My final drunk was very public. And by what I mean by that is I was supposed to be the speaker at my company's conference the next day in Vegas, and instead, I got thrown out of the hotel and trespassed in the middle of the night for trying to have sex with a hooker in a broom closet after apparently getting in a fight with somebody. Well, my girlfriend slept down the hall. I wasn't allowed back at the hotel. Told my boss, my lawyer, I lied to my girlfriend about whatever we were getting thrown out of. It took about five hours for us to get a new hotel, and when my head finally hit the pillow, I said out loud, I don't want to live this way anymore. But that was just the final moment. Because what led up to that was I was a very highly functional alcoholic, and I had been for only a number of years. To be honest, I had alcohol wasn't a big part of my life for a while, and then when it came back in, it came back in rapidly. And so really only a period about five or six years I became a highly functional alcoholic, and I mean highly my career flourished during this time, you know. And the thing is, I didn't I wasn't an everyday drinker. I didn't get drunk every time I drank, and bad things didn't happen every time I did, but more and more, my decisions were getting more selfish, my behavior was getting more destructive, and alcohol was just playing more of a bigger role in my life. So I it was when I got cancer the third time that gave me the excuse I needed to crawl deep into the bottle, because at that point it was already sort of critical mass. I wouldn't go anywhere unless I knew I was going to get drunk. Everything was selfish. I didn't know about it. I didn't think about it, and I was actually ready to quit because I didn't like the way other people would talk about me. So that sounds like a healthy reason, right? And so so I tried to quit on my own, and I spent a couple months just white knuckling it, and I tempted fate, and I went to every happy hour. I threw beer Olympics in my house. And I just, I think I wanted to prove that I could do both without, you know, be who I was, without being who I was. But what I also didn't realize at a time that alcohol wasn't the problem. Alcohol was just a symptom. Who I was was the problem. And so when I got cancer for the third time, they told me they couldn't operate. Um, spoiler alert, the tumor's still there. It's been there over 10 years, but that gave me an excuse to crawl deep into the bottle. And so for about a month, I mean, I just, I was drinking at that point, because who's going to mess with me, right? I have inoperable cancer. That was the excuse I needed, and it that's what really led me to take the gloves off, which led me to Vegas. So I tell you, this cancer saved my life, because I would have died for my drink and long before I would have died from the cancer. Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 44:19 I hear you. Well, you've said that you recognize that you didn't overcome adversity. You survived it. What does what does that mean? And how do you overcome adversity?   Nick Klingenmith ** 44:29 I understand surviving it is when? How did I how do I say it for someone else? You know? It was because, as I'm standing there in the totality, here's the thing I told you, how I was growing up. You know, this sort of independent kid? Right child of neglect grows up to be independent, weird, right child with trust issues grows up to be self sufficient, cool, but at some time along the way, that just becomes resentment. It and fear, and it works against us, and that's what creates a little bit of the victim mindset, and so, and it's easy to get that way when bad things happen to us, we feel like it's unfair. I mean, it's just natural. Nobody's immediately like, oh, I guess it's just my turn. So I think living with all those things. But this is where, where part of it gets confusing is I survived something, and people would tell me how tough I was. I would all I did was not die from cancer. I didn't do surgery, I didn't prescribe treatment. All I did was not die. I didn't cure cancer for anyone else. So I survived it. I didn't overcome it. All I did was show up to a doctor's appointment like, I'm lucky that I got thyroid cancer and not prostrate cancer. That's it. So I didn't overcome anything. I'm a diabetic. I'm still diabetic. How did I overcome diabetes? By having it. No sir, I was surviving it. All I was doing was being diabetic, but the mindset of thinking that, man, maybe when am I going to get a break? All these things keep happening to me, happening to me. When you think that way, you're not overcoming any of it. You are just surviving it. And you know what? God bless you. Because I know it's hard for a lot people go through a lot, and it's sometimes hard to handle. To overcome it, though, we have to do something with it. That's how you overcome it. I'm a diabetic who helps other diabetics realize they can be ultra endurance athletes. I race with the words fuck cancer written across my chest. I'm currently fundraising for the American Cancer Society for men were pink. I do what I can to help other people who are hearing cancer. I have cancer for the first you have cancer for the first time. That's how I get back there. I try to help other alcoholics recover and get sober. I write books and share