Ovarian Cancer Survivor Stories and Journeys

Tami Barber 0:03

Welcome to Season 3 of Cancer , the Emotional Mountain . I'm Tami , your host and an ovarian cancer thriver . As I begin this season , I'm entering my fourth year of treatment and thriving with ovarian cancer . I think back to my diagnosis sitting in my truck in the Red Rock of Utah and can't believe all that has happened and bless my life to today . First , I'm alive , against all odds . I'm here living and touching the lives of those who have also heard the dreaded words you have cancer . I remember thinking at the time I'm dying , but that's not what it means anymore . We're so lucky to be alive now .

Tami Barber 0:53

In a time where research and medicine have lengthened our lives , cancer is no longer a death sentence . It's becoming more of just a chronic disease . My guest in this episode is Trish Kifer , an author , cancer survivor and my mentor for the metabolic approach to cancer . I met Trish at Camp Make-A-Dream . She has opened my eyes to a world of a companion treatment that I can use during my regular along with my regular treatments . I met her last fall and was lucky enough to take a session with her as she shared her journey with this discovery of the metabolic approach to cancer . Okay , but before we listen to my conversation with Trish . I want you to subscribe , like and leave me a message . Your support keeps my podcast on the radar for anyone who needs to hear words of encouragement . And now , ladies and gentlemen , my wonderful new friend , trish .

Tami Barber 2:03

Hello everybody , welcome to another episode of Cancer , the Emotional Mountain . I'm Tammy , your host , and a cancer thriver ovarian cancer thriver which makes it really exciting for me today to invite I've invited another ovarian cancer survivor to be with us today . I met Trish last July at the ovarian camp which was held at Camp Make a Dream in Montana , which I've told you this season . We're going to talk to a lot of those ladies and we're going to explain a lot about Camp Make a Dream and hopefully all of you can get in touch with them and find out how miraculous it really is . So Trish is here today . I want her to share her story and I also want her to share something else , another journey that she has been on since she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer . So welcome , trish .

Trish Kifer 3:06

Thank you , Tami , for having me . This is awesome .

Tami Barber 3:09

It's so fun and , for those of you , whenever you're listening , this is a Monday for us , so we're like starting our week with this and so I'm going to give us a big old pat in the back .

Tami Barber 3:21

We're doing it on a Monday , monday , miracle Monday . So , trish , I do know that you're an ovarian cancer survivor and , most importantly , at Camp Make , a Dream was for me to sit with other ovarian cancer survivors and thrivers , because that has not been what I've experienced in the past four years since my diagnosis . Mainly , many of them have passed , and that's a struggle for me , because my emotions go all over the place when I hear of another woman who wasn't diagnosed soon enough , wasn't diagnosed properly and , as in my case , some things just don't seem to work for us . We're unique . We're one of those unique cancers that hides and resists treatment and all of those other little shadows in the darkness . So tell me about your diagnosis what year , when and what , what , what your journey did for you , and don't don't hesitate to share the emotions , because that's what this podcast is all about . It's our roller coaster .

Trish Kifer 4:41

Yeah , absolutely . Um , first of all , it's a true honor that I get to do this with you and um , honestly , when I first was diagnosed back September 2019 , it was actually September 13th and it was a Friday , not on a Monday . It it was a Friday . So , um , I , I , my doctor , said I had a 1% chance of it not being cancer and I , in my brain , I was like I'm going to be that 1% because that's just how I roll , and but even though deep down in my gut , I knew there was something going on , and he told me about Colorado Ovarian Cancer Alliance , which is now Colorado Gynecological Cancer Alliance in Colorado . And I couldn't sleep that night , obviously , and I look up and there's . They always have annual walks in Denver , but this one they were going to be trying it out in Northern Colorado , fort Collins area , where I live , and so it's midnight and I said I think that's where I need to be .

