Turning Pain into Purpose: The Power of Sharing Your Story with Dustin Hawes

In this episode, we are joined by Dustin Hawes, the Senior Social Media Specialist for the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute. In his role, Dustin is passionate about sharing the stories of cancer patients, caregivers, and researchers to build a supportive and informed online community.

We recorded this interview last year, shortly after Dustin created a beautiful social media feature documenting our own medical journey. Today, we are sharing this conversation to discuss the practical and emotional impacts of storytelling in healthcare.

Dustin explores why patients choose to share their most vulnerable health journeys, how social media can amplify these stories to drive real action, and how externalizing our experiences can help us find purpose. Whether you are ready to share your own story or learning how to hold space for someone else's, this episode provides a grounded look at how sharing our experiences helps both the speaker and the listener.

In this episode, we cover:

• The Power of Narrative: Why shaping our medical journey into a cohesive story is a key part of the healing process.
• Vulnerability in Healthcare: Dustin shares firsthand insights on the impact of storytelling and why patients choose to share their experiences.
• Finding Your Throughline: How to identify the central message of your experience when you are ready to speak out.
• How to Be a Great Listener: We break down Brené Brown’s core teachings on empathy, including how to avoid an "empathy miss" when supporting a loved one.

Resources Mentioned in this Episode:

• Coming Soon... As I hinted at in this episode, we are putting the finishing touches on a project designed to help patients and caregivers. Make sure you are subscribed to the podcast so you don't miss the official launch announcement! 
• Brené Brown on Empathy: Watch the powerful animated short about how to truly show up for someone in pain: https://youtu.be/1Evwgu369Jw?si=HfXIjokpRO61YeO1
• The Knight Cancer Institute Feature: Check out the beautiful social media feature Dustin created about our journey: https://www.instagram.com/p/DIzOpFtzpPh/

Connect with Us: We would love to hear how this episode resonated with you.  Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts to help other caregivers find this community or use the "Text Us" feature in your podcast app to share a piece of your story with us.