Bedpan Banter

Built for Ports, PICCs, and People | The Port Studio

• SimpleNursing • Season 1 • Episode 15

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0:00 | 30:35

A cold infusion room, a tangled sleeve, a zipper that sets off a scanner—tiny moments can turn a hard day into a brutal one. Our guests, twin founders of Port Studio Brinlee & Mariela, set out to change that after a stage 4 diagnosis at 21 made chemo, scans, and clinic visits a new reality. What they couldn’t find, they built: a chemo-ready crewneck with 100% cotton fabric and plastic zippers on both arms and chest for easy, sterile access to ports, PIC lines, blood pressure cuffs, and labs—without sacrificing warmth, privacy, or style.

We walk through the human problems their design solves and why details matter: no metal for MRI and CT compatibility, dual arm zips for IVs and PICC lines, chest zips for port access, and a cozy feel that eases long infusion days. Their story goes beyond apparel into identity and resilience. The subtle “live” embroidery on each sleeve is a reminder to be present through the hardest hours, and their brand name nods to both their birthplace and the medical port—a symbol of connection, challenge, and hope. Along the way, we talk about early symptoms, the shock of diagnosis, genetic testing without clear answers, and the caregiver experience of an identical twin navigating fear and survivor’s guilt.

Nurses are the heartbeat of this conversation. We share how a remembered name, a warm hello, or a quick chat about life—not labs—can shift a patient’s mindset, with research hinting that positive experiences can influence treatment response. We also weigh in on how accessible clothing streamlines workflows, preserves sterility, and reduces awkward moments for everyone at the bedside. This is a candid, practical, and hopeful look at patient-centered design, oncology care, chronic illness, and the small choices that make a big difference.

Want to spread some light? SimpleNursing has covered the cost of 100 accessible crewnecks that YOU can gift! These 100 are first-come first-serve so if you miss it, use code SIMPLE10 for 10% off at theportstudio.com. 

Remember to subscribe, share with someone who needs it, and leave a review to help more patients and nurses find this conversation.

To submit your stories & comments, visit: https://simplenursing.com/podcast/

Meet The Port Studio Founders

SPEAKER_00

We got a coat round. Welcome to Bedpan Banter with me, Nurse Mike. Can I get a Bedpan over here? Welcome to Bedpan Banter, the official podcast of Simple Nursing, where we talk all about the human side of healthcare. With me today is the awesome ladies behind Port Studio, Brinley and Mariela. Did I pronounce that correct?

SPEAKER_01

Mariela, yep. Well, you play it with an accent. It's actually cool.

SPEAKER_00

It's the Spanish version, right? Mariela. All right, so let's get into it. What do you guys exactly do at the Port Studio Company?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, the Port Studio, we really created it to curate products to gift to people going through challenging moments. And for me, my most challenging moment, one of my most challenging moments was going through chemotherapy. And as I was going to chemo, I would, it was so stressful, right? Like the day that I, the day before, I'm like, okay, what am I gonna wear? And that just even that little thing stressed me out so much. And I would just throw on a shirt and stretch them out and try to get them to access the port, and I'd be freezing. I would try a button up, but then I would feel like I was really exposed and like having to like hold it. So we went through these pain points, and Mariella was looking up, okay, maybe I should find Brindley an accessible crew neck, like let's, or not crew neck, but an accessible clothing that she could take with her to access the port, yeah. To access the port. And she's looking it up and everything's outdated. It looks old. I mean, historically, right? Cancer's for older people, but that's not the case anymore. And so we were like, okay, let's just create a fun, fashionable, comfortable crew neck that we would wear to treatment.

SPEAKER_00

So you guys took it upon yourself to change the entire industry, the fundamental fabric of, you know, um oncology, patients with oncology.

The Clothing Problem In Chemo

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and we we actually started it. Like we we manufactured them while she was in treatment. And it took us 12 months to design like the crew neck we're wearing today. Um, and so it's 100% cotton, no synthetic fibers, and then um all plastic zippers, and we have it on both arms for IV access.

SPEAKER_00

Let's see it, let's see it.

