Ep. 3 - Scanxiety: What to Do With the Fear That Shows Up Before Every Scan

The week before a cancer scan can turn normal life into a maze of what-ifs. We invited caregiver advocate and longtime yoga and meditation teacher Charlotte to help us name that feeling, scanxiety, and show how small, doable tools can make the waiting less punishing. Her story begins with a phone call that upended her routines, even as she taught others how to manage stress. That tension led her to build practical support for caregivers who don’t have bandwidth for elaborate self-care but still need real relief.

We dig into what scanxiety looks like for patients and families: snappier moods, foggy focus, and a body convinced danger is near. Charlotte explains why history shapes every appointment and how validating feelings reduces shame and friction at home. Instead of vague “Let me know what you need,” we share specific support that helps, scheduled meals without the drop-in, a lawn mowed, a morning walk, a quick text that says “I know this week is heavy.” These small choices remove decision fatigue and restore a sense of control when so much feels uncertain.

Then we get tactical with breath work. Charlotte breaks down how a longer exhale signals safety through the vagus nerve and shifts the nervous system out of fight-or-flight. No mat, no app required, just one minute in a parked car, a clinic bathroom, or a quiet corner of the waiting room. Eyes open or closed, four counts in and six out, or even a deliberate sigh. Skeptical? Bodies often soften before minds agree. Those brief resets don’t erase the stakes, but they create steady ground for the moments that matter most.

We close with a direct word for anyone facing scans tomorrow: you deserve a pause, a breath, and acknowledgment that you’re doing something incredibly hard. For more short, guided practices, check out Charlotte’s Caregiver Breathing Room and The Cancer Caregiver. If this conversation helped, share it with someone waiting on results, hit follow, and leave a quick review so others can find real tools and real hope.

See more from Charlotte:

Website

www.cancercaregiverpodcast.com

The Scanxiety Toolkit

www.cancercaregiverpodcast.com/tools

Transcript

Meet Caregiver Advocate Charlotte

SPEAKER_02 0:05

Hey there and welcome to Hope Unscripted, a podcast of Hope Cancer Resources. Here we're having real conversations about cancer from prevention and education to support resources and the stories that remind us that we are not alone. And we're your host. I'm Jamie Dietrich. And I'm Brittany Harmon, and we're so glad you're here. Now let's talk about hope, healing, and the journey of unscripted. Welcome back, everyone, to the Hope Unscripted podcast. Today we are very honored to have Charlotte by Allah. Yeah. Um, Charlotte is a yoga meditation teacher. She's been doing it for a very long time. She's a caregiver advocate and speaker, and she also has an award-winning podcast of her own called The Cancer Caregiver. Charlotte, we're so glad you're here. Thank you. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_01 0:55

Yes. Well, to echo that, welcome. We're excited for this episode of Hope Unscripted. Thank you. I know you've done a lot of things in the cancer space, but today we're focusing mainly on skin siety. And so before we get to that, I'm going to give you a moment, and Brittany's got some specific questions for you and just dive a little bit into Charlotte.

From Yoga Teacher To Caregiver

SPEAKER_02 1:13

Yeah, just kind of about your journey and how you started doing this work.

