Dorothy: [00:00:00] From the moment I met Jennifer Parrish at a Rose event, I knew I was in the presence of someone really special. Visually impaired, legally blind since birth, Jennifer overcame challenge after challenge, and she tells us today about her recent breast cancer experience. Jennifer talks about how navigating through the healthcare facilities, getting back and forth to appointments, and all the other things she had to tackle were almost as difficult as the breast cancer treatment.
But that didn’t stop her. She continued to work every day, managing 40 people who were also visually impaired at the Lighthouse of Houston. I think you’ll leave this podcast feeling inspired and ready to take on whatever you need to next in this life. I know I did.
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Let’s Talk About Your Breasts, a different kind of podcast presented to you by The Rose, the Breast Center of Excellence, and a Texas treasure. You’re going to hear frank discussions about tough topics, and you’re going to learn why knowing about your breast could save your life.
Jennifer, I’m so excited to have you today on Let’s Talk About Your Breasts. Totally amazed at your hair.
Jennifer: Thank you.
Dorothy: And for our listeners, it is, has this beautiful pink coloring all like halfway down her very long hair and it’s just great.
Jennifer: Thank you.
Dorothy: Oh my goodness, what in the world convinced you to do that?
Jennifer: So, throughout my, my journey with breast cancer, I, I’ve decided that I’m going to make this as fun as possible because that’s just kind of how [00:02:00] I roll in my life anyway. I mean, I’m, I’m, I’m visually impaired and I make that fun. So, you know, I got, you know, kind of put into this journey and so why not have a good time with it?
And then when you guys said, Hey man, you know, you want to be on this podcast? I said, well, let me, let me go ahead and dive back into my wild coloring my hair days and, and do this one more time. Shout out to my stylist, Leslie Braun at Satori Salon in the Heights. She did this fantastic job, so go see her.
Dorothy: It is, it is great, it is great. Now, Jennifer, you just kind of went right over when you said, I’m visually impaired.
Jennifer: Yes.
Dorothy: So, uh, you know, it’s not just impaired, you’re, you’re blind.
Jennifer: Yes.
Dorothy: Or as close to blind as, you see some light. Right?
Jennifer: Right. Correct, yes. I call it enough vision to get me in trouble. So I see a little bit out of my, well, so zero, nothing, sorry. Nothing out of my left eye. Um, that’s, it’s completely blind. It’s underdeveloped and just kind of never just became a real full eye. So I can’t see anything out of that eye. The right eye, um, I [00:03:00] have a condition called keratoconus. Um, which means my eyeball is shaped like a ball, I mean like a cone instead of a ball, and so it, it, it, you know, and it’s also very, you know, deformed, the cornea is deformed and, and all that kind of stuff, so yes, um, I, I can see, I cannot see details, um, I can see color, which is hence the pink hair, I, I love bright colors and bright things and, you know, things like that, cause that’s something I can enjoy, so I choose to do that sometimes, um, But so yes. So that’s my vision.
Dorothy: And you’ve been blind all your life?
Jennifer: Yes ma’am. From birth.
Dorothy: From birth. Mm-Hmm. . And, uh, although you’re not a Texan, you came here pretty soon. Your family did?
Jennifer: Yes.
Dorothy: Just because of the different opportunities.
Jennifer: Exactly. So I am originally from a tiny town in western Pennsylvania. Um, got to Texas as soon as we could. Um, my family, knowing that they had a, a blind child, they decided, okay, it’s time to make some moves and, and, and do some things and get me some better educational opportunities than the little tiny town I’m from. Um, and so we moved here to Houston when I was six [00:04:00] years old. They packed up my, my two infant brothers and myself and we drove down, boy, and I remember that ride. It was a long ride.
Dorothy: Yes, yes, it would have been. So now you’re working at the, uh, Lighthouse.
Jennifer: Correct.
Dorothy: And tell us, tell us what it is you do there.