Trish Kifer 6:00

And the next morning I told my husband , I said they have a Colorado ovarian cancer alliance walk for awareness and , um , he said let's go . And as we walk in , um , it's at the park and so , of course , just splattered in teal and and um , I'm walking up on the back . You know a lot of , a lot of awareness walks you see in memory of and then are survivors in honor and my husband saw in memory of and all I saw were survivors . You know that's where I , you know he was . He was on that side of things seeing how many people that we have lost in this disease of things , seeing how many people that we have lost in this disease , and I just knew , like I've said , I'm in this community . Like you said at the beginning , I was hours in it , like maybe 12 hours , that I knew and I already found a community .

Tami Barber 6:59

Wonderful .

Trish Kifer 7:00

And it was just , it was absolutely incredible . I walk up and you or you register and Patrick , he said , okay , are you a survivor or caregiver ? And I was like I don't know how to answer that Because first , I'm still like in that 1% mindset , I'm like I'm still like have 1% chance of just not being here . So I was like I didn't feel , like I was like , am I phony being here ? And you know . But even though , like I said , deep down , I was like I knew things were going on and he said , well , you know , you get a whole beat , you know whole necklace for one year , that you're survivor . And I was like , do you have like one beat ? Because I , like I said I'm not even . And so he goes , you take this necklace and you will earn it and you will be back to get a second one , and so I those are very you know .

Trish Kifer 8:01

So I got into a community and I was really kind of I'm pretty Outgoing and when I'm at a place I , you know , just meeting people . But they had everything set up for the family , had my whole family there , and we were over and they had , like you know , cornhole and just a bunch of games to play and I was over there with my family while everybody was else you know , kind of talking with each other , and Roger said you go , you go talk to those women because they're going to save life . But , um , so I went and I I just started walking with another lady and she was young .

Trish Kifer 8:36

Um , she actually had ovarian cancer while she was pregnant , um yeah , and she now has two kids . She's , I believe , probably right now eight to 10 years out , and she gave me some life-saving information that day . It was just like , no matter what she goes , I moved every single day of my treatment and so that's what I did , and I called her and another lady , sue , that I met there . She came in one of my chemo treatments and she brought me a little stone that you know from where she was up at Niagara Falls and she came to visit . So I had you know I wasn't 100% Before all that , you know , before that iconic moment , you know just where I found my people and where I just knew I just like you know , I had that support which was , like you said , it's just so comforting and it's so we just need to .

Trish Kifer 9:35

That's one of my first things when I tell people I said , if you have a good support group , you're going to be just fine , because no matter all this other stuff will filter through , but your support group is pinnacle . I mean , it's just it .

Trish Kifer 9:51

It really is vital yeah , um , and you know the ones in the relationships and you know the ones that you find you figure out . You know , um , you know who your true tribe is , know a lot of times people come and go and but the ones that just stick through it , through those times , you know those are the ones that you want for , you know , for a lifetime . You know , and I I was 43 when I was identified , so you know , and I actually had tumors on both of my ovaries and on my colon and my diaphragm and it was just kind of I called it my little cancer fairies because I said it was just like floating around ready just to party .

Trish Kifer 10:36

Right you know , in just the right time when I did see my regular doctor . You know , about two weeks before I had that moment with my conventional oncologist when he said I had about a 100% chance of it not being ovarian cancer . It was just before all that I had , you know , had all the typical menopausal signs . My mom went through menopause early . I had incontinence , I had pain in my abdomen . I was an athlete . All these things made sense because you had two kids , naturally , you being an athlete . Maybe I tweaked something , maybe I did an exercise wrong .

Tami Barber 11:27

You know , so just everything . And you had conceived and given birth normally , just like everybody else does .

Trish Kifer 11:35

Yeah .

Tami Barber 11:35

Yeah .

Trish Kifer 11:36

Yeah , and so everything you know it was not cancer , was not even in the wheel . Well , because it was just like you know . Well , maybe , just you know , as we get older you know sometimes we need to reawaken that you know that part of our bodies , and so I did the pelvic , you know type of exercises and all that kind of stuff and things got better . And until you know it , just it was , it was just basically , yeah , you you go see somebody and so then you know , just fast forward that basically it was like that Friday the 13th , and then I was in to get a laparoscopic just to see what was what in there , Cause the ultrasound showed that , yeah , you got something going on and at the time I was so naive I didn't really know anything about cancer or ovarian cancer .

