The Cancer Journey Podcast

Episode 113: How We Die with CJC Barbara Haedtke

How We Die with CJC Barbara Haedtke | The Cancer Journey Podcast | Episode 113How do we die? It's a question most of us spend our lives avoiding — and one that becomes impossible to ignore when you're on a cancer journey, especially a terminal one.In Episode 113, Shariann and Alicia are joined by Barbara, a certified Cancer Journey Coach who is also living with a terminal cancer diagnosis. She brings a rare combination of professional experience and deeply personal perspective to a conversation about mortality, legacy, grief, gratitude, and what it means to truly engage with the life you have left.This is one of the most honest and tender conversations the podcast has had. It doesn't offer easy answers. It offers something better — the experience of watching someone engage with the hardest material with curiosity, grace, and an open heart.Topics covered in this episode:• What it actually feels like to face a terminal diagnosis• The difference between cognitive acceptance and emotional engagement• Grief as an ongoing, daily process — not a destination• Why the things people say to the dying often have more to do with their own fear• The practical side of facing death — putting affairs in order, shifting financial plans• Gratitude and grief living side by side in the same moment• Legacy — what you want to leave, how you want to be remembered• "Engage with the material" — what that phrase really means• The last year of Debbie Ford's sister's life — and what she said about it• What proximity to death reveals about how we've been living• How a Cancer Journey Coach creates space for this kind of engagementGuest: Barbara, Certified Cancer Journey Coach#CancerJourney #EndOfLife #CancerJourneyPodcastChapters: 0:00 Welcome and PESH check-in 2:00 Introducing the topic — how we die 4:30 Barbara's experience facing a terminal diagnosis 8:00 The drive home from the doctor — grief, beauty, and gratitude 12:00 What people say to the dying (and what they really mean) 16:00 Legacy, curiosity, and engaging with the material 20:00 Money, mortality, and what you'd do if the runway shifted 24:30 The Wise Old Crone — finding yourself through the Cancer Journey Institute 28:00 What "engage with the material" really means 32:00 Closing takeaways and PESH check-out

Episode 112: Where Does Joy Even Fit?

Where Does Joy Even Fit? | The Cancer Journey Podcast | Episode 112 How do you possibly find joy when you're on a cancer journey? When treatment is exhausting, energy is limited, and just getting through the day takes everything you have — where does joy even fit? In Episode 112, Shariann and Alicia get practical and personal about what it actually looks like to find moments of nourishment and delight on a cancer journey. This isn't about toxic positivity or forcing a good attitude. It's about giving yourself real permission to feel good, in whatever small ways are actually accessible to you right now. Topics covered in this episode: * Why joy feels out of reach on a cancer journey — and why it doesn't have to * The difference between nourishment and joy, and why both matter * Why familiar activities work better than trying to learn something new * What Shariann leaned on during treatment when TV felt like too much * Why movies and TV aren't always the easy escape we think they are * The joy of small things — and why slowing down makes them visible * Fur babies, kids' laughter, nature, and the unexpected allies on a cancer journey * Getting dressed for yourself, not for anyone else * Journaling as a joy practice — and how to actually start * The pink wig story — and what permission really looks like * Marie Kondo, monstera leaf pasta spoons, and sparking joy in the everyday #CancerJourney #CancerJourneyPodcast #CancerSupport Chapters: 0:00 Welcome and PESH check-in1:45 How do we find joy — and what does nourishment look like on a cancer journey?4:30 Why TV isn't always the easy escape — and what Shariann did instead8:00 Familiar activities, crafts, music, and books11:30 The unexpected allies — fur babies, kids, nature, comedy15:00 The small joys hiding in plain sight18:30 Getting dressed for yourself — and the woman in the treatment room22:00 Journaling as a joy practice25:00 Permission — and the pink wig story 28:30 Closing takeaways and PESH check-out

