Just Cut It Out

Kim
  • 0.0 (0)
  • Education

Dr. Brown interviews patients, families and healthcare team members about how their experience with cancer has made them think differently about what it means to live a good life.

Episodes

  1. 2d ago

    Just Cut It Out Podcast | When Breast Cancer Changes a Family: Love, Loss & Finding Purpose

    Just Cut It Out Podcast | When Breast Cancer Changes a Family: Love, Loss & Finding Purpose What happens when breast cancer doesn't affect just one person but changes the course of an entire family? In this episode of Just Cut It Out, Dr. Kimberly Brown sits down with Leisha Johnson, whose life has been profoundly shaped by the breast cancer journeys of two family members. Leisha first encountered breast cancer more than 30 years ago when her sister was diagnosed at age 45. Years later, her niece Lindsay received a breast cancer diagnosis at just 32 years old while raising two children. Leisha shares how her family rallied around Lindsay through chemotherapy, surgery, additional treatment, and eventually metastatic disease. From coordinating meals and transportation to helping care for the children, they learned that supporting someone through cancer often means showing up in practical, everyday ways. But this is also a conversation about listening. Leisha reflects on the things she wishes she had understood when Lindsay began saying she was tired of treatment and why conversations about a patient's goals, quality of life, and palliative care matter. Even as her disease progressed, Lindsay continued setting goals, spending time with her family, and refusing to let cancer define her. Her family helped make one particularly important memory possible: a trip to Disney World with her children. After Lindsay's death, Leisha began looking differently at her own time and priorities. She chose to step away from her career and devote more of her life to breast cancer advocacy and helping ensure that others don't have to navigate cancer alone. In This Episode Supporting a loved one through breast cancerBreast cancer in younger women and patient self-advocacyHow family and community can provide meaningful supportMetastatic breast cancer, palliative care, and listening to the patientGrief, priorities, and finding purpose after lossLeisha's story is a reminder that when time becomes precious, what matters most can become remarkably clear: the people we love are the “big rocks”—and they have to go in first. Chapter Markers 00:00 Opening and recording setup 01:33 Welcome to Just Cut It Out 02:17 Leisha’s sister’s breast cancer diagnosis 05:25 Lindsay’s diagnosis at 32 07:56 Helping the children understand cancer 08:52 “I don’t want to lose another one” 09:25 How the family cared for Lindsay 13:40 Lindsay pushes for scans 14:27 Learning the cancer had spread 15:25 Searching for a clinical trial 17:42 Their last Christmas together 18:40 How Lindsay changed Leisha’s life 20:26 Making a Disney World memory 23:07 Supporting others through the Breast Cancer Resource Center 25:35 Learning to accept help 26:53 Conversations Leisha wishes they’d had 27:42 Palliative care and patient preferences 28:36 The goals Lindsay held onto 31:02 What Leisha chose to cut out 32:38 Leisha’s question for Dr. Brown About Just Cut It Out Hosted by Dr. Kimberly Brown, Just Cut It Out explores how the experience of a cancer diagnosis can change the way we think about what it means to live a good life. Through honest conversations with patients, their families, and the healthcare professionals who care for them, Dr. Brown brings together practical wisdom and the bigger questions that can emerge when life changes unexpectedly: What really matters? What deserves our time? What can we let go of? And what does it mean to live a good life? About Dr. Kimberly Brown Dr. Kimberly Brown is a physician who cares for people facing cancer and helps patients and families understand complex medical information so they can make informed decisions about their care. Her approach recognizes that caring for someone with cancer goes beyond treatment—it also means being present with patients and families as they navigate difficult decisions, uncertainty, and a life-changing diagnosis. As host of Just Cut It Out, Dr. Brown brings her experience as a physician into conversations about cancer, survivorship, family, faith, relationships, grief, and the lessons people discover about living well. Connect With Dr. Kimberly Brown & Just Cut It Out Have a question, a story to share, or an idea for a future episode? We'd love to hear from you. Email: kim@justcutitoutpod.com Enjoyed This Episode? If Just Cut It Out has encouraged you, taught you something, or helped you see life a little differently, please follow or subscribe and leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Reviews help more people discover Just Cut It Out and allow these conversations to reach patients, families, caregivers, and others who may need them. And if someone came to mind while you were listening, share this episode with them. One conversation can make a difference. Medical Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for individualized medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always discuss personal medical concerns and treatment decisions with a qualified healthcare professional.

    Just Cut It Out Podcast | When Breast Cancer Changes a Family: Love, Loss & Finding Purpose

  2. 2d ago

    Just Cut It Out Podcast | Inflammatory Breast Cancer, Identity & Learning to Let People In

    Inflammatory Breast Cancer, Identity & Learning to Let People In | Susan M. Gordon What happens when cancer treatment saves your life but changes the person you've always believed yourself to be? In this episode of Just Cut It Out, Dr. Kimberly Brown sits down with the Honorable Susan M. Gordon, whose career in the intelligence community culminated in serving as Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence. At 66, Sue noticed that her right breast was red, swollen, and painful. There was no lump, and she initially wondered if it might be an infection. When the symptoms didn't improve, a series of circumstances brought her to Dr. Brown's clinic, where she was ultimately diagnosed with triple-negative inflammatory breast cancer. Sue began chemotherapy and immunotherapy, followed by surgery and radiation. But during treatment, she developed a high fever, became confused, and grew critically ill. Her medical team ultimately determined that she was experiencing a serious autoimmune reaction affecting the lining around her brain. Her doctors had to make high-stakes decisions before they had perfect information. For Sue, that experience felt strangely familiar. She had spent much of her professional life making consequential decisions with incomplete information. Now she was experiencing uncertainty from the other side—as the person whose life depended on those decisions. Sue and Dr. Brown talk candidly about trust between patients and physicians, the limits of certainty in medicine, and the importance of having a healthcare team you trust when there isn't an obvious answer. But some of Sue's greatest challenges came after treatment. For much of her life, Sue believed part of what made her Sue was her ability to keep going. She could work harder, stay longer, fit “28 hours into every day,” and will herself through almost anything. Cancer changed that. Sue talks about struggling to accept that she can't always do what she once could and realizing that survivorship isn't necessarily about returning to the person you were before cancer. Sometimes it's about figuring out who you are now. That question became even more complicated because Sue had lost her husband and best friend of more than 40 years just a year before her cancer diagnosis. Cancer gave her something immediate to fight. Recovery finally gave her the quiet to begin processing everything she had lost. Today, Sue is thinking differently about her time, energy, and what she wants to do with both. She's also learning something that once felt almost impossible: letting people in. In This Episode • The unusual symptoms of inflammatory breast cancer • Triple-negative breast cancer and treatment • Making medical decisions without perfect information • Trust between patients and healthcare teams • When cancer treatment changes your sense of identity • Grief, survivorship, and figuring out who you are now • Learning to accept help and let people into the hard parts of life Sue's story raises a question that goes far beyond cancer: When you realize your time and energy aren't infinite, how do you decide what deserves them? Chapter Markers 00:00 Welcome to Just Cut It Out 01:23 How Sue’s Story Began 02:32 A Red, Swollen & Painful Breast 03:16 The Phone Call That Changed Her Path 04:37 Arriving at Dr. Brown’s Clinic 05:12 Understanding Inflammatory Breast Cancer 06:03 Biopsy & Getting the Diagnosis 09:13 Finding the Right Medical Team 12:08 When the Clock Is Ticking 13:30 Making a Treatment Plan Without Certainty 16:04 Building Trust With a Cancer Care Team 17:40 Chemotherapy & Immunotherapy 18:00 A Serious Treatment Complication 20:50 Making Medical Decisions Without Perfect Information 24:38 Recovering & Moving Forward Without Immunotherapy 25:48 Surgery & Radiation 26:36 Living With Lasting Treatment Side Effects 30:31 When Side Effects Affect Identity 31:12 Losing the Ability to Just Keep Going 34:12 Accepting She May Never Be Who She Was 36:29 Figuring Out Who Sue Is Now 38:20 Grief After Losing Her Husband 40:19 What Sue Chose to Cut Out 41:37 Learning to Let People In 43:35 Sue’s Question for Dr. Brown 44:12 How Doctors Build Trust With Patients 48:27 Final Takeaways About Just Cut It Out Hosted by Dr. Kimberly Brown, Just Cut It Out features honest conversations about cancer and how a diagnosis can change the way we think about time, relationships, fear, joy—and what it means to live a good life. Connect With Dr. Kimberly Brown & Just Cut It Out Have a question, a story to share, or an idea for a future episode? Email: kim@justcutitoutpod.com If this episode resonated with you, follow or subscribe to Just Cut It Out, leave a rating or review, and share this conversation with someone who might need it. Medical Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for individualized medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always discuss personal medical concerns and treatment decisions with a qualified healthcare professional.

