The Home Edit's Clea Shearer’s Breast Cancer Journey Changed Everything—The Real Impact on Her Life & Health

Interactive Transcript

spk_0 The following podcast is a deer media production.

spk_0 Welcome back to GMD.

spk_0 So October's breast cancer awareness month, and we really wanted to start this month with

spk_0 a story that feels real and personal.

spk_0 In this episode, we're hanging out with Clea Scherer.

spk_0 Yep, the co-founder of the Home Edit, who opens up about her breast cancer journey.

spk_0 Clea talks about what it's like when life changes overnight with a diagnosis.

spk_0 She shares how she kept going through treatment, balanced her family and career, and even leaned

spk_0 on her love of organization to get through the chaos.

spk_0 What I love most about Clea's story is that it's such a reminder that life doesn't stop

spk_0 with a cancer diagnosis.

spk_0 She found strength, courage, and control in ways that every one of us can learn from.

spk_0 In our conversation, we get into things like the one thing every woman should do to catch

spk_0 breast cancer early.

spk_0 While trusting your gut could literally save your life, how simple routines can actually

spk_0 make you feel grounded when everything else feels overwhelming.

spk_0 And while sharing your story might just help someone else keep going.

spk_0 As always, we'd love to hear from you.

spk_0 Find us on socials at GMDpodcast and check out our websites, shmdpodcast.com and ov.com.

spk_0 That's ovii.com for resources and support.

spk_0 All right, let's dive into this episode with Clea Scherer to kick off breast cancer awareness

spk_0 month.

spk_0 Hi, guys.

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spk_0 Hi guys, on today's episode of GMD we have my friend Clea Shere. She's written this

spk_0 incredible new book called Cancer is Complicated and you know her from the home edit and extreme

spk_0 maker of our home edition. She's built a global brand around her amazing organizational skill,

spk_0 something that I do not have. We did the Hello Sunshine event. One of my best friends is Reese

spk_0 Witherspoon and I know close friend of yours now at this point too. We talked about press

spk_0 cancer and your press cancer journey. I'm just really honored to have you here to talk about your

spk_0 story because you're just just the kind of badass woman that we love to have on GMD and I just

spk_0 want to hear from the beginning you know people say their life begins it sort of you have your

spk_0 life begins and then it's before and after cancer. Do you feel that way? Absolutely. I mean

spk_0 everything in my life is you know prior to March 8th 2022 and after and you know I call my

spk_0 book Cancer is Complicated because there's a lot of nuance when you get diagnosed with something

spk_0 like cancer and breast cancer in my case and there's there's so much perspective you gain.

spk_0 There you know obviously it's a very hard road and I'm not done on the road. I'm still very much

spk_0 in my journey right now and but there's also there are these beautiful moments. There are really

spk_0 touching moments there are moments that you really have to like grapple with your own identity and

spk_0 and you know it is just again it's there's so much nuance and so the old me the before cancer me

spk_0 is very different from the the me now and I actually I'm not upset about that you know I think that

spk_0 I am I am a better person. I actually hear that so much from women who survive cancer they say

spk_0 because it taught me so much about myself and you know a lot of people become advocates like you

spk_0 it really changes their life for the better and I think when you first hear cancer you can never

spk_0 imagine that to be true so can you walk us through that moment for you you know was it a regular

spk_0 checkup I know you really had to advocate for yourself and you talk a lot about that in the book but

spk_0 can you walk us through that day yeah so I first of all February 18th 2022 was one of the best days

spk_0 of my life I got we were the home edit was acquired by Reese Brothers students company hello sunshine

spk_0 huge celebration we went off to New York to do a bunch of press and I was in the shower in New

spk_0 York City we were doing a bunch of media we're going on the today show and I just

spk_0 yes felt something in my breast and I just turned 40 a couple of weeks prior so kind of mammograms

spk_0 were on my mind and I felt something and I don't think it was the first time I felt it but I felt

spk_0 it in a different way this time and I just thought this is a lump like this it's a lumped why

spk_0 why would this be anything other than a cancerous lump and I got out of the shower I called my

spk_0 then gynecologist and I said the dreaded words I found a lump and they wouldn't see me they the

