Today’s survivor story might be one of my absolute favorites. Last year at this time, Sophie was graduating from what we call high school here in the US when her life was flipped upside down. The morning after her graduation party she knew something was wrong. Really really wrong. By mid afternoon Sophie was taken by ambulance to the ER only to find out she had several tumors in her brain. And what comes next is what is so extraordinary. A 17 year old girl stood up to the doctors in the room who said there was nothing she could do, that she should go home and prepare to die. As you can probably guess, she did not do that. She advocated for herself, flew across the world for a new type of surgery in LA called LITT and is now living her best life as a TikTok famous pilates instructor, teaching the world that hardest things in life sometimes turn out to be the best. And I’m not just talking about the ab killer hundred.

You can find Sophie over on the TikTok @sophc149

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I want to thank YOU for taking time of your day to listen. I don’t know if you’re here because you’ve gotten a tough diagnosis or someone you love has - or if you just want to learn more about how to feel empowered to change your story and find purpose in your life. But I’m glad you’re here. If I can beat a universally deadly cancer and live a better, happier life, truly grateful for my cancer wake up call, I know the tools I’ve learned will help you too. Your life is about to get so much better.
Please share the Brainy Blonde Podcast with someone you love. See you soon!
Love you, Rebecca

https://www.instagram.com/thatbrainyblonde/
https://www.instagram.com/brainyblondepodcast

I woke up to the most crushing news this morning that we lost Jill Smokler. I just can’t quite believe it. It’s so cliche - and probably absurd and representative of my delusional optimism - that I did not in any way see this coming. I interviewed Jill for the podcast when I first started out and the interview was a disaster. All me. Obviously. I had tech difficulties like crazy. My cat kept climbing on me. She would get to a really good story and the audio cut out - or so I thought - because I couldn’t hear her.

So we kept saying we’ll redo it. And we kept putting it off. After this trip to Germany, after that event, then we’ll try the podcast again. Who does that? I’m so mad. But here’s the good news. I’m stuck at home today doing my colonoscopy prep so I had time and the determination to fix this. And I have something! When I went back and listened to the recording, I realized it captured most of what Jill said. I just couldn’t hear it.

Between my not being able to hear her and my nervousness at talking to the GOAT mom blogger, THE founder of Scary Mommy, and little to her knowledge, my companion and hero as a stay at home mom with little kids and no family around I talked too much… but …there’s still a lot of Jill in there and I can’t gatekeep this conversation.

Trigger warning: We have a shared love of dark humor so it’s real, it’s raw, it’s vulnerable. We do not hold back. And rather than continuing to kick myself that this is NOT enough, that I want more, I’m so glad I have this. And I want to share it with all of you who love Jill.

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I want to thank YOU for taking time of your day to listen. I don’t know if you’re here because you’ve gotten a tough diagnosis or someone you love has - or if you just want to learn more about how to feel empowered to change your story and find purpose in your life. But I’m glad you’re here. If I can beat a universally deadly cancer and live a better, happier life, truly grateful for my cancer wake up call, I know the tools I’ve learned will help you too. Your life is about to get so much better.
Please share the Brainy Blonde Podcast with someone you love. See you soon!
Love you, Rebecca

https://www.instagram.com/thatbrainyblonde/
https://www.instagram.com/brainyblondepodcast

For all of you who follow me on social media you know I was just in New York City and had the most wonderful time at the Lenox Hill gala, a huge fundraising event for brain cancer which raised over 1.5M.

Because I started this podcast with the idea of spreading hope and changing the story about glioblastoma I just have to share with all of you that this event did just that for me. Gave me a boost of hope.

I was honored to be an invited guest among so many prominent people in entertainment and in medicine, but even more so to be reminded that GBM touches everyone, every age, male and female. And because it can affect anyone, it is starting to get more attention. We recognized Jason Collins with his husband Brunson, Pete Davidson’s dad, Lara Spencer’s mom, Barbee Blank’s dad. These wonderful humans with big hearts vulnerably shared the loss of their heroes and are now using their big platforms to spread the word and demand more research.

And it’s working. Slowly but surely it is working.

Today's Survivor Story features Kathy Hammond, a fierce advocate for glioblastoma. This is being released at the two year mark of her diagnosis and Kathy has already done so much work advocating for all of us. I know you'll enjoy connecting with her and hearing her story.

https://katiecouric.com/health/cancer/brain-cancer-survivor-one-year-later/

Support the show

I want to thank YOU for taking time of your day to listen. I don’t know if you’re here because you’ve gotten a tough diagnosis or someone you love has - or if you just want to learn more about how to feel empowered to change your story and find purpose in your life. But I’m glad you’re here. If I can beat a universally deadly cancer and live a better, happier life, truly grateful for my cancer wake up call, I know the tools I’ve learned will help you too. Your life is about to get so much better.
Please share the Brainy Blonde Podcast with someone you love. See you soon!
Love you, Rebecca

https://www.instagram.com/thatbrainyblonde/
https://www.instagram.com/brainyblondepodcast