about my fears and things that other people can relate to in the hopes that they, too, can overcome those obstacles. And that's how I overcome it. Those things lose power over me now, yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 47:08 and I think that last sentence is the real key to the whole thing. You're not giving them power. You're you're putting your power in your mindset elsewhere. You're not giving power to diabetes. Yeah, it's there. You're not giving power to drink. Since you become sober, have you ever taken a drink anymore? No, not at all. So you know you you took away the power, and you're putting the power into the mindset and all the things that you're expressing, which is so important, I think again, that's so much of what most of us tend not to learn, that a lot of the things that we deal with, we deal with because we give them the power, rather than moving forward and putting the power where it really needs to go.   Nick Klingenmith ** 48:04 It's we raise, we raise kids this way, man. And I mean, they're raising the moment to say it's not fair. Wait, everyone's supposed to get a turn, and that's not true. Well, everyone does get a turn, but they get it in a different way, and something I've come to appreciate, because here's here's something that if I wasn't a speaker, and if I had not written a book, I would never talk about cancer, because I feel like I'm sitting at the kitty table, and it'd be, quite frankly, like it's hard for me, like I had an easy road, considering cancer. I'm alive. I've had multiple surgeries, but I mean, God, compared to what so many people that I know have gone through and the people that we've lost, it took me a long time to be okay with the fact that I'm alive and to realize too that that's not something I need to apologize for, but especially if I'm gonna be a speaker and talk about having cancer, and in any way, let that, like me benefit from that, then I have to do something with that. That's what gives me the fuel. And I didn't know how to it was the first time that that I wrote f cancer across my chest. It was because a friend of mine had told me about their diagnosis and they were struggling with it, and I just, I didn't know how to help them, and I just, I just wanted to let them know they weren't alone. So literally, that morning, at five in the morning, I grabbed Sharpie and I wrote it on my chest, and I went out and I did the race, and I was expecting people, their kids around. I was a little iffy about using the F bomb, but I think cancer deserves all four letters, and everyone intended to agree with me that day, I was really surprised at just people tell me about their their loved ones they've lost, or the people struggling with it, or about their the people that have thrived. And I mean, I love hearing the survivor stories, because you don't hear enough of them, yeah, and it, what I've realized is you just. People know they're not alone. They just let it's like you're just letting people have told me about, like, their four year old niece while under the barbed wire crawl of a race. I mean, like, clearly, they they need to share. And so if that's if I help even just that little bit, then that's the role I get to play. And I say, get to play. And   Michael Hingson ** 50:19 I'm with you. I hear you. I talk about resilience, I talk about teamwork and trust. And, of course, tell my September 11 story. And I decided to start to do that. Well, first of all, it was my wife and I together. We decided that I should do that, because if we could help people move forward from September 11, and then, of course, later, from so many other things, teach people that blindness isn't the problem they think it is, and teach them about guide dogs and other things like that, then it makes life worthwhile. So I love to tell people today that what we decided was that selling life and philosophy was a whole lot more rewarding and satisfying than managing a computer hardware sales team and selling computer hardware, and it is   Nick Klingenmith ** 51:03 the other night. The conference I spoke at was a sales conference for a company in the logistics industry, but I've been in that industry for 20 years. I've spoken at least at a dozen conferences. However, all of them, except this one, were on sales or logistics, this one was on fear and overcoming adversity and finding purpose and finding purpose in your team and just thriving and leading the charge. And it was, it was such a different experience, and so much more fulfilling, yeah, in that 45 minutes than any of the time I'd ever spoken on another stage.   Michael Hingson ** 51:46 What do you think is your your greatest strength as a speaker? What do you really bring to speaking that makes you so successful at it?   Nick Klingenmith ** 51:56 I think that this will change over time as but I'm going to say right now, it's, it's simply my authenticity, and maybe not even that may not even change over time, but I'm very raw. I'm very vulnerable. I hold nothing back, and the thing I hear most about myself is that I'm relatable, and so I would say that would be be a differentiator, especially if you consider and this isn't a bad thing for someone who is far more known or professional or more of a brand name. It's not like they're not being raw and authentic, but it gets lost on their it gets lost on their audience over time, and you know, when they're more mainstream.   