Trish Kifer 12:37

It wasn't in my family , you know all the things . Like you know , leading a healthy lifestyle wasn't in the family . You know it was just like okay , well , you know , if it is something , then they can just cut it out , right , and then we'll be done , right , one and done . I just that's what I thought . And so I was really I was praying , I was like okay . I was like okay , dr Buttenpally , which he'd be happy that I shared his name .

Tami Barber 13:04

He's fantastic .

Trish Kifer 13:06

But we had a deal . I said , okay , if you could go in there and you see , and you can get the stuff and you just cut it out and and then we'll just be done . And , um , and he goes , well , if I get in there and there's a lot , you know , there's things that we can't get then I'm going to close you up and then we're going to have another plan . And that's what happened . As soon as I woke up , I saw my husband and I just knew the doctor had already shared with him .

Trish Kifer 13:39

Well , he had known . But I just knew , even without even just , I just knew that it was still in me . I just knew that we , I was like , okay , that it was still in me . I just knew that we , I was like , okay , we're going to go to that other plan , um , and the other plan was basically three rounds of chemo and then the deep belt like surgery , getting everything , and then three rounds of chemo . And I was like , okay , um , let's just , let's do this .

Trish Kifer 14:05

And so that's really what happened was I went in and started chemo and my doctor that I've had for , you know , 20 years , my general practitioner , she said , you know , you can think about this , you don't need to jump into chemo right away . She said , you know , you can think about this . You don't need to jump into chemo right away , you know , and from what I learned now , it's like sometimes it takes up to 10 years for cancer to come and manifest . And so she really wanted me to really , just just really think . And we knew we were going to do chemo . But she said , just , you know , just kind of take a breath and not jump in .

Tami Barber 14:49

But I jumped in , I just said no , I said I knew we might already be 10 years into it , if it's already been seen .

Trish Kifer 14:57

Right and at the latest I was like I want this , I want this gone and I want this out today . Yeah , you know , and looking back , that was , you know , I was used , having the information that I had at the time and being young and everything I knew that I could , I would be , I would , you know , was not going to be a cakewalk , this chemo stuff , but I knew I was going to be fine .

Metabolic Approach to Cancer Recovery

Trish Kifer 15:21

You know , one question , the first question my husband had to ask he goes is this terminal and how long does she have ?

Trish Kifer 15:26

oh my god and I mean it was . It was like he oh , you know the caregivers bless them . I said , if anybody's listening , your caregivers , I just are hardest job harder than being a patient yeah , yeah is there . They just got to be strong .

Trish Kifer 15:43

You know they're going through stuff and you know they got to be strong for you and right um , and I'm glad he did ask that question because you know um dr goop holly said he goes , you know everybody is different and every case is different and we don't , you know , we just don't know um , and so , uh , he said the one thing do not do is go google things don't my listeners hear that every podcast never google ?

Tami Barber 16:13

yeah , you are not going to become a doctor on google , nor will you really find one .

Trish Kifer 16:21

Yeah , or and google and the statistics are on other people , they're not on you , and that's what I'm learning , too , is like right we have this came knocking on our door a very specific way , so we have to heal in a very specific way and it's on our own statistics . So you know , um , so yeah , so we just we just that's just what protocol was and it was fine , and even during one of my treatments I paused it and went to Turks and Caicos and did a family vacation Well , good for you ?

Tami Barber 16:56

Yeah , I wish you did , because 2020 was not social .

Trish Kifer 17:02

No , no , we got that in , you know . And one thing he did say he goes , you know , go ahead . You know , before masks were a thing and he said you just wear a mask on the plane , I said done , and it was the best you know . I think living and going and doing that was the best thing that I could have done .

Tami Barber 17:20

The best medicine .

