Episode 16: Becoming a patient self advocate, the power of voice, and new life paths that emerge after cancer: Kristin’s Story

This episode was recorded as part of a series for my End of Life class in my Masters in Social Work program.

Kristin was eager and ready to share her story with me, and as it turns out, this isn’t her first time sharing it with others. Her experience of navigating multiple simultaneous cancer diagnoses, surgeries, and treatments was a precipitating set of events that set her life in a new direction that has led her to feeling passionate about using her voice for others to hear.

Our conversation was easy and flowing, from one topic to the next; the mark of talking with someone has has given a great deal of thought and consideration to her experiences, and who has ease in diving in to the hard topics. She is the first person I’ve interviewed who is talking about facing their own death. It made for a deeply personal arc of conversation, a different experience than even walking with the loss of a loved one. Kristin was very open about her life, which continually astounds me as an act of generosity and trust to just bare the contents of one’s spiritual and inner landscape of some of the most intimate content of our lives.

Kristin, who’s life path changed after serious cancer diagnoses.

Piano music by Jeff Buckingham

Interlude from Free Music Archive: Raag, by Vinod Prasanna × Okey Szoke × Pompey