Michael Hingson ** 52:41 What do you think the the most powerful technique or tool is that you use that people do relate to in store, in in speaking,   Nick Klingenmith ** 52:53 I speak directly to them and share personal stories. Yeah, that's yeah. I mean, that's it. When I say I I should send you the link later, but I the talk I did the other night. I Maybe it's nervous energy, but I am just back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. But I'll tell you what, I made eye contact with every single person in that room, every other second throughout the thing I was I speak to them, and they are personal stories, then they're completely naked. There's nothing that I won't hold back because you know who I am now the obstacle course racing book, right? None of that matters if it's not, if I'm not completely honest about who I was, if I try to sell myself as having been someone else or something else, then I'm not going to help anybody. Yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 53:46 Well, and I find, as a speaker, that stories, and they have to be authentic, has to be you, but that stories make a difference. And I've, I've been in situations where a speaker's bureau hired me to go and deliver a speech, and I get there to find out that the speakers bureau was totally inaccurate and incorrect as to the kind of the organization that it was that I was going to speak to. And it taught me to learn that I have to customize every talk I give, and I need to be able to adjust, if you will, on the fly. Sometimes, in the case of one particular talk that I gave, it was a totally different kind of environment. What I was led to believe, fortunately, I could find stories to tell these people that showed that I related to them, and I got invited back to other parts of the organization later because of that. But I think that stories are the most important thing that we as speakers can bring, and they have to be true. They have to be authentic. Can't make it up. People can see through that. A mile away,   Nick Klingenmith ** 54:58 I feel like I have to tell the. Vegas story. It's the lowest moment of my life, and if it just it also just speaks to all of it in one incident. So it's kind of like it, but if the person who needs to hear it, you know, I, I don't want someone to just see who I am now and not relate   Michael Hingson ** 55:22 well, this podcast is all about unstoppable mindset. What are some ways to develop an unstoppable mindset? Do you think   Nick Klingenmith ** 55:28 for one we got to go through to get through it, we have to develop what we've been talking about, this sort of obstacle immunity, or at least this understanding that there's always going to be a next challenge. If we ever think that the mountain will be climbed. We can't be unstoppable. We simply have to accept that the purpose of life is to continue to climb. That's that's one thing, and how do we keep how do we keep doing that? Then achievement. I'm highly achievement driven. You can call it motivated, but I don't think so. I have to look for carrots. So whether it be personal, professional, physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, some sort of development is also how we continue to develop that unstoppable mind. Because the only way to be on there's we can't be 100% unstoppable. We always have to continue to progress and to toughen up and to keep moving for it, one of the things though, that has to be ultimately critical. And people talk about this, but I don't know if they really spend enough time on it. Self belief is the gateway to an unstoppable mindset. You have to believe it before you can see it.   Michael Hingson ** 56:32 Yeah, I'm listening. I just agreed with you. Yeah,   Nick Klingenmith ** 56:36 no, I know I was I was cutting, I was stopping.   Michael Hingson ** 56:39 Yeah, I agree, though. I mean, you've you've got to believe it, and you have to believe it intellectually and in your heart, you have to believe it emotionally as well. It is, as I said, if, if you're not authentic, people will see through you a mile away, no matter what I when, when I started selling, I took a Dale Carnegie sales course, and one of the things that I learned in that course is that the best salespeople are teachers. They're counselors, they guide, but because they're teachers, they also adopt. If they're really successful, stories, they can tell you stories that you, whoever you are, can relate to. And so they've they've analyzed and they understand what you need, and they can tell you stories to show you why what they have will work, or the other side of it is won't work. And I've had that situation happen where I've been selling a product and went into a meeting and learned that clearly what we had didn't work, and it's a choice. Do you still try to push your product on them or not? And I think that that's the worst thing that you can do, is to push a product that's going to jeopardize any relationship you have. And I've told customers in the past, here's why my product won't do what you need. Here's what will. And the result of that has always been calls later that say we really appreciated what you had to say. We've got another opportunity, and you taught us what we need to know your product is perfect. We don't want to put it out to bid. Just tell us a price and we'll order it today. Order it   Nick Klingenmith ** 58:23 today. In the book I published a couple months ago, selling inspired, I actually talk about what I call being a bar stool sales person.   