SPEAKER_01

Yep. So I'm just zipping down on my arm, and you can actually pull your arm out because when I would go in to visit the doctor before infusion, blood pressure, right? And then, like if before this, I'm like trying to pull up my sweatshirt or whatever I was wearing. So you can take your arm out, you can get blood pressure, you can get um blood drawn, obviously. And then you can just pull it back in, zip it up.

SPEAKER_00

What is it just one side or is it two?

SPEAKER_01

So it's both sides, just in case. Like some people, some of our customers have PIC lines, and so you can actually like access a PIC line from these zippers as well. And then we have both plastic zippers on the chest. So you can zip these down and access a port. So I have a port right now.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, that's okay.

SPEAKER_01

Um, and you can actually zip it down and you can pull it over your shoulder and lean back as the nurse accesses your port. And then while you're getting chemotherapy, you can just kind of like let it sit and zip it up as you're getting infused. So game changer.

SPEAKER_00

Huge game changer. And for all the audience that's listening, if you guys aren't unfamiliar with ports or CBCs or PIC lines, you know, central venous catheters and such, it's just, you know, it's kind of obtrusive and it's really hard to get to.

SPEAKER_01

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

Uh so this is amazing for you know patients with chronic illness.

SPEAKER_01

We officially launched these um November of last year. So it's been a year.

SPEAKER_00

Wow.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and so we're just barely trying to figure everything out still.

Designing The Accessible Crew Neck

SPEAKER_00

But this has been like the feedback from the from the patient side of overwhelmingly good things.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so we launched them in November. This is right before I finished my last round of chemo.

SPEAKER_00

Wow, so this is very recent for you. Yeah, so last year.

SPEAKER_01

I finished chemo in December of last year. Oh man. So very, very recent. Very still. Fantastic.

SPEAKER_00

Congratulations.

SPEAKER_01

I'm in remission. But yeah, we um we launched them in November and we were just blown away. I'm sure like you've seen just the power of social media and how it just can just exponentially grow. And so we were able to reach people all over the world, not just fighting cancer, but chronic illness, like irritable bowel syndrome or anything that patients with chronic diseases.

SPEAKER_00

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01

And it became this like almost club right away. We're like, okay, like if you're going through a medical illness, you can wear this and you feel like you're part of us and we're going through it together. But I will just add, like, a lot of our the people that are buying their crew next, we hope, and this has actually been the case, which is awesome, is people are buying them for other people. Because it's not our intent to have someone who's like incurring a bunch of medical expenses to feel like they have to go out and buy a crew neck. I mean, they are a higher price just because of the quality and all of the different access points. Um, and so it's been really cool to see like I would say 80% of people who buy the crew next are buying them for other people, which is so cool.

Launch, Community, And Gifting Culture

SPEAKER_00

Now, speaking on the power of social media, that's exactly how we found you guys and your amazing brand. Um, it's a very heartfelt story. I know you guys are twins, and you know, to be diagnosed with cancer is incredibly difficult. So let's show the reel that really introduces to you guys. For all our listeners that can't watch the reel that we're showing right now, it's it captures Bryn Lee's cancer diagnosis back in 2023 and navigating treatment and even the grief of having your twin deal with something that is life-changing and scary. So obviously, immediately we were amazed at uh how you guys brought light into a very dark situation, uh, not only for yourself, but for other people. All right, so can you tell us a little bit more about your origin story of the Port Studio and even the experience when first getting diagnosed back in 2023?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, Mariella and I, we have been so close our whole lives as twins. Just naturally, we have a bond. We were born in Port Angeles, Washington, and that's kind of where we feel like we um grew up and were able to just have this magical childhood together. And so we often look back on our time in Washington as where we developed our relationship and we had so many good experiences. And fast forward um years down the road, I turned 21. I was just graduating college. I think I was a semester away from graduating college. I had met my husband, and we, I mean, I was just living like a regular life as a 21-year-old, and I started feeling symptoms of like intense, intense stomach pain. And I didn't, I kind of brush it off. This is kind of like right after COVID. Like things, I I feel like things were like very justifiable, especially with colon cancer. I was super, super tired and didn't really know what was going on. I had just was gotten birth control, so I was told maybe it had something to do with that, maybe anxiety. And so I was living with it for a while and I didn't think much of it. Mariella can talk too. She noticed that I was different, acting different. Yeah, I would say like our lives, really since we were little, little, have been just parallel with each other. We've we like the same things, all of our hobbies were the same. We actually, we, you know, went to high school together, had all the same friends. And our husbands on the same day, yeah, went to the same calling.

SPEAKER_02

Come on, like literally how yeah, kind of scary how close our lives have matched.

SPEAKER_01

And so when she started feeling those symptoms, I really, yeah, I noticed, I mean, our husbands kind of get mad at us because we really talk to them. Uh we we talk to each other all the time. And if the phone's ringing, chances are it's Brindley. And so when she was going through those symptoms, I was kind of one of the first ones to pick up on it because I just noticed she was kind of more distant, um, really struggling with something that sh was going inside her body that she just didn't know what it was.

SPEAKER_00

From the moment that you started having the pains till the actual diagnosis, how long a year before diagnosis.

SPEAKER_01

So a whole and it started subtly. Like if I look if I look back, right? Like hindsight. If I look back, I remember okay, I was feeling sick then, I was feeling sick, then probably can relate it back to cancer, and then it progressively got worse. So then I got married in July of 2022, and that's when things really started to get bad. I was, you know, leaving class 10 times out of the class period to go to the bathroom. I eventually saw blood in my stool, and I almost passed out, and then I was I um went in for an emergency colonoscopy, and that's when they found tumor.

SPEAKER_00

That's when they found it. Yes. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01

And that was life-changing. I just I can't even tell you going from living a normal, I mean, normal life to then getting told that you have cancer at 21. And I it was honestly shocking, but to me, I mean, for my family, but for me was almost a relief. Like, okay, I now know why I was so sick. Um, but that from that moment on, like Marielle and I's relationship became different. Like we became a lot closer. Um, and throughout chemotherapy, it's scary. It's really, really scary.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, getting a diagnosis that's what is it with stage four? Stage four. What was running through your mind at the time? It's like, is everything over? You're what 21? Yeah, just got married. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01

All of the things, right? You you go for you go to all the worst case scenarios, like in your in your mind, obviously. It's it's hard not to. But I had so many people around me, nurses, um, friends, family, who helped so much in making me feel like, okay, I got this, I can do this, I can get through this. Um, but I will say, like, starting chemotherapy is so hard. Like just the word chemo, it's so scary. And so going into that, like I was scared. And so that's when we were we've always been passionate about business. We both studied marketing in college, naturally, as twins.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

Origin Story And Early Symptoms

SPEAKER_01

And we um we were constantly looking for like problem solution, problem solution. So when I was in there, that's when we and getting chemotherapy, we're like, how can we make this experience better? It is terrible. You go from living a happy, a lucky life to then you're sitting in a chair for five hours plus at a time getting chemotherapy. Like, how do we make this experience better? And for us, it was okay, we need to create these cozy, 100% cotton, which is hard to find, no synthetic fibers that will make your experience better in sitting in that chair. And so that's when we just um decided to create these crew necks, 100% cotton, plastic zippers. Because for those that don't know, like oftentimes you have to do a lot of scans, pet scans, MRI scans, CT scans, especially when your cancer is growing or you can see it and it's bad. And in those times, I felt so alone when I was in those scary, cold hospital rooms going through a scan. And so that's why we decided to do plastic zippers so you can take them with you in a PET scan or a CT scan to feel like which is revolutionary.

SPEAKER_00

Every time you bring a patient to MRI or um a CT scan, it's like you literally have to watch out for anything metal. But the material I was wearing at the um just right now, taking pictures with you guys, and it's like I I love like the feel of like a really good shirt or like a really good um you know sweater, and it feels really nice.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, and that's what we did not want to like, we did not want to create a product that we wouldn't wear. And so that's why we really focused on the quality and the 100% cotton specifically, because a lot of people that go through cancer are very conscious about the fabrics that they're wearing.

SPEAKER_00

So, how'd you come up with the name Port Studio?

SPEAKER_01

So the Port Studio, again, like I said before, we were starting this while Brindley was in treatment. It really kind of gave us something, it was kind of a distraction in a way, of something that we could work on together that didn't feel so dark and scary. Um, it felt almost hopeful and exciting during that time. And so we came up with the name, it has a lot of meaning behind the port. Um, we were born in Port Angeles, and Port Angeles is actually home to a shipping port where things come and go and connect and take things to then leave. And I feel like that is a big just parallel to our brand, where at the Port Studio we hope people can come and feel connected and really have that be a part of their story too. Like you're we're all together. And then also cancer port, right? Brindley has a port. It's something that we feel like doesn't just represent cancer, but represents all, you know, chronic illnesses, medical illnesses, any hard challenge. We've kind of taken that word and like the port to us means connection, it means hope, it means challenges and overcoming challenges and being proud of your story. Like all of those, all of those things really, we feel like the port just kind of we just kind of like came to that. We're like, oh, of course it has to be named the port. Um, and so yeah, that's kind of how we came up with with the name.

SPEAKER_00

So now how was your experience being the other twin on the other side, seeing your sister being diagnosed?

SPEAKER_01

Oh my gosh, like so hard. And I think it's I think a lot of it is because our lives have paralleled, like I said before, in so many ways. We're so similar. And then having something we couldn't share was so hard to even wrap my head around almost survivor's guilt in a way where I'm like, why didn't I get diagnosed with cancer? Why does, you know, really extremely hard not knowing the pain that she was going through. Whereas, you know, we literally got married two months apart, we wore the same wedding dress. Oh my god, and altered it. Like I'm telling you, our lives are seriously like we have shared pretty much every experience up until that point in February of 2023 when she was diagnosed, and it was seriously life-altering for both parties. And sometimes, and as I've it was hard to feel sad for myself. I mean, it was all hard on Brentley, but I do think that I have noticed that it is also equally hard for people who are supporting that person going through it in a lot of ways, because you can't you feel like you can't do anything. And so the thing that we I mean, that's kind of where it kind of the stars aligned, and we came to the port studio and creating something that felt more hopeful because it was just such a dark time.

Diagnosis Shock And Coping

SPEAKER_00

And you guys turned that darkness into light. You did something like that.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and I when I was shopping for like I wanted to give Burnley, and that's I feel like a lot of people when someone's going through a hard like medical illness or cancer, you want to do something for them, but it's so hard to know what to do and what to give them. And so as I was shopping online, like all of these things that were out there, it just felt like it was so focused on cancer. And we're like, how can we? And that's what I love. I mean, what you guys say is bringing the human back into healthcare. Like, we kind of like take that as like, okay, let's bring the human back into say you get a medical diagnosis, like, let's bring the human piece into that and be like, okay, you have a challenge, but that doesn't define you.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, you're you're not your diagnosis. That's what we always say.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, uh-huh. It doesn't define you. And that's really kind of the fundamental parts of our brand was kind of strung based off of this hard challenge we had to go to. And as a twin sister, it was it was so hard. It was so hard. But the Port Studio has been seriously everything to us, and it means so much to us because it's part of our story, I would say.

SPEAKER_00

That's so beautiful.

SPEAKER_01

And when we get photos of people going through that, it's a full circle moment where I'm like, wow, like I get to receive those photos and see these people wearing our product that we made, that's helping them. And that is when it's just so meaningful and means the world to us.

SPEAKER_00

So you're identical twins, uh, with the same genetic makeup, same DNA, because we've known each other for a long time. Were were you actually scared or nervous that you would get a diagnosis as well?

SPEAKER_01

I was. Um, just I mean, again, like I said, we're just so similar. And honestly, I should share this. When we were little, we would this is like I think this is a random chance, but we would lose the same teeth.

SPEAKER_03

Wow.

SPEAKER_01

This at the same time. So I don't know if there's a dentist out there, maybe they can practice on it, but like seriously, I'm like just line after line. And so when she got diagnosed, I was I definitely went through kind of a spiral where I was like, okay, is there something wrong with me? Like, do I need to get checked? They brought me in for an emergency colonoscopy and they found polyps.

SPEAKER_03

Whoa.

SPEAKER_01

Um, but it it wasn't quite, I mean, it was benign, so it didn't test positive for cancer. But what's interesting is people that are 21 usually don't have polyps in their colon that are on their way to maybe be forming this type of cancer. And so since that emergency colonoscopy, I went, I've gone in yearly, and I'm going to have to for a long time, and they're not fun, but it's a preventative way. Um, because it it and again, Brindley can speak to like the actual genetic testing of it because it's really interesting, and we really don't have answers. Right. And we would love answers, but we don't really have the exact answers yet.

SPEAKER_00

But because I know there's advanced lab um lab testing now, right? And they they do stool sample as well as blood. So can you speak on like yeah, genetics?

SPEAKER_01

Yes. So genetic testing, I did it um because we share the same DNA, so I could just do it. Um, it was a saliva test. And first I met with a genetic counselor and we talked through any sort of cancer history in my family. And we had to go back line, line, line to figure out, you know, if there was cancer. I had a couple distant relatives, but nothing that was like alarming that there was a direct genetic link through my family tree. Um, so with the saliva test, the results came back. They test a sequence of your DNA to see if there's any mutations, and we found zero. And that was discouraging though, because we wanted to find the mutation to see if we could test it for my family and then to help know how to treat it better.

SPEAKER_03

I understand.

Making Treatment More Human

SPEAKER_01

So, what I can do is I can pay more money to sequence, you know, millions, billions of my DNA to try to go back and find that direct mutation. But for us right now, we're just going to wait um until we need to do that. But yeah, that is the answer. Yeah, it's it's hard because you really just we don't have like a an like really an answer. Like they did find like Gil Gilbert syndrome, yeah, but there really wasn't much, and that's what's frustrating is sometimes it is just chance, which is just so hard or environmental impact mixed with genetic mutation, yeah. In terms of diagnosis of your yeah, and that's hard because it's like you live a healthy life and you feel like you're preventing, but sometimes there's literally nothing you can do.

SPEAKER_00

Now, a lot of nurses are watching this podcast, and you guys are not nurses.

SPEAKER_01

No, no, not in the medical field. Wish I was to get an honorary degree for being a patient.

SPEAKER_00

It's eye-opening to see on the other side of um, you know, not being a nurse in the in the patient setting. So, as you know, nurses can make or break your entire day. They're with you for half 12 hours, right? So can you touch on any stories or talk about the impact that nurses have had on your journey?

SPEAKER_01

Yes, um, it is amazing the difference that a nurse can make. I don't know what it's like to be a nurse, but I know they see maybe hundreds, I don't know, hundreds, depending on where you work, hundreds of patients a day. And that can get repetitive and it can feel like a job. I mean, I'm sure, like any job. Like any job, right? And you just look at your patient as like, okay, next, next, next. But I've had experiences with nurses that have absolutely changed, changed my whole experience going through chemotherapy. One, just the receptionist, like welcoming me, she actually knew me. She was a family friend of mine, and she made a world of a difference for me. She would give me a hug and say, How are you? Like, I'm I'm thinking about you, like you've got this. And so that just made a huge difference. And I think in terms of nurses, what they can do is just like remembering a name, like saying my name made me feel like I had a connection with them. And talking about something other than cancer was helpful because I would just come from my um doctor's appointment talking about all the logistics of cancer, to then I would go into infusion. I think that's generally how it works. You go see your doctor, your oncologist, and then you go to get infused with cancer, with chemo. Therapy. And when I would go in there, the nurses would be like, Brindley, welcome back. We're so excited to see you. How are you doing? How are you feeling? And then we would talk about life. Like, where are you living now? And just talking about those things that weren't so hard and heavy made a huge difference.

SPEAKER_00

So switching your focus from just you know, you being, and we always talk about this in the medical field, right? You being the cancer patient. It's not you're not that you're not defined by your diagnosis.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, we're human.

SPEAKER_00

But if have you ever ran into nurses that were on the opposite side of the tracks and had a bad day, maybe.

SPEAKER_01

Yes. You have. Yes, I have. And of course, yeah. Yeah, I mean, just from being in it for two years, right? Like two years. Nurses have bad days. Like you're allowed to have a bad day, but I think it's the difference of not letting your bad day affect someone else. And look at it from the perspective or try to of someone who had cancer, that receptionist I talked about earlier, she had cancer. We actually had the same doctor. No way. We had the same doctor, we went through the same similar experiences with the same kind of cancer. And that empathy that was shown was game-changing for me. And my my oncologist actually had cancer as well. So my oncologist was able to relate to me that way, as well as my GI doctor, they both had cancer. And I think that level of empathy was really important for me. But I know that a lot of nurses they haven't experienced something like that. So to really try to see, like from my perspective, like telling the nurse right now, that we're scared as a patient. We don't know what's going on. I had never stepped foot in a doctor's office more than like probably the amount of times I could count on my hand before I was diagnosed with cancer. I was scared. I didn't know what was going on. And so for a nurse to try to understand, like, okay, she is scared right now. This is like I'm thinking in my head, I could die tomorrow. I don't know if I'm gonna live another day. Like it is so scary. And so the role that a nurse has is actually so important. Like making me feel human and not letting your bad day affect me is huge. Like I don't want to hear about the problems in their life, right? Which is hard, which is sad because I would like any other time.

SPEAKER_00

But literally, you're the one fighting for your life.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, which is hard. It feels like maybe selfish of me to say, but as the as the nurse, like really try to see where this patient is coming from.

SPEAKER_00

No, it's so true. We we talk about this a lot to all of our nurse listeners and nursing students. It's like, as you're gonna be seeing patients on the worst days of their life.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

Why Plastic Zippers And 100% Cotton

SPEAKER_00

And it's like, no, no matter how hard your life may be, or or whatever's going on in your personal life, um, you know, we have to check it out the door and make the patients the priority, uh, which is very hard to do as a human, but also too, it's like, you know, we are just are humans. You guys are the priority. The reason that we became nurses is to do exactly um what we showed up to do is to take care of you, but not just to take care of the whole list of things. To take care of the person, you know.

SPEAKER_01

Exactly. And my oncologist is a great example of this. Every time he came in, he remembered something about my life.

SPEAKER_03

Wow.

SPEAKER_01

He is incredible, he's an incredible person. Shout out, Dr. Lewis. Yeah, Dr. Lewis, he is amazing. And he he really made me feel like a human being, which is what we want. We want it, like we're not we're not patients, we're humans, you know, like we can be friends. And I know in oncology, especially it's hard because you don't know if you're gonna see that patient again.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, you're you're right.

SPEAKER_01

You don't know, and so but but just developing that relationship, my oncologist said before, like the positive experience that you have can actually influence the result of chemotherapy. It's really interesting. Like, there's a lot of studies that go to show like the experiences that you have during chemotherapy can influence if you respond to chemo. Like, how crazy is that?

SPEAKER_00

Experience around the the care that you're given.

SPEAKER_01

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

Wow.

SPEAKER_01

Because positive like relating in your mind positive experiences in the hospital versus negative.

SPEAKER_00

You want to touch on the other side of that?

Naming The Brand And Its Meaning

SPEAKER_01

How yeah, just a quick shout out. I mean, the nurses and the medical team behind my sister, like I'm just so grateful for people in healthcare. Like devoting your life to helping other people with medical challenges is a super honorable field. And I'm just so grateful for the team that Brentley had and for nurses. I just really, truly. Um, and I would say, I mean, you're there's a lot of emotions when your family member is going through a medical challenge. Um, and you also hope that they have good care. And that's a really big thing. Um, and I there was a lot of times I was actually in the room post-surger, interacting with nurses, interacting with doctors. It was like it was probably my mom, Brian Lee's husband, and then me kind of just like all there really wanting to know what was going on. And definitely could feel a difference between nurses that were just cared. There was actually the phlebotomist that came in one at one time. And this is the thing is we remember. Like the nurses might not remember the people that they're seeing every day, but but the patients and the family members that are there, they remembered those nurses. Like I can, I can seriously like picture people that we saw with her treatment because we just remember. I mean, those are we just see usually one or two nurses, you know. And so the the phlebotomist actually, she came in and she was super nice. And then I remember afterwards she said she looked us our business up, the port studio, and sent us a message and was like, hey, I just wanted to let you guys know God is with you, you're strong, and just like really just had this really awesome, heartfelt message after. And she just noticed, right? She just took time out of her day to find our business and message us and reach out to us, which was so cool. And so that's something I guess on the family member side is like we remember, and we also, I mean, because Brindley, half the time, like you're probably out of it after surgery, like doesn't really know what's going on, but the family members are attentive and can really gauge those interactions and those, you know, with nurses and stuff in the medical team.

SPEAKER_00

So I I honestly believe that the best products are made from people that want those products themselves. And you guys did that exact same thing. This is the probably the product that you wish you would have had. And I wore actually, and yeah, wow, that's you you wore the first product. So explain. I know we talked about this a lot, but explain the functionality and how nurses who are listening, how this can be you know, even huge benefit from Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

We actually have a lot of nurses that have reached out to us um just in this past year, lots, that want these crew necks. They they're like, can we get a flyer? Can we set this up? Because we love these. When our patients come in, it makes it so much easier for us. So it's a win-win, right? The patient loves it, the nurse loves it. Um, why they love it? Because I it's awkward. Like you're vulnerable as the patient. And so the nurse to like telling you like move your shirt to the side or and it makes it complicated for them to get to the port. And they need, like I can show you right now, like they need a clear, yeah, open access to that port because they clean it and then you, you know, it's very, very sterile. It's very sterile, and so nurses just love it and they they love that their patients are comfortable as well.

SPEAKER_00

So I noticed the functionality, the cotton, but I also noticed live around the sleeve. Can you explain?

SPEAKER_01

Yes. So um, we this has been a really big thing throughout Brindley's treatment. And as an outsider, watching Brindley go through something super life-altering and hard, there was just a theme that kept coming back to us is like, how can we, how can we live through something hard? How can Brindley still live throughout her medical challenge? Because we never know how long we have. We don't know, we could die tomorrow. Like life is temporary. And so that's just been something that's come back to us. Like, how can we, every minute that we're breathing and we're here, how can we make it intentional? Um, and so we decided to embroider live on each sleeve because it's a reminder that no matter how long you have, every second you're breathing, you can live intentionally, you can live better, you can live brighter. What are little tiny things that you can do to live today? And that's kind of been our mantra, I think, since the treatment, not focusing on oh, negative, dark, scary, but more, hey, we can still live during treatment, even though it's hard, we're still living, we're still human, right?

SPEAKER_00

And that's beautiful because just like you mentioned before, it's like, you know, a positive or negative experience can both impact your uh your outcome.

SPEAKER_01

Yep.

SPEAKER_00

And they say like where your focus goes, your energy flows. And if you're looking at live all the time, that's amazing.

SPEAKER_01

And we don't like to live. I mean, as a someone who's going through cancer, I don't like to live too far in the future or too far in the past. I just like to live in the moment.

SPEAKER_00

I love it.

SPEAKER_01

Because that's all you got.

SPEAKER_00

Now, on the other side of that, I noticed you have a simple nursing little logo there.

SPEAKER_01

I do. Yes.

SPEAKER_00

And you were in simple nursing colors, which is great. Pink and blue. So we are pleased to announce that we are collaborating with you guys to give out a hundred accessible crew necks as gifts to the community of listeners or to gift someone who is in treatment. Like honestly, I'm a super fan because you created something that you wish you would have had. All right. So, how can our listeners get in on this 100 giveaway?

SPEAKER_01

Yes, we are so excited for this. We are so excited for people to give free ones. There will be a hundred. So the first a hundred, they'll be gone once. So first come, first serve, they'll be gone. But if you still want to purchase a crew neck, they can use the code SIMPLE10 for 10% off. Um for either, I mean, it could be for them or it could be for someone like a loved one or someone they know that's going through treatment.

The Caregiver’s View As A Twin

SPEAKER_00

Okay, so for a hundred giveaway, you guys can follow us on Instagram and get all the details there. But if you're listening to this later or miss out on that 100 first come first serve, simple 10. And what was the exact website again that people can pull you?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so it's the Port StudioportStudio.com. And the Port Studio on Instagram, TikTok, all of those things if you want to follow us along.

SPEAKER_00

All right. Well, thank you so much for listening and watching. And thank you guys so much for being here and showing us, you know, your handcrafted as well as uh your heartfelt story. Um, is there any final things you guys want to mention?

SPEAKER_01

Just thank you to Simple Nursing. We have been blown away by all of the amazing things you guys do. And your content is incredible and it's helping so many people, so many nurses and so many now patients, you know. So thank you. Thank you. Yeah, it's been awesome being here. We're so excited for the giveaway and everything. So it'll be great.

SPEAKER_00

Please like, share, and subscribe. And for anyone that you know that is going through any long term treatment, please follow the port studio. And always remember don't let the bedpans bite.