Jennifer: Okay, so I was hired at the Lighthouse in 2000. I, um, for 20 years I was a medical transcriptionist and became lead of that department for a brief while. And then last year I accepted a position as the manager of business services. Um, I now oversee seven contracts, um, that hire visually impaired or blind individuals and I am responsible for approximately 40 employees.
Dorothy: Wow. So, you know, I know we’re here to talk some about your breast cancer, uh, experience, but I will tell you, as long as I’ve known Jenna at the Lighthouse, I am still amazed when she tells me all the different positions that the staff holds, you know, all the different jobs that are [00:05:00] available. If only employers would make that little extra change.
Jennifer: Exactly. Accommodations.
Dorothy: Accommodations that make it, is it, what is it called? Client staff.
Jennifer: Mm hmm. I mean, you know, we, we have, you know, clients that we serve and so some people come there and get, you know, say employment training or training on assistive technology and, you know, things like that. Um, and then eventually, you know, sometimes, you know, if they’re, they’re qualified enough, we can hire them for some of these roles and then they become our staff and our coworkers.
Dorothy: So, Jennifer, here you are with this medical transcriptionist background. So, now, let’s fast forward, because I keep thinking you knew the words. You knew what some of this stuff meant. I, it’s, uh, that would be very scary to me. So, you had, you had been doing your mammograms. And then there was a phase in there where you weren’t.
Jennifer: Correct. So, I had gone, you [00:06:00] know, started at probably, what was it, 2015. So I turned 40 and started getting them, um, maybe it was 2006. It was a little bit after that because I don’t think they had them, you know, covered at 40 at that point in time. But anyway, I’d gotten about two or three of them, and they all came up clear, and I was like, okay, whatever, I’m gonna be fine, I don’t have history in my family, whatever. My, um, then in 2018, our insurance changed, and I used to go to Kelsey Siebold, and like, that’s one stop shopping over there. Um, and we, that wasn’t kind of an option for our in network, um, insurance for a period of time. So, I had to find a different place to go. I found a good PCP within the current system that I’m in, Memorial Hermann, she’s awesome. Shoutout Dr. Hamilton, if I’m allowed to do that. But, you know, she kept saying like, Oh, get your mammogram, get your mammogram, and I was like, Okay, I’ll figure it out, I’ll do whatever.
Because being blind, you have to like, find a new place to go, figure out how to get there, figure out if it’s, you know, how to get in the [00:07:00] building, if it’s just a walk up thing or you gotta go find a desk and find an escort and all this stuff. I mean, so, you know, the unfamiliar tends to make, you know, people like me put it off. And that’s exactly what I did.
Dorothy: And women put it off anyway, but I can certainly understand all the additional barriers you’re having to do this.
Jennifer: Yes.
Dorothy: So you get there, you get your mammogram.
Jennifer: Get my mammogram, um, then I get, you know, this call in December, actually my, my better half, my partner in crime, John, his grandmother just, you know, passed away and we’d gotten home from the funeral, and I get this call, and they’re like, you know, Hey, calling from, you know, scheduling, and we need to schedule some appointments for you, and I’m like, what are you talking about?
You know, and, you know, your mammogram, we, you know, we found, they found some stuff, they want to come, they want you to get ultrasound and blah, blah, blah, and I said, what? Like, well, you know, so I had to do a double take and, you know, call my mom, she’s like, you know, alright, we’ll figure it out. My mom is my champion through this whole thing, by the way.
Um, thank God for her. Um, but anyway, we’ll get to that. But, uh, so, I, I went [00:08:00] ahead, scheduled an appointment, had ultrasound and, um, mammogram, which that thing took an hour and frankly sucked, sorry, but it was awful. Like, that was the most painful mammogram I’ve ever had in my life.
Dorothy: It’s because it was a diagnostic mammogram.
Jennifer: Yes.
Dorothy: Yes, and they are honing in on a certain area of the breast, so. It does, it has a different kind of compression.