Trish Kifer 17:22

Yeah , yeah . So you know , I lived life and I , I really I moved when I could and I rested when I needed to , and after that , you know those treatments . Then I was on oral chemo and then I , a little bit after that well , not a little bit , like 18 months later just this thing on my liver started manifesting it . Just you know the whole gamut . So then I did another six rounds of chemo and then after that is where I really really started investing and immersing metabolic health into things . I'd always done it from the beginning . Like all my treatments , I fasted the day before , the day of the day after , and hands down is why , you know , I the neuropathy , all the side effects that we get with chemo . I didn't really I didn't really get them . I was nauseous a bit , um , but the fasting is was a huge tool that I used . That helps .

Tami Barber 18:33

Um , that is so interesting that you know no one . No one in the infusion suite tells you that In fact , they bring in all kinds of food and ask you if you want a snack and , um , this is another . This is another thing that brought Trish and I together is she is an advocate and pretty much my teacher . She's not a teacher , she's not a doctor , but she is steering me in the metabolic journey to add to what I get from Western medicine , and I am extremely grateful . So you are going to hear some fabulous things that this doctor that she is under has done to help her and , like she said , her side effects and the after effects are non-existent because she tried something to go with her Western medicine . We always want to make sure everybody understands . We are not advocating that a candle and a meditation cures you . What we are saying is don't close your mind to other things that will heal .

Trish Kifer 19:45

Yeah , and that's what it is , and it takes to be an advocate for yourself and doing your research . And a lot of times what I was blessed with is you know the book , you know , with Dr Nisha Winters , the Metabolic Approach to Cancer . You know the book , you know , with Dr Nisha Winters , the metabolic approach to cancer . She also , um , she is 32 years , 32 year plus years of being an ovarian cancer thriver and she was at stage four at age 19 . And so she is my mentor , my hero , and just you know , learning , learning from her of how I can heal myself , um , and just doing , doing different things . And her big thing is test , assess and address . And that's what I've done is just , you know , we take these tests and you know things that show up and we assess it going . Okay , what can we do ? There's a plan and then we address it and it's a constant thing . Like I said , at the beginning I thought we were just like let's get this out and we'll be done , and and away we go . But yeah , it's , it's a chronic illness and I , you know , it took me , you know , a good chunk of time to go . Oh yeah , this is lifelong , this is going to be a lifelong thing . Yeah , and it's not just let's cut this out and then go back to my old ways . Um , it's , let's get this and treat it and heal on all levels , um , spiritually , emotionally , physically , Um so , and it's , and that's what I've done .

Trish Kifer 21:27

You know , before I was an endurance athlete . I did marathons and triathlons and now I do yoga and tennis . It just looks different . So my you know specifically my body . I thought I was doing healthy things and then doing all those other other you know , endurance races and things of that sort , but for my own body it's just too much . It was just too much .

Tami Barber 21:51

And um and that changes as well . I mean things we did when we were um in our teens and our twenties and thirties . Then it changes . I was the maniac , uh , aerobics instructor , top 15 classes a week , step , high impact , low impact , kickboxing , and , uh , I am yoga , pilates and walks . I love it . My body's happier too .

Trish Kifer 22:21

Very much . I'm not so sore all the time , I'm not , you know .

Tami Barber 22:25

you know I can stand and sit you know I can get up off the floor .

Trish Kifer 22:30

Yep , yep .

Tami Barber 22:34

And I will . I want to make sure everyone understands that . If you are interested in the book because I just received mine two days ago , the metabolic approach to cancer that Trish talks about I will have that information in the show notes if you are interested .

Trish Kifer 22:52

That'd be great . It's a great first read and it just why I gravitated towards it , because a lot of times people say , well , you know , and sometimes there is no why . We're like people just you know , have chronic illness . But a lot of times , you know , um , you know , especially for my case , you there , it gave me a why , it gave me this empowerment , like I could . It's like , oh , all these different things and you know , as you read the book it's like talks about these different terrains and we're not treating cancer as much as we're treating the terrains . The terrain is our . You know our body , our social , you know emotional , our metabolic health , our mitochondria , the toxins , the hormones , the diet and lifestyle , all the things that comes with a whole person . It's a whole person approach , not just like , um , you have ovarian cancer , we're going to treat ovarian cancer . It's like you have this illness that is trying to take you out and we want to create your body that is inhospitable to any chronic illness .