Nick Klingenmith ** 58:34 Just tell personal stories like pretend you're at the bar talking to the prospect, and convey those things, because people do want to buy from people these days, it's tricky, because they are heavily gravitated towards convenience, but so we have to change our approach on how we get to know them, or, more importantly, let them get to know us, especially if you're buying virtually, like a lot of people are These days, it's not the bar stool salesman has to, has to become a social app sales person, essentially. But people buy from people make it easy for them to get to know who you are. Connect on a different level. Because, I mean, I'm even part of a a Spartan group. Excuse me. There's about 15,000 of us in this Facebook community, and we are very strict about not promoting businesses and services and stuff like that. You know, this is supposed to be about obstacle course, racing, tips, tricks, positive vibes, whatever. But I recently suggested, and we just actually implemented something that we're calling it the the What is your profession? Because there's 15,000 people. Now I don't know the 15,000 but I'm actually close. I know several 100, and I'm actually close with several dozen. If any one of those people has a service that I need, I'd rather buy from them, sure. And if any one of them is like, Hey, I do this, and that they're getting the message from me, like you. Said, Hey, Michael, can you do this? Here's my email. Send it done? Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:08 yeah, it's still connectionalism, and no matter what, you've gotta be able to connect or you've gotta create an environment where people want to connect with you again, though, that has to be authentic. You can't just fake it. That'll never work. It's   Nick Klingenmith ** 1:00:27 actually, it's hard for a lot of people. Now, I've been lucky for a while because couple things, going back in time, I've actually just been highly passionate about sales. So as far as like social content, I'd post sales, stuff, whatever. But I say that I'm lucky because of my story. I mean that would be like, you say your story. And what I mean by that is we have something different to talk about. I don't have to talk about being a speaker. I talk about things that are helpful to other people, and it just makes it easier, like, easier to engage now with, like, one of the guys that I'm coaching, he has no earthly idea how to start building or putting out any sort of content. And I'm like, bro, what do you like? He's like, like, just and so he actually posted something about the NHL that night, and it got decent content and feedback. Because I was like, he's like, You know what LinkedIn is not for? I go Shut up if we were at a standing at the bar together, like having a at a networking event. I don't want your spec sheet from your company. Yeah, I want to know what you're interested in and get to know you. So tell me, let people get to know you. That's it. Because when they click on your profile, if they don't, if all they see is your business brand, they're like, Okay, great, moving on.   Michael Hingson ** 1:01:34 Yeah, it is, it is. It is crazy. We you talked earlier about how we bring up kids, and we bring up children in such a strange way. They don't learn to overcome fea

Dan Duffy has been telling stories for over 20 years following an award-winning radio career with the nationally syndicated radio show Steve & DC. He transitioned from audio to visual arts and graduated from the Vancouver Film School. Before moving to Los Angeles, he returned to his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, to sharpen his skills. However, fate, a woman, and a cancer diagnosis changed everything. Four months before moving to the West Coast, he met Stephanie, the woman he would marry. Four months after that, Dan received a diagnosis of Stage 3 testicular cancer, and then six months later, Dan was cancer-free.Now, 22 years later, Dan is still telling stories through his video production company, Dan Duffy Productions. He works closely with the American Cancer Society and other nonprofits to help raise awareness about cancer. You can also find Dan on Facebook and LinkedIn or read The Half Book, his story of testicular cancer and life before, during, and after the diagnosis.Listen to this episode of Don't Give Up on Testicular Cancer from the Max Mallory Foundation, where Dan Duffy shares how his healthcare crisis led him to help others who face a cancer diagnosis. Show Notes05:49:9 -Dan's testicular cancer story10:32:9 -Testicular cancer is 95% curable14:41:5 - The PET scan story20:47:7 - Fertility 27:20:9 - The biggest challenge during cancer treatment35:28:5 - Helping other people with cancer45:37:9 - The Half Book - Dan's testicular cancer journey51:58:2 - What's next for Dan57:52:3 - What song do you have to sing along to when you hear it?Send us a textSupport the showFind us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook & Linkedin. If you can please support our nonprofit through Patreon.