Jennifer: Correct, and I needed some glass of wine after that thing. Good Lord, man. So, had that done, um, and, you know, and then they found some stuff on actually both the right and the left side, but the left side ended up being the one with the, um, and so, uh, I, my diagnosis is actually intral, uh, invasive lobular carcinoma. Um, Stage 1a ERPR positive, HER2 negative. The ultrasound, diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound was in, in January and then I went for an MRI, um, and a biopsy. And then was diagnosed in March. [00:09:00] So.
Dorothy: That’s a long time.
Jennifer: Right. And then they decided to go back again because there was stuff on the other side. You know, once they were, it was determined I needed to have surgery on the left. They, the stuff on the right, they wanted to double check. So I had to have that, um, biopsy as well. So I’m full of clips. There was like two areas on both sides. So, but that one’s benign so far, knock on wood. Let’s keep it benign.
Dorothy: And so, what did your treatment involve?
Jennifer: So, my treatment involved, um, radiation, 19 rounds. Um, big shout out to my radiation team. Man, those people were so cool through this whole thing. Um, I, we went through some challenges, um, during my radiation. Um, I, my, my father, I, I started my radiation on, on June 26th. My dad passed away on the 4th of July. Crazy. Then we had Hurricane Beryl. July 8th, you know, so getting to radiation. My, my brothers thankfully were in town and were driving me and we would just go like have, you know, dinner after and hang out and stuff. And they, they made it as fun as we could. And, you know, my [00:10:00] poor mom was trying to deal with me having cancer and my dad gone and all this stuff, you know, and I mean, just, it was crazy times during that period of time.
But the team at Memorial Hermann Heights Cancer Center, that radiation team became my friends. My family would hug me when I was crying, would joke around with me. Um, I actually, funny story, I have a pizza tattoo on my shoulder, and there’s a story about that too, but.
Dorothy: I’m not sure we’re ready for that one.
Jennifer: Okay, right, so anyway, no, it’s fine. So I have a pizza tattoo on my shoulder, and so they would, my cancer was on my left side, so they were looking at my left shoulder and my left boob, you know, every day. And so I ended up buying them pizza at the end, you know, just like a bunch of pizzas, you know, and so we, we would have fun with that.
And, and, and just, I mean, just anything they would, they would always try to make me laugh. They would console me when I was upset because believe me, it was, you know, I’m so happy go lucky and, you know, everything’s fine and whatever. But I mean, there was a couple of times I went in there and just broke down, you know, my dad had a heart attack and died, you know, like what, what? So, [00:11:00] yeah.
Dorothy: So no matter what, look at all the things you were dealing with.
Jennifer: Exactly.
Dorothy: Now, did you have surgery?
Jennifer: I did. I had a lumpectomy, uh, two lumpectomies because I had an actual cancer. Um, this, the surgery was on May 23rd. I had an actual, the invasive lobular carcinoma that was removed that was right behind my nipple.
Um, so it was pretty rowdy, painful. Um, and then I had a radial scar. That they thought may develop into something, and so that was removed as well, and then I had a lymph node biopsy. Lymph nodes negative, praise the Lord. Yes, and then, but then after the surgery I had two seromas, and they were, you know, usually they tell you leave those alone.
These, um, they drained about 140 cc’s out of my boobs, out of my left side. Yes. We equivalent, we equated it to three shots of tequila, like we did, we did the math, I said, and it was, they were painful, man, I couldn’t even ride in a car, I couldn’t, you know, everything just, any movement was awful, [00:12:00] so, um, you know, that was kind of a complication that I dealt with and sort of delayed my radiation beginning a little bit, not too much, but a little bit.
Dorothy: You know, Jennifer, you’re talking about some of the really difficult times of going through treatment, and I’m so glad you’re being so open and willing to talk about this. One of the things that we say here on this podcast, we’re going to tell you what it’s really like.
Jennifer: Yes.
Dorothy: You know, we’re not going to fluff over anything. We’re not going to say, oh, everyone survives and it’s easy, because there’s nothing, nothing easy about going through treatment.
Jennifer: No.
Dorothy: And then you had all the other Emotional, uh, things happening, my goodness.
