Episode 390: Showing Up for Yourself

Welcome to the Komen Health Equity Revolution series on Real Pink — where patients, advocates, researchers and community partners come together to talk honestly about what's standing in the way of breast health equity, and what we're doing to change it.

June is Pride Month — a time to celebrate identity, community and the courage it takes to live authentically. Today's conversation sits right at the heart of that. Because advocating for yourself, knowing your body and refusing to be dismissed, that's not just a health message. That's a love letter to who you are.

Our guest today is Shelby Smith. She was 30 years old when she noticed something felt off. No family history of breast cancer. Young, healthy, going about her life as a wife and mom to a 7-year-old daughter. But she trusted herself — and that decision changed everything.

Shelby faced a 12-centimeter tumor, a bilateral mastectomy, 16 rounds of chemo and 15 rounds of radiation. She did her own research, built her own notebook, asked her own questions — and came out the other side with a message she wants every young woman to hear: Know your normal. And when something doesn't feel right, advocate for yourself.

Key Takeaways:

Trust your instincts when something feels off
Self-advocacy can change outcomes
Being informed helps patients navigate treatment
Cancer can affect more than physical health
Including loved ones in the journey matters

Chapters

00:00 Introduction: Shelby's Breast Cancer Story

02:07 Discovering a Lump and Seeking Answers

04:37 Diagnosis, Testing, and Receiving the News

10:07 Research, Self-Advocacy, and Navigating Treatment

17:33 Identity, Family, and Talking to Her Daughter

24:46 Life After Treatment and Advice for Young Women

Learn more at realpink.komen.org and komen.org

Real Pink, by Susan G. Komen, shares real stories and expert insights to support people navigating breast cancer, from diagnosis through survivorship.

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(411)

Episode 410: The Gift of More Time

Winnie Marquart, a member of the SC Johnson family and a three-time breast cancer survivor, has been through 27 years of diagnoses, treatments, recurrences, and uncertainty, but she has also experienc...

9 Marras 28min

Episode 409: Trust What You Feel: Part 2

Welcome to Part 2 of our episode with Isabel O’Gara! To listen to Part 1, check out our episode from October 26, 2026. Isabel O'Gara was pregnant when she was diagnosed with a later-stage, pregnancy-...

2 Marras 25min

Episode 408: Trust What You Feel: Part 1

Isabel O'Gara was pregnant when she was diagnosed with a later-stage, pregnancy-associated breast cancer — a diagnosis she almost didn't get the chance to catch early in a system where women's symptom...

26 Loka 26min

Episode 407: Real Talk: Breast Cancer Brought Me To Komen

Breast cancer affects everyone differently, but the struggles and challenges this community experiences are real. We’re talking openly and honestly about just how difficult a diagnosis, treatment and ...

19 Loka 39min

Episode 406: From Treating Cancer to Living with It: An MBC Story

Imagine spending more than 30 years working in oncology and then suddenly finding yourself on the other side of that conversation. Today’s guest, Lily Cabezon, is a senior physician assistant in urol...

12 Loka 24min

Episode 405: I Was Doing Everything I Was Supposed to Do

What if a simple at-home DNA test changed the entire course of your life? At 28 years old, today’s guest received a call that revealed she had a high probability of carrying the BRCA1 gene mutation. ...

5 Loka 27min

Episode 404: Know My Body, Know My Culture: Hispanic Heritage Month

28 Syys 19min

Episode 403: Breast Cancer Doesn’t Care How Young You Are

When we think about breast cancer, many of us still picture someone much older. But the reality is that young women can—and do—face this diagnosis, even when breast cancer is the furthest thing from t...

21 Syys 18min