My Friends Got Zits. I Got Melanoma (Guest Dr. Morganna Vance)

In this first episode of An Unexpected Life, host Marianne Banister shares the story of her 14-year-old daughter, Claire’s, diagnosis of adolescent melanoma. It upturned not only Claire’s life, but that of her entire family. Everyone was blindsided by the fact that Claire’s cancer was triggered by hormonal changes rather than the “too much exposure to the sun.”  

Listen in to discover why Claire’s diagnosis was not rare, but in fact part of a newly noted epidemic of melanoma in adolescents and young adults. Marianne sits down with renown oncologist Dr. Morganna Freeman Vance, to share how melanoma in young people is often overlooked, ignored and, most importantly how best you can protect those you love.  

Its invaluable information for parents, grandparents and anyone 13 to 30 who want to live their best life in a sun safe way! 

What You’ll Learn in this Episode 

✅ Melanoma is the second most common cancer in adolescents and the most common cancer in young adults under 30, 

✅ Melanoma can be triggered in young people by genetics and hormonal changes in puberty, pregnancy, including hypothyroidism. 

✅ Why melanoma is different in young people than older adults. 

✅ The importance of skin screenings and sun safe behavior for young people. 

✅ Melanoma vaccines on the horizon. 

Links: 

🔶Don’t Get Blindsided! Your Thyroid and Melanoma. https://bit.ly/46MWVcS 

🔶More Evidence of Why Melanoma Is of Special Risk to Young People https://bit.ly/3kJLP5m 

🔶Claire’s Story / Children’s Cancer Foundation https://bit.ly/3FOdOrI 

🔶Education to Save Young Lives; Basics of AYA Melanoma https://bit.ly/3ZVYqDx 

 Claire Marie Foundation Mission 

“The Claire Marie Foundation provides clarity and hope in the fight against adolescent and young adult melanoma through awareness, education and prevention.” 