spk_0 the books were closed this was February they said I'm so sorry like we're booked out through April

spk_0 and the Maybooks aren't open yet actually so you just have to keep trying back that's a big one what

spk_0 no mammogram they would not you know it's like when you're you call your general practitioner and

spk_0 you know your annual exam is your annual exam but if you have the flu they get you in right and I

spk_0 thought well if I have a lump surely they can get me in but no so I called my general practitioner

spk_0 and explain the situation and she jumped to action as any doctor should and scheduled me for a

spk_0 mammogram and an ultrasound and that mammogram obviously led to an ultrasound with the radiologist

spk_0 telling me that we're concerning masses and I said oh my gosh and you know I'm I actually I know I

spk_0 need a biopsy but I'm I'm going to Paris tomorrow so I'm actually going to be out of the country for

spk_0 a few weeks and she said I don't think you understand you're actually not leaving this building

spk_0 until you can a biopsy so it's love that doctor love love love that doctor those

spk_0 that are very one by your side yeah yes and that turn into a triple biopsy right then and there

spk_0 and the radiologist I of course you know you pump information from anyone who's working on you I'm

spk_0 like is it is it cancer and she's like all I can say is that they're concerning masses and we're

spk_0 going biopsy to actually inform up but when I was getting the biopsy I asked the radiologist and

spk_0 there I said could it be anything else and she said honey you have cancer oh my god yeah and

spk_0 those words really just changed my life I think about them all the time so but yeah I found my own

spk_0 cancer and I did what I thought was responsible which was trying to get immediately seen and I got

spk_0 turned down so I tell women I tell everyone all the time you are your own best advocate you are

spk_0 also your own best medical advisor you can if you do routine exams you will likely find

spk_0 your lump before a mammogram does so it is it is really important to always prioritize your health

spk_0 take it in your own hands and advocate for yourself even one other people tell you know

spk_0 with dr. A in her office she wants every woman to know their lifetime risk of breast cancer like

spk_0 they know their social security number so if you qualify then she has everyone do the my

spk_0 risk genetic test so did you take a genetic test or the lifetime risk assessment before I have not

spk_0 done anything I just figured you know I had just turned 40 right it just didn't feel I have

spk_0 zero female cancers in my family on either side not a single person and again not just breast

spk_0 cancer no ovarian you don't have nothing since then I had taken the genetic testing I have

spk_0 absolutely veered genetic markers and not just braka I mean I did the whole everything and I took

spk_0 the risk assessment test that Olivia talks about and took and I have a 5% chance of getting

spk_0 breast cancer wasn't even remotely high risk and and I don't remind people it can happen to you

spk_0 even if it even if it seems improbable and not only did I obviously develop breast cancer and by

spk_0 the way I took the test as though I was tree cancerous I so I just wanted to kind of see what it

spk_0 ended up as and it is it was not probable for me to get cancer and when I was diagnosed I wasn't

spk_0 just diagnosed in a small way you know my cancer is extremely aggressive it's fast moving I have

spk_0 a high risk of recurrent you know I live with it every day in my head I'm medicated you know I'm

spk_0 hormone positive so I have the benefit of being able to take medication to you know stop hormone

spk_0 production I've had this I have another surgery coming up in a couple weeks it will be my 11th

spk_0 surgery you know I've I've been through it and not a single thing would have suggested that I would

spk_0 have gotten cancer and I did so I you know I really I'm begging people to take it really seriously

spk_0 for themselves well I think it's so important that we sort of really look at the facts and it

spk_0 just exactly like what you're saying one in eight women in the US will be diagnosed with breast

spk_0 cancer in her lifetime there is a 90 percent survival rate which is also really important to

spk_0 hear because I think again when you hear cancer if you catch it early you know which you did and I

spk_0 want to continue on on your journey and and where you are now but the thing that's crazy and

spk_0 actually feels very similar to what happened to you is that younger diagnosis is arising because

spk_0 you think of breast cancer as a little bit of an older disease and that's actually it's shocking how

spk_0 that's changing between between 2000 and 2019 rates in women age 30 to 39 increased by 19.2 percent

spk_0 that is I mean it's staggering it's staggering so okay you you you find out you have cancer