Send us a textParenting a queer kid comes with so many questions. How do we support them? How do we help them find their community? And how do we make sure they know that no matter what, they are loved and they belong? Since 2010, the It Gets Better campaign has been a beacon of hope for LGBTQ+ youth, reminding them that they are not alone and that a brighter future is possible. What started as a viral video campaign has grown into a global movement, funding life-changing projects and empowering young people to create change in their own communities. This week In the Den, Sara visits with Brian Wenke, the Executive Director of It Gets Better, about empowerment, advocacy, and making sure the next generation of LGBTQ+ youth know they are seen, valued, and powerful.Special Guest: Brian WenkeBrian Wenke is the Executive Director of It Gets Better, the world's largest storytelling effort for LGBTQ+ youth and a leading LGBTQ+ youth empowerment organization. Since 2016, he has led the global effort to uplift and inspire LGBTQ+ young people through storytelling, education, and community-building. Under his leadership, It Gets Better has expanded its reach across four continents and six major languages, leveraging corporate and institutional partnerships to connect with LGBTQ+ youth where they live, learn, and socialize.Prior to It Gets Better, Brian raised over $25 million to address healthcare disparities (American Cancer Society), global conservation efforts (Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association), and affordable housing and access to the arts (Art Share LA). Brian is a proud alumnus of the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music (BFA) and Brandman University (MBA). He currently resides in Los Angeles, California.Links from the Show:It Gets Better on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@itgetsbetterIt Gets Better on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/itgetsbetterproject It Gets Better on IG: https://www.instagram.com/itgetsbetter/ It Gets Better on FB: https://www.facebook.com/itgetsbetterproject/ Apply to the It Gets Better Grant Program here: https://www.itgetsbetterchangemakers.org/ Join Mama Dragons here: www.mamadragons.org In the Den is made possible by generous donors like you. Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today at www.mamadragons.org.Connect with Mama Dragons:WebsiteInstagramFacebookDonate to this podcast

This content is for informational and entertainment purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.----------------------------------------Welcome to Episode 86 of the Investing in Impact podcast. Today, I'm joined by Howard Fischer, Co-Founder and Chief Evangelist of Gratitude Railroad, to discuss his journey from Wall Street to impact investing and how Gratitude Railroad is building a community-driven approach to fund entrepreneurs creating lasting social and environmental change.Prior to his work in impact investing, Howard spent over 30 years in traditional finance as the Founder and CEO of Basso Capital Management, a hedge fund specializing in convertible securities.He previously held senior trading roles at Smith Barney, Drexel Burnham Lambert, and Cohen Feit & Company, and began his career as a Certified Public Accountant in both public and private sectors.Howard currently serves on the boards of 1% for the Planet, The Carbon Underground, and the Garrison Institute's Compassionate Leaders in Finance program.He also advises BrightEdge, the investment fund of the American Cancer Society, and has held board positions with DoneGood, Builders Fund, Atlas Impact Partners, and Blackdirt Capital.He holds a B.S.E. in Accounting and Finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and was a Fellow in Harvard University's Advanced Leadership Initiative in 2013 and 2014. ----------------------------------------Thrive in the Impact Economy.Join 20k+. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for the latest news, exclusive interviews, and curated products that drive the Impact Economy. Our mission is to highlight and celebrate the founders, creators, investors, and conscious brands shaping the future of conscious business and philanthropy.To learn more, please visit causeartist.com

Hello Listeners.Today is going to be a special episode, a bit out of the ordinary to our normal programming. I'm participating in Podcasthon, which gives Code Story the opportunity to dedicate one episode to a charity of choice. Hundreds of podcasts are participating in this, releasing their episodes simultaneously in a coordinate effort, with the goal of creating a massive and international wave of inspiring audio content.Whats the point? The point is to raise awareness for a huge number of charities worldwide.The charity I've chosen is the American Cancer Society.The American Cancer Society is fighting cancer through research into cures and support for existing patients in their family. This not for profit organization, and is enabled to do its work through donations, grants and other sources.If you feel led to help fight cancer and support patients, go to the cancer.org website and click Donate. You can even give in Honor & Memorial of someone who's life has been impacted by cancer.If you want to learn more, go to cancer.org. That C A N C E R.org.Big thanks to the American Cancer Society for the work they do, and to Podcasthon, for coordinated this effort for charity.And thanks again for listening.SponsorsPodcasthonLinkshttps://www.cancer.org/Our Sponsors:* Check out Kinsta: https://kinsta.com* Check out Red Hat: https://www.redhat.com* Check out Vanta: https://vanta.com/CODESTORYSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/code-story/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