Episode 111: What the System Wasn't Designed to Hold

What the System Wasn't Designed to Hold | The Cancer Journey Podcast | Episode 111 The cancer care system is extraordinarily skilled at treating the physical body. But a cancer journey is so much more than what shows up on a scan — and for most people moving through it, the emotional, mental, and spiritual dimensions of the experience are largely unaddressed. This is a conversation about the limits of a fix-it culture, the invisible weight that doctors and nurses carry, and why a Cancer Journey Coach might be the most important addition to a care team that no one is talking about yet. Topics covered in this episode: - Why the medical system is built for efficiency — and what gets lost in that model - The emotional weight that doctors and nurses carry and rarely have space to process - Why you can cognitively trust your care team and still not feel emotionally safe - What happens when emotions are suppressed throughout a cancer journey - How suppressed emotions affect decision-making and quality of life - Toxic positivity and why forcing it doesn't actually help - The role of a Cancer Journey Coach as the humanity piece of the care team - Why bringing emotion back into care doesn't slow things down — it makes everything work better - What Shariann experienced at the end of her own treatment and what it illuminated #CancerJourney #CancerCare #CancerJourneyPodcast Chapters:  0:00 Welcome and PESH check-in 1:45 Why the medical system struggles to hold the emotional experience 4:30 The culture of fixing — and what it misses 7:00 The emotional weight doctors and nurses carry 10:00 Trusting your care team cognitively vs. feeling it emotionally 13:00 What happens when emotions get suppressed throughout treatment 16:00 Toxic positivity and why it doesn't work 18:30 Decision-making and the role of emotions in knowing what matters 21:00 The Cancer Journey Coach as the humanity piece of the care team 24:00 Closing takeaways and PESH check-out

Episode 110: The Conversation Nobody's Having About Chemo Brain

The Conversation Nobody's Having About Chemo Brain | The Cancer Journey Podcast | Episode 110 Brain fog, chemo brain, and the days when you just can't access yourself the way you normally can — this is one of the most common and least talked about experiences on a cancer journey. In Episode 110, Shariann and Alicia get candid about what it actually feels like to not feel brilliant, and what that has to do with how we're taught to push through instead of slow down. The conversation moves from the personal experience of cognitive fog to the deeper question of what we actually need on days like that — and why a safe space to say what's really there matters more than any supplement or strategy. Topics covered in this episode:• What brain fog and chemo brain actually feel like from the inside• Why the dip in cognitive sharpness triggers fear and self-blame• The difference between a bad day and a less-resourced day• What Shariann discovered about coaching from the heart during her own cancer treatment• Why slowing down is not the opposite of productivity — especially on a cancer journey• What a coaching session offers that even the best friendship can't replicate• The real-time shift that happened during this episode• Why you don't have to feel brilliant to have value• "There's magic in the telling — but it matters where you tell it"#CancerJourney #ChemoBrain #CancerJourneyPodcast Chapters: 0:00 Welcome and PESH check-in 2:10 What it feels like to not feel brilliant 5:30 Chemo brain, aging, and the fear that something is wrong 8:45 Good days, less-resourced days, and the body's need for rest 12:00 Coaching from the heart — Shariann's experience during treatment 16:30 What slowing down actually makes possible 20:00 What coaching offers that friendship can't 25:00 Witnessing the shift in real time 29:30 Closing takeaways and PESH check-out

Episode 109: Feeling Stuck on Your Cancer Journey? You're Not Alone

Feeling Stuck on Your Cancer Journey? You're Not Alone | The Cancer Journey Podcast | Episode 109 Feeling stuck is one of the most universal experiences on a cancer journey — and one of the least talked about. In this episode, Shariann and Alicia explore what stuckness really is, why it's so hard to move through, and what it actually looks like to begin letting go. The conversation covers the difference between being in the hole and knowing you're there, why familiar discomfort can feel safer than the unknown, and why mourning what you're leaving behind is a necessary — not optional — part of moving forward.This is a candid, grounded conversation about change, trust, and the quiet courage it takes to walk down a different street.Topics covered in this episode: • What feeling stuck actually feels like on a cancer journey • Life in Five Chapters — the pathway from stuck to unstuck • Why the hole can feel like home (and why that makes sense) • Letting go without dismissing what mattered • Mourning the losses that come with a cancer journey • Why cancer is a journey, not a battle — and what that shift actually does • The role of trust when you can't control what's happening • Shariann's baby maple tree and what nature shows us about change • How perfectionism and moving fast can become their own kind of stuckness • Why getting unstuck is always a choice — and always a process #CancerJourney #FeelingStuck #CancerJourneyPodcastChapters:0:00 Welcome and PESH check-in1:44 What feeling stuck feels like — and why it's so relevant on a cancer journey4:10 Life in Five Chapters7:30 Why the hole feels comfortable — and how we make a home there10:15 What it really means to let something go13:45 Mourning the losses along the cancer journey17:20 Shariann's baby maple tree19:30 Perfectionism, moving fast, and personal stuckness22:10 Cancer as a journey, not a battle26:00 Trust as the antidote to stuckness28:30 Closing takeaways and PESH check-out