spk_0 who's the first person you call um well in the ultrasound room my mom knew that I was going through

spk_0 these these tests and John was in the waiting room and he had texted me um any news and I was

spk_0 immediately you know starting to cry um after I was told I needed the spyopsy immediately it

spk_0 felt very urgent it was very urgent and all I could write back to John was um it's not good news I

spk_0 didn't know exactly the outcome yet but it's not good news and I texted the same thing to my mother

spk_0 and she immediately called me and I picked up the phone and I just burst into tears she was crying

spk_0 we didn't even speak I don't even think we said anything to each other um but as soon as I was out

spk_0 of the hospital of course Joanna was my first phone call Joanna is my business partner and best friend

spk_0 in the universe um and uh and from that moment I realized I needed to start to congregate I talk

spk_0 about this in my book I I needed to have a you know I'm a planner I'm an organizer I immediately

spk_0 jumped to the the first list of people I needed to tell and those people needed to hear it from me

spk_0 it need to be a phone call or in person like this was you know my priority list then it moved to

spk_0 the second level of everyone I had to tell people that um would directly be impacted people like

spk_0 Reese like people people in my life in in work um and then I moved to people I wanted to hear

spk_0 from me directly at least not through social media or anything like that um and those people

spk_0 generally were like a text message like you know you can't call addressing the person in your life

spk_0 and then I went public um with my diagnosis on April 7th 2022 because my double mastectomy was April

spk_0 so I decided to let everyone know um then right before my surgery which I'm very glad I did because

spk_0 you know you need well you don't need to pick a date I needed to pick a date because I just felt

spk_0 really compelled to share my story and in the hopes that it would help people um but I definitely

spk_0 shared it and then like went into a nine hour surgery under major anesthesia um and then like

spk_0 woke up to 20 million text messages do you know the the whole thing so so was it

spk_0 did you know right away that you had to have a mastectomy was it was it like there's no other option

spk_0 and how if not how did you come to that decision um well my oncologist who doctor Ben Park who

spk_0 saved my life 1,000% and continues to same like as I continue through this battle um he you know

spk_0 put out all the options for me I had two tumors that were fairly large and um a lump back to me

spk_0 I don't even think was on the table um it was really between a single mastectomy and a double mastectomy

spk_0 I but all my cancer was located in my right breast um but I immediately I just I was like please

spk_0 take it all I want to double I I feel much more comfortable if if cancer can develop on my right

spk_0 side it can develop on my left side I see absolutely no reason um to not remove them both so

spk_0 that was my choice um everyone that is a really personal choice to make so you know there

spk_0 it it I'm not telling anyone what to do this is just the decision that I made um when I went in

spk_0 from my double mastectomy I you know the biopsy showed that the cancer was located on my right side

spk_0 and then it had not spread to my lymph nodes which was great news during my surgery they found

spk_0 that my cancer had spread to my lymph nodes um which changed the course of my life really I thought I

spk_0 was waking up um with they were going to do direct implant in my surgery so I was going to be waking up

spk_0 you know with my double mastectomy over implants in and then we were going to look at long-term

spk_0 treatment and I woke up to you know sorry that plans out the window and you're going to have

spk_0 really aggressive chemotherapy and radiation and you won't be able to get implants for a couple of

spk_0 years and you know everything had changed so you know 40% of women experience severe anxiety

spk_0 after depression anxiety after double mastectomy after cancer diagnosis did you go there did you

spk_0 how if you how did you feel you woke up you hear that you're and you are somebody that is so

spk_0 high achieving and so obviously organized it's just did you just take all those skills in and say okay

spk_0 I'm gonna fight it and this is what I'm gonna do and I'm gonna do exactly what I did in my career

spk_0 and I'm gonna do bam bam bam what was your mental state like well I let me just say and I do talk

spk_0 about this in my book too I deeply struggled with depression um but it wasn't until I was done with