Jennifer: Big shout out to my mom. I mean, she’s been, she’s been a champion. Like I said, through all of this with me, you know, from going to doctor appointments and imaging and I mean, there were multiple, many, many, many, um, and, you know, having to help me fill out forms. Just over and over, [00:13:00] man.
Dorothy: The average number of appointments or visits that a breast cancer survivor makes from the time of diagnosis till the end of her, well let’s just say till her definitive treatment, can be as many as 150.
Jennifer: Wow.
Dorothy: I mean just, and I’m sure if you started counting them up, you would be somewhere pretty close. Because that’s part of this journey. I remember when we met, and uh, you were telling me about it, and I thought, Oh my goodness, this, this lady, that’s a serious diagnosis, of course.
Jennifer: Yeah, lobular sneaking.
Dorothy: It always is, but this one is particularly. And I just thought, how is she going to manage being blind and having to go through this treatment? And that’s the other part of your access to care issues. that were so significant during that time.
Jennifer: My advice to any, any medical facility, like, put your forms online as much as you can, you know, because I, [00:14:00] I, um, I was able to, you know, fill forms out electronically, I mean, not in PDF, PDF form, but if they use like the Epic platform, and that’s real easy to use with a screen reader if you’re visually impaired.
Um, that, it helps tremendously, um, because, I mean, again, like I said, my, my poor mom is just, you know, she had it pretty much memorized by the end of all the, you know, the medical history and all that stuff, you know, but, uh, I mean, it, it’s, it’s awful and, and God forbid, you know, I, I had my mom, thank God, but somebody else may not have that luxury, you know, so, yeah, so there’s going to be medical assistants and, that, that they’re going to have to help them or something, you know, and, and it’s just, it’s extra. And, you know, and, and, it, it just makes it—
Dorothy: And the things you forget.
Jennifer: Yes, exactly. That’s a big one.
Dorothy: And then they come back and go, whoa, you had this, and why didn’t you tell us? Well, because it’s the fifteenth time I’ve answered these questions, and yeah, you know, it’s like, it, we could make, healthcare groups could make it a lot easier for the patient. I love it when we, [00:15:00] when I hear them say, Oh, we’re patient centered. Yeah. Right.
Jennifer: Right. Do better. Do better guys.
Dorothy: And, and even at The Rose, I’m going to say we still have our own challenges.
Jennifer: Sure. And everyone does, but I mean, I’m glad, you know, that things like this podcast exists so we can get the word out, you know, just from my, my, my little mug over here, just, just saying, come on guys. Like this is cause I’m, I’m real and I had to deal with it. And in addition to the forms and stuff. So, um, they set up free transportation for me to go to radiation every day. Um, and that, that’s cool, I guess, from what I was told by my radiation people, they, there was a grant from American Cancer Society to provide transportation to those who need it.
Well, fine. It was a lift. Well, you know, and I’m all about inclusivity and everything, but when I get in there and it’s, it’s a non English speaking, you know, driver, I’ve got to get, give them directions to a place that I barely know where I’m going.
Dorothy: Oh yeah.
Jennifer: That was another thing. And so I would like, [00:16:00] follow along with Google Maps. I, I had to really brush up on my Spanish. I had five years when I was in high school and college, and I really had, you know, izquierda, derecha, and all this. Left and right and all this. Right, like, because, I mean, I had to tell them how to get there. I would follow along. I would pull up my Google Maps, follow the trip along with the driver, and then, um, you know, tell them, and I’d be like, you know, sir, okay, derecha, derecha, you know, and turn right, turn left, you know, behind the garage, all this stuff.
Dorothy: There isn’t any hospital easy to get around, whether you can see it or you’re driving yourself or any of that. It’s always confusing.
Jennifer: Exactly. So that was, that was another barrier that I experienced that was just like, come, you know, and you’re, I’m already going through, Holy crap, I’m going to radiation every day, you know, that’s insane enough, but the challenge of actually getting to there, you know, was a whole other stress that, you know, frankly that was, that was a rough one for me.