    Just Cut It Out Podcast | Inflammatory Breast Cancer, Identity & Learning to Let People In

  3. 2d ago

    Just Cut It Out Podcast | Young Mom’s Breast Cancer Story: Faith, Family & Fighting for Answers

    Just Cut It Out Podcast | Young Mom’s Breast Cancer Story: Faith, Family & Fighting for Answers  What happens when you're 34, raising two young children, and the breast lump you were told was a hematoma turns out to be breast cancer? In this episode of Just Cut It Out, Dr. Kimberly Brown sits down with Joyanne Gerdes to share her deeply personal breast cancer story. From fighting for answers and receiving her diagnosis to chemotherapy, mastectomy, breast reconstruction, survivorship, and finding her way back to everyday life. Joyanne opens up about what it was like to undergo cancer treatment while raising a three-year-old and five-year-old, including the difficult conversations she and her husband had with their children. She shares how humor helped their family through some of the hardest moments and how her husband, church, and community surrounded them with practical and emotional support. Faith also became central to Joyanne's journey. She describes learning to live with what she calls “defiant trust”, doing everything she could to fight cancer while surrendering the things she couldn't control. Dr. Brown and Joyanne also discuss patient self-advocacy, treatment decisions, breast reconstruction, scan anxiety, fear of recurrence, and what survivorship looks like after treatment ends. One lesson has stayed with Joyanne: “Don't let the fear of the unknown steal the joy that you have today.” In This Episode • Breast cancer, self-advocacy, and fighting for answers • Motherhood, chemotherapy, and talking to young children about cancer • Faith, family, humor, and the power of community • Mastectomy, breast reconstruction, and reclaiming a sense of self • Scan anxiety, survivorship, and learning to be present Joyanne describes cancer as a season of “pruning”—one that changed how she thinks about relationships, time, energy, family, and what truly matters. Chapter Markers 00:00 Welcome to Just Cut It Out 01:30 Life Before Cancer 03:16 Finding the Breast Lump 05:27 The Cancer Diagnosis 08:45 Starting Treatment 10:35 Motherhood During Chemo 12:29 Talking to Kids About Cancer 14:35 Hair Loss, Humor & Family 16:25 Faith & Community 18:47 Choosing Defiant Trust 22:45 Surgery & Mastectomy 25:21 Breast Reconstruction 27:52 Survivorship & Scan Anxiety 30:16 Advice for Other Moms 32:29 What Cancer Taught Her 33:43 Joyanne Questions Dr. Brown 36:14 Final Takeaways About Just Cut It Out Hosted by Dr. Kimberly Brown, Just Cut It Out explores how the experience of a cancer diagnosis can change the way we think about what it means to live a good life. Through honest conversations with patients, their families, and the healthcare professionals who care for them, Dr. Brown brings together practical wisdom and the bigger questions that can emerge when life changes unexpectedly: What really matters? What deserves our time? What can we let go of? And what does it mean to live a good life? About Dr. Kimberly Brown Dr. Kimberly Brown is a physician who cares for people facing cancer and helps patients and families understand complex medical information so they can make informed decisions about their care. Her approach recognizes that caring for someone with cancer goes beyond treatment—it also means being present with patients and families as they navigate difficult decisions, uncertainty, and a life-changing diagnosis. As host of Just Cut It Out, Dr. Brown brings her experience as a physician into conversations about cancer, survivorship, family, faith, relationships, and the lessons people discover about living well. Connect With Dr. Kimberly Brown & Just Cut It Out Have a question, a story to share, or an idea for a future episode? We'd love to hear from you. Email: kim@justcutitoutpod.com Enjoyed This Episode? If Just Cut It Out has encouraged you, taught you something, or helped you see life a little differently, please follow or subscribe and leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Reviews help more people discover Just Cut It Out and allow these conversations to reach patients, families, caregivers, and others who may need them. And if someone came to mind while you were listening, share this episode with them. One conversation can make a difference. Medical Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for individualized medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always discuss personal medical concerns and treatment decisions with a qualified healthcare professional.