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spk_0 i i had a really dark period afterwards and

spk_0 in the only way i could describe it as kind of like postpartum depression like after i would

spk_0 done with my treatment it should be the happiest moment in your life and you're just like really

spk_0 battling on but when i was told that i had more cancer than anticipated and this year-long kind of

spk_0 treatment plan was laid out for me i just decided i was gonna fight like hell and cancer

spk_0 and met it match it had no business messing with me and i just like every day was a plan of attack

spk_0 every day i was gonna fight so freaking hard i was gonna keep my head up i of course allowed a few

spk_0 days of wallowing you know i mean that that happens and you know there there were definitely a few

spk_0 moments in that journey that i you know just broke down and cried and you know there were hard hard

spk_0 days sick days hard days but overall my mentality was like i was crossing off infusions and

spk_0 and days of radiation like you know you do in a prison cell like i was just like really you know

spk_0 hatching away at it and um and it felt like you know obviously i am you know an organizer by trade

spk_0 and i love to control things and i love planning and all those things go out the window when you

spk_0 have cancer um so my mentality was to control the controllables anything that i could command i would

spk_0 i was just i was just very focused every day and i had setbacks of course many of them um but i

spk_0 just really pushed pushed through and tried to keep a positive attitude and part of you know my

spk_0 ability to do that honestly was by sharing my story i made i decided at the very beginning when

spk_0 i was diagnosed that i was gonna make my cancer purposeful if i was gonna have cancer i was gonna

spk_0 make sure that it was going to do some kind of good um and i still believe being able to share my

spk_0 story and everything that i've been through and that i go through with other people,

spk_0 strangers friends you know friends of friends everything that i go through um with telling my

spk_0 story and with working with other cancer patients or loved ones of cancer patients to me is like

spk_0 the greatest privilege in my life so i feel um honored you know to have been able to plan this for all

spk_0 and i think that you know you wrote the book you said you wanted this to be the book that you wish

spk_0 that you had had and it's really true i sort of i was looking around and sort of like what else

spk_0 was out there you know in the research and there really isn't anything but you really do talk about

spk_0 the things that are things you want to know it's a companion place to wear you know yeah what to

spk_0 wear to chemotherapy like what foods when you you know when your taste buds are destroyed at that

spk_0 point um i think that's amazing and one of the things that struck me when i was thinking about that

spk_0 was thinking about your children how did you tell your kids that was probably the hardest part of

spk_0 everything um my kids were i mean they are my daughter's going into high school but i still feel like

spk_0 she's young um but you know they were they were 11 and 8 and um they were scared and i really wanted to

spk_0 make sure that they felt the number one thing i wanted to make sure they understood was that i'm

spk_0 not afraid i am not going anywhere i have every faith i will beat this disease i'm not scared

spk_0 and my doctor dr park told me in our first meeting that and i held on to this the entire time he

spk_0 said i believe your cancer is curable not just treatable it is curable and i could look my kids in the

spk_0 eye and say mommy's gonna be okay i might have in tough days i might be sick on some days but you

spk_0 don't have to worry this isn't the kind of cancer i'm not going to die from this cancer you know

spk_0 i am i am going to beat this cancer and um and i i felt really 100% confident saying that to them

spk_0 i believed it so wholeheartedly i of course i have so many friends um that i'd made even not

spk_0 not just friends that i had had previously but friends that i had made during my cancer journey

spk_0 who were really afraid of dying like that was on the top of their list and i just knew

spk_0 or 100% for certain i was gonna beat this and so that's how i kind of attacked every day and that's

spk_0 how i approached it with my kids and i said um if you have any questions you come to me if you have any

spk_0 fears you come to me um but i'm gonna go get my surgery and i didn't tell them until the day before

spk_0 my surgery because i just didn't want them to hold on to it and worry um i said i'm gonna come home

spk_0 for my surgery and you're gonna see i'm i'm here i'm i'm okay and you know we're covering from

spk_0 surgery can maybe take a little bit but but i'm gonna be okay and i really do believe i mean they

spk_0 believed it because i believed it and that came for when i my first day starting chemo they they

spk_0 made me a card still makes me laugh i have it it says um don't make chemo make you email and i was like

spk_0 date and that's great perfect perfect so if one and eight women are gonna get press cancer

spk_0 um and they're listening to this podcast right now these women and i just have i mean i can't tell

spk_0 you it's every week i have a friend yeah me too i mean press cancer i mean it really is and they're

spk_0 young old i mean it you know from 20s and you know into 80s um what advice like if you had to say