“The response was, in my opinion, sort of overwhelmingly positive. I think all of us old-timers who were at ONS Congress® in 1986 remember those 1,600 nurses waiting in line to enter the ballroom to take that inaugural exam. It takes a while to check in 1,600 people. They kind of all filled up the lobby outside of the ballroom, and then they spilled over down into the escalator, and the escalators had to be turned off,” Cyndi Miller-Murphy, MSN, FAAN, CAE, first executive director of the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation (ONCC), told Clara Beaver, DNP, RN, AOCNS®, ACNS-BC, ONS member and member of the ONS 50th anniversary committee, during a conversation about the evolution of oncology nursing certification. Beaver spoke with Tony Ellis, MSEd, CAE, ICE-CCP, executive director of ONCC, and Miller-Murphy about the history, current landscape, and future of certification in oncology nursing. Music Credit: “Fireflies and Stardust” by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0  Episode Notes  NCPD contact hours are not available for this episode.  ONS Podcast™ episodes: Episode 254: Oncology Nursing Certification Affects the Entire Cancer Care System Episode 186: Certification Can Fuel Your Leadership Skills and Professional Growth ONS Voice articles: Certification Was a Critical Step Along My Oncology Nursing Career Journey OCN® Certification Test-Taking Tips to Ease Your Anxiety ONS books: Advanced Oncology Nursing Certification Review and Resource Manual (third edition) Breast Care Certification Review (second edition) BMTCN® Certification Review Manual (second edition) Core Curriculum for Oncology Nursing (seventh edition) Study Guide for the Core Curriculum for Oncology Nursing (seventh edition) ONS courses: OCN® Certification Review Bundle ONS AOCNP® Certification Review Bundle™ Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing article: Findings From the 2023 Radiation Oncology Nursing Role Delineation Study to Shape the Future of the Subspecialty Oncology Certification for Nurses: Joint Position Statement From the Oncology Nursing Society and the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation ONCC website Connie Henke Yarbro Oncology Nursing History Center To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities. To find resources for creating an ONS Podcast Club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library. To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email pubONSVoice@ons.org. Highlights From This Episode Miller-Murphy: “Oncology nursing is a highly specialized area with a broad, well-defined body of knowledge, and it's essential for employees and healthcare consumers to be able to identify nurses who have demonstrated that they possess the knowledge that's necessary to practice competently in the specialty. Nurses who become certified take that essential step to publicly demonstrate their knowledge. And I believe this makes them a known commodity, so to speak.” TS 1:49 Ellis: “Oncology nursing is an area of high-stakes patient care, and a core purpose of certification is to safeguard the public. This is certainly an area of health care that benefits from having that role of professional certification being played, from the knowledge requirements to the practice hours that a nurse must have, to the performance on the exam and continued competence required to maintain the certification. Our certifications hold nurses to a higher standard, which helps protect the public in the care that they provide.” TS 2:45 Miller-Murphy: “A group of, I think, 200 nurses got together at an American Cancer Society conference back in 1980 to discuss the desire for certification in ontology. Nurses wanted a way to verify their specialized knowledge and skills. They wanted to raise the level of professionalism, and ONS was the most appropriate organization to develop the certifications. And by 1983, a survey of members revealed strong interest in specialty certification in oncology.” TS 5:29 Ellis: “The pace of change in oncology care is really the challenge for certification programs proper right now. There's so many wonderful advances—oncology treatments and drugs that are coming to the market that are being used in non-oncology settings and other advancements in the practice, that keeping up with that change puts pressure on certification programs because they must validate knowledge and practice that has become standard. It has to have been in the practice long enough that whatever the content, whatever the practice is that you're testing on, that there is one single correct answer. So you can't necessarily test on the very latest of what has come to the market or to the practice. The other flipside of that is that pace of change, the new emerging things in the practice create opportunities for other kinds of credentials.” TS 24:31 Ellis: “What we have found is that there are thousands and thousands of oncology nurses that are practicing at a level and doing specialized work beyond the scope of the OCN® body of knowledge—so at the master's level, PhD, especially with the advent of the DNP, and there is work there. And this really came out of our work to update the advanced oncology nurse competencies. … So the new certification is the Advanced Certified Oncology Nurse, or the ACON. In certification, and it is suited for those nurses that are practicing at that higher level.” TS 32:52