Losing Routines And Finding Support

SPEAKER_01 1:17

Yeah, I started because I was looking for something for myself and didn't find it. When my husband was diagnosed about a little over 12 years ago, I um was a full-time yoga and meditation teacher. And I thought I had my life set, my um the way I prioritized the things that I needed to do uh to take care of myself were easy to do. And as soon as he was diagnosed, I remember I got the phone call from him right after I taught a yoga class. And from that moment on, everything that I did for myself fell apart because I went straight into uh survival mode. And um it was difficult to not have that to use as an anchor in everything else that was going on in my life. And I didn't realize though that it had completely fallen apart until a few months later, I reached out to my um primary care provider and I was like, look, this thing happened. I'm I cry all the time. And she said back, um, I remember reading it. Well, I think first, considering what you're going through, maybe we should try um try meditation. And it made me so angry because that was what I was doing all day long was walking into a room and teaching people how to handle their stress and giving them tools to use. And then as soon as I would walk out of that room, um, I would flip back into caregiver mode and completely leave that other part of me in that room with them. And so I realized then that I needed to go back to what I was doing, but then it had to look completely different because I was a different person now. And so over time I realized that if it was that difficult for me to first understand what had happened and for it to fall apart so quickly when I had a lot of years of training and education and teaching. Um, you know, I had everything that would be the perfect thing to have for a caregiver to become a caregiver. And that completely fell apart without me understanding what was happening. How hard then would it be for people who didn't have that training, that experience, that just knowing that that's something that they did before and knew how to pull back into their lives when they realized that they needed to? If they didn't have that, then how can caregivers actually care for themselves so off? Right. Because then they get the same message. Well, maybe you should meditate. And what does that mean? Right. Like really, what does you should meditate, you should journal? What does any of that mean? It's just something that caregivers are told to do um without any instructions. So then it just gives them something else to add on to a list of things that they're actually not gonna have time. Right. Yeah, right. Yeah. So that's when I decided that I was gonna look for, because even though when you know how to do something, sometimes it's easier to have someone else kind of lead you through it so that you don't have to think it through. And um, I couldn't find it. And I knew that over time the things that I was experiencing, the emotions and the roadblocks, and you know, I was finding that I wasn't sharing the way I normally would share. Let's say if I was in a mom's group um or with a friend who I knew would understand. And um I decided, well, I it really there wasn't a lot of thought that went into the podcast itself. It was, I have a microphone, I have a computer, I know other people would want to hear my experiences, and then I can also help them through some of the things that they're going through by giving them tools that they can use when they're feeling these feelings. And so I created a podcast six years ago. And so every week I show up and um hopefully am able to meet someone where they're at in the moment that they need it.

unknown 5:24

Yeah.

Creating The Cancer Caregiver Podcast

Speaking And Workshops For Caregivers

SPEAKER_01 5:25

That's incredible. Six years is a long time. It's like time. It's incredible. Yeah. Yeah. So, Charlotte, with that, with the podcast, are you doing other forms of like public speaking or other things along with that? Yeah, I have some locally, I have some um workshops that I do monthly that I just I go and I have a topic and people show up here, caregivers and cancer patients. Um, I speak nationally. So corporations will bring me in to speak to their um cancer ERPs or their caregiver communities to just lead them in an hour of not only understanding and being seen, but also to leave feeling a lot calmer. Um, by the way that I work with them. I present at um cancer conferences, which sometimes I'm like, you don't have anything for caregivers. So now you bring me in and we'll just do something small, you know, to start. Because I think in the care cancer world, it's really easy to discount how easy it can be to get caregivers to understand that they're being seen. So little is being done that any little bit that you can do will have more impact than I think a lot of people and organizations understand. I would imagine as a caregiver too, like your heart, your soul, your day-to-day is caring for that other person, exactly a lack of caring for yourself. Was there a certain point where you kind of realized you were going down that road and you were like, okay, I have to, because you talked about the uh just meditate, right? Was that the point where you kind of that was the turning point? And luckily that happened early on. I maybe was three, four months into caregiving. And I think because I had that awareness of how I was feeling and more of a connection to what my body tells me, I was able to reach out for help. But oftentimes, caregivers don't have the ability to understand those signals or feel like they can reach out for help.

What Scanxiety Really Feels Like

The Invisible Load Of Caregiving

SPEAKER_02 7:30

And if I've watched that, um grandmother was my grandfather's caregiver. I was in high school, my grandfather was diagnosed and went through a really long struggle. And watching my grandmom, all she did was take care of him. Yeah. And she did lose herself by the time he passed away. It's been several years now, but she was so lost she what to do with herself afterwards. Oh, yeah, yeah, that's very common. So now we're gonna kind of flip a little bit um and we'll talk more about the caregiver side, but we want to talk about scanxiety, yeah, which is a term for everyone who's not aware. Um, that's just that scan week, what that feels like for not just the patient, but the family's going in. You have to have your annual scans, even if you've rung the bell, you still go have the scan and that anxiety building. What does that look like and the tools that you help with?

