DESCRIPTION
First, Valerie David was diagnosed with Stage 3B Cell Diffuse Large Cell Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. After surviving that diagnosis, she was diagnosed with Stage 2 Invasive Lobular Carcinoma, a form of breast cancer. She again achieved survivorship, only to be diagnosed with Stage 4 Metastatic Breast Cancer. Valerie managed to survive that as well, and inspired by her surviving a multi-layered cancer journey, she wrote and stars in an award-winning, one-woman play, “The Pink Hulk.”
Valerie’s cancer journey was preceded by her experiencing chest pains and severe fatigue. She and some girlfriends went on a vacation to Niagara Falls, and Valerie ended up sleeping almost entirely throughout the trip. She had the chest pains, forcing her to sleep on her side, accompanied by chronic cough.
Valerie saw an oncologist in 1999, who ordered a CT scan. The scan showed a tumor in her chest, and after a needle biopsy, she learned she Stage 3B Cell Diffuse Large Cell Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. She was placed on a three-month chemotherapy regimen involving cytoxin, vincristine and adriamycin. Valerie said she felt a great deal of chest pain, but believed that meant the chemotherapy was attacking the tumor. It turned out she was correct because after the first dosage, a 9cm tumor was reduced to 4.5cm.
Valerie David’s family had a history of lymphoma diagnoses, and all who had it, survived. That’s why she was optimistic she would survive, and after her chemo regimen, she did survive. However, fifteen years later, she felt a lump in her armpit and went to a gynecologist, who sent Valerie to a cancer hospital. Right away she sensed something serious was wrong, and sure enough, she was diagnosed with Stage 2 Invasive Lobular Carcinoma, a form of breast cancer.
Many of the drugs prescribed for treatment of lymphoma are also prescribed in treatment of breast cancer. While she could not take adriamycin, she was put on a limited dosage of cytoxin, and was prescribed docetaxel as well. Eight months later, Valerie achieved survivorship in 2015.
Then in 2018, Valerie David again experience chest pains and says she knew cancer had returned. She called her oncologist and told her, “I have cancer.” My oncologist’s office originally thought Valerie had a pulled chest, but again Val’s instincts were correct. She was diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. This cancer had bone metastases in her chest and ribcage, which explained the chest pains.
In her work, Valerie had worked on an ad campaign for a cancer drug, verzenio. She was impressed with the data that accompanied the drug, and asked her oncologist if she could prescribe verzenio. Months later, a scan came back revealing No Evidence of Disease, which Valerie calls the best day of her life.
She still takes the drug letrozole, still has no evidence of disease, and says she can do all the things in life she wants to do. Valerie has already beaten the three- to five-year life expectancy tied to the treatment she underwent for Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer.
Valerie David is a native of Virginia Beach, Virginia, but she was drawn to New York City because of, among other things, its theater scene. She parlayed her love for theater and what she experienced during her three times surviving cancer to write and star in her award-winning, one-woman play, “The Pink Hulk, One Woman’s Journey To Find The Superhero Within.” It seeks to inform, inspire and entertain, with humor and transparency. The play has appeared all over the United States and in Europe as well.
Valerie David says being Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer is part of who she is, but does not identify who she is.
Additional Resources:
Valerie’s Address: https://www.pinkhulkplay@gmail.com
Valerie’s Website: https://www.pinkhulkplay.com
TRANSCRIPT
Bruce Morton: This is the Cancer Interviews podcast, and I’m your host, Bruce Morton. Our guest on this episode is Valerie David of New York City. That Valerie has survived cancer three times is a powerful story all by itself; but upon reaching survivorship, she has taken to the stage to inform, inspire, and entertain, with humor and transparency against a backdrop of her cancer journey. Prepare yourself for a terrific story and now let’s hear it. Valerie, welcome to Cancer Interviews.
Valerie David: Hi. Thank you so much, Bruce. I really appreciate it. It’s an honor to be here.
Bruce Morton: Valerie, before we learn about a guest’s cancer journey, we like to learn about the guest. So, Val, tell us a bit about where you are from, what you do for work and what you do for fun, although I think we are going to learn that where you are concerned, the line between work and fun can sometimes get blurred.
Valerie David: Sure. I live in Manhattan. I have been here for many years. I also grew up in Virginia Beach, and I had to come back to New York because I loved theater from when I was a small child. I had a theatre DNA. So, I left New York to go back to Virginia Beach, then came back to New York. You can take the girl out of New York but can’t take New York out of the girl. I am pursuing an acting and singing career here in Manhattan. I love doing improve, I love being with friends. I love my family, going to movies, and I love my New York sports teams.
Bruce Morton: For all of us who are cancer survivors, unfortunately, our cancer journey had to start somewhere. For you, when did you initially notice that, where your health was concerned, something was out of whack?
Valerie David: I started having chest pains and severe fatigue. I remember going on a vacation with some girlfriends to Niagara Falls and I slept through the entire trip, so much so that friends were really worried about me. I looked at Niagara Falls and felt the spray and went right back to sleep in the car. They were very concerned about me, but I thought I was just tired and needed more rest, but it turned out the fatigue was part of the cancer journey that I didn’t know I was going on just yet. Then I had these terrible, terrible chest pains that never went away. Then I started getting a chronic cough as well. I couldn’t sleep on my back. I could only sleep on my side because I literally was in terrible pain, and I knew something was wrong. I just didn’t know what it was going to be.
Bruce Morton: So, I suspect at that point, you sought medical attention.
Valerie David: Yes, I went to a new general practitioner who ended up being an oncologist, which at first I didn’t know and he ended up being a lymphoma oncologist, just a freak occurrence. He had wonderful instincts and he said he would take a chest x-ray, which showed a mass in my chest, and I still didn’t get what was happening, so he ordered a CT scan. It showed there was something and the question was, ‘What is it?’ The CT scan showed a tumor, and I had a needle biopsy. Then on New Year’s Eve 1998 day that I learned I had lymphoma. Subsequent tests after that revealed it was Stage 3B cell diffuse large cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Bruce Morton: We’re confident you will learn some tips and tools to help you through your cancer journey, but first we’d like to invite you to please give us a ‘like,’ leave a comment or a review below and share this story with your friends. Kindly click on the Subscribe button below and click on the bell icon, so you will be notified the next time we release 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.”
As for when you got cancer, of course, it was a horrific day, but everyone handles news of their diagnosis in way tied to their persona and the severity of their diagnosis. How did you handle this awful news?
Valerie David: I was with my parents because we knew we were going to get an answer on New Year’s Eve day. I was grateful to be with my mom and dad, and it was really interesting, Bruce. My instinct is always very accurate, and my instincts had been telling me that it was cancer. It was just the hardest thing I had ever gone through. My parents were on the phone lines in my apartment, and they heard it on the phone as well and they came rushing into the room and just held me as I cried and said we’re going to get through this. So, I was very grateful to my parents for picking me up, figuratively and literally.
Bruce Morton: Next up for you was treatment. Did you have treatment options?
Valerie David: I did have options because of my age at the time. I was able to get six months worth of chemotherapy in three months. Different protocols, but the same drugs used for lymphoma, but because I was 30 years old at the time, the doctor said I could try a regimen of accelerated chemotherapy that last a little over three months.
Bruce Morton: For your treatment, what medications were involved?
Valerie David: There were three. Cytoxin, vincristine and adriamyacin.
Bruce Morton: With those medications and the rest of the regimen, what was the toughest part?
Valerie David: I think the toughest part was the pain. When the tumor was breaking up because of the chemo, I had a lot of chest pain, but that’s a good thing because it means the chemo was working, and I was really lucky that after the first dose, my 9cm tumor was reduced to 4.5cm. I responded very quickly to the drug because the type of lymphoma that I had was very aggressive. It really responded well, and I think that the hardest part was really not so much physical but the mental part of it, as well as losing the hair. That was tough psychologically because before that I didn’t look like a cancer patient and then with looking at myself in the mirror, I felt like a cancer patient and that was a real hard thing to grasp; but I was very fortunate that with the chemo, I had one mouth sore. I did have complications in which my white cell count kept going down, so I would have to get hospitalized. That was hard because of the counts, and they were so low. I also had a fever that was above 100.4 degrees, where you should be calling your doctor if it reaches that. Each time I reached that, I would have to be admitted to the hospital and get intravenous antibiotics to fight the infection ensuing from the chemotherapy.
Bruce Morton: Was there a time in which you thought you would never get through this?
Valerie David: Great question. I did not because I knew there would be a finite time of a little over three months and I was grateful that it didn’t extend longer than that, so I knew I had a finite duration. I come from a very strong family, so giving up and throwing in the towel was not an option.
Bruce Morton: The treatment regimen was finite, just three months, and you sounded like you were confident that things were going to progress in a positive direction, and they did. So, describe the feeling that accompanied your learning that you were going to survive.
Valerie David: With the chemo and that finite time, I had that family history of lymphoma, where my relatives survived. I had a great base in knowing that I had a really inspiring family that helped me through this, so I felt if they could do it, I could do it. Back when my grandmother had lymphoma, there was no chemo or radiation in the 1950s and she still survived. That was such a motivating factor to me. It was the greatest moment in my life to learn I had been cleared of cancer.
Bruce Morton: And yet, for you in your cancer journey, because it was multi-faceted, describe the chain of events that led to your second diagnosis.
Valerie David: I was celebrating my fifteenth anniversary of being cancer-free in Aruba, but before the trip in 2014, I started feeling a lump under my armpit, and I didn’t really think anything of it because I thought cancer was behind me. So, I got this lump under my armpit. Then it started to grow, and I thought something was wrong, but I was still in denial. It got to the point where I was having tea with a girlfriend who had had lymphoma and breast cancer. I told her about the lump, and she said I had to get it checked. I made an appointment the next day and the first thing the following Monday, the gynecologist who I went to see said I needed to go to a cancer hospital right away. Right then I knew something was wrong, and it was diagnosed as Stage Two invasive lobular carcinoma breast cancer. But I am very grateful the doctor and my friend encouraged me to (a) get this checked and (b) go back to my cancer hospital right away. That I think was harder, to be honest, than the first cancer because I wasn’t expecting to get a second diagnosis, or a third. I had to find the courage and strength to get through it and that was hard, but I did it and am really proud of the family and friends and doctors who rallied around me again. My lymphoma team was helping me find the breast cancer team to go forward, to get treatment for that.
Bruce Morton: Valerie, I will ask you a question I have asked of other guests who have been diagnosed with cancer more than once. Here you are, you have been diagnosed with cancer and achieved survivorship. You have climbed this gigantic hill. But now you get diagnosed a second time, and physically, mentally and emotionally, I would think that would leave you at a crossroads. Do you wilt because now you have to go through this all over again, or do you say to yourself you have survived once before, and you can do it again?
Valerie David: It was challenging because I would be getting more treatment and over a longer period of time. I ended up having to have surgery and chemo again, plus radiation. The interesting part about the chemotherapy was that lymphoma and breast cancer sometimes share the same drugs; so, two of the drugs that I had for lymphoma, one being adriamycin, I was not able to have again, and the cytoxin had to be on a limited dose because I had had that for lymphoma, so my treatment was actually chemo light. Then they added docetaxel as well. There was never a question in my mind that I was not going to fight this, but I think the challenge I faced was that it was not going to be three months, and it was going to be a little over eight months. I was 45 at the time, so that also brought up the matter of child rearing, that this time chemo was going to put me into menopause, so I knew that I was also facing not being able to have a child, but then I also realized I won’t be around if I don’t take the treatment and I can always adopt and a be a stepmom. So, there was no question that I would fight this, and the same with my parents, they just said we are going to keep fighting.
Bruce Morton: You had mentioned a medication that you took with your second diagnosis, docetaxel. If you would, describe the idiosyncracies attached to taking that medication, and did it make your second diagnosis tougher?
Valerie David: No, it didn’t because I had very limited chemo. I had way more chemo with lymphoma. I still had the second side effects of losing the hair, but I only had three cancer treatments instead of four. They didn’t want to give me the usual higher number, and then I was allergic to one of the drugs, so they had to take me off of it. I only had three cancer treatments, compared to seven with lymphoma.
Bruce Morton: We have talked about two cancer journeys, one with lymphoma, the other with breast cancer, but cancer came back a third time. If you would, tell us about that chain of events.
Valerie David: I finished treatment for the Stage II breast cancer in 2015. That was the first breast cancer diagnosis. With the second breast cancer diagnosis, it is not like I found a lump below my armpit. I just waited, which was not a smart thing. I was starting a new job with new insurance and the insurance wouldn’t kick in until after a few months and that’s why I waited to seek medical attention tied to this second breast cancer diagnosis. To anyone listening, never wait the way I did, because it could have gotten worse while I was waiting for the insurance to kick in. I was worried about finances. I chose finances over my health, which I will never do again. The third time it was 2018. I had chest pains again and I immediately knew that I had cancer again. There was no doubt in my mind. I called my oncologist. I actually thought it was lymphoma again. I called my oncologist, and said. “I have cancer again.” They said it was a pulled chest muscle and I said, “No, it’s not.” I was getting a checkup anyway for breast cancer, and fast forward, I immediately started treatment again, except that this time there couldn’t be chemotherapy or radiation because I was diagnosed with Stage IV metastatic breast cancer that had bone metastases in the chest and ribcage, which is why I was having pain the chest because it had metastasized to my chest bone. That was devastating because it was Stage IV metastatic, and we all have this idea that with metastatic, that’s it. That’s the end of the line. I didn’t know what to expect and what to believe, but the interesting part was that eight months earlier between acting jobs, I am a freelance copy editor, and I was working on a new metastatic breast cancer drug that had come out in 2017 called verzenio. Again, it was eight months before I was diagnosed, and I thought it looked like a great drug, and I was really impressed with all the data that I was seeing. Well, it turns out, eight months later, I did get metastatic breast cancer. My doctor was offering me another drug, and I said I studied this ad campaign and worked on it, and asked if it was okay if I tried verzenio, and she agreed. Fast forward to five months later, I was getting scans to check the verzenio and its effectiveness and I was on letrozole as well. I was expecting some improvement; however, the scans came back showing No Evidence of Disease. That was probably the greatest moment of my entire life. Less than three percent of people on this drug have this 100 percent outcome. I am grateful and I know that it doesn’t happen for everyone, and there is no miracle cure. I was just very grateful to have this happen, and I wish that were the outcome for everybody who has this cancer. Six years later, I am just taking letrozole and I have had no evidence of disease. It really goes to show you that when I called a metastatic survivor support back when I was diagnosed. This woman said I have a three- to five-year life expectancy and that I wouldn’t die of old age. Years later I called her back to say that what she said wasn’t true. I will always be Stage IV metastatic, but I think a New York bus will knock me down before cancer does. Being Stage IV metastatic breast cancer is a part of who I am, but it doesn’t identify who I am, and it hasn’t stopped me from doing everything that I love, nor should any cancer diagnosis. I have to keep finding the hope and the passion, but I was very lucky to have this happen. I know this isn’t always the outcome for people, and again, I wish it were.
Bruce Morton: Hope and passion. Let’s fast forward to those much more pleasant words, and how you have infused those operative words into your life, now and going forward. Your journey has inspired you to write and act in a play that has been a smashing success in the United States and abroad. Two-part question. First part: Describe the inspiration, and how the inspiration became more than just the germ of an idea.
Valerie David: Sure. I have an award-winning, one-woman play called, “The Pink Hulk,” one woman’s journey to find the superhero within. I began writing when I was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer. I had this passion to write it because I had lymphoma and Stage II breast cancer, and I thought this would be a great opportunity to help people the way people have helped me through this journey. That’s really my passion, to inspire others to fight back, not just cancer, but any adversity in their lives. I remember I had a bad foot, I was in a boot and rode a scooter. It was in 2015. I had just finished earlier in the year the treatment for Stage II breast cancer. I remember it was Thanksgiving. I wasn’t very mobile, and I had this burning desire to start writing. I started writing and writing. I was very encouraged by my oncologist. I was involved in a writer’s workshop. The woman that ran it was impressed, and said, “You are a writer!” and encouraged me that there was something in my story. So, between that and the encouragement from my oncologist and my writing teacher, The Pink Hulk started to form. Then I went to an improv writing camp. We had to talk about ourselves in front of everyone. I started talking about my journey and the guy who ran the camp said, “There’s a story there!” And I had a fulltime job. The owner of the company said he knew that I would do well, they were sorry to lose me, but they understood what was motivating me. So, I had all these encouragements plus all my family, and in less than six months, The Pink Hulk went from page to stage, and I had a full production of it on June 19, 2016, and I have been going ever since in the United States and Europe as well, but that is not what’s important to me, the awards or reviews. It’s the fact that I am helping people and inspiring them, and that’s the greatest gift. Also, after each show I have talkbacks with the audience to hear their stories, and it is not just cancer survivors. It’s the loved ones, the caregivers, the doctors, the nurses. My show is also funny. It is walking through a cancer journey, and you are on this journey from beginning to end. In fact, I was diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer the day my show opened in Portland, Oregon. As I was getting to the theater, I got the call, and the choice was the show must go on. I kept doing the show and it didn’t stop me from doing the show, even with this third diagnosis. I want people to walk away feeling hopeful that they, too, can fight this journey. That’s why it is called “The Superhero Within,” because I had to find my superhero within to conquer three cancers and I want to help them find their own superhero within to fight adversities in life, and not just from cancer.
Bruce Morton: Valerie, we’re going to go now, but if somebody would like to learn more about what you do, you have a website, what is that web address?
Valerie David: it’s www.pinkhulkplay.com, and I can be reached at www.pinkhulkplay@gmail.com, and I would love to come to your town to do the show and I would love to make it happen.
Bruce Morton: Thanks so much, Val. There she goes, Valerie David of New York City, we want to thank you one more time on Cancer Interviews.
Valerie David: Thank you so much. It was a pleasure.
Bruce Morton: And that concludes this episode. As we say when we wrap up, if you or a loved one are on a cancer journey, you are not alone. There are people out there like Valerie David who can inform and inspire. So, until next time, we’ll see you on down the road.
Additional Resources:
Valerie’s Address: www.pinkhulkplay@gmail.com
Valerie’s Play: www.pinkhulkplay.com
Photography: David Pexton
SHOW NOTES
TITLE: Valerie David – 3x Cancer Survivor – New York, New York, USA
Chest pains and severe fatigue drove Valerie David to seek medical attention, which led to a diagnosis of Stage 3B Cell Diffuse Large Cell Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. A chemotherapy regimen helped her achieve survivorship. However, years later, she discovered a lump under her armpit. After getting it checked out, she was diagnosed with Stage 2 Invasive Lobular Carcinoma, a form of breast cancer. Again, aided by a chemotherapy regimen, Valerie survived this diagnosis, but not long after that, she was diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. Despite the staging, Valerie was prescribed a less aggressive form of chemotherapy, and survived. Inspired by her cancer journey, she written and starred in an award-winning one-woman play, “The Pink Hulk,” seen throughout the United States and in Europe.
Additional Resources:
Valerie’s Address: www.pinkhulkplay@gmail.com
Valerie’s Website: www.pinkhulkplay.com
Time Stamps:
02:36 Valerie noticed something wrong when she experienced chest pains and severe fatigue.
03:41 Sought medical attention, which revealed a mass in her chest, and led to a diagnosis of Stage 3B Cell Diffuse Large Cell Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
08:06 Recalls the toughest part of chemotherapy.
11:29 Valerie said it was great to learn she had survived lymphoma.
12:05 Said the return of cancer began with a lump under her armpit.
13:19 Went to a cancer hospital and was diagnosed with Stage 2 Invasive Lobular Carcinoma.
19:55 Valerie said chest pains led to a diagnosis of Stage 4 Metastatic Breast Cancer.
22:33 A scan came back revealing No Evidence of Disease.
KEYWORDS (tags):
Stage 3B Cell Diffuse Large Cell Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
Letrozole
Stage 2 Invasive Lobular Carcinoma
Verzenio
Stage 4 Metastatic Breast Cancer
Cytoxin
Needle Biopsy
Vincristine
Accelerated Chemotherapy
Adriamycin
Valerie David
Docetaxel
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