This episode has three chapters. Each one answers a key question, and, bottom line, it all adds up to action steps directly and indirectly for many, including plan sponsors probably, community leaders, and also hospital boards of directors. Here's the three chapters in sum. For a full transcript of this episode, click here. If you enjoy this podcast, be sure to subscribe to the free weekly newsletter to be a member of the Relentless Tribe. Chapter 1: Are commercial insurance premiums rising faster than the inflation rate? And if so, is the employee portion of those premiums also rising, meaning a double whammy for employees' paychecks (ie, premium costs are getting bigger and bigger in an absolute sense, and also employees' relative share of those bigger costs is also bigger)? Spoiler alert: yes and yes. Chapter 2: What is the biggest reason for these premium increases? Like, if you look at the drivers of cost that underpin those rising premiums, what costs a lot that is making these premiums cost a lot? Spoiler alert: It's hospitals and the price increases at hospitals. And just in case anyone is wondering, this isn't, “Oh, chargemasters went up” or some kind of other tangential factor. We're talking about the revenue that hospitals are taking on services delivered has gone up and gone up way higher than the inflation rate. In fact, hospital costs have gone up over double the amount that premiums have gone up. Wait, what? That's a fact that Dr. Vivian Ho said today that threw my brain for a loop: Hospital costs have gone up over double the amount that premiums have gone up. Chapter 3: Is the reason that hospital prices have rocketed up as they have because the underlying costs these hospitals face are also going up way higher than the inflation rate? Like, for example, are nurses' salaries skyrocketing and doctors are getting paid a lot more than the inflation rate? Stuff like this. Too many eggs in the cafeteria. Way more charity care. Bottom line, is an increase in underlying costs the reason for rising hospital prices? Spoiler alert: no. No to all of the above. And I get into this deeply with Dr. Vivian Ho today. But before I do, I do just want to state with three underlines not all hospitals are the same. But yeah, you have many major consolidated hospitals crying about their, you know, “razor-thin margins” who are, it turns out, incentivizing their C-suites to do things that ultimately wind up raising prices. I saw a PowerPoint flying around—you may have seen it, too—that was apparently presented by a nonprofit hospital at JP Morgan, and it showed this nonprofit hospital with a 15.1% EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) in 2024. Not razor thin in my book. It's a, the boards of directors are structuring C-suite incentives in ways that ultimately will raise prices. If you want to dig in a little deeper on hospital boards and what they may be up to, listen to the show with Suhas Gondi, MD, MBA (EP404). Vivian Ho, PhD, my guest today, is a professor and faculty member at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine. Her most major role these days is working on health policy at Baker Institute at Rice University. Her work there is at the national, state, and local levels conducting objective research that informs policymakers on how to improve healthcare. Today on the show, Professor Vivian Ho mentions research with Salpy Kanimian and Derek Jenkins, PhD. Alright, so just one quick sidebar before we get into the show. There is a lot going on with hospitals right now. So, before we kick in, let me just make one really important point. A hospital's contribution to medical research, like doing cancer clinical trials, is not the same as how a hospital serves or overcharges their community or makes decisions that increase or reduce their ability to improve the health and well-being of patients and members who wind up in or about the hospital. Huge, consolidated hospital networks can be doing great things that have great value and also, at the exact same time, kind of harmful things clinically and financially that negatively impact lots of Americans and doing all of that simultaneously. This is inarguable. Also mentioned in this episode are Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy; Baker Institute Center for Health Policy; Suhas Gondi, MD, MBA; Salpy Kanimian; Derek Jenkins, PhD; Byron Hugley; Michael Strain; Dave Chase; Zack Cooper, PhD; Houston Business Coalition on Health (HBCH); Marilyn Bartlett, CPA, CGMA, CMA, CFM; Cora Opsahl; Claire Brockbank; Shawn Gremminger; Autumn Yongchu; Erik Davis; Ge Bai, PhD, CPA; Community Health Choice; Mark Cuban; and Ferrin Williams, PharmD, MBA. For further reading, check out this LinkedIn post.   You can learn more at Rice University's Center for Health Policy (LinkedIn) and Department of Economics and by following Vivian on LinkedIn.   