Family Dynamics Around Results

Recognizing Stress Signals

Validating Caregivers’ Emotions

SPEAKER_01 8:21

Yeah, I think it's it's first important for everyone in the family when no matter what disease, but especially with cancer is in there with them, is to understand how everyone feels and operates leading up to those appointments, but also in between those scans and for those results to show up on my chart, and then waiting for the oncologist to kind of call in and understanding what happens next. So for some people, it can start before they're even driving to the hospital. And for every person, it's different. It could be weeks, it could be days before these show up. And then it can linger until after they've already known what happens next and they've gotten all the information they've been waiting for. And I think the problem is first of all, that not a lot of people understand that this is a thing, right? This is additional stress and anxiety on top of what everybody else is experiencing in their life. This is something that they are trying to attend to alongside trying to live normally. And so I think the first thing is for people to understand that this is a situational extra set of days or weeks or months where they're gonna feel this way. And if they can understand how this shows up for them and then for their family members, then it's easier to kind of craft and rearrange how they go through their quote unquote normal lives until it subsides. So it's not usually long term. It's situational based on what's happening with their loved ones' health. And it shows up with, you know, sometimes you get a lot snippier, like you're more reactive, right? Where maybe you um feel stuck, like you can't move move forward and make decisions, um, where you maybe you're exhibiting some signals in your body, right? How your body tries to tell you we need to take a moment to understand what's happening, because I feel like we're in danger. And when your body and your mind feel like they're in danger, they will do what they feel they need to do, not what you want them to do, right? And so you can, you know, lose your appetite and you know, feel just um very like unable to focus. So any of this, the things that you see show up under um, these are signs and symptoms of stress will definitely be magnified when you're in this period. Um, and it's very difficult for caregivers, especially because this is all leading up to a different person's experience, right? And so um asking for help or being able to give themselves a little bit more space and grace to experience this um is difficult for them. Not only if they don't understand this is what's happening, but even if they do understand, then it's what tools can I use next in order to be able to enjoy life in this space, right? So these are moments that make it harder for you to enjoy life, but they're specifically the ones where enjoying life is more important. Because yes, we all know oncology appointments, a doctor can say one sentence that changes the rest of your life. Like we all understand the pressure and the importance of these um appointments. And and so ski anxiety isn't something that someone can say, Oh, you'll be okay. It'll all be fine, because we all understand and we um respect the the importance of whatever happens next. And so it's how can we enjoy life with the people that we're living with, um, that we're caring for when it's times that are leading up to when life can change, right? So that's a lot of pressure. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:29

It's not just, I mean, I think of like the love languages almost, right? Everybody has a different one and how they handle or how they like to be loved. And I know myself, I will overdo it and I have to launch myself because my husband doesn't want that. You know, I'm very fortunate, like none of that's happened in my life yet. But I do think about things like that and watching other people like you want to help, help, help. Well, some people just don't want it in that moment. And I can add as a caregiver standpoint, like how you have to separate that and how what you can do to do that, right?