Tami Barber 24:04

And it gives you yeah .

Tami Barber 24:06

That's the exciting part . That's why I guess I will let you know that at Camp Make a Dream , Trish offered her time to speak with many of us in regards to this metabolic approach and I could see in her eyes and in her spirit that this worked for her .

Empowerment in Cancer Treatment Decisions

Tami Barber 24:32

And since I've been in treatment for four years and had seven different kinds of chemo and now being tested for the eighth , I thought I should know better . I am a licensed massage therapist . I also believe in Chinese medicine . I believe in the body , homeostasis and all this . Why did I forget about that ? And that's what I think is so amazing ? That the universe said oh , by the way , you're going to go listen to Trish because she's going to give you that little nudge on the shoulder . That says listen to Trish , because she's going to give you that little nudge on the shoulder . That says , hey , remember that girl that used to think more about the possibilities as opposed to what scares you .

Trish Kifer 25:21

I have tears in my eyes . That's beautiful because it is it . But you know , even knowing the stuff that I know now it's like this vortex of you're in it and you're in the doctor's office and you just and it and it is . It's just this vortex of , of of stuff and we do forget and we and and it and it and it's , instead of breathing and giving space , it just , you know , making decisions out of fear like oh , we got to scan you tomorrow or we got to get you . You know , we got to do this , like right , right now .

Tami Barber 25:53

The minute they start doing things fast like that , you are sure you are going to die . Yeah , the night before my first chemo treatment , I'd already had the total hysterectomy , I'd already gotten my port and now the next morning was going to be my first chemo and unfortunately I did not have a team at the current oncologist's office . That was encouraging . I heard things like oh , you'll end up in the hospital . Oh , you'll end up very sick . Don't ever , uh , hesitate to go to the ER . And I laid in bed that night and I literally had to get up and start walking around because I was falling apart . I was hysterical that I was going to die the next afternoon . I had no hope whatsoever and I had been so positive up until that night that I could do this . And I just , like you , said the vortex that they get you in when you sit there and nothing against you because they're just giving you know . They can't give you false hope um so they're .

Tami Barber 27:13

They're real with you , but they also have not been through it , which is why I I started this podcast , because I thought , wow , I'm being treated by people who don't know how I feel .

Trish Kifer 27:25

Yeah .

Tami Barber 27:26

And I'm going to you know right and it's it's .

Trish Kifer 27:32

You know , I've told this to my husband lots , because it's just , I said you have doctors and they have their specialty and it's to get the cancer and they're very good at that . Yeah , but a lot of times they're so good at that they forget about it . They're so good at getting that that they forget that they're killing out our immune system , the very thing that needs to be alive and well so that it can remind the body to go . Oh , you know , hey do your job . So we just need our doctors to kill the cancer just enough so our immune system can kick in and go . Oh , if I knew that was there the whole time , I would have done my job . But for some reason things get missed and those cancers are sneaky and they just want to take you out and so , you know , a lot of times it's just like a . A lot of doctors are just like they do their job very well .

Trish Kifer 28:26

But then what's great about , yeah , the other , the other doctors , the , you know , the integrative or their naturopathic or or you know even ones that are doing immunotherapies , or just you know just other therapies , um , uh , with , with the conventional stuff . That's where we're going to help our immune system and that's where we're going to . You know our quality of life during treatment and after treatment , or that's . You know why I like the word thrive is because I don't want to just survive this .

Tami Barber 28:59

No . I want to I love saying thriver and and share with us , trish , also , as you have with me , about just what they figure out at a tumor board . Yeah , they have to know who's in here . You know , this is Trish , this is Tammy , and if they're not on board , there's others . And that's where you have to be the advocate and you have to make a decision . Maybe this one I'm really grateful , but you know what it's . I feel a hesitation and I can't feel any hesitation right now to be a thriver , so tell us about your , your little team .

