Extra! Extra! Stef’s coming out of the Emetophobia closet—just as Amy’s out of the bathroom holding the dreaded bowl. In even more disgusting news, we’re telling you about the Portland pathologist whose benign results are anything but. Grab your barf bags for this news report. (Note: the count is now up to 12 patients.) Then, Letters hurls us into the guilt, recurrence fear, and uncertainty of survivorship. One thing is certain, though: RATS have infested Amy’s (other) ducts and the only thing stinkier? Getting a second cancer when you’re trying to outsmart your first. Take a ride with us, but ..read more

Alert! Alert! This is NOT a test of the emergency cancer broadcast system. Tumour has it that the worst club with the best members has a new recruit from across the pond and we’re having a chin wag about it. The gals share differing opinions on keeping an illness under royal wraps, but we can all agree that nobody’s hiring Kate’s PR team. What do other cancer commoners think about all this? Well, we’ll tell you. From triggered to intrigued, our listeners’ responses run the gamut. And what’s the Olivia Munn of it all? We stan a queen who uses her platform to educate. So pull up a tuffet, grab a ..read more

It’s time for another Second Opinion! This one features friend of the podcast Flora, a metastatic PNET patient with an unexpected new living situation. First, hear the real deal about PNETs (Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor). She’ll tell us just how this wacky cancer functions, where you’ve heard of it, and why it’s an insidious foe. Then, put the mirrors on the ceiling and pop some pink champagne on ice! Flora generously tells us how surprising it is when hospice is (literally AND figuratively) just what the doctor ordered. What is happening to Flora is sad, for sure, but this is not a sad epi ..read more

Close Your Bones In the final chapter of our ongoing financial roller coaster, a hero arrives—in a white coat, not a cape. It’s a bird, it’s a plane…actually, is that Air Force One?! Then, a letter from a rectal cancer survivor whose fertility didn’t make it. How do we honor that grief and explore closure (literally)? Stef outs herself as a full moon hippie (we knew it, didn’t we, listeners?) and Amy’s biting on others’ cultural rituals? Amy! We’ve talked about this! Then, a *deeply* touchy topic with major science potential: harvesting hard-to-get tumors. The gals spitball how to help a stud ..read more

The Downward Spiral  The cycle continues! Spin™️ Teachers — They’re Just Like Us! and Amy’s wheels are spinning. Stef’s got a twinge of doubt about how her upcoming scan will pan out, but two things are for sure: bills are high and morale is low going into this one. The gals remember a few fallen friends whose losses are looming large. Luckily, a letter writer brings us her ritual to combat scanxiety, along with a few examples of what not to say. RATS discusses new findings about cancer in 9/11 first responders. Now shake your lime green salt shaker over to Apple and leave us a review ..read more

What’s the recommended jail time for therapists who unexpectedly quit on their patients? Asking for Stef, who is in the dumps about being dumped. We hear from listeners about their therapy experiences good and bad (and we mean bad….). Is cancer the answer? Obviously not, but maybe slime is. Speaking of bad experiences, having cancer while fat might just take the cake. In letters, we get an update from Mama Mia’s daughter who Adi-poses the question: will Stef cover the protective quality of a little fluff around our organs in a future RATS? Ciao bella! You know it's a si! Not so bella? Media th ..read more

Are you kitting? Stef is off to the YMCA with her locker full of accoutrements, and Amy’s off the sauce and full of fast ideas. Letters ask why cancer muggles are always lionizing squeaky clean marathon runners, and we ask back: why are centenarians celebrated for their daily dram of whiskey or pack of smokes while carcinomies are assumed to be sinning lushes?  Finally, our pests remain uncontrolled (sorry Brandon), and they’re pumped about Dr Hadiya Nicole Green. Can boiling hot nanoparticles kill solid tumors in humans? Seems like it, but we smell a rat (and that rat is institutional ra ..read more

It’s a-me, Mario… wait no. It’s just us, Stef and Amy. While recovering from surgery—Stef’s on a side quest! Her new video game pastime is helping her heal in more ways than one. Another character (Amy) shares listener letters that cover everything from a Molly Shannon cancer flick review to more of that relatable scanxiety. Then, a diagnosing doc’s perplexing recommendation to a listener’s Italian mama has us hauling out our soapboxes once again. Mamma Mia, indeed! RATS sets aside the deep dive today and instead offers a shallow swim… it’s a lighter sprinkling of news and headlines, including ..read more

When fate (or 23 and Me) intervenes at the eleventh hour, do you open your heart to new experiences or continue searching for an AirBnB to pass away in? It’s the premiere of Second Opinion: our conversations with the cancer people, experts and innovators that excite us. Up first: Holly Raines. A talented photographer, a cool mom, and a woman with end stage cervical cancer, Holly tells Stef about the stunning conversation that made her delay her choice to die with dignity in favor of living with integrity for a few more weeks.  Second Opinion bonus episodes will drop right into the regula ..read more

Stef’s back from the YSC Summit and Amy has a giggle at the expense of Laughter Yoga. Fun in public really gets Stef’s goat. Then, what’s the deal with longevity? Perhaps the Seventh Day Adventists can spill the beans…or at least share them? Next, it’s our *privilege* to read a letter from a listener that holds a mirror up to cancer spaces and asks why we’re all so eager to get back to our old bodies—weren’t they trying to kill us?? Here’s the skinny; it’s time for everyone to start reading the room. The body you’re shaming might not (just) be your own. Another letter (that begins at 26:10 for ..read more