Cancer Convos: Survivorship. Advocacy. Policy PodTechs Original

Monica Fawzy Bryant, Esq. and Joanna Fawzy Morales, Esq. are two cancer rights attorneys (and sisters) who saw the need to help individuals diagnosed with cancer, caregivers, advocates, and health care professionals, navigate the plethora of legal and practical issues that arise after a diagnosis -- so they founded Triage Cancer. We speak with them about how cancer survivors can receive resources and education on legal issues needed during COVID-19 and beyond.

An official trailer for the upcoming episode with Monica Fawzy Bryant, Esq. and Joanna Fawzy Morales, Esq. - two cancer rights attorneys (and sisters) who saw the need to help individuals diagnosed with cancer.

Veronika, a Non-Hodgkin lymphoma cancer survivor, NCCS
advocate, and Museum Educator, lead group tours of young,
aspiring artists at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburg. In the
cramped exhibit halls and close quarters of the indoor museum,
she would feel the hugs of her young guests who greeted her as
she prepared groups for interactive demonstrations. She also
served as the front-line for the museum by being the first face a
visitor would see. Visitors came to Veronika for answers.

Since Friday the 13th of March, Veronika has been furloughed
from her museum and safely quarantined alone in her home. As
a cancer survivor with a depleted immune system, she is at a
heightened risk for a deadly infection if she contracts COVID-19,
which would most likely cost her her life.

Yet, Veronika loves her job and finds her life purpose in her
work, which gives her both happiness and security to pay bills
and receive health insurance. But now, she fears her job will
soon require her to go back to the museum, which in turn, will
compromise her health and safety.

Veronika, a Non-Hodgkin lymphoma cancer survivor, NCCS
advocate, and Museum Educator, lead group tours of young,
aspiring artists at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburg.

In addition to the shock of a cancer diagnosis and stress of treatment, cancer patients  may also be at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 because their cancer, or its treatment, has left them more vulnerable to complications.
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) launched a long-term, nationwide study of COVID-19 in people with cancer called NCI COVID-19 in Cancer Patients Study (NCCAPS).
In this podcast episode, NCCS CEO Shelley Fuld Nasso speaks with leaders of the study] about how it will help scientists answer key questions about COVID-19’s impact on cancer patients, as well as cancer’s impact on the course of COVID-19. The findings have the potential to influence the treatment of cancer patients with COVID-19 in the future.

In this episode, NCCS CEO Shelley Fuld Nasso talks to cancer survivorship advocates Janet Freeman-Daily, Sheila McGlown, and Kelly Shanahan about living with stage IV cancer and continuing their advocacy during a pandemic. Janet Freeman-Daily is a non-small cell lung cancer survivor, a former aerospace engineer and technical translator who writes and lectures about the cancer experience, and collaborates with with scientists and researchers. She is a moderator of the #LCSM lung cancer community on Twitter and you can follow her @JFreemanDaily. https://lcsmchat.com/ Sheila McGlown is a mother, wife, 25-year veteran of the United States Air Force, metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patient and advocate. Read her story here: https://www.storyhalftold.com/meet-sheila-mcglown Kelly Shanahan, MD is a metastatic patient advocate, a board member of the metastatic breast cancer awareness organization METAvivor, and a former OB/GYN. She is an avid tweeter, you can follow her @stage4kelly. Find COVID-19 and Cancer resources: https://www.canceradvocacy.org/covidresources/