Dorothy: So did it, did the radiation impact you physically? Were you tired, did [00:17:00] you have —
Jennifer: I was tired. I was tired, and you know, you have the obvious the sunburn sort of skin. And you know, I was Aquaphor queen. And big shout out to my co-workers during all that radiation time, because they would bring me food, you know. Like, I worked through it. I didn’t go home and chill at home. I was working in the office, um, through, you know, I take, I, I kind of, uh, have a hybrid role so I can work at home sometimes, and, but I, I’m a, again, I manage 40 people.
I wanna be there as much as I can be there and not, you know, cop out. ’cause oh, poor me has to go to radiation. No. I want to be there and wanted to, but they would, you know, bring me food, bring me, you know, veggie juices and all this kind of nice stuff. And, and, and that made me feel good, at least to know, to know that I wasn’t necessarily alone. And, you know, I had the support of my, my job and my coworkers during all of it.
Dorothy: That means a whole lot.
Jennifer: Meant a ton. Yeah.
Dorothy: Yeah, yeah. It’s a, it’s another message to employers. We need to. Keep in mind, here you are working. You didn’t have to go back. But you had that commitment to your, to your job.
Jennifer: Yeah, and I [00:18:00] wanted to. I wasn’t letting this bring me down. Absolutely not.
Dorothy: So, you were, now, tell me your age when you were diagnosed.
Jennifer: Oh, uh, 48.
Dorothy: You’re a young woman who’s been diagnosed.
Jennifer: Premenopausal.
Dorothy: Yeah. Any family members with this?
Jennifer: No, that’s why this is so crazy because there’s none. I mean, I had the, uh, the BRCA gene tested just to make sure too, and there was zero, just out the blue.
Dorothy: Yeah, and see, that’s another message we really want our listeners to hear. 95 percent of all the women who develop breast cancer do not have family history. And that is, you know, I hear this over and over, well, there’s no one in my family ever had breast cancer. And I, I just want to say, that doesn’t count anymore. It doesn’t. It’s not, it’s not one of the things you can count on. If you’re a woman, you’re at risk. Even if you’re a blind woman, you’re at risk. I mean, it’s, it’s, breast cancer doesn’t care.
Jennifer: No, it doesn’t. There’s actually a woman, um, we, we, we have a choir at the Lighthouse of Houston. I won’t say her [00:19:00] name, but she’s a member and she, um, is going through the same thing. Um, and, and I’ve been able to actually mentor her and, and speak with her because she’s a little bit behind me through her journey. And I mean, it’s, it’s this, you know, uh, you know, that’s kind of one of the cool things about this is, you know, I’m able to provide support to someone else now, you know, um, so yeah, I mean, and I’m still going through it too, but still, but still, I mean, it’s—
Dorothy: you know, that attitude of that, one of the cool things.
Jennifer: Well, it’s not cool. It’s definitely not cool.
Dorothy: It’s helpful.
Jennifer: It’s helpful. Yes.
Dorothy: What else do you have ahead of you?
Jennifer: So, um, Alright, so, I went back to my oncologist after radiation, and my, I guess, you know, the whole report had gotten back after I had been through radiation. They got my oncotype score back, and we, everybody knows what oncotype is, I’m sure.
Dorothy: No, explain.
Jennifer: Okay, so that is your, your score, your recurrence score.
Dorothy: Okay.
Jennifer: Okay. So, my oncotype score, and I [00:20:00] guess it’s like if you’re below a certain number, you don’t need chemo. If you’re above a certain number, you do. And, you know, and your treatment depends on this oncotype score. If you’re a lobular carcinoma sufferer, this is my little understanding of it. Maybe it’s not all the way correct, but that’s basically recurrence score is what we’re getting at. Um, mine was 22. My oncologist was like, okay, well, guess what? You can have chemo. I’m like—
Dorothy: You can’t have chemo, right?
