“I was very frustrated [with doctors not taking me seriously]…so my husband is a large animal vet, so I made him bring home his ultrasound machine and I just ultrasounded my neck myself.”
Cancer. It’s probably the scariest, most feared word in the English language. It’s a word that none of us ever want to hear and yet, surprisingly, about 40-50% of us will be diagnosed with cancer in our lifetime. That means that it’s a near guarantee that you or someone you are very close to will get cancer. Today’s guest, Dr. Sarah Boston, is one of the leading veterinary cancer surgeons in the world. A few years ago her professional and personal life merged when she found a lump on her neck that she had a bad feeling about. Sarah then became her own advocate on the long journey to diagnosis, treatment, and recovery.
“Not only do I have thyroid cancer, but nobody believes I do so no one is hurrying, no one is as worries as I am. And now I also feel crazy because if I end up having thyroid cancer when I said I did I kind of feel justified, but if I don’t have cancer, everyone is gonna say I was a hypochondriac and that I was acting crazy.”
“I’d be scrubbing into surgery and someone would walk past me in the hall and be like “Hey Sarah, did you get your diagnosis back?” That’s just so bizarre, like what am I supposed to just run by you and be like “Yeah, I’ve got cancer.” It just made me think a lot about the time and place to ask people about how they are.”
Interview Contents
3:30 - Finding a lump on her neck.
5:00 - Physicians thinking she was overreacting and taking their time to see her.
5:45 - Doing an ultrasound on herself.
7:15 - Getting anxiety over physicians not taking her seriously.
10:45 - Having a background in oncology being a plus or minus.
11:45 - Being your own advocate.
14:30 - How things would’ve been different if things had moved faster.
16:30 - Feeling crazy and writing for catharsis.
17:35 - Being told you have cancer.
21:10 - The way people act around you.
23:35 - The vibe of the book.
25:00 - The way the book ended up coming together.
28:15 - The title of the book.
30:00 - The different (worse) treatment she got vs. the dogs that she treats.
38:00 - We miraculously solve all the problems of healthcare.
43:50 - Cost of treating cancer in animals.
46:00 - Advice for people with pets with cancer.
47:30 - Advice for people with cancer.
Links
THIS EPISODE WAS MADE WITH THE SUPPORT OF
Marcus Batson
Roxanna
Michelle & Jim Wortner
Janelle Swanson
Jimmy Seymour