History Shapes Every Appointment

Support That Actually Helps

SPEAKER_01 13:00

And in separating your experience during a time of ski anxiety and your loved one's experience, because they're different, right? Because both of them are coming to this period of time from different angles, but understanding that you are your own person. And so the things that you are feeling and experiencing are just as valid as the person that you're caring for. Yeah. Yeah. As you're saying all of this, I'm thinking about like we talk about the cancer journey a lot in the work that we do, but I I mean, that's different for everyone, right? Different type of cancer, different, you know, from onset on, different age groups, all of the things. So thinking of specifically to scan xiety, I mean, that can be the first time you're walking into the doctor's office to I've been battling this for three years, to I'm potentially going to ring the bell, but it's contingent upon this scan. Right. So is there anything that you found in your study of scansiety, like on those different stages or things that you would share specific to those? Yeah, I think first it's important to understand you have your cancer history, right? And so everything and every way that you approach the next thing that happens with cancer in your household is always gonna be informed by what happened in the past, right? There's no, first of all, there's no bandwidth to separate yourself from it. You could have had a bad interaction with someone the last time you were in the hospital system, and that doesn't mean that that's gonna happen next. But then it's part of how you react, right? Yeah. And then so I think that's why every time there's a new appointment, then there's that history of the last one just keeps adding up. And so I think that the first thing, it doesn't matter how far into your cancer life you're in, is to understand this is a thing, right? Because, like we were talking about before we started, like it wasn't, it's not always a term or a um experience that people understand other people have. I've been in webinars where I'm following the chat and people are saying, I thought this was just me. I didn't know scanxiety was a thing. And it makes people feel so much better knowing that it's not just them, right? So understanding that this is something that almost all cancer patients and their caregivers go through. And so no matter where you are on that continuum of what appointment you're going through, you know, understanding that it's valid, right? When you ring the bell, if you have, if you're in a surveillance mode, you feeling that scanxiety is just as valid as someone who's in active treatment because that's your experience, right? And so I think that oftentimes we should consider not waiting for permission to feel these things and just saying, I'm feeling this. I don't, I, I don't need to understand if this is right or wrong. This is what I'm feeling, and validate those feelings, which for caregivers is really hard because oftentimes their feelings are invalidated because the people that they're talking to don't want to anticipate the possibilities of the future. It makes other people really uncomfortable to have those conversations. Yeah. Um, or for the person that they're talking to to not understand that caregivers have their separate needs and they shouldn't necessarily be put up um back to back with the cancer patient's needs as well. You know, they're both different and they're both real and needed.

Don’t Ask “How Can I Help?”

SPEAKER_02 16:44

That almost internalizing that spiraling feeling. And how would you suggest, especially because I could see and I've asked my aunt is in treatment right now, and my uncle, bless him, he's the caregiver. Yeah. And I always want to check on him. I check on her all the time too. But it's I know it's hard for him and what he has to do and what he's going through. Yeah. Everybody's always asking about her, and no one's asking. Yeah, no, I know that.

SPEAKER_01 17:13

Yeah. So especially male care caregivers, they get, they they have a completely different experience. For sure.

SPEAKER_02 17:20

And knowing that that's your love of your life and you're watching that happen. Right. Um, so do you have any count up tips to how to control that spiraling feeling?

Specific Offers Beat Vague Promises

SPEAKER_01 17:30

Yeah, I think it's if you can find someone to talk things through, um, it it might not even be to have a full-on conversation, especially if you think that person will try to minimize what you're feeling, right? But if you can um tell someone, hey, you know, the next week is gonna be really rough for me, especially because my loved one is having um appointments coming up. I just really need for you to like text me and check on me a little bit more. Yeah. Um, if you can find, first of all, what that special person in your life is good at, right? Don't say, I would really love for you to bring me those chocolate chip cookies that might, but then they don't know how to bake.

SPEAKER_00 18:19

Yeah. And then they're like, why would I? I don't want to do that.

Why Breath Work Works

SPEAKER_01 18:22

So it's it's always good to if you if you understand the person you're asking for support from, that you uh really hone in on the their love languages, like you said. Like, what are the things that they like to do? Maybe someone would love to bring you groceries, right? Maybe someone would love to bake for you, but maybe someone would say, um, you know what? I know that you are always, you know, cutting your grass. Um, don't worry about it this week. I'm gonna come do it for you. Just let me know where the things are, just come and take some other things. Yeah, like because if you say, Let me know what I can do, you instantly give the caregiver an extra thing that they have to do. So, and and a lot of times people are worried that they're gonna get it wrong. Yeah. But you showing up, you know, you trying, um, especially if someone's been a caregiver or their loved one has been ill for a long period of time, that support disappears very quickly from the very start. So you showing up for them, if you know that they have appointments coming up, you know, just saying, hey, I know this is coming up, you know, I want to be there for you. How about I do whatever that thing is? Yeah. Maybe they need to be pulled away for coffee, right? Maybe they like to walk in the morning, but they would love to talk to someone, giving them the opportunity to just let out a little bit of their fears and worries, um, or to be able to talk about something completely different so they can distract from what's going on. But if you know someone that's going through a period of anxiety, just saying, I know this is hard for you, sometimes is all they need is just to be seen for what they're going through. Yeah. So some of what I heard in there was don't put more on the caregiver by saying, What can I do for you? I think that's a really good point though, because um, you know, it I didn't think about it till you said it. And so I bet there's a ton of people saying that's like I wouldn't have thought of that until you said it. Oh yeah. But it me saying, like, hey, I know that you love lasagna. I'm gonna make you lasagna and I'm bringing it over on Tuesday. Right. There's no decision on your part. There's nothing for you to do besides say, wow, thank you. Right. Exactly. And you can even add on and say, you just let me know if you want me to leave it at the door or if you want me to to knock and let you know that it's there. Because oftentimes then, if people bring food, then that requires energy you might not have. Because then if they want to come in, then you're hosting them.

unknown 20:56

Right.

Calming The Nervous System

SPEAKER_01 20:57

Um, even if people are like, no, don't do anything special. If you're a caregiver, that is not your the way you work. You're gonna, you're gonna try to make the house presentable or just be stressed out about what what will need to happen, or will the doctor call while they're here? Like there's so much. So, but maybe they want human interaction with someone other than the person that they're caring for. So just asking them, you know, telling them, I'm going to do this. Would you like for me to leave it or would you like for me to not? Yeah, so that I can hand it to you. Um, and you know the person best. You know, yeah, you know what they're going. They might find it offensive if you just leave food at their door. Yeah. Right. Like I wouldn't. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:41

I have a best anyone who can do that by the mind. I would probably leave food at my door. Yeah. As long as I know who it's from. That's too. Weird meals at my door probably wouldn't be eaten.

Practical Breathing Anywhere

SPEAKER_01 21:53

But um, yeah, it it happens as soon as someone's uh diagnosed. Everyone says to the caregiver, let me know. How I can help. And the caregiver doesn't even understand like what is happening, what they even need. Right. They they're and and then um it's well, how could I actually explain to someone how to do the thing that I really need help with? Where then as you're trying to figure it out, you realize it would just be easier for me to just do it. Right. Um, so when you say, How can I help or let me know? Um, I know it feels like it's the right thing to say. Oftentimes it's the worst thing to say, just because then as a person, especially if someone's recently been diagnosed, is trying to figure out how to rearrange their lives. Then you're saying, Well, if you want help, you have to do that the work to tell me how to help. Right. And so that's really difficult for the caregiver. And so then that's why they don't ask for help.

SPEAKER_02 22:55

That's a good perspective on it too, because I'm guilty of that. Yeah. And you don't know how, but you're right. You should just tell them and hope they take it.

SPEAKER_01 23:04

But yeah. Yeah. And then caregivers worry about asking for help that they don't want to put people out. And so what I usually say to them when they tell me this is, well, you're just denying that person the feeling that it gives them to help you. And so people instinctually, most times, depending on who they are, actually have a reward for helping someone. And so I'm like, don't make it all about you. Just understand that if you're not asking for someone for help, then you're you're not allowing them to have this feeling that it gives them as a way to like give them a different perspective. Yeah. Um, especially if they really need help and they're struggling and they don't want to ask for it. You're not putting people out. You're just giving them an opportunity to feel good about themselves.

SPEAKER_02 23:52

Yeah. Kind definitely. Thinking about some tools and support. I know we talked some different things that you even sent us recently um about breath work and things like that. Why is those breath work like such an important thing?