Jennifer: No, you can have chemo. I’m not having any chemo. Um, and then, and then he’s like, um, And then he was like, well, then you can get Lupron shots for five years, um, which is estrogen suppression, you know, in addition, so the Tamoxifen is on the table already, that’s, that was going to be always a thing, and that was going to be, they first said ten years, and then dropped it down to five, but within, with the addition of these three, then I’m getting to the third choice, so it was chemotherapy, um, a Lupron shot every month for five years, Okay, now think about me as a blind woman trying to go deal with that.
More transportation stuff, more [00:21:00] paperwork, more people to bug. If I miss something, and they said if I missed one, it was like, gonna be a problem if you miss your Lupron shot. So, not an option. Well, option C, which is the one I’ve chosen, is just get your ovaries and tubes removed. So, deuces, ovaries, bye bye. So, that will be at the end of October. Um, I don’t plan on having kids. We don’t, you know, the partner in crime and I do not have children, and we don’t plan to, and I’m 48 years old. So, yep. So, um, another surgery coming. You know, so.
Dorothy: Well, we’re gonna keep you in our prayers, and we know you’re gonna do well. But still, another difficult decision, no matter what. Surgery, surgery.
Jennifer: Yeah, boom, boom, two in a year, and I haven’t had one since I’ve been a kid.
Dorothy: Oh my gosh. Wow.
Jennifer: Yeah. So, but anyway, I mean, whatever. I’m gonna, I’m gonna conquer that one too. You know, I mean, it just is what it is. Apparently this is, you know, they tell me it’s an easy recovery. I mean, everybody’s different, obviously, so we’ll see.
Dorothy: We’re going to see that for you for sure. [00:22:00] So, now, Jennifer, on all the challenges you’ve had to face since you were born, uh, where would you rate breast cancer on a scale of 1 to 10?
Jennifer: That’s an interesting one. Um, Because sort of my visual impairment has woven into my breast cancer journey, you know, so I’d probably give it maybe a five or a six because I’ve always had to deal with being blind and all the crap that goes with it, you know, I mean, and all the, all the stuff. And I mean, there was just more stuff with this and it was just, just, you know, um, but, you know, knowing what I know and having the medical background that I have, um, I, my cancer was small, it was 0.9, um, centimeters, yes, centimeters. Um, so, you know, I know it’s early and I know that it’s probably going to be okay, hopefully, you know, I mean, the recurrent, the, um, you know, [00:23:00] mortality rate’s pretty low, you know, I guess the survival rate, that’s what we want to say, survival rate, pretty high.
Um, you know, so that didn’t horrify me, just dealing with it. I mean, just straight up dealing with it, man. Like, so, that was the worst part of this. So, does that answer your rating question? I guess, yeah, about six or seven, maybe.
Dorothy: Personal question, again.
Jennifer: Yeah.
Dorothy: Have you really had time to grieve for your dad?
Jennifer: I don’t, ugh. All right. Y’all got the Kleenexes anyways.
Dorothy: Yeah. They’re right beside you here.
Jennifer: Really? Y’all gonna make me cry on camera?
Dorothy: That’s okay.
Jennifer: No, I’m good. Um, I don’t know. I don’t think so. I don’t, I don’t think so.
Dorothy: But that, I’m so glad you shared that, Jennifer. No. Yeah, thank you. Just because we could be dealing with breast cancer.
Jennifer: Yeah, right.
Dorothy: And then you have one of those things that happens in life. [00:24:00]
Jennifer: Yeah.
Dorothy: And, you know, life doesn’t quit.
Jennifer: Yeah.
Dorothy: You’re still having to deal with treatment.
Jennifer: Right.
Dorothy: And all the issues and all the access issues. Yeah, and grief needs, needs to occur. We know that, but we all have to handle it in a different way.
Jennifer: Yeah, exactly. And I think I do need to take some time. I mean, because too, like, I have a very high stress job. I have a lot of responsibility. A lot of responsibility. So let me not say very high stress, but it’s It’s stressful, man. I mean, I’m responsible for a lot of stuff and, um, you know, going through breast cancer, going through my dad’s death, I, I, I don’t think I’ve taken time and just stopped, like just stop.