spk_0 and by the way just read this book you want to know how to how to tackle this and get i mean first

spk_0 while your story is incredible and it is so inspiring but also read the book number one but what do

spk_0 you bring to chemo like well i have i have a whole list of things that i that i brought again i really

spk_0 want to make sure that this book in this book it comes across that i am sharing what i did not what

spk_0 other people should or need to do but yeah but i think that there are a lot of very um like

spk_0 general things even if you don't subscribe to like this particular type of snack it brings snacks

spk_0 you know like there are things like that right what do you wear to chemo okay so chemo you get a

spk_0 chemo port put in in your chest and that is where it saves your veins from you know infusion and

spk_0 stuff so you get a chemo port inserted in your chest one of the most important things is to wear

spk_0 something um where you had access to your port a lot of tops exist i really love a brand called

spk_0 care wear um it basically is just like a top like this but it zips diagonally so that you can access

spk_0 your port easily um i think that that's really important you want to wear loose clothing

spk_0 something that's really comfortable um you might experience hot flashes you might get really cold

spk_0 you depending on the facility um always bring a blanket something to that makes you feel really

spk_0 comfortable um i suggest like fuzzy code these socks take your shoes off get comfortable like you're

spk_0 in a chair for a bit um for me my kindle is like an appendage i go everywhere with my kindle it's

spk_0 never out of sight literally sitting right next to me um so bring something that'll hold your

spk_0 attention that just you know if if you don't like to read then bring something else you know

spk_0 doesn't have to be a book but i personally read a lot um so a kindle was my best friend

spk_0 have your phone a charger bring some snacks bring like a reusable water bottle you know

spk_0 yeti or something um and for me i needed a diaco okay i just did and i stay in my book do not come

spk_0 for me all right my life was hard enough i needed a diaco so i am obsessed with diacox too just so

spk_0 you know i've been trying to quit diacox for 30 years can't do it so you and i can have a

spk_0 diacox and i want a diacox and so for me that made me feel comfortable and snacks i felt like i

spk_0 was i experienced some nausea um during chemo and i really just wanted like a salty snack they would

spk_0 bring around at least in my hospital like um snack options you know like on a train they would

spk_0 bring like a tray i always got the three does i just wanted something salty and crunchy and

spk_0 you know but something to entertain you something to make you cozy something to snack on and step on

spk_0 and i think that that is um really helpful a lot of people also really like to carry ginger candies

spk_0 or something like that if you're nauseous um but yeah and and and and chemo is different by the way

spk_0 there's a different type of chemo that i also got um two drugs initially and then another drug

spk_0 called tatsal where that's a whole separate list of things you need to bring because you actually

spk_0 need to ice your extremities um to uh help prevent neuropathy so that's a whole different packing list

spk_0 but generally speaking for chemo i think that that's it and then for somebody that's listening to

spk_0 this how do you counsel them on finding the right doctor how do they know you know you loved your

spk_0 doctor did you see a lot of different doctors how did you pick your doctor and what would you say to

spk_0 someone listening that is doesn't even know where to start well i would start first of all with the

spk_0 medical institutions around you um hopefully everyone has a good hospital near them some people have

spk_0 to drive a spared distance to get to one which is is really hard um it's something that i think

spk_0 isn't really known or spoken about very much um but you know a lot of people they have to

spk_0 sleep on a couch or in a hotel room or you know different um types of places in order to get the

spk_0 treatment that they need chemo regimens are different they vary so sometimes it's um for one week

spk_0 sometimes every two weeks you know things like that um and with radiation you have to

spk_0 get the hospital every day um so it can be a really stressful um situation i would start with

spk_0 institution make sure you feel really comfortable with where you would be receiving care and if

spk_0 there are a couple of hospitals great um and then i would talk to the oncology staff at those hospitals

spk_0 hopefully your general practitioner can make a recommendation that's what happened with me um my

spk_0 incredible incredible doctor dr emily kruz uh at vandabell she said by all means you can

spk_0 talk to any doctors you want but i highly highly highly recommend my colleagues in oncology there

spk_0 in um the my plastic surgeon my breast surgeon she kind of assembled a team for me and when i met

spk_0 with them i felt so incredibly confident um in their abilities that i had didn't want to look around