Tami Barber 30:04

I love your team .

Trish Kifer 30:05

I love my team and we all play together nicely on the playground , which is so cool I love that we take turns at the swing .

Trish Kifer 30:13

Yes , you know , I think their egos are out of the way and they just truly care . They see me as a person . They don't see me as just you know . Not , you know just a patient or a number or a statistic . I'm a person to them and that's another thing that I got from Dr Nasha is just , we're the CEO of our health . We get to decide who's at the table and from the get-go , I have really been honored and fortunate to have doctors that communicate and you know , just saying , okay , you're doing this , all right , I'm fine with that , you know , and they're all on board . They're all on board .

Tami Barber 30:59

I finally found that myself and , wow , what , what a joy inside of me not to feel like well , I don't know if I should say this or not , you know . No , I found the same thing everyone's playing well together , everyone is . And I am a person and I get to say , like you said , you stopped in the middle of chemo and went on your trip . I've done the same thing . I've said you know what this is , this is good , but I've got something really important . And he says go live .

Trish Kifer 31:33

Yeah .

Tami Barber 31:33

You work really really hard , Go live .

Trish Kifer 31:36

Yeah .

Tami Barber 31:37

I love that .

Trish Kifer 31:39

Yeah , it is , it's beautiful , it's , it's . It's an amazing feeling to have where you're not hiding anything from your doctors .

Balancing Self-Care During Cancer Recovery

Trish Kifer 31:50

The one thing that we all know , if we've been in this long enough , is people prey on people that are fearful and are in cancer and there's just a lot of stuff out there , and so that's one thing he goes . I just don't want you to get bamboozled or just taken advantage of thing he goes . I just don't want you to get bamboozled , you know , or just taken advantage of , because I , you know , on the metabolic side of things , I'll just list , you know , I did , the high dose , vitamin C , the hyperbaric chamber , um , mistletoe , um , the fasting lifestyle , the um , you know , intermittent fasting and the fasting , and the ketogenic and high carb and the fasting and the ketogenic and high carb I'm sorry , low carb , high fat , moderate protein , right , you know ? And just and just , I just stayed away from seed oils and sugars and grains , mainly like it's , it's .

Trish Kifer 32:41

Sometimes it's just so hard and I always just tell people like those three things , like seed oils , like the canola oil and the soybean oil and the grapeseed oil , or it's , maybe it's better to say there are three oils to use , like coconut oil , olive oil and avocado oil , those are good ones .

Trish Kifer 32:57

All the other stuff , just yeah , we don't really you know . So it's just , it's like a , it's a dance and sometimes things you know and as we , as we heal and as we feel better , and then we just learn something more . And not to get overwhelmed with so much information , but just to take it in in like little steps , like I'm , you know , like I'm taking Tammy , I was like like okay , there's all this information , but we're gonna do these three things first and we're just , you know the book and you know two other things , and then we'll come back to the table and talk , you know , and then we'll um go the next , you know the next couple things , but you know just taking me through it with little baby steps so that I don't go blah , blah , blah , blah blah , which we have a tendency to do , especially if you're already inundated on the other side with all the infusions and the this and the that and not feeling good .

Tami Barber 33:59

And so , yeah , I appreciate that .

Trish Kifer 34:01

Yeah , well , it's like you know , baby steps make big changes . Or you know , small steps make big changes . And to be sustainable , when we get overwhelmed that's another thing I don't do overwhelm anymore and I'm aware of that and like just my heart and my mind and body , I'm like , oh , I'm getting overwhelmed , okay , and I just have that awareness and I know how to you know , step away from that being overwhelmed , which is a huge thing .

Tami Barber 34:33

I'm much nicer to myself since cancer , much nicer .

Trish Kifer 34:38

We should be , and I wish it was . You know we did that before you know you know we did that before .