Skeptics And Small Wins

A One-Minute Reset

Words For Tomorrow’s Scan

Resources And Closing

SPEAKER_01 24:09

Yeah. Breath work is always the main or only thing that I will um start caregivers out with because you have it always. Yeah. And it's always under your control, although most times it's working on its own, right? Just to keep us alive. And so when you change how you breathe, or even just bring in a deeper breath, or follow the fact that you're breathing, it allows you to breathe just even just a little bit deeper. And what happens in your body is that you're, as you breathe in deeper, you start to stimulate a nerve that will is actually attached to your brain that affects your nervous system and allows it to know we're safe right now. Right. So it's you're it's called the parasympathetic nervous system. Um, the vagus nerve is what will tell your brain, oh, we can switch this, we can switch this on. We're not in danger. Um, because oftentimes most of us, whether we're caregivers or not, are in this sympathetic nervous system where it's fight or flight, where just the way our nervous systems were created from back when we were just become humans on the earth, it was we need to be able to react fast because there's a tiger or there's a lion, and we need to be able to like problem solve and do things to allow us to survive. And so now those threats don't aren't available anymore, but it's, you know, something negative that a doctor will tell us or being cut off on the road while we're driving, like that is what starts to enact that protection system. And it doesn't stop until we give it the opportunity to understand that there's no more a threat, which is hard if you're in scanxiety and you feel like your entire life is under a threat until we figure out what the doctor says next. So then when you have that deeper inhale and exhale, it allows your body to understand right now in this moment, I'm not in danger and I'm able to relax. And so then it shifts it into a different mode. Um, unfortunately, we can't walk around like that 24-7. But having small moments of constantly bringing yourself back into that place where you're like, all right, I can, I'm gonna breathe, I'm gonna bring, I'm gonna relax, especially like if you're sitting in an oncology waiting room and you just like you feel that tension while you're there. And so using this breath, nobody knows that you're doing it, um, unless you're in my family and they're like, oh, mom's, mom's deep breathing again. Or or my husband will say, Is everything okay? I'm like, Yeah, I'm just getting ready. So a lot, and it's almost always a longer exhale than the inhale, is what I tell people because it's the easiest thing for them to remember. And that can be a sigh, right? We do it sometimes without thinking, right? It's our body like signaling that like we need a break. Usually when you sigh, it's either because you're happy or because you're upset, right? And so that's a signal that your nervous system gets from it. Um, if you do it on purpose, it works even better because it really only takes, you know, sometimes I'll leave people in just a minute of that, and then they'll open their eyes and they're like, oh, how long was that? And I'm like, it was a minute. And they're like, no, it felt like it was forever because you're just bringing your mind to focus on this one thing, which it hardly ever does. Yeah. And then it brings your body a sense of peace. So I will tell people, nobody, if you tell someone you're going to the bathroom, no one's going to be looking for you for a few minutes. You know, just escape if that's what you need to do in order to get this in your day. And just sit and breathe, right? Not have to do anything special. You don't have to buy anything to be able to do it. You don't have to really be anywhere specific to get it done. But to understand that it helps you and to give yourself that pause, which oftentimes is even extremely difficult for most of us, let alone caregivers. Do you ever have people who kind of doubt the effects of it? Like, do you ever have to getting people to try it? But then once they do, it's just kind of frightening. It's I can see it sometimes when what I when my talk is virtual, and I and if I can see the people, I can see the ones that are like, yeah, I'm I'm ready. And they kind of like lean back and they get, but then there's these people that um and my husband is not a good relaxer, right? Yeah. And so um, I can see they're like fidgeting with stuff, and I'm like, it's okay, like I get it, it's hard, especially if this is not something you normally do. Yeah. But it's the the way that I kind of phrase things where I'm like, don't don't close your eyes. It's fine, right? And and you don't have to do this, but listen, right? And then I and usually I'm talking to the person, that one person who is really having difficulty. There's a lot of reasons why people don't like closing their eyes, right? There's a lot of reasons why breathing differently can cause anxiety. And and I don't know their backgrounds, right? And so sometimes that has a lot to do with it. There's something that has happened in the past that makes that difficult. But then I can see, even though if their eyes are open and they're still kind of like, you know, sitting upright and not relaxed, like I can tell, like I can see when their shoulders start to relax a little bit more or the muscles of their face do. And so just knowing that they had that moment where their body was like, oh, wait. I could even if they are like, I didn't do the breathing, I'm like, but I saw your body relax. And so, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:00

And it kind of gave it away.

