11. Miranda McKeon: Diagnosed With Stage III Breast Cancer at 19

In this episode, Sam meets with Miranda McKeon. They talk about Miranda's breast cancer journey, from a stage III diagnosis at only 19, to fertility treatments, chemotherapy, unexpected challenges and silver linings, and how it changed her life. Key moments: 00:33 Introducing Miranda and her cancer story 01:37 How we met (cute, bestie vibes) 07:46 Growing up and being in adult spaces as a young person 11:22 Starting college during COVID 13:07 How she found out she had cancer 14:45 What the lump felt like 15:57 Getting the biopsy results 17:50 Processing the results from an airplane in San Francisco 18:28 Rebranding self breast exams 20:44 Miranda’s fertility journey (at only 22) 26:28 Things that surprised her about fertility treatment 27:35 The most traumatizing part of her cancer treatment 29:28 How Miranda’s cancer journey gave her perspective 31:40 The physical toll of having and treating cancer 32:24 Going through medically-induced menopause at age 22 36:52 What helped the most during treatment 40:37 The emotional rollercoaster of it all 42:53 Who and what got her through it 43:02 How antidepressants played a role 46:31 What she learned about herself 48:53 How Sam found out her mom had cancer 52:00 How beating cancer gave Miranda purpose 53:22 Sharing her story online 54:59 One part of cancer people don’t talk about enough 55:14 Why she worried about finding love after cancer 58:25 What does a cancer-preventative lifestyle look like? Thanks for listening! New episodes are released every Sunday at 8 AM EST, so if you liked this episode, subscribe or follow to get notified about the next one. And please leave me a rating or review, so I can continue to improve the show. Talk soon! Follow along: Instagram: www.instagram.com/lifeincapslock TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@lifeincapslock YouTube: www.youtube.com/@lifeincapslock Threads: www.threads.net/@lifeincapslock Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices