In today’s @CancerInterviews segment, Cinde Dolphin of San Luis Obispo, California tells host Bruce Morton how she went toe-to-toe with lung cancer once and breast cancer three times and survived. But that is not where her cancer journey ended. These days she engages in what she calls Cancerpreneurship, her method of helping those diagnosed with cancer in ways some might deem unconventional.
Cinde was fit and healthy and happy when in 1993 she had a terrible cough that wouldn’t go away. That’s when she was seen by a doctor who said she had a tumor in her left lung. The lung was removed, she survived lung cancer and has since gone through life with one lung.
It was in 1999 that Cinde discovered a lump in one of her breasts. A subsequent needle biopsy revealed she had breast cancer. She was shocked and thought her healthy lifestyle would provide a safeguard for something as severe as cancer, but gathered her network of friends around her and began the battle. As formidable as cancer, Cinde addressed her diagnosis with a combination of fearlessness and optimism. She underwent a lumpectomy, did chemotherapy and radiation treatment and thought she had gotten the best of breast cancer. However, in 2006, another lump was detected and with it, a different type of breast cancer. She had already lost a lung, but felt it was the wise thing to do was to get a mastectomy, so now she was going to lose a breast as well.
As for her chemotherapy treatment, Cinde, a tireless worker, says the toughest part was having to reduce or completely curtail, her workload for three months. During that time, she says the help and support from her friends and loved ones was invaluable, stating that sometimes the best thing you can do for your caregivers is to let them provide care.
Her optimism was really needed after her second breast cancer diagnosis, which she says mentally and emotionally, was the toughest of the three. But when her breast was removed, she embraced the situation with a “Bye Bye, Boobie” party. All her friends brought ice cream and she says she had enough ice cream to last through six months of her recovery.
After her surgical procedures, Cinde had to use a Jackson-Pratt drain. It is a device she calls ugly, uncomfortable and embarrassing, but at the same time very valuable because they siphon away fluids from the surgical wound area to keep it from getting infected or other complications.
Acknowledging the awkward nature of these drains, Cinde invented an alternative device which she says is a major improvement for any cancer patient. It takes the “Home Depot apron” which is part of the Jackson-Pratt drain, but her apron is made from a soft mesh with a zipper closure that can hold up to four drain bulbs, which in a best-case scenario can allow to go months without having to change the bulbs. Her marketing this improved drainage system is just one example of what she calls Cancerprenuership.
Cinde says Cancerprenuership calls for a patient to be an innovator and come up with ways to address a cancer diagnosis that are not addressed by major supply companies and Big Pharma. She says all too often Big Pharma does not listen to the people that claim they are serving by their products, that patients do not have a seat at the table occupied by a pharmaceutical’s decision makers. Cinde references a Nobel Prize winner who says some of the best solutions come from a place of empathy, and that Big Health Care and Big Pharma would do a much better job if they devoted more time to listening to patients, what they need and what they are going through.
Additional Resources:
Cinde’s website: https://www.medicaldrainer.com
Cancer Interviews: https://www.cancerinterviews.com
TRANSCRIPTION
Bruce Morton: After our guest survived breast cancer, her life entered a new phase. It’s called Cancerprenuership. This is the Cancer Interviews podcast, and I’m your host, Bruce Morton. Our guest is Cinde Dolphin of San Luis Obispo, California. She is going to share with us how there are effective ways to combat cancer from sources that might be deemed unconventional. Now let’s hear Cinde’s story, and Cinde, welcome to Cancer Interviews.
Cinde Dolphin: Thank you, Bruce. It is an honor to be part of your podcast. You have been doing it for a long time now and you have had some really amazing people on your podcast. I am honored to be of them.
BM: Cinde, there is more to your life than cancer and we would like to hear about it. If you would, tell us a bit about where you are from, what you do for work and what you do for fun.
CD: I am originally from Denver, Colorado, from where you are based, but lived in a number of different locations after that. My career was very dynamic. I was fortunate to be a marketing executive for a large brewing company and served as a marketing director for various wineries throughout the Napa area, so I had this really explosive career of allowing me to travel, to be a part of big events and be able to drink beer on a regular basis, which was kinda my job, but I took it real seriously, enjoyed every bit of it, met incredible people along the way, had some peers that taught me very well, so, after about 30 years of doing marketing for wineries, I decided that I wanted to do something to give back to the world. As you mentioned, I survived cancer, so I came up with a solution that I felt was viable for patients having to go through cancer surgeries. I have been incredibly active. I have climbed Half Dome, done extreme skiing, traveled to New Zealand, to Africa, I worked with women in small, remote villages developing microlobe businesses, so I have had a very full life. I am very blessed to have survived a total of four cancers and survived all of them.
BM: We have mentioned breast cancer. What were the other cancers?
CD: My initial cancer was in 1993. I had a terrible cough that wouldn’t go away. They did an exam and an x-ray and found that I had a large tumor in my lung, so my left lung was completely removed. So, I only have one lung. Then three cancer diagnoses after that were all breast cancer.
BM: But you survived, and we are looking forward to hearing your story of survivorship. In terms of the breast cancer piece, for all of us who survive cancer, there was that point in which we thought we were healthy…until we weren’t. When did you first notice something wrong and how did that manifest itself?
CD: I actually found the lump myself. It was in the year 1999. I went to the doctor really skeptical that it was going to be anything but just a mass, but having done a needle biopsy we found out it was breast cancer. Your mind just explodes. You probably never thought you would hear that word, but when it does become a part of your life, you just gather those that you love around you, you put on your armor, you begin the battle. I have been very fortunate through all of my cancers, I have had a wonderful network of friends and loved ones who have carried me through. It was quite baffling because I thought I had this incredible lifestyle to prevent me from getting anything, but we are all vulnerable and I found out how vulnerable I could be.
BM: We’re confident you’ll be able to learn some tips and tools to help you through your personal cancer journey, but first we’d like to invite you to give us a ‘like,’ leave a comment or review below and share this story with your friends. Kindly click on the Subscribe button below and click on the bell icon, so you’ll be notified the next time we post an interview. And if you or a loved one are facing a cancer diagnosis, please click on the link in the description and Show Notes below to check out our free guide, “The Top Ten Things I Wish I Knew When I First Got Cancer.”
Now, Cinde, let’s talk about when you first got cancer. Based on what you are telling me now, you had a very strong and positive outlook toward this cancer. Not that cancer is something that anybody wants, but it sounds like you were prepared to run toward it, not from it. That sort of courage is not something that could be taught or learned. What was at the very source of your fearlessness?
CD: Good question. I think that each cancer diagnosis is very personal and each diagnosis determines how they would like to handle it. For me, because I had always been a very optimistic person, I wanted to charge in and do what I could to get rid of it as fast as possible. I did go ahead and do chemo and radiation. I had a lumpectomy, and I thought that was it and I was done. Then, seven years later I found an inconsistency in my breast tissue, so I went back and sure enough there was a different breast cancer. I did another lumpectomy and then seven years later, we found yet another lump in my breast. This time I thought that it was wise to get a mastectomy, but that was difficult. It was an amputation. I had already lost a lung and was now going to lose a breast and I was definitely concerned about it, but because I had this blessing of wonderful people around me to support me through it. I came through it and then on the other side and decided to help people who had experienced the same situation I had after all my surgeries. I had to deal with these ugly, uncomfortable, embarrassing---they’re called Jackson-Pratt drains. They are very valuable. They are used to siphon away fluids from the surgical wound area and keep it from getting infected or other complications, but they are absolutely awkward. I thought after my final surgery, I wanted to do something to make that process easier for patients going forward and it’s not just breast cancer. These drains are used for a number of things, so I decided to address it with something like a Home Depot apron. It was very useful in that it could hold these drains that are attached with a drain line and then that drain line is attached to the skin with a suture. If you are not able to manage those drains, they can actually dangle off the body and actually tear from the suture. In my experience, I was released from the hospital and was given safety pins and told to pin the drains to my gown. That wasn’t working because when you change clothes there is nothing to pin it to, and when you want to bathe, you cannot pin it to your skin, so I came up with a Home Depot apron and it was made out of a soft mesh with a zipper closure and it could hold up to four drain bulbs. It was so much better, so much easier, to deal with these drains. Sometimes you have them for two to three weeks while others have them for months. So, for the amount of time that you have to deal with these Jackson-Pratt drains, it really makes the process easier. It was healing for me, and I feel like I am healing others as they go through this really difficult time in their lives.
BM: Cinde, I want to do a bit of backtracking before we return to Jackson-Pratt, but if we go back to your first breast cancer diagnosis, you mentioned radiation, you mentioned chemotherapy. When you look back on the treatment for that first diagnosis, what was the toughest part?
CD: The toughest part was stepping away from work and taking care of myself. I have been at work through thick and thin, and having to step away from my desk and take care of myself, and for like three months I was dealing with chemo, I continued to work, but not fulltime, the hard part was admitting I was vulnerable, and I needed to take to get better. I’d say for me, that was the most difficult thing.
BM: And dealing with that, would you say that your ability to get through that tough time, was that still with the support of friends or was that pretty much internalized?
CD: I had the support of friends and work associates. It was wonderful the way that people who were in my office came to my assistance, covered for me. It was just a wonderful network of people that when they hear you are diagnosed, they want to be there for you. They are really asking for a way to help. Sometimes the nicest thing that we can do as patients is to allow them to help us because it gives them something to do, so it is a lovely way to make people feel as though they are integral and that they are helping, that they are doing something to help you get better.
BM: We were talking about the first time you were diagnosed, but what about the second time? Mentally, emotionally, you could have gone in one of two directions. You could feel extremely defeated, that you had gone through so much to overcome this gigantic obstacle and now you have to do it again, or you could tell yourself, you survived cancer once, and you can do it again. What was your mindset?
CD: It was probably all of the above. I mean, depending on the day, it was probably my hardest diagnosis, my second breast cancer, because I really did think that I had done everything to get rid of breast cancer, but as I had mentioned, it was an entirely different type of breast cancer. I couldn’t blame myself. It wasn’t anything I could have protected myself from having, but it was hard and fortunately I had some dear friends that came with me through the surgery and were by my side and it helped me get through that. Then when the third one came along, it was like, “Oh, heck, I got this. I know what this is all going to include,” and that was when I actually decided that I was not going to go through another round of breast cancer with this particular breast, and it was going to have to go. It was a hard decision, but I actually had a “Bye, Bye Boobie” party and we celebrated it, and it came to a point where all my friends brought me ice cream to the party and I had enough ice cream to last me for the entire six months of my recovery, so it was wonderful.
BM: Cinde, at the very top here, we trotted out the term “cancerprenuership”. Two-part question. First part, for those listening and watching who are hearing this term for the first time, if you could speak in general, broad-brush terms, what does that mean, cancerprenuership?
CD: It allows the patient to be an innovator. It seems like the day-to-day issues that come up are not addressed by the big medical supply companies and Big Pharma. They are busy generating income by coming up with high-tech, high-dollar items that can be used by hospitals. Unfortunately, I don’t think they talk to the patient and ask them what would make their life easier or how they could make it better for the patient going through this. So, a cancerprenuer is someone who says, “I have been there. I know what is difficult. I would like to help you come up with solutions that will help the other patients going through something like this.”
BM: You kind of answered the second part of my two-part question, but I will ask it, anyway. Having described cancerprenuership, why should someone diagnosed with cancer be interested in what cancerprenuership has to offer?
CD: One of the beautiful things that a Nobel Peace Prize winner once said is that some of the best solutions come from a place of empathy. If you can submit yourself to be in the shoes to be in the person who is going through cancer, you can come up with, you can discover and can innovate things that will improve their lives. I think it’s actually called “patient ideation.” If the medical industry would take advice from the patient, it would be a wonderful development in this industry.
BM: So, when you say, and we are going a little bit off course here, do you think our health care system in this country would be better is Big Health Care did more listening?
CD: Absolutely. I believe that patients should be at the table, they should be part of R & D. I think that the medical care industry has to listen to what is going on in the low-tech world at the ground level because there are so many ways we can make it easier for patients to get through what is really a difficult time in their life.
BM: Cinde, in my advancing age, I am home more and because I am home more, I see more television and because I see more television, I see more commercials and as I see more commercials, I see more of my least favorite genre of commercials and those are the commercials for Big Pharma products. If one looks closely, one can see in very tiny fonts the words, “This has not been approved by the FDA,” which instantly makes me very skeptical. Should those checking out cancerprenuership have the same kind of healthy skepticism?
CD: Of course, but that is also true of products that do have FDA approval. We need to be aware. I think cancerprenuers can come up with ideas for products. I don’t know that they need to be commercial producers of the products, but I think that if we could work with health care innovation centers, which are becoming more popular, hospitals are starting these right within their walls, if we can have an approach to those innovation centers to bring the information that from there to a commercial place, I think that would be much better than having us as individuals try to get FDA approval for getting products out there that may or may not be helpful.
BM: Cinde, I am going to conclude with another two-part question. I know you will have an answer for the first question, but I don’t know if you will have an answer for the second. The first is, if somebody wants to learn more about what you do, is the website, a place where they can go to learn more?
CD: It’s www.medicaldraincarrier.com.
BM: Here is the second part and this may be a bit tougher. But if somebody wanted to learn more about other cancerprenuerss, is there a general sort of place they can go?
CD: I would like them to reach out to me because I have consulted with a number of cancerprenuers. I have presented papers on how critical it is to include the patient in developing solutions to day-to-day problems. I would be happy to share the info I have. Cancer patients can actually help themselves heal if they are thinking about how to help others. It’s a wonderful process.
BM: Now, Cinde, now I want to get back to your cancer journey. Think of all you have been through and think of all that is part of your active lifestyle. If pre-diagnosis, you would physically consider yourself to be 100 percent, what about today? Are you 100 percent? What can you do or not do that you could have done, pre-diagnosis?
CD: Well, I think age has crept in, but I am still extremely active, so I would say if I were still at the same age as when I was initially diagnosed with cancer, I could still do all of those things. Even now, though, I am still very active with mountain climbing and running. I live near the beach, so I do a bit of surfing, too. I hope that I am about 100 percent. Again, what I do is not for everyone, and I want to emphasize every journey is individually based, that each person needs to decide how to be active and I want to honor that.
BM: Cinde, here is the second part of my two-part question. You have already covered some of this, so we might be a little bit redundant, but if you ran into somebody who had been diagnosed with cancer and you had something to say to that person, you might want to say a lot of things; but if there was one point you would want to sure to get across, what would it be?
CD: I would tell them that there are a lot of ways to go about their cancer diagnosis. I would suggest looking into non-traditional methods, but I am also a firm believer in the medical industry, and I do think that they have probably the best solutions, but that doesn’t mean it works for everyone. I want people to be comfortable with how they go about addressing their cancer diagnosis, but there certainly are some amazing opportunities out there to address cancer in a non-traditional way.
BM: Cinde, thank you so much for giving us a great story just about your journey with cancer, but without question you have given us food for thought as to how to go about combating our respective cancer journeys, assuming that just about everyone watching and listening is going through one or knows somebody who is. Thanks so much for sharing your story of how you have dealt with cancer and how you are dealing with it I a way that can help others. Cinde, thanks for being with us on Cancer Interviews.
CD: Thank you, Bruce, and thank you for what you are doing with your podcast.
BM: Thanks so much, and we want to remind you as we always do when we conclude that if you or a loved one are on a cancer journey, you are not alone. There are people like Cinde Dolphin who can make your cancer journey a bit easier. So, until next time, we’ll see you on down the road.
Additional Resources:
Cinde’s website: www.medicaldraincarrier.com
SHOW NOTES
TITLE: Cinde Dolphin – 3x Breast Cancer Survivor – San Luis Obispo, California, USA
When Cinde Dolphin survived lung cancer, she thought cancer was in her past; but then came, over the two decades, three different diagnoses of breast cancer. Cinde not only survived them but invented an improvement of a long-used fluid drainage device. In addition to working to help others diagnosed with cancer, she has resumed her active lifestyle, which includes hiking, running and surfing.
Additional Resources:
Cinde’s website: www.medicaldraincarrier.com
Time Stamps:
03:04 The first of Cinde’s four cancer diagnoses was lung cancer.
03:59 Her first diagnosis of breast cancer began with self-diagnosis.
06:01 Describes her fearless approach to cancer, which was needed because she was diagnosed with breast cancer a second third time.
10:50 Cinde recalls the toughest part of her first treatment for breast cancer.
12:26 How she dealt with news of her second third breast cancer diagnosis.
21:03 Cinde says today she still leads an active lifestyle.
22:30 Her advice to others diagnosed with cancer.
KEYWORDS (tags):
cancer
breast cancer
cancer interviews
chemotherapy
bruce morton
lumpectomy
radiation treatment
cinde dolphin
mastectomy
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