Tami Barber 34:52

You know , we did it before in the uh super duper marathon way and now we have to do it in the okay , what ?

Trish Kifer 34:58

is reality way , yep yeah , no , yeah .

Tami Barber 35:04

so , trish , what you're I think you're saying , and what I'm learning from you is that we are whole . We're not a cell that's traveling through our bodies . We are not a PET scan or a CAT scan or a blood draw . We are compiled of little miracles inside of our body . Our body wants to heal , we want to heal . Our body wants to heal . We are miracles .

Tami Barber 35:41

Our little body is a little miracle that , no matter how much they try , they cannot clone . So take your miracle and open your heart and your mind and your abilities to absorb different things . Don't go down one hole and never come back . Stay balanced . Everything must be in balance . Stay balanced . Everything must be in balance . And that includes what I had to learn . Being a overachiever workaholic always got to be moving , I had to learn . You had chemo yesterday , you are .

Tami Barber 36:24

I kept having to say I'm allowed to say I'm allowed to rest today . I'm allowed . That was in my head . I'm allowed to rest today . No , I'm going to rest today because my body wants me to and I'm going to embrace what my body wants .

Tami Barber 36:39

I have this mindset of just go , go , go go . You'll win if you , if you keep going . You win if you keep going . And I read that sometimes too go , go , go . You'll win if you keep going . You'll win if you keep going . And I read that sometimes too , where it says you know , just keep going , keep going , always push . Well , there's days I'm just not going to push . And I have a friend , sadly , that I just recently lost in the last two weeks who we have all said what an amazing woman she was because she was not afraid to say today's not a good day . I'm taking today for myself . Thank you for texting , thank you for calling , and I'll get back to you and you I will . But yeah , today's a struggle , not today's a struggle . Oh , my god , I've been in bed for no , today's a struggle tomorrow will be better , yeah , and I I'm learning a lot from her too .

Tami Barber 37:39

Um , I learned a lot to be to be okay with all that . Um , I learned a lot to be to be okay with all that .

Trish Kifer 37:46

Yeah , and that's you know where we , you , you see all this like you wouldn't get cancer . And then , and it's I'm learning so much where people are , just like you know you'll fight this , you'll get this . And you know you're strong and and I said , yes , I said , but I never fought it , I embraced it because it was a part of me and I just said you know what little cells , little cancer cells , you're doing something that's hurting me and I need you to go . Thanks , you know . So I , I embraced it with love and I didn't fight it , I just and I kept going .

Trish Kifer 38:19

And then I realized such strength in resting . You know where I am strong , strength in resting . You know where I am strong , but there's also in so much strength in in resting and going . I know I'm strong and I know , but there's , I know I'm , you know , have that strength in the rest time too . Um , because our bodies are just , we need to cause it . I mean , think about it , we go , go , go . There is no that rest and recovery time . Because I mean , think about it , we go , go , go . There is no that rest and recovery time . Right , you know , just like the lunaris and like the sun and the moon .

Trish Kifer 38:50

You know , the sun is out , we go , and there's a reason even they rest right they just there's just their cycles , and where there were meant to go and we're meant to rest , and when , when we burn out you know the candles at both ends and we're not resting , something's going to pop and that's right .

Tami Barber 39:12

That's right . So is there anything else you can think that you want to share that you , prior to us getting together today , you thought , oh , I want to make sure that I include this because there's so much , oh my gosh . There's so much , oh my gosh , there is so much we could talk about . And and I will have Trish on again because , um , as I go through my journey with her , um , I want to share that with y'all and be completely honest of how , whether I'm struggling with it or I'm finding , you know , good results , and just how it's working for me , because I know we all have questions about certain things . You know , and this isn't the medicine man , this isn't the . I'm going to sell you a magic potion . I feel that , with this approach , I am taking control . Okay , I love how that sentence ended with control and apparently I have lost all control .