spk_0 at all i felt like this is great and also in national i'm so fortunate to have such world class

spk_0 care at vandabell um but in l a for instance you might choose you cla you might choose cedar

spk_0 cyanide you know they're they're different places to go to and um and i think that when it comes

spk_0 down to it you want to make sure you're really comfortable with the facility you want to really

spk_0 have a good rapport with your doctor make sure you feel not just confident in their ability but in

spk_0 your ability to have a conversation with them i think so much about this journey you have to speak

spk_0 up when you experience um side effects or things that are you know you you really need to have an

spk_0 open line of communication um ask them are you available to text are you available for phone calls

spk_0 how do i get in touch with you how do i how do i message with you and make sure that that we can

spk_0 be in touch whenever i need you i think that those things are are really critical and if you have a

spk_0 really good rapport with one person versus another go with that go okay but i also want to

spk_0 remind people to if they have different facilities cancer treatment is really hard and if there's

spk_0 something that makes your life easier like for instance l a yeah if i lived closer to cedar cyanide

spk_0 i don't know that i would want to go all the way to ucla every you think about it i mean you're

spk_0 there a lot so take take all those kind of considerations into account so um was there a person

spk_0 in your life or a moment that sticks with you now in terms of sometimes i feel like you don't know

spk_0 what to do as a friend when your friend has cancer you don't know what to say you don't do you

spk_0 do you bring a casserole do you do you say like fuck cancer you know was there anything that

spk_0 that happened during this journey with a friend or a loved one that really stuck with you that

spk_0 maybe you'll take on yourself well one thing that um i mean i had a million things stick with me in

spk_0 terms of how thoughtful and generous everyone was with their with their time with their love um but

spk_0 one thing i'll say that i just want to put out there to everyone because i think it's important

spk_0 is um you know once you announce to people that you have cancer you know there's that headline

spk_0 and you get a rush of support and a rush of love and then maybe after a surgery or when you start chemo

spk_0 you get kind of a rush because those are big headlines but cancer treatment is long

spk_0 and it can be really lonely and you get sad some days and you almost feel resentment too for

spk_0 everyone around you just living a normal life going at concerts going on vacation doing things

spk_0 you can't do and those quiet moments when no one's calling no one's texting no one's sending you

spk_0 anything can feel really depressing and it can you can really spiral i went down some dark holes at

spk_0 that moment when i kind of realized like the phone had stopped like the doorbell stopped ringing

spk_0 that kind of thing and i just want to remind people to anyone listening that treatment is long

spk_0 it's hard and if you have someone that you love that's going through it check in a little bit more

spk_0 often than you normally would you know it doesn't have to be all the time but like you know you just

spk_0 kind of you can't get out of your head that you have cancer you you don't get a minute without

spk_0 thinking about it and it can feel hard when people that you love i mean understandably they don't

spk_0 think about it every minute you know that's that's our job as patients but it goes a really really

spk_0 long way with just a just a check in a text a note a stop by you know nothing nothing major

spk_0 and it it really makes a difference in someone's life so you talked about being depressed at you

spk_0 at the end of your treatment and how did you get yourself out of that and how did you keep your

spk_0 body healthy were there any things that you did did you change your workout did you add vitamins

spk_0 were there there any tips that you want to give us i i talked to my doctor and i think that that

spk_0 is the most important thing i had several side effects occur during my my active treatment

spk_0 um where i realized you know talk to your doctor and they will figure out a solution for you

spk_0 and i was really really really struggling at the end of treatment i felt like i was just kind of

spk_0 dropped into outer space and i'd been like marching along with my marching orders every single day

spk_0 with a plan and then at the end i was just like dropped into the universe um and just you don't know

spk_0 did chemo work do i still have cancer cells is it gonna come back you know like it's it's a very

spk_0 kind of scary um type of situation and i just you know i did talk to my doctor they adjusted my

spk_0 medication and all different kinds of ways i i was also experiencing some um side effects with

spk_0 different medications that i was on not just for my mental health but for overall you know cancer

spk_0 preventative medications um and they were able to adjust a host of things and kind of get the right

spk_0 combination and the more i moved on i think time also helped um and i i really tried to focus on

spk_0 things that would make me feel good i felt really broken at the end of treatment and um i like

spk_0 i couldn't act as happiness and even in situations that were extremely like happy like i i should be

spk_0 like we went on a family vacation to Hawaii why why isn't this making me like what why i felt broken

spk_0 i felt like i couldn't access the joy um and so time helped with that and um and just continuing to do

spk_0 things that fed me you know um getting my strength back my stamina back being able to go on longer

spk_0 walk um just trying to get back to work and you know have some normalcy i i feel like you know

spk_0 they all kind of add up but i definitely believe that the combination of my medications and

spk_0 moving things around gave me the the you know strength that i needed honestly to kind of push forward

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spk_0 you heard about them please support our show and tell them we say you and where are you now how

spk_0 many surgeries have you had in on two weeks it'll be my 11th surgery so and it's a big one

spk_0 I'm getting the litus misdorsi surgery where they cut into your back and take like muscle and tissue

spk_0 and again and rebuild my right breast after a series of complications and infections

spk_0 I had a surgery a couple of months ago where they had to remove my right breast again so I kind of

spk_0 have a single mastectomy right now and this is to kind of rebuild my right breast and chest

spk_0 wall because there's nothing there right now so and that's the other thing too I have a lot of

spk_0 people there's a misconception when they're like well why don't you just go flat like go flat it's

spk_0 fine when you get your breast removed you're not flat you're actually concave they took out

spk_0 everything like I don't even I don't have flesh it's just skin and bone and you know I don't

spk_0 don't judge people for their choices of you know how what makes them feel whole or not whole

spk_0 or good or not good so well I was I was actually going to ask you that has your relationship with

spk_0 your body changed how has it changed yes it's changed in a lot of ways first of all I appreciate

spk_0 my body for fighting so hard and being so resilient and you know once you go through something

spk_0 like cancer the fact that your body it was the tool that fought it off it I mean along with

spk_0 of course medicine things like that but like it you know my my body is is where what got me here

spk_0 today I have a lot you know I've had a long journey with reconstruction a lot of a lot of

spk_0 lots of starts and stops and you know I don't love the way I look right now like a you know I wish

spk_0 I could say that that it didn't bother me at all but it does like every day getting dressed or

spk_0 taking a shower or it's hard and I have to think about how what I'm going to wear and if I'm

spk_0 going to wear prosthetic or if I can wear something baggy enough you know I mean like it's just

spk_0 it's tough and you end up having a complicated relationship potentially it reached I did do

spk_0 with the way I look and you know I just I think that that's just my honest truth is I try really hard

spk_0 to push through and just be like you know what and I share online I'm like you know what today I

spk_0 decided for the first time I'm gonna wear a summer dress I'm gonna wear a dress that has straps

spk_0 I'm not gonna it's the kind of dress that you can't wear a bra with and it's noticeable because I

spk_0 don't I can't wear a prosthetic and I am just going to do it and I'm gonna push myself and I

spk_0 decided that I just I'm gonna do it and I don't care but I have to push myself I have to force that

spk_0 you know because of course I care well I think that's awesome and I think you're awesome we are we

spk_0 are two opposites in the world I grew up in Tennessee and then moved to LA and that was going

spk_0 to be my like amazing thing I went to person school of design you yeah you grew up in LA and then

spk_0 you moved to Nashville which I love so much we both did television office and I was like there's

spk_0 so many similarities but I don't think we've ever like put all those pieces together but no I'm

spk_0 really proud of you and you have the new show coming out or has it already come out extreme

spk_0 makeover it did it came out earlier this year and um yeah and hopefully we get to keep doing it

spk_0 so how has the home edit and then extreme makeover home edition how have did those you know you

spk_0 are so hyper organized and you are the ultimate organizer I mean that's you know I look at you

spk_0 when I think of you and I think of that how did that help you prepare for your cancer journey and

spk_0 what tips could you give someone who just is so overwhelmed it doesn't even know where to start

spk_0 after getting a diagnosis well you know I'm a methodical person I'm a planner an organizer um and

spk_0 I think actually my my shiper type A organized brain needed to really adjust with my diagnosis you

spk_0 know the the very first line of my book is um if if you're a person who likes control cancer really

spk_0 if not the disease for you because it is it is hard you know um but again I believe control the

spk_0 controllables organize the things that you can and um leave room for a pivot because I had to pivot

spk_0 all the time and often so I still do um but again even starting with making my list of who I was

spk_0 gonna call and when in which order um you know listing out I literally have it on a chart for my

spk_0 medications for my appointments for you know I just did what I could and it gave me a sense of like

spk_0 a semblance of control um and I think that in with a disease that is so out of your control it's nice

spk_0 to have just a few things um that you can kind of manage on your on your own and and again you just

spk_0 have to be very comfortable with a pivot and very comfortable with having your planning go right

spk_0 out the window which you know I was not so comfortable with that but I I found new strength in

spk_0 in my journey and and that was part of it what would you say to that woman who's first gotten her

spk_0 diagnosis she's just heard it like and what did you wish you had known I mean you put a lot of it

spk_0 in the book but if you could talk to that woman girl right now what do you wish you had known

spk_0 that you want to give her for advice the number one thing I wish I had known is that I would actually

spk_0 experience more good days than bad days that I actually I wasn't just gonna be bed ridden and sick

spk_0 every single day that I was going to be able to still go out to lunch and um and and live a life and

spk_0 be there for my kids and not just you know I wasn't going to be an invalid and I had you know you do

spk_0 have your sick days but especially with chemo um you have fatigue you know you have a lot of things

spk_0 that you're battling but I had a lot of really good days where I was able to enjoy myself and

spk_0 take long walks and you know get into a new tv series and eat dinner out and you know

spk_0 your life doesn't stop with the diagnosis and I really wish I had known that because I immediately

spk_0 started to mourn my life as soon as I got diagnosed I thought where where am I ever going again you

spk_0 know like I why I'm not gonna shop I don't I'm not gonna wear outfits I'm not I'm not going

spk_0 anymore I'm just gonna be in pajamas in my bed I'm not just simply not true though you know I never

spk_0 own experiences things differently so I don't want to say that categorically but um from

spk_0 pretty much every single friend I have stranger I know um you know I think that what I experience

spk_0 is general enough to provide that same kind of advice which is just know that like your life

spk_0 doesn't stop with with the diagnosis you you rub days that stop you know your days that you're just

spk_0 like you know not doing great but um but you will you will hopefully have more good days than

spk_0 about days and I love what you just said I just so proud of my body for fighting for me because

spk_0 we have a lot of young girls that listen to this podcast and I think when you're young you're just

spk_0 you know you have this sort of like oh my boobs aren't what I want them to be or my butt's this

spk_0 or that and then when you're faced with health crisis you realize like your it health is wealth

spk_0 it's all about that and what your amazing body is able to do to heal you and help you so you're

spk_0 such you're such an awesome example of that and I'm so excited for your book and I'm just going

spk_0 to say this very clearly one in eight women are going to get breast cancer so if it's not you

spk_0 it's your sister it's your mother it's your best friend so please please this book is a must have

spk_0 read cancer is complicated go out and whether you have cancer you have a friend that has cancer

spk_0 you just every woman and actually a man too please go out and buy this book cancer is complicated

spk_0 thank you so much for spending this time with us um you just you really are such a badass you're

spk_0 you're a warrior you're a woman warrior and and I'm just very thankful that you spent this time to

spk_0 share your whole story with our with our listeners and viewers well thank you so much for having me

spk_0 it's a real honor and I love seeing you

spk_0 thanks so much for joining us today on GMD if you want to own your own health a good place to start

spk_0 is by following us on social media at GMD podcast and by subscribing to our show on youtube or

spk_0 wherever you get your podcasts for takeaways from today's episode visit our website she MD podcast

spk_0 dot com we'll see you next time on she MD this podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes

spk_0 only it is not intended as a substitute for a physician's medical advice you should regularly

spk_0 consult your medical provider and matters relating to your own health even though we share our

spk_0 honest beliefs on she MD some of the products and services we discuss may involve sponsorships

spk_0 or paid advertising

The Home Edit's Clea Shearer’s Breast Cancer Journey Changed Everything—The Real Impact on Her Life & Health

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