Follow and Connect 

🔶 www.clairemariefoundation.org 

🔶 Instagram.com/clairemariefoundation 

🔶 Facebook.com/ClaireMarieFoundation 

🔶 Donate to our foundation

🔶 Linktree

Transcript

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What is that saying? Don't get too confident in your plans because life is what happens when you least expect it. Tell me about it. Welcome to an unexpected life. Hi, everybody. Welcome. This is our first episode, and you're joining us. We're so glad to have you here. I'm Marianne Bannister. I am CEO and co-founder of the Claire Murray Foundation. That's my current title, at least, in my previous life, as I like to call it. I also had some other titles, that being television news anchor, journalist, wife and mother of two beautiful, wonderful girls. Titles are really important, don't you think? Because they tell us something about someone. They tell us about their journey, about what is happening in their life and who they are. But among my list of titles, there's one that I'll never have. And I'm really trying to sort through that. So just think about this. We have a title for someone who has lost a spouse, right? That's a widow or a widower. We have a title for someone who's lost their parents. That's an orphan. But we don't have a title for someone who has lost a child or sibling. Why is that? Is it because we can't wrap our brain around the possibility that our heart won't let our mind attach a word to that? Because we can't imagine losing the child we brought into this world, that we can imagine existing without them. There will forever be a hole in my life that when somebody asks me, tell me about yourself, how many children do you have? It's always that moment that I say, I have two. One that watches me from above, and one that takes very good care of me here on Earth. I'm a member of the most unfortunate club, as I've called it. Ten years ago, I lost my 17-year-old daughter, Claire Wagenhurst, to melanoma. Adolescent melanoma, actually. We were blindsided. Claire took no risks. She wore sunscreen. Even when we thought about it, she would wear it. She never tanned inside. And she got screened annually. I couldn't believe when it happened. And when we found out what was going on with her, and we were told the reason, it blew us away. You see, Claire got her melanoma for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with the sun. Her body did the most routine thing that every teenager does. She went through puberty. And while going through puberty, there was a change in her body, a hormonal change, that triggered melanoma. What the hell? How did this happen? Why did no one know about this? Why did the medical community not know about it? How come I wasn't warned so that I could protect my child? I will tell you, losing Claire was the most painful, excruciating event in my life. And it will always be that. It comes in waves. It's a pain that never goes away. It's a hole in the heart that has never been filled. And I know I am not alone in that for any parent who has lost a child. It's not just me, it's not just Claire, it's everyone. They can tell you that. But yet, there's joy and there's so many wonderful things in my life today. And I even have a new title. Hey, I'm a Gigi now. I've got two wonderful, great, hysterical little tiny boys. I'm raising two boys. Not raising, I'm indulging two boys, I should say, after raising two girls. But I tell you, I see in them little sprinklings of their auntie Claire. And that brings me joy and it makes me laugh because I know she's always with us. But I want to tell you before we go further, this is not a podcast about grief. Not at all. And if you knew my daughter Claire, you would know why. Because the girl had no patience for drama. She hated it, hated it, would not put up with it. Maybe it's because she went to an all-girl school where there was plenty of that going on. Maybe it's because she was an athlete who could power her way through the pain and the stress. Maybe it's because, as an artist, she just liked to look at what was beautiful and joyful and happy and mix up colors, and she just saw the wonderful life that is out there while she was going through this. Maybe it's because instinctually she just knew that life was too short. Whatever the reason, we are here to bring this podcast to you in a positive way, to bring all the information that we have learned going through Claire's journey, all the things we didn't know. But we wanted to let you know about it because power is positive, knowledge is positive, and we want you to be able to prevent melanoma in your life. Claire was only 14 when she was diagnosed. Um she was kind of an old soul. She was the youngest, she was the baby, but she was still the one that somehow we all kind of turned to to kind of get a good handle on things. She had the wisdom to see through a lot of situations. And although clearly she was petrified from this diagnosis and when understanding really what was going on, she refused to let it define her life. Absolutely refused to do it. I remember driving home from her first oncology appointment, and after she had that much deserved and needed meltdown in the car, she brushed away her tears and she got kind of this sarcastic side smile that she often had. And she said, Great, my friends get zits, and I get melanoma. And then she kind of giggled, and I couldn't help but giggle. And I think we quickly realized that the best way to get through this unexpected life that had just been presented to us was with humor and with laughter. And we better damn well find a way to do that. So obviously, as a journalist, my belief that knowledge is power is just embedded very deeply in my soul. And that is what this podcast is all about. I had to make some sense of losing Claire. That's what this foundation is all about. Because as our family, we know that we had to raise the flag and share with you all that we have learned so you can protect yourself and you do not go down the path of Claire's journey. We don't want that for any other family out there. And if you remember nothing else today, okay, just one thing. If you just take one thing away, keep this in mind. Melanoma is 99% treatable if, and that's a big if, if it is found early. That's the magic of the whole thing. So you have to know the tools. You have to know how to prevent it so you can do that. So that's what we're about. So through this podcast, I'm going to share with you the stories and the journey and the knowledge that Claire and I learned along the way. And we're also going to have stories of other young adults and teenagers. And they'll be heartfelt. They will be victorious. They will all be very real. But we want you to understand what they have learned. It's all about going forward and making the best of your life. We're also going to have all the best experts. Our Claire Marie Medical Advisory is fantastic. And we're so honored to have all these people working with us and other people who aren't on our advisory. So we're going to start off with one of the best in just a moment. Dr. Morgana Vance will be joining us, and the information she has will really, really change your life and set you on a course of wellness. We'll be right back. An unexpected life podcast is made possible through the support of our mission partners, Castle Biosciences and Children's Cancer Foundation. Hello, hello, and welcome back. Before we get to our interview, I want to give you a few statistics so you know exactly what we're talking about. And it's pretty startling if you haven't heard this before. Melanoma is the number two cancer in adolescents. It is the number one cancer in young adults under 30. And it is the number one cause of cancer death in young women, 25 to 30. And diagnosis in this age group is at epidemic proportions, up 253% in the last 40 years. Wrap your brain around that, will you? Dr. Morgana Vance joins us today. So good to see you again, Dr. Vance. Thank you for joining us. Thank you for having me. Uh, I could spend like a half hour just going over your credentials because you're so esteemed. You have done so much, particularly in cancer and melanoma. And that's obviously, you know, where I first met you all those years ago at Melanoma Research Foundation. I believe it was 2016 when we first caught up. But I just want to share with our listeners, just this is a quick abbreviation, okay? But um uh Dr. Vance is a medical oncologist, board certified at that, entrenched deeply in cancer and melanoma research and clinical development, currently with Alexius, and her work is honored by Melanoma Research Foundation. And also, we are so honored because you're a member of our Claire Marie Medical Advisory, which I just love that you're connected with us so well. When I first met you years ago, as I was just saying a moment ago, it was at a conference for Melanoma Research Foundation. And this was very early on. I had lost Claire just within the last year. I knew all the people, all the doctors who were telling me how she'd gotten it, what had happened. This wasn't rare. It's common more so because young people don't get cancer as often. So that's where the statistics are higher. And everybody was kind of patting me on the head, and it's like, oh, she's such a sad mom, and that's not really what it's about. And then I went to this conference, and there you were, and you were speaking and addressing everything that I was hearing, but no one of any prestige was stepping up to say that. And it brought tears to my eyes. And I remember when we met, I introduced myself and you said, Oh, you're Claire's mom. And it was just, you had heard about her, and it was just such a wonderful connection. And I know you have such a heart invested in this, not just professionally, but emotionally. It's a very important issue for you.

SPEAKER_00 12:41

Yeah, absolutely. And I remember uh very vividly the first time that we met at that melanoma research foundation event. Um, and I'll say that what drew me to melanoma as a specificity in cancer, because I was going through my oncology training back in 2015 and realized that there was this enormous potential that could be harnessed with using immune therapy to treat this cancer. And I was very lucky to have been mentored by a world-renowned expert, Dr. Jeffrey Weber, in that particular space. And when I got into clinical practice in 2016, started to take care of patients who had been diagnosed with melanoma at a very early age. And I think from a broad sense, we think of skin cancer as a disease of older adults, that it happens after long time sun exposure and UV skin damage. And you assume that melanoma is going to happen just like squamous cell carcinoma or basal cell carcinoma in in patients who are like 40 or 50 years or older. And in my practice in Southern California, I was seeing patients who had been diagnosed in their late 20s, and I realized that it was a completely different animal in those patients. It was biologically more aggressive. It was oftentimes diagnosed at a later stage than we would typically think of. And maybe more importantly, didn't seem to respond as well to the therapies that we were using in older adults. And it really drove me to understand the science behind it and what the unique needs were of those patients, not just what's the biology, but what is their family and societal impact and how do they understand how to navigate that disease facing the unique challenges of being a young adult. And so that's what really drove me to develop that talk at the Melanoma Research Foundation. And then, of course, we bonded and I learned more about your story. And we recognized together, and I think through a growing community of people, that addressing the specific needs of treatment, but also prevention and awareness in the young adult population is so important, especially given the statistics that you started with.

SPEAKER_01 15:05

Well, because I think so many times the world, I know when we went through this, um, when Claire was first diagnosed with her, it took the pathologists a month to determine what it was because they kept looking at it, going, wait, it's melanoma, but wait, it's not. But wait, she's 14. And even with us, part of the problem was we saw the change right away, but the command medical community did not take it seriously enough to get her in the door to remove it. And so by the time we got it removed, it was several months down the road, and it had changed so quickly. So the things we've learned, it it's more aggressive in young people. And you know, so there's less time to take it off, and it looks different. Can you address a little bit what some of the differences are between melanoma in again, adolescents, young adults, and what we consider more traditional adults?

SPEAKER_00 16:00

Yeah, and I think that you're bringing up a great point. And I know in future episodes of this podcast, you'll be interviewing dermatologists as well, and there's an opportunity for them too to speak on this. I think one of the issues, as you had mentioned, is that the mole may not look too abnormal or not abnormal enough to warrant an early biopsy. And so sometimes it would be classified as an atypical nevus, right? Basically meaning like a freckle that looks a little bit different, but not enough to make one think that it could be cancerous. And so that oftentimes is what can delay the diagnosis because the evolution of a normal mole to a melanoma mole can be more accelerated in younger patients. Um, but the time between that development to detection can be delayed. And so oftentimes younger patients can also present with what's known as ulceration, which is a more advanced form of the melanoma at that stage, and then also a sentinel lymph node, meaning the neighboring lymph node to that mole can be become infected or become occupied by tumor, can become positive. Sentinel lymph node positivity, unfortunately, is what makes it a stage three melanoma, a more advanced stage. And that's typically what we can see in younger adults, again, because of that delay in diagnosis. The other thing that happens often in younger patients is what's called a BRAF mutation, which is oftentimes the driver mutation and what makes that melanoma more aggressive. Um, that's about 80% of cases in younger patients. And so it's not entirely coming from sun damage, it can actually come from a genetic mutation that makes it more aggressive. And so that also can make the melanoma progress more rapidly from the mole to the atypical nevus to then actual cancer.

SPEAKER_01 17:56

If I understand it right, what I find really interesting is that younger people do not get typically a basal cell or squamous cell melanoma, which is, you know, the less serious. It's not like anything to laugh at. As I say, there's no such word as just skin cancer because just and cancer should not be in a sentence together. But they only get melanoma, correct?

SPEAKER_00 18:20

That's very true. I mean, and all those cancers play together in the same sandbox. So you're right. It's not to say that it's just skin cancer. Melanoma is definitely the most serious of the three. There are the other skin cancers like basal cell and squamous cell, which are less serious, less potentially fatal in younger and older adults. Um, the squamous and basal cell cancers are typically associated with much more UV skin damage. So while we do see them in younger patients, it's typically again seen in older adults and less associated with the driver mutation that I just spoke about.

SPEAKER_01 18:57

Is the scientific world, is the research world, again, it's been Claire was diagnosed in 2011. We lost her in 2014. There's so much new out there in the melanoma scope. Um, and when we first started, this age group was kind of lumped in as pediatrics. And yes, children can be born with it, but it's rare, right? But there's a big difference between a pediatric patient who's eight and a 15-year-old, because a 15-year-old is closer to being an adult, right? So it are we looking at like a separate age group in what they call AYA adolescent young adult.

SPEAKER_00 19:40

Yeah. I'm so happy that you asked that question. I think that there are specific biology considerations for the AYA group and also specific post-cancer care considerations for the AYA group. So I'll I'll start on the first part. Um, one of the things that you had kind of mentioned is that at the age at which Claire was diagnosed, whether or not hormones could have potentially played a role. And certainly there's a growing body of evidence to suggest that young women in particular may be at higher risk of developing melanoma purely because of the hormone-driven dis instances that can be observed in younger patients, especially between young women and young men. So what we've what we've learned actually from some interesting studies is that biological sex may play a role, especially in people under the age of 50. There was a study that came out of UC Irvine that suggested that UV exposure only accounted for 1% to 2% of melanoma rates in women, but 33% in men. And so some of the thinking is that male and female skin may differ based on hormone influence. Male skin is thicker, it's richer in collagen and elastin, and so it may be actually more resistant to the impact from even occasional UV exposure compared to women. So there is that consideration, and then also the role that estrogen and progesterone may play actually in melanoma development and progression and so on. So I think that's one important thing to consider is the hormone influence that can take place during and post-puberty. And that's why adolescent young adult 15 to 29 has some important biological considerations. And then the other, of course, as I mentioned, is the survivorship aspect. And how do you take care of a patient who at some point may have gone through a melanoma diagnosis and is a survivor now and is later interested in lifestyle choices such as future pregnancies, and how do you counsel patients on that? And so I think that there's a growing Body of evidence to suggest that the adolescent young adult population actually has a very unique set of needs and a very unique biology compared to pediatric melanoma and also compared to adult melanoma, let's say. And there are certain institutions, including my home institution, Moffitt, where there is a dedicated group of folks, including Dr. Vernon Sondak, trying to create the specific resources for patients in that age group.

SPEAKER_01 22:28

Is there studies going in? I've heard this about testosterone, because they found that that could be a factor in young men as well. We talk a lot about estrogen with women as how it could affect them during pregnancy and in general. But what about these testosterone studies?

SPEAKER_00 22:42

Yeah, so it's kind of interesting. Uh there, thank you for that question too. Uh there was a study that looked at the link between testosterone and melanoma incidence. And this was a broad study. It wasn't an age-specific study, but essentially it did show that the higher one's free testosterone levels were in the bloodstream, the higher the risk they had of developing melanoma. So it actually showed that for every 50 picomole increase in testosterone, you could raise the chance of developing melanoma by 35%. And so, again, coming back to the hormone cancer interplay question, it's interesting because testosterone may potentially promote melanoma growth by activating a specific transporter called zip 9. So, what we're understanding is that melanocytes, which are those cells in our normal healthy cells in our skin that promote pigment and are responsible or for becoming a melanoma if they are damaged, actually can relate to a lot of hormones in our body, including estrogen and progesterone, and then also um thyroid hormone, which I know is another question that we had discussed ahead of this podcast.

SPEAKER_01 24:00

Yeah, and let's talk about that because um in Claire's case, yes, it was puberty and a hormonal connection, but more specifically, she developed hypothyroid, which was triggered by puberty, which I'm trying to you will understand. I'm trying to for the listener to make this as simple as possible. In her mole of origin, which is a congenital mole, which congenital moles are more at risk too, which we didn't know about that, correct? Yeah, she was born with on her ankle, had a receptor to TSH hormone. So when she went through puberty and it created uh hypothyroid in her case, she had through the roof elevated TSH hormone, which is what you have too much of, is your hypothyroid. And that's what triggered it. We found that through a study at MD Anderson, which studied Claire's mole of origin and found she had very high receptors, and she created just the perfect storm in that case. And that's not to say, and I want to clarify, not every person with hypothyroid is going to have melanoma. That's not at all what we're saying. It's just it happened in her case, which then, you know, opens the door to how many other people have to worry about that. Do you have any information on that?

SPEAKER_00 25:24

Yeah, and I think it's important that you say that not everyone who has hypothyroid will get melanoma. And that's true. And that's also to say that not everyone who has melanoma also has hypothyroid, but there is a biological link between the two where if they are existing at the same time, they will feed into one another. So I think it's important that you said that. Um, speaking of MD Anderson, there was a study that actually looked at how many of their melanoma patients had some history also of thyroid disease. And it was a small percentage, it was only 7%. But what they found is that while the melanoma itself didn't appear to differ from patients who didn't have hypothyroidism, the thinking is that because there is an overlap between the hormones that stimulate melanocytes and the hormones that our body uses to stimulate the thyroid, if the thyroid is underactive, the body is sending a signal, as you said, to ramp up the activity through the hormone called TSH. And if TSH starts to become very elevated because the thyroid is not performing enough, there can actually be an overspill effect where that TSH that's raised in the blood may sort of accidentally spill over and stimulate those melanocytes. And so if those melanocytes happen to be starting to become cancerous, then they can actually use that as a source of fuel for growth. So there's a lot still to understand. And it's not to say that by correcting hypothyroidism, you're reducing your melanoma risk. It doesn't mean that having hypothyroid means that you'll get melanoma. It just means that we are trying to understand more how our endocrine system can play a crucial role in regulating and potentially influencing way the ways that cancer can grow.

SPEAKER_01 27:23

And I think what's really important, uh, and I'm so excited to have you spelling this out in such an understandable way. Thank you. Oh, thank you. There's a lot of science involved here. I'm really so intelligent today. Okay. But what but what I mean is that um the more knowledge that we have, and that's why I always say this was an inspiration. I know, you know, I had to make some good out of this. And for me, as well-trained, I used to do medical reports. I'd never heard any of this. And the fact that we got blindsided by it, I thought, wow, how many other people? And our family thought that, Claire thought that, and you know, that we kind of I had to make some sense of her passing. And so by sharing this, but the point of the information for me is that let's say if you have a history of hypothyroid in your family and you develop it, and you also have a history of melanoma in your family, all that means is to be very alert and just know your risk factors, right? If you're pregnant and, you know, just know that it could, not that it will. Every pregnant woman is not going to develop melanoma. There's a risk factor. If there's a history in the family, we don't want young people out there going, oh my gosh, I have a ton of testosterone, you know, and I'm I'm in this right age group. But all that means is getting screened, because isn't that the key to finding this? Wear the sunscreen, take all the precautions. But screening is really the only way to find it early, right?

SPEAKER_00 29:03

Yeah, absolutely. And and I I want to say that I think first that what you're what you're doing with this podcast is so important just from a messaging standpoint. And it's so inspiring to have taken your experience of grief and use that as a way to reach out to young people and to parents and say that yes, this is something that is preventable. And yes, you should absolutely emphasize primary detection and prevention. I think that that's ultimately the message that people should take away from this podcast and from what the Claire Marie Foundation is really attempting to do. Um, no one wants to stir up unnecessary anxieties. It really does come down to doing what's best for your health and making sure that you get screened. So I think it's important to emphasize that yes, while there's a lot of science that's coming out about maybe potential risk factors and who's more at risk versus not, at the end of the day, getting your skin checked by a dermatologist on a regular basis is ultimately the best thing that you can do for yourself. The American Cancer Society does recommend regular skin self-exams, but then also professional screenings. The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force recommends a full skin body exam for every for adults 18 to 69 every two years. So the recommendation really is just make sure that you get checked. And then if you see something, say something. So if you notice that a mole is changing, or if you notice that you have a change in your skin, then bring that to the attention of a licensed professional, and then you can take the take it from there. The message of prevention and early detection is the biggest, the biggest takeaway from what the Claire Marie Foundation is putting out there.

SPEAKER_01 30:54

Thank you for that. And I didn't mean to interrupt, but it's really important to understand that the person you take it to is a dermatologist because so many times it just breaks my heart. I've had families calling me and saying, I went to pediatrician and they said it was fine and it wasn't. And it's kind of like that's not their expertise. That's why you go to the right person. Um, when we were speaking over the last few weeks, you were telling me, and I think this is so exciting in the trend of going forward in terms of stopping, preventing, or even if you've been diagnosed, keeping it from coming back, studies into vaccines. Isn't that what's on the horizon then?

SPEAKER_00 31:35

Yeah, absolutely. So um I'm sure most listening to this podcast are familiar with the Gardasil vaccine, which is a vaccine that we use to prevent cervical cancer and also genital warts in young adults. There's a huge link between the vaccine that causes, pardon me, between the virus that causes cervical cancer and also head and neck cancers. It's called human papillomavirus or HPV. And so this is a vaccine that really has had a huge impact on the incidence of certain cancers because it's using the virus to stimulate the body's immune system to kill it and then also potentially kill any pre-cancerous cells that may be forming in the body. And so it's the first time that we've had an ant literally an anti-cancer vaccine in our armamentarium. So, what that has led to then is a lot of thinking about can we use this science in other cancers and can we vaccinate patients against other cancers? And this has been developed in certain blood cancers, certain lymphomas, as well as lung cancer, and then now in melanoma. So there are a number of clinical trials that are looking at developing a vaccine against someone's melanoma once they've had it. So, for example, if a patient is diagnosed with melanoma and they have it surgically removed, use pieces of that tumor to develop a vaccine for that specific patient to help their body remember what that cancer looks like. So if it ever tries to come back, the immune system will destroy it. And none of this has been approved yet from an FDA level, but some interesting clinical evidence that's come out of clinical trials, especially when we've combined it with immune therapy after the cancer has been removed. But of course, as oncologists, we want to take things one step further and say, can we use it in everybody? Can we put it from a primary prevention perspective? Could we eventually develop a vaccine for melanoma? I would sign up for it too. Sign me up.

SPEAKER_01 33:41

I mean, I this the idea of it, and I know that's way down the road.

SPEAKER_00 33:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:47

But it I guess it's kind of like it makes me crazy uh when people go and go, oh, I got screened. And they took it off, but it was just atypical, so I'm fine. And I want to say, like, wait a minute, you know, if you're a certain age, which I am, and if you go in for a colonoscopy and they take, they find something, they'll be like, Oh, it was, oh, we just we we nipped that in the bud, right? It was just it, it's we just got rid of it early. It's the same thing. Atypical means it's changing. Atypical means there's something funky going on there, and maybe if it wasn't removed, then you would have a problem. And I think it's it, it's not that if they don't find a melanoma, it wasn't a problem, right? So that's one thing I think we want, not that we want to, you know, be taking things off people's bodies constantly, but it's all about prevention. But my gosh, if we can get to a vaccine, oh, that would make my day. I can retire then. I could be done with all of this. I would have to find something else to do. Yes. You just might have to, you know. Dr. Vance, thank you so much for all this today. This has been a wealth of information. I can guarantee you it's going to be stuff that will be new to so many listeners. And you've always been such a great friend of our foundation and to our family. And thank you for helping us to spread awareness and helping us to prevent and all the work you do in the research and the clinical trials and all the hard work to get the next steps out there.

SPEAKER_00 35:25

Well, thank you for having me. And I really, again, just want to acknowledge all the important work that the Claire Marie Foundation is doing. And it's such an honor to be a part of the inaugural podcast. Um, I think it's a testament to our shared commitment and belief and advocacy in getting the message out there and ensuring that people have information that they can access and also process, right? Because the internet can be a very dangerous and overwhelming place. So creating sources of information and support like this is so important. So thank you for everything that you do.

SPEAKER_01 36:00

Thank you. Thank you, and have a wonderful day. And thanks. Uh, we'll talk again soon, I hope. Of course, you can find out more about all we've been talking about here today through our website, ClaireMarieFoundation.org. Also, we'll have a link to it and any other information in our episode notes. And in the meantime, please do me a favor today. Um go out and do something happy, do something joyful, do it to honor my Claire. Okay. And just realize that life is to be celebrated. Remember to take care of your skin, take care of you, and live life like Claire. Have a good one. We'll see you next time.

SPEAKER_03 37:00

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