Vivian Ho, PhD, is the James A. Baker III Institute Chair in Health Economics, a professor in the Department of Economics at Rice University, a professor in the Department of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, and a nonresident senior scholar in the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics. Ho's research examines the effects of economic incentives and regulations on the quality and costs of health care. Her research is widely published in economics, medical, and health services research journals. Ho's research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the American Cancer Society, and Arnold Ventures. Ho has served on the Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Center for Health Statistics, as well as on the NIH Health Services, Outcomes, and Delivery study section. She was elected as a member of the National Academy of Medicine in 2020. Ho is also a founding board member of the American Society for Health Economists and a member of the Community Advisory Board at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas. Ho received her AB in economics from Harvard University, a graduate diploma in economics from The Australian National University, and a PhD in economics from Stanford University.   05:12 Are insurance premiums going up? 05:59 What is the disparity between cost of insurance and wage increases? 06:21 LinkedIn post by Byron Hugley. 06:25 Article by Michael Strain. 06:46 How much have insurance premiums gone up for employers versus employees? 09:06 Chart showing the cost to insure populations of employees and families. 10:17 What is causing hospital prices and insurance premiums to go up so exponentially? 12:53 Article by (and tribute to) Uwe Reinhardt. 13:49 EP450 with Marilyn Bartlett, CPA, CGMA, CMA, CFM. 14:01 EP452 with Cora Opsahl. 14:03 EP453 with Claire Brockbank. 14:37 EP371 with Erik Davis and Autumn Yongchu. 15:28 Are razor-thin operating margins for hospitals causing these rising hospital prices? 16:56 Collaboration with Marilyn Bartlett and the NASHP Hospital Cost Tool. 19:47 What is the explanation that hospitals give for justifying these profits? 23:16 How do these hospital cost increases actually happen? 27:06 Study by Zack Cooper, PhD. 27:35 EP404 with Suhas Gondi, MD, MBA. 27:50 Who typically makes up a hospital board, and why do these motivations incentivize hospital price increases? 30:12 EP418 with Mark Cuban and Ferrin Williams, PharmD, MBA. 33:17 Why is it vital that change start at the board level?   You can learn more at Rice University's Center for Health Policy (LinkedIn) and Department of Economics and by following Vivian on LinkedIn.   Vivian Ho discusses #healthinsurance #premiums and #hospitalpricing on our #healthcarepodcast. #healthcare #podcast #changemanagement #healthcareleadership #healthcaretransformation #healthcareinnovation   Recent past interviews: Click a guest's name for their latest RHV episode! Chris Crawford (EP465), Al Lewis, Betsy Seals, Wendell Potter (Encore! EP384), Dr Scott Conard, Stacey Richter (INBW42), Chris Crawford (EP461), Dr Rushika Fernandopulle, Bill Sarraille, Stacey Richter (INBW41)  

Phil Perry is joined by Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner and Patriots veteran Brandon Bolden at Super Bowl LIX. They discuss Drake Maye's rookie season, and the hiring of Mike Vrabel and Josh McDaniels. Phil Perry also breaks down the recent drafts from the Chiefs and Eagles and what the Patriots can learn from them. Later, Phil takes a look at Dane Brugler's top 100 for the NFL draft and why the Patriots should consider Jalon Walker. 2:55 Hall of Fame QB Kurt Warner joins Phil from radio row in New Orleans4:45: Kurt Warner's take on Drake Maye, and what he thought of his rookie season10:30: Why getting the run-game going for the Pats is crucial for Maye15:30: Phil breaks down Field Yates' mock draft20:00: Dane Brugler's top 100 has player that Phil wants everyone to consider more highly for the Patriots (LB Jalon Walker)24:42: Phil Perry breaks down the recent drafts from the Chiefs and the Eagles30:00: Brandon Bolden joins Phil on radio row to discuss what he thinks it would be like to get recruited by Belichick and how he will relate to college kids34:00: How similar will Mike Vrabel be to Bill Belichick36:00: "Offensive genius" Josh McDaniels will be perfect fit for Drake Maye39:00: Brandon Bolden talks about his work with the American Cancer Society and the importance of early screenings42:00: Bolden has a great story about Tim Tebow WATCH every episode of The Next Pats podcast on YouTubeFollow NBC Sports Boston:NBCSportsBoston.comX @NBCSpatriotsFacebookInstagramTikTok

Federal judges have paused some Trump administration efforts to slash government programs and fire federal workers, but cases are piling up. Politico's Kyle Cheney tells us more. Then, the National Institutes of Health just announced a funding cap for universities, research hospitals and other scientific institutions. Biomedical researchers have criticized the move and warned that it would damage the development of life-saving technologies. We discuss the impact with Ars Technica's John Timmer. And amid data purges by the Trump administration, Dr. Wayne A. I. Frederick, the interim CEO of the American Cancer Society, talks about the risks of inadequate access to federal health data. Plus, Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway, a Democrat, disagrees with the immigration and trade policies that have emerged in the early days of the second Trump administration. He tells us why.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy