S3 EP4 - Cancer Changes Everything: Listen to Your Heart

About this episode

Suzanne shares her personal experience as a caregiver for her best friend Tanya, who is battling stage four metastatic cervical cancer.

What I thought was a routine appointment turned into an 11-hour stretch in the ER—and then the words no one is ever ready to hear: stage four metastatic cervical cancer. I’m sharing this with a shaky voice but a steady purpose, because my best friend Tanya is fighting for her life, and right now, I’m one of her primary caregivers. This has made me really think about what chosen family actually means when the crisis isn’t abstract. Tanya is my person—the friend who crossed countries, built a life from nothing, cared deeply for others, loved animals like family, and showed up for me through surgeries, pain, and all the messy parts of being human. Now she’s facing cancer that has spread to her bones, lungs, liver, and lymph nodes, and I’m trying to navigate pain management, treatment decisions, and the emotional whiplash that comes when someone you love can’t even sit up in a chair. And I have to say the part people don’t always want to talk about: the cost. The reality of U.S. healthcare. Insurance questions, growing medical bills, and the impossible math of losing income while caregiving becomes a full-time job. If you’ve ever carried caregiver stress, unresolved grief, or that…

People in this episode

Host: Suzanne M. Swain

Topics covered

• cancer
• caregiving
• friendship
• chosen family
• health crisis

Keywords

• cancer
• caregiver
• friendship
• health
• emotional support

More episodes of The Middle School Mary Poppins Podcast

• S4 EP1: True Colors: Potentiality & 8 Hidden Superpowers for a Brand-New School Year 🌈💎 · September 3, 2026 · 53 min
• S3 EP16: SEL Summer Camp Week 6 - The Last Campfire: Saving Big Hearts a Seat | Skills Wrap Up · August 18, 2026 · 42 min
• S3 EP15: SEL Summer Camp Week5 - Deep Dive into Anger, Reactivity & Rage | Why Tweens Explode (And What to Do Instead) · July 21, 2026 · 1h 10m
• S3 EP14 - SEL Summer Camp Week 4: Garden of Weedy Thoughts: Helping Middle Schoolers Bust Cognitive Distortions & Calm Anxiety · July 8, 2026 · 30 min
• S3 EP13 - SEL Summer Camp Week 3: Oceans of Emotion: Why Middle Schoolers Feel Everything All at Once · June 24, 2026 · 36 min
• S3 EP12 - SEL Summer Camp Week 2: Are Screens Evil or Not? Chocolate Cake, Dopamine & the Middle School Brain · June 16, 2026 · 27 min