I told my oncologist that treatment's going to have to wait 'cause I'm booked up. And she just looked at me with eight eyes and said, “Valerie, if you don't treat this, this is fatal."

Performer and playwright Valerie David has had cancer three times: stage 3 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, stage 2 breast cancer, and stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. During chemo and radiation, she journaled about her experiences and recorded audio diaries when writing became too exhausting. This became the catalyst for her to write The Pink Hulk: One Woman’s Journey to Find the Superhero Within, Valerie’s award-winning, one-woman show that she has performed for the last decade without interruption, both domestically and globally. She also landed in the 3% of patients who achieve a 100% response to treatment after advocating for a specific drug she learned about while copyediting its ad campaign eight months before her own stage 4 diagnosis.

They dive into:

• Requesting baseline vocal cord imaging before chemo starts

• How her copyediting work on an ad campaign led to advocating for a drug that helped her become a three-time cancer survivor

• Recording audio diaries when journaling becomes too draining

• The importance of patient advocacy: Calling the specialist yourself when your care team stalls

• Switching hospitals after 20 years mid-treatment

• Performing The Pink Hulk on the very day she found out about her stage 4 diagnosis

• Why life expectancy framing from support counselors causes real harm

• Her HER2-positive, PR-positive, ER-negative diagnosis and why it changed her chemo protocol

  
  

  Valerie socials:

  IG: @ValerieDavid_PinkHulkPlay

  FB: @The Pink Hulk and @ValerieDavid

  https://www.instagram.com/valeriedavid_pinkhulkplay/

  https://www.facebook.com/pinkhulkplay/

  https://www.facebook.com/valerie.david.96558/

  
  

"I felt like I had been derailed. We had built our careers over several decades and we knew what the challenges were in building our careers as well. We had to overcome a lot of bias... and when something like this hits you, there's the fear that… Am I slipping in taking care of business?"

Patricia Muir was at the peak of her consulting career, three decades of building her business, when breast cancer hit in 2013. She caught it early through intuition, went through surgery and radiation, and returned to work physically ready. But she found herself staring in the mirror not recognizing the person looking back. Not physically. Emotionally. As an entrepreneur and executive coach specializing in emotional intelligence, she reveals the hidden professional crisis successful women face post-cancer: being told on day one they're on their way out, boardroom perception shifts that question capability, and the identity reconstruction that medical teams never address.

Joelle and Patricia dive deep into:

• Return to work versus return to performance framework: three paths from diagnosis—reflection to thriving, questioning to passive performance, or disillusionment to disengagement

• Self-trust over self-confidence: making and keeping small promises to yourself builds evidence your body can handle this—escaping the "you just need more confidence" trap

• "Needs to know" disclosure strategy for compliance-driven professionals: protecting privacy while managing unwanted daily wellness checks and colleague fussing

• Empathy as recovery drain: recognizing when supporting others' cancer diagnoses depletes your energy and redirecting effort back to yourself

• Year-long emotional intelligence rebuilding: cancer hits self-perception and self-regard hardest, requiring structured work across specific domains rather than quick fixes

• Watching for emotional triggers in client work: identifying when hearing others' diagnoses creates performance-affecting responses you need to manage

• Wellspring facilitated groups: why sharing with strangers in treatment proves more therapeutic than confiding in close networks who haven't had cancer

• The day-one exit signal: why women executives report knowing immediately post-treatment they're being pushed out despite proven capability

Patricia transformed her business 12 years post-diagnosis, choosing joy and impact over adrenaline and difficult clients by focusing her work exclusively on executive women post cancer.. For executive women wondering if they'll maintain their hard-won authority and position: this episode maps the path from derailment to intentional redesign.

“I talk about my sparkle and I just felt like… hormone blockers took my sparkle. That cognitive side of it, the lack of desire, feeling just fatigued... during cancer treatment, it was like the last thing that I wanted to do."

In this essential conversation, clinical sexologist Richelle Menzies, USA Today bestselling romance author Cara Lockwood, and pharmacologist Dr. Erika Reith (all breast cancer survivors) break the silence on what 87% of cancer patients experience but only 27% are ever asked about: what happens to your sex life during and after treatment. From hormone blockers that erase desire to surgeries that eliminate sensation, they reveal the specific medical interventions and frameworks that restore intimacy when oncologists offer nothing but silence.

They dive deep into:

• Vaginal estrogen protocols reversing severe atrophy when even washing becomes painful—why emerging peer-reviewed research proves safety for hormone-positive cancers

• Testosterone cream restores energy levels within one week and libido within three months when hormone therapy crashes levels to zero

• Traffic light negotiation framework: separating red (absolute no), yellow (nice to have), green (must have) needs before difficult partner conversations

• Six-week progressive touch protocol rewiring neuroplasticity by mapping new erogenous zones on previously non-sexual body areas after mastectomy

• "Use it or lose it" blood flow principle with critical exception: stop immediately if there's pain or risk conditioning vaginismus responses

• Responsive versus spontaneous desire shift affecting 75% of women post-treatment and why Emily Nagoski's "Come As You Are" framework changes everything

• Weekly capacity check-ins replacing one-time conversations to assess what's working and what needs adjustment as recovery progresses

• Five senses somatic grounding and extended exhale breathing techniques bringing you back into your body when fight-or-flight response blocks intimacy

• Why late-stage neurodivergence diagnoses spike during treatment as hormone suppression causes masking behaviors to drop

Cancer doesn't get to decide you're done being a sexual being. These interventions exist right now—you just have to advocate for them yourself.

"Why can't we build a contraceptive that reduces breast cancer risk? That's the way to get rid of breast cancer. I don't want to just keep treating it. I want to prevent it altogether."

In this groundbreaking episode, Dr. Laura Esserman, Director of the UCSF Breast Cancer Center, joins Joelle Kaufman to reveal how her 47,000-patient WISDOM study just proved we can eliminate late-stage breast cancer through risk-based screening—and why the medical establishment resisted her every step of the way.

They dive deep into:

• WISDOM study results: Zero stage 2B+ cancers in highest-risk women screened every 6 months versus annual age-based protocols

• Population genetic testing economics: now cheaper than a single mammogram, done once, reveals 30% of mutation carriers have no family history

• Polygenic risk scores (PRS) changing screening recommendations for 15% of women beyond single-gene BRCA testing

• AI breast density algorithms identifying the actual 10% who need supplemental screening—not the 50-60% currently over-screened

• Anti-progestin medications like mifeprestone already used for fibroids and endometriosis are being repurposed as breast cancer prevention tools

• Intermediate endpoint frameworks for prevention drugs modeled on cardiology's blood pressure and cholesterol standards

• Why 25% of I-SPY trial patients are under 40 and what that reveals about current screening failures

• The $4-5 million funding gap is blocking WISDOM 2.0 enrollment while waiting 1-2 years for insurance guideline changes

From proving precision screening works to building prevention pathways that could cut annual diagnoses from 320,000 to 150,000, this is essential listening for anyone rethinking how we approach women's health.

Don't wait for guidelines to catch up. Understand the science that's already proven.

Support the WISDOM Study—help provide genetic testing and personalized screening to women while we wait for insurance guidelines to catch up: https://giving.ucsf.edu/fund/wisdom

"Call us. Get into the program and allow us to help you. You need someone there to help you. Cancer is a journey—you've got to have a support system."

In this eye-opening episode, Steve Cain, CEO of UnitedHealthcare California, joins Joelle Kaufman to reveal how insurance companies are transforming from claims processors into active care partners during the most vulnerable moments of a patient's life.

They dive deep into:

• The Cancer Support Program: 100+ oncology RN navigators who coordinate your entire care journey

• Zero-copay cancer screenings and first diagnostics in California—removing financial barriers that delay treatment

• Cancer Guidance Program: NCCN-pathway platform embedded in provider EMRs approving treatments in hours, not weeks

• How claims data triggers proactive outreach when diagnostic codes and pharmacy fills signal a serious diagnosis

• Why most denials stem from "insufficient information" and how navigators bridge documentation gaps

• The $130 million affordable housing investment driven by data proving stable housing improves cancer outcomes

• Transparency tools showing exact episode-of-care costs and quality metrics at decision time

• Why calling your insurance company the moment you hear "you have cancer" is the most underutilized resource

From eliminating copays to deploying AI for early detection outreach, this is essential listening for anyone navigating cancer—or leading healthcare innovation.

Don't just survive the system. Make it work for you.

“I love the idea of kicking cancer’s ass. It’s what I get up every day to do.”

In this powerful and eye-opening episode, Dr. Karen E. Knudsen, CEO of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, joins Joelle Kaufman to reveal how we’re finally turning the body’s own immune system into cancer’s worst enemy.

They dive deep into:

• The three types of immunotherapy reshaping cancer treatment
• Why 98% of patients can’t access clinical trials (and how AI is changing that)
• What venture capital’s “de-risk” demand is doing to breakthrough science
• The truth about full-body scans and multi-cancer blood tests
• How one AI agent could solve the 32-provider chaos patients face
• Why knowing your radon exposure matters more than you think

From cell-based therapies that cure with a single dose to vaccines that train your immune system for life, this is a must-listen for anyone navigating cancer—or working to eliminate it.

Don’t just fight cancer. Outsmart it.

Learn more: kcapodcast.com

Brad Buchanan survived an incurable lymphoma, but the treatment—a stem cell transplant from his brother—almost killed him. His new immune system attacked his body so violently that doctors gave him a 10% survival chance. He went blind for 18 months. His esophagus stopped working. And the paradox? That same immune system is why he’s cancer-free today.

As a former English professor, Brad uses writing and poetry to process what medical science did to his DNA. Now he runs workshops helping other cancer patients—especially men—put their experiences into words.

This episode covers what nobody tells you about life after transplant: the warning signs of graft versus host disease, why you have to educate yourself when doctors dismiss symptoms, where to find actual GVHD experts, and how writing became Brad’s way to reclaim his story.

If you’re considering a stem cell transplant or supporting someone through one, Brad shares the unglamorous truth about what comes after—and how he’s building a life with his brother’s DNA.

Learn more: kcapodcast.com

What happens when a blood test shows circulating cancer DNA—but no doctor can find the tumor? Or when a child spends five years being tested, hospitalized, and medicated for a condition that could have been diagnosed in days?

Pete Martinez has spent 12 years building AI systems that help geneticists and doctors find answers faster. His platform has already helped 162,000 patients get more accurate diagnoses, including rare cancers that would otherwise take years to identify.

In this conversation, Pete breaks down the four critical points where AI is transforming cancer care—from predisposition screening to personalized treatment. He shares the story of a little girl who endured years of biopsies and hospital stays for an “autoimmune liver disease” that was actually solved by changing her diet. And he explains why you should walk away from any doctor who dismisses your request for genetic testing.

If you’ve ever wondered whether AI could help you get answers faster—or felt dismissed when asking for more comprehensive testing—this episode delivers the knowledge you need to advocate for yourself.