Tami Barber 40:15

We are at the end of my conversation with Trish , but somehow , in the abyss of the Bermuda Triangle of podcasts , my closing with Trish was lost . But it's okay , because Trish is coming back and I just want to tell you all if you have any questions , please feel free to reach out to Trish especially . She is the expert on this I am still learning . So for Trish and myself , I'm going to say thank you so very much for stopping by . And if you didn't hear it in the beginning and you're still here , first of all , thank you and , second of all , subscribe , like , send me a message . I want to talk to you . Oh my gosh , can you believe that ? Nicely done , miss . Anyway , y'all have a great week and we'll see you soon . Bye-bye , no-transcript .

Building a Diverse Cancer Care Team

Trish Kifer 48:29

Yes , it's so many , so many people are thriving and living with cancer . You know , and you find that Goldilocks , like really , like I said at the beginning , like we just want to get it enough where our immune system can take over , and it just it takes , it takes that research , it takes that advocacy and it just it takes , it takes that research , it takes that advocacy , it takes that vulnerability of , like , what I need spiritually , mentally and physically . And because you I mean , as we all know , your brother's dog's owner's roommate will tell you that they took this special like tea from wherever and they're cured Right Right . Tea from wherever and they're cured right right . And I'm just like , no , it's the supplements and all those things that people say work .

Trish Kifer 49:18

You have to . You know , um , you have to research it for your own body and you know , and it might be something . But know , you go talk to your team and you just say you know what this , um , I want , I want to investigate you know this supplement and how you know if you're depleted . You ask your doctor to take that test , like , say , to vitamin D or vitamin A , or you know your your beat , just go , can we test for these and see where my nutrients are ?

Tami Barber 49:49

um you know . So that's what so overlooked . You are giving blood all the time and nothing is about nutrients , vitamins and sustainability . It's all um platelets , red cells , white cells , white cells , green cells , purple cells . Oh , I know what I want you to share . We're talking about how you built your team . Trish doesn't live where all these doctors all live in one spot . Trish has doctors from across the United States . It's possible to do in this day and age . Your doctor doesn't have to be down the street . Tell me about your doctors that are out of state that you still work with .

Trish Kifer 50:35

So I found . So I have a conventional oncologist , dr Guttenpahle . He's down in Aurora , which is an hour south of where I live , and then I have my doctor , my general practitioner . She is homeopathic , eastern Western medicine and she's here and she's very well versed in cancer care .

Trish Kifer 50:54

And then I have Dr Dudley , who he is in Tennessee and he used to be a conventional oncologist and then he went to naturopathic , integrative , um , and what's great is like um dr dude , dr um dudley studied under dr naysha winters and I , like you know , so he's kind of like you know , metabolic kind of approach and knows kind of that side of things , and so he and my doctor here , my general practitioner , they talk like if there's anything that I need , he just says , oh , you know , they kind of work as a team and then if I need to get anything ordered or you know , since he's in Tennessee , they have , you know , the legalities and license .

Trish Kifer 51:41

He's not licensed in Colorado , so they work together and then she orders what we need to order , and then she orders what we need to order . But fortunately , like I really haven't talked , you know , to Dr Guttenpahle and I haven't needed him at all for a couple of years now and it's just because my Dr Guttenpahle and you know my Colorado doctors they team up and they talk and you know . So yeah , but yeah , that's how it's , that's how you know it kind of . You know they can do telehealth and you know that kind of thing . So that's how I have my little team .

Tami Barber 52:25

Yes , and don't be afraid , excuse me , to initiate that . And again , like I said , if you get a hesitation from one that doesn't want to work with someone else that you trust and believe in , then , um , you have rights .

Trish Kifer 52:41

Yeah , it's like you , you , yeah , yeah , you interview your person um and you you know that they work for you . Yeah .

Tami Barber 52:50

And when you find that right one . You'll be like me . You'll be just like where have you been ? All my cancer , yeah , yeah .

Trish Kifer 52:58

Yeah .

Tami Barber 53:00

I love it , Trish , and again I'm going to have Trish's information in the show notes . Trish Kiefer from Colorado .