    Just Cut It Out Podcast | Young Mom’s Breast Cancer Story: Faith, Family & Fighting for Answers

  4. 3d ago

    Just Cut It Out Podcast | Breast Cancer in the Middle of Liver Failure: Jamie Lane’s Story

    What happens when a breast cancer diagnosis arrives in the middle of an already life-changing health crisis? In this episode of Just Cut It Out, Dr. Kimberly Brown sits down with Jamie Lane: a wife, mother, breast cancer survivor, and two-time organ transplant recipient whose journey has required her to navigate an extraordinary amount of medical uncertainty. Jamie was living with polycystic liver and kidney disease when liver failure led her toward transplantation. During her transplant evaluation, a routine mammogram revealed ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), an early form of breast cancer, in both breasts. Suddenly, Jamie was navigating breast cancer treatment while also trying to become healthy enough to receive the liver transplant she desperately needed. Jamie and Dr. Brown discuss the decisions surrounding lumpectomy versus mastectomy, radiation, and how Jamie's larger health picture influenced her breast cancer treatment. Jamie ultimately underwent treatment for breast cancer followed by a liver transplant—and later a kidney transplant. But Jamie's story goes far beyond her diagnoses. She opens up about living for years with anxiety and uncertainty, the impact of watching family members experience serious illness, and the work she's done to keep fear from controlling her life. She shares how therapy, movement, time outdoors, gratitude, and getting the right mental health support helped her change the way she responds to uncertainty. Throughout it all, Jamie has become a determined advocate for her own health. She believes in learning about your condition, asking questions, following up when something doesn't seem right, and working with your healthcare team—with persistence and kindness. In This Episode • Breast cancer during a liver transplant evaluation • Lumpectomy, mastectomy, radiation, and treatment decisions • Liver and kidney transplantation and chronic illness • Patient self-advocacy and navigating a complex healthcare system • Anxiety, gratitude, and focusing on what you can control Today, Jamie says she is better able to live in the present, appreciate the good moments, and cut out some of the worry about things she can't control. Her perspective is simple but powerful: “I am alive.” Chapter Markers 00:00 Welcome to Just Cut It Out 00:32 Meet Jamie Lane 02:21 Living with polycystic liver and kidney disease 05:52 When Jamie’s liver began to fail 06:33 Preparing for a liver transplant 07:23 Her daughter steps forward as a potential donor 08:36 A mammogram reveals breast cancer 09:39 Getting the diagnosis during a procedure 10:57 Choosing between lumpectomy and mastectomy 13:20 The liver transplant 13:51 Why Jamie later needed a kidney transplant 15:53 Losing family members to related health complications 18:53 Living with anxiety and fear 23:22 Finding ways to manage worry 24:35 The role of gratitude 27:46 Advocating for yourself with kindness 31:22 Getting more help for anxiety 35:53 What Jamie chose to cut out 39:55 Sharing her story to give others hope 44:38 Jamie’s question for Dr. Brown 45:48 Final takeaways About Just Cut It Out Hosted by Dr. Kimberly Brown, Just Cut It Out explores how the experience of a cancer diagnosis can change the way we think about what it means to live a good life. Through honest conversations with patients, their families, and the healthcare professionals who care for them, Dr. Brown brings together practical wisdom and the bigger questions that can emerge when life changes unexpectedly: What really matters? What deserves our time? What can we let go of? And what does it mean to live a good life? About Dr. Kimberly Brown Dr. Kimberly Brown is a physician who cares for people facing cancer and helps patients and families understand complex medical information so they can make informed decisions about their care. Her approach recognizes that caring for someone with cancer goes beyond treatment—it also means being present with patients and families as they navigate difficult decisions, uncertainty, and a life-changing diagnosis. As host of Just Cut It Out, Dr. Brown brings her experience as a physician into conversations about cancer, survivorship, family, relationships, health, and the lessons people discover about living well. Connect With Dr. Kimberly Brown & Just Cut It Out Have a question, a story to share, or an idea for a future episode? We'd love to hear from you. Email: kim@justcutitoutpod.com Enjoyed This Episode? If Just Cut It Out has encouraged you, taught you something, or helped you see life a little differently, please follow or subscribe and leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Reviews help more people discover Just Cut It Out and allow these conversations to reach patients, families, caregivers, and others who may need them. And if someone came to mind while you were listening, share this episode with them. One conversation can make a difference. Medical Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for individualized medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always discuss personal medical concerns and treatment decisions with a qualified healthcare professional.

    Just Cut It Out Podcast | Breast Cancer in the Middle of Liver Failure: Jamie Lane’s Story
  • 4 Episodes

About

Dr. Brown interviews patients, families and healthcare team members about how their experience with cancer has made them think differently about what it means to live a good life.

Information

  • Creator
    Kim
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    4
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Just Cut It Out
  • Show Website
    Just Cut It Out