What’s it like to experience ovarian cancer as a man? In this episode of Kickin’ It, Nora and Randalynn sit down with Nolan Stuckenschneider, a trans man, drag king and ovarian cancer grad. Nolan shares his ovarian cancer story, the healthcare challenges he faces as a trans man, and steps we can take toward inclusivity. We hope you enjoy this episode of Kickin’ It!
In the latest episode of the Kickin’ It podcast, Nora and Randalynn chat with ovarian cancer grad, Kim Simmons Emory. We discuss Kim’s long road to diagnosis, symptom awareness, Kim’s quest to find her blood sisters to share her cancer history as an adoptee, and much more. We hope you enjoy our chat with Kim!
October 13th is National Metastatic Breast Cancer Day. To honor this day, I am releasing a never before heard conversation between me and Emily Garnett, a beautiful, smart, fierce advocate for the MBC who passed away in March of this year from this unrelenting disease.
"In the afterglow of my celebration, I suddenly felt guilty again. Whether it was for wanting to cut my hair while so many are just happy to have ANY; for being cancer-free while so many of my survivor sisters still struggle; or for my own mother and boyfriend who had to put their lives on hold to take care of me during cancer, the guilt lingers long after treatment ends."
There are a ton of great blogs about how to help your hair grow back after chemo. Instead, I am going to talk about cutting it. I know…you want it to grow back as FAST as possible, why would you CUT it?
My first haircut was two months post chemo. I barely had any hair at all, but the hair I did have made it look like I just finished chemo…which I did. The baby bunny fur that was growing out of my head gave away my medical history to everyone that laid eyes on me and all I could see was their Pity.
My spirit couldn’t sit through the months of awkward Mullet, Chemo Fro—I had already been through enough.
In the midst of this emotional personal battle over what to do about my hair, Ruby Rose became popular. In case you don’t know who she is, she is the gender-fluid woman on “Orange is the New Black” who single-handedly made every straight woman question their sexuality. Seeing her hair inspired me to take back control over my own.
A place very few women venture became my hair sanctuary. I went from looking sickly to SICK in 20 minutes and for $20, and it was the first time I felt sexy since my cancer experience started.
Walt is my barber and we have been together from that first cut over a year ago. We met online…yelp to be exact, and he has been a huge part of my cancer recovery. He makes my short hair look like a CHOICE, not a side effect.
Love,
P.S.-I hate to admit this, but there was a part of me that misses my bald chemo head—mainly the perks. I got out of a speeding ticket with a state trooper, people brought me food, and I could watch hours of Netflix with no judgement; but all good things must come to and end and I love finding the new me.