I never stopped working. I never stopped anything. And I think maybe that’s part of how I’m dealing with it. But it’s like, maybe I need to take some time and chill and like really, really, really deal. Cause my dad was like, my dad was, Can I say hard ass? But he, cause he was, he was, [00:25:00] he was hard. He was tough.
Um, but he wanted me to be, to be the best person I could be. He like, they, my, both of my parents did not want me to be sheltered. You know, they, they were like, you need to go out there and get your education and get your crap together and figure it out and, and handle it. And we’re with you all the time, you know, and my dad would go with me to, you know, if I had stuff I needed to take care of, you know, logistically go to like the social security office or go whatever, do what, you know, whatever.
My dad was, was on it. My dad also afforded me an opportunity to throw out a first pitch at an Astros game. Yeah. Yes. You know, so he was cool like that. So me and dad kind of had a, had a, had a cool bond and, you know, so anyway. So, but yeah, I mean, I, I think I do need to take time and I think with this, this next surgery, I, I need to, I need to lay off working. Like I, with my past surgery, I was like checking my emails and just, you know, cause I was technically off, but. I’m a manager and I have the ability to check my emails and do the stuff and I don’t want to come back [00:26:00] to a mess or not know what’s going on ever. So I was always in the loop, but I think I maybe need to chill out a little bit.
Dorothy: Yeah.
Jennifer: You know.
Dorothy: Yeah. Um, if you were talking to your best friend, that’s what you’d tell him.
Jennifer: Yes.
Dorothy: I would definitely tell her that. So we’re gonna, we’re gonna see you taking a break there.
Jennifer: Yeah. I probably need to. It’s hard. It just is. You know what I mean? But. Whatever I, I needed it.
Dorothy: It’s, it is hard no matter what, but women over commit. Over do. And you know. The message I’m hearing you say is take care of yourself.
Jennifer: Yeah.
Dorothy: Yeah, you got to do that somewhere in there.
Jennifer: Yeah, I would yeah To everyone else watching you have to you know, cuz eventually like it’s gonna hit you like a train I’m two weeks deep on tamoxifen right now. I started two weeks ago. They’ve got me on a low dose So, I’m sorry if I’m complaining But I’ve noticed, you know, I’ve just noticed like exhaustion getting worse. I had a hot flash Monday.
Dorothy: [00:27:00] Yeah.
Jennifer: Scared the crap out of me, um, because I was, I didn’t realize like, cause I, so I go, I try to maintain my, you know, I try to go out and take a walk every single day, you know, and I do it at work and it’s like a 30 minute little route that I take. It’s two o’clock in the afternoon and 95 degrees. I don’t care, whatever. I do it all the time. I came back and I started feeling weird, like. Tired, dizzy, like, and, and got lightheaded and, you know, and my co worker’s like, Jennifer, why are you huffing and puffing? And she came in and looked at me. She’s like, Oh, dude, your face is like all red. And I just start sweat. And I was like, what is? What is this? You know, so yeah, I mean, uh, that’s—
Dorothy: Tamoxifen is fabulous. It is great. I think it’s one of those things. It throws you into a menopausal state no matter what.
Jennifer: Exactly.
Dorothy: And you know, it’s bad enough you had to deal with breast cancer. It’s bad enough you’ve had to do all this other extra stuff because of the blindness, but then you have to go through outflashes. I mean, it’s just like.
Jennifer: Yeah, right. I think [00:28:00] now, too, that I know what it is. It’s like, fine, but just the first, you know, and I think I was a little overheated in addition to the hot flush, so it was a little more scary than it probably will be moving forward, you know, I scared, I scared my poor co worker.
Dorothy: Oh, my Goodness.
Jennifer: But, uh, but yeah, so, you know, but still, it’s just like, and then, you know, I guess having the ovaries out, it’s going to be like instant, like menopause time. So I, you know, I plan on taking a couple of weeks off to deal with that too, and just see how my body reacts. Cause geez.