SPEAKER_01 30:02

Yeah. It's normal for breathing to be um complicated for some people. And it's very normal for some people to be like, I'm not that type of person. I don't do things like that. And um is it's frustrating for me, of course, but also, you know, it will come with time. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I fall in that. Um, I don't know that that's for me category, or I did. Let me say that I did. Tried breathworks. Yeah. We had someone come and teach a class actually at our office at McKenzie Resources. And he was incredible. It was a small group. I think there was maybe six of us. And he walked us through several different breathing techniques. And some of them you feel a little silly when you get into certain exactly, but at the end of it, right? Wow. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:46

Like I will tell anybody, yeah, like stop being afraid, don't judge it. Right. Just go do it. Oh, you do it all the time.

SPEAKER_01 30:56

And I, you know, just in normal everyday life, I find myself sometimes like before I walked in here, I was sitting in my car and I'm like, Yeah, okay. Exactly. Let's go do this. It just, it's like a cleansing moment on it. Yeah. And it's something that you can do anytime you want. Yeah. Right. And so once you learn how it feels, then slowly, I'm just warning you, you're going to start to try to figure out how do I make this work in other parts of my life. Yeah. You know, wait, I'm up at two o'clock in the morning. How do I go to sleep? Oh, let me try breathing a little. Right. When um someone at work is going to have a really uncomfortable conversation with me, maybe I'll try. Like, it starts to become something that you do without thinking about it because you're like, I'm feeling A. Yeah. So then I'm going to do B. Yeah. And then the more um awareness and more of an experience you have where breath actually works for you, then the more you're like, wait, I want to, I want to know more. So like glasses and you're everything. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because you start to realize, well, I'm already breathing. I I can pull this extra breath out whenever I want because I know how it makes me feel. Yeah. Great. It's amazing. Yeah. Love it. Congratulations on doing that. Yeah. Well, we have about a minute left.

SPEAKER_02 32:18

Brittany, do you want you have a final question? Um, if anybody is listening right now and they have scans tomorrow, what would you say directly to them?

SPEAKER_01 32:27

Um, to know that you deserve to take a moment for yourself and pause and just take a breath and understand this is hard. You're doing something that's incredibly difficult that most people in your life probably don't understand. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:41

That's that's really it's important to know those things. And we really appreciate our talk about ski anxiety and been very helpful in learning some of these things for sure. Um, you close this out for today?

SPEAKER_01 32:56

Of course. So, Charlotte, thank you again. We really appreciate it. Appreciate the opportunity to share this with our audience um and hopefully kind of promote your podcast as well, which is really incredible. I think the one thing we didn't hit that I would like to mention real quick in closing is you have resources on your webpage and they're like five minutes um and you're kind of talking through. Will you say a little bit about that real quick? Yeah, it's actually turned into its own podcast, and now I have two. Um, but on the website as well, they're the Cancer Caregiver Podcast started out with some extra breathing um episodes, and now the Caregiver Breathing Room is only breathing exercises and it's just five minutes. So real quick, doing it in your car on the way to work. Exactly. Yeah. So yeah, those are all available to whoever needs them. Amazing. Yeah, thank you. Well, be sure and check that out um for extra resources and skinxiety. And we will continue again here at a few minutes. We're gonna invite another guest in and continue for episode two. Yeah, and talk about caregivers some more.

SPEAKER_02 34:00

Thank you guys so much. Thanks so much for listening to Hope Unscripted. Join us next time as we share real stories, meaningful resources, and reminders that you're not alone. Until then, keep choosing hope.