Dorothy: I know, I know, but, but you’re doing all the right things. So yeah. So now here we are talking about, you need to take some time and take care of yourself a break here. But you just started your own podcast, or the Lighthouse Podcast. You’re the host of it?
Jennifer: Yes, ma’am. So, the name of our podcast is Sightless Voices Unleashing Potential. And I host this podcast and we, we just discuss things related to visual impairment. Be it just kind of everyday, how you deal [00:29:00] with your everyday challenges. You know, we talk to people that are getting training at the Lighthouse. We talk to people that deal with assistive technology. We, um That’s the three we’ve done so far. The first one I kind of told my story, um, you know, and I don’t think I really touched on the breast cancer aspect of it, but, you know, that may be coming out soon too.
Um, but, uh, you know, yeah, so we’re, we’re, it’s, it’s, it’s interesting and it’s, and, and we’re so happy that this is kind of, you know, I mean, it’s an obvious step forward for our organization as well to have a podcast because, you know, I feel like, you know, people both sided and um, Low Vision or Blind, kind of need this information and need to know that, hey, you know, blindness, I, I use this as a hashtag, it’s like, blindness don’t define us, you know, like, we’re, we’re, we’re, there’s so many more layers to us, and, so. Yeah.
Dorothy: And we encourage our, our listeners to, to go, go to, they can find it anywhere?
Jennifer: Yep, Apple, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts.
Dorothy: Okay, and tell us the name one more time.
Jennifer: Sightless Voices Unleashing Potential.
Dorothy: Jennifer, you’re such an inspiration. My [00:30:00] gosh, you know, all the things you’re doing and have done and will continue to do.
Jennifer: Yeah, I’m not done.
Dorothy: No, you’re not done.
Jennifer: I’m not done.
Dorothy: But let me ask you, do you enjoy the podcast?
Jennifer: I do.
Dorothy: Do you enjoy doing it? Yeah.
Jennifer: I do enjoy it. So I’ve only, you know, full disclosure, we’ve only filmed three and I was a nervous wreck when they, first of all, when they asked me, I was like, uh, you know, because I’m in the middle of this breast cancer journey.
Dorothy: Right.
Jennifer: When they asked me to host. And I’m like, do I really want to put this on my plate? Like, do I really want to? And then I thought, you know what, this could be a platform, you know, for not only just, you know, to put all my stuff out in the world, but, but just, you know, maybe to help me therapeutically through my journey by kind of telling the journey of, of, of, you know, the lighthouse and my, my journey as a blind person and just something to kind of redirect my energy, if you will. You know, and, um, turns out I, I heard the trailer and it’s not terrible, so.
Dorothy: No, it is not terrible.
Jennifer: Shout out to the editing team.
Dorothy: [00:31:00] At all, it is great. And, uh, you know, I think you’re absolutely right. No matter, I always tell my colleagues, this has been the best thing in the world. To talk about real issues in a way that you have time to explore them and to help people understand what’s going on. You know, we all need that connection and we all need that information. No matter what is going on in your life, it’s good to know there’s someone else there that’s dealt with it, knows how, been there, and understands what you’re going through.
Jennifer: Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Exactly. Exactly.
Dorothy: Well, thank you so much for being with us today.
Jennifer: Thank you.
Dorothy: So appreciate it. Appreciate you having to make the drive here and deal with that and all of the things that you made happen today to be with us. That’s really special.
Jennifer: Absolutely. This was, this was an honor. Absolute honor. You know, I knew this, this thing happened to me for a reason. You know, and maybe this is part of it. So thank you all for having me.
Dorothy: [00:32:00] Oh, absolutely.
Post-Credits: Thank you for joining us today on Let’s Talk About Your Breasts. This podcast is produced by Speke Podcasting and brought to you by The Rose. Visit therose.org to learn more about our organization. Subscribe to our podcast. Share episodes with friends and join the conversation on social media using #LetsTalkAboutYourBreasts. We welcome your feedback and suggestions. Consider supporting The Rose. Your gift can make the difference to a person in need. And remember, self care is not selfish. It’s essential.
