Latest / Black Girl Interrupted Podcast / Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Transcript

Breast Cancer Awareness Month · Black Girl Interrupted Podcast

0:11
Let y'all already know how y'all already know how you started. What's up,
0:43
y'all? I know, I know it is November first, and I know,
0:48
y'all. Let me tell y'all, so I was supposed to go live
0:50
last night so I could really talk about Breast Cancer Awareness Month. But I
0:57
let me tell y'all, I had no internet spined. They had to come
1:00
to Day to fix my internet. So we up and were running today,
1:03
and we're gonna We're gonna be brief with this episode tonight, because again,
1:07
I know, Breast Cancer Awareness Month is in October, but I don't care
1:11
if it's November first. Breast cancer just does not Awareness just does not end
1:17
in October. So I'm talking about it tonight. I want to address how
1:22
it affects Black women and how much of a higher risk we are when it
1:29
comes to breast cancer. I will also provide resources of websites that you guys
1:34
can go to if you cannot afford breast cancer screening, you know, to
1:41
get your mammograms. So I will provide all those resources. But again,
1:45
y'all, welcome back to another episode of Black Girl Interrupted. Y'all, let
1:49
me say this y'all know, before I start any episode, I always have
1:53
to do a mental health check in. Y'all know this, So let me
1:57
tell y'all this. I made a post the other day on Facebook about my
2:00
mental but I want to say this, shout out to my doctors that are
2:06
really taking my mental health issues serious. Anybody, if you are struggling,
2:15
if you are lost, if you're in the dark, please go seek health.
2:20
I cannot stress that enough. I say that because the suicide rates are
2:27
increasing. That is actually the third leading cause of death in Black men is
2:30
suicide. Please do not be afraid to get therapy. Please do not be
2:36
afraid to reach out and tell someone you need help. You are not alone,
2:39
you are not by yourself. I will honestly say today is a better
2:44
day for me than what it's been these last seven days. Unfortunately, I
2:52
had to step away from Black Girl Interrupted for just a moment because I had
2:55
to get my mental in check. Because if I'm gonna be good to y'all,
2:59
I have to first be good with me. So I never want to
3:02
come and do a show when my energy is vibrating very low. So if
3:07
I disappear for just a moment, just know that I'm really trying to get
3:10
my mental back in one space because I want to be very productive for you
3:15
guys. I want to come and I want to exhume the most positive energy
3:19
that I could ever possibly have because I want to do this and I want
3:23
to make a difference. I do this because this is what I love to
3:25
do. So again, I'm doing my mental health check ins. Y'all know,
3:30
I always have to check in with you. I always have to make
3:34
sure you guys are good. But in order for me to make sure you
3:38
guys are good, I have to first be good because energy is everything.
3:44
So here go. My sister came up. Baby, I miss you,
3:52
I love you. Oh my gosh, there's my baby trade trade. I
3:57
love you, I love you. I need to get with you because I
4:01
have an episode that I'm working on right now. I definitely want to collab
4:05
with you. So if you are still tuned in, call me if you
4:09
still have my phone number. If not, message me your phone numbers so
4:12
I can call you because I definitely want to put you in on this right
4:15
here. Hey my Selssie, my sissy says, Hey, Sis, You're
4:18
amazing and keep going to do I love you, I love you so much.
4:23
I missed y'all and they're gonna my girl and that. Let me tell
4:26
y'all, I have some of the most amazing people around me. It's a
4:30
beautiful thing. So I can't help but be uplift that I can't help but
4:34
to be encouraged and to keep doing what I do. So I guess I'll
4:42
wait to the end to do my motivational inspirational video. But tonight I want
4:46
to jump into tonight's topic. And like I said, I know, breast
4:50
cancer Awareness Month was October, but I don't care. Breast cancer awareness never
4:57
stops, just like mental health awareness never stops, domestic violence awareness never stops,
5:01
autism never stops. So'm I really want us to stop just doing things
5:10
because it's that month, because breast cancer affects women every day, not just
5:15
the month of October. So tonight, tonight, tonight, breast cancer Awareness
5:23
Month. Pink Pink. Let me say this, when it comes to breast
5:30
cancer, man, black women encounter so many disparities when it comes to breast
5:38
cancer. So I want to rule this video, but let me let's talk
5:46
about this first before I roll into the video. So I want to talk
5:49
about the disparities of Black women and breast cancer. So y'all know I'm a
5:56
stats person. I'm a numbers person. Anytime I bring you any types of
6:00
conversations, I have to bring some type of stats, numbers, facts,
6:04
whatever. So I was looking at some of the statistics when it comes to
6:11
the disparities that Black women encounter when it comes to breast cancer. So one
6:16
of the stats that I did find this as breast cancer incidents rates among Black
6:21
and white women are close, but the mortality rates are markedly different, with
6:27
Black women having a forty percent higher death rate from breast cancer. As I
6:35
was getting all my research together to do this show, I was again couldn't
6:43
believe the numbers of the mortality rate when it comes to African American women,
6:51
and it's younger by the day. Okay, looking at another statistic, it's
7:00
as among women under fifty, the disparity is even greater. While young women
7:06
have a higher incidence of aggressive cancers, young Black women have doubled the mortality
7:15
rate of young white women. For Black women, we are perishing at higher
7:25
rates when it comes to breast cancer. And then it's the aggressive forms of
7:31
cancer. So let's jump into this I'm gonna roll this video and then I
7:38
want to get back into this conversation because this is serious here. If you
7:45
have not gone to get your tata's checked leads, if you are over the
7:51
age I believe it's thirty. I know it's forty, but they may have
7:56
lowered the number the age rate to get a mammogrant. But if you are
8:01
eligible and able, please do your breast cancer checks. Please go get your
8:09
mammograms. I have been doing mammograms since two thousand and eight. A lot
8:15
of people know, a lot of people may not know, but my mother
8:16
is a two time breast cancer survivor. My mother was first diagnosed in two
8:22
thousand and seven. My mother had a mostectomy of her left breast. Luckily,
8:30
by the time the cancer by the time my mother was diagnosed with breast
8:33
cancer, it was just making it to the nipple. So my mother did
8:39
end up having a mastectomy. She did have her left breast removed, only
8:43
for it to come back in the right breast. So I definitely encourage black
8:50
women or women period, but specifically black women. Please go get your mammograms.
8:56
If you are able and you are eligible and you'll qualify, lease go
9:01
get your mammograms, even if you don't qualify, even if you don't have
9:05
a history, you have to be your own advocate, okay, because a
9:11
lot of these doctors will say, oh, you're not old enough or you
9:15
don't have a history of it doesn't matter. You don't have to have a
9:18
history of cancer to be diagnosed with breast cancer. And then we're seeing this
9:24
in men. Also, for those that don't know, Richard Rowntree who just
9:28
recently passed away, suffer from breast cancer. Although he died from he passed
9:35
away from liver cancer or calling. I believe it was liver cancer, but
9:41
he himself had breast cancer a male. So it's not far fetched when we
9:48
talk about breast cancer in women, but also it happens in men more so
9:54
often in women and not so much in men. I believe the percentages like
9:58
me, maybe eight percent when it comes to breast cancer with regards to men.
10:03
So I want to roll into this where they actually discuss breast cancer awareness
10:13
and what you need to know. It is pink in the studio for a
10:18
reason. October's Breast Awareness Cancer Month, and we're going to be talking about
10:22
prevention, how you can also treat the disease and also how we can help.
10:26
Yes, a very important month devoted to education, the importance of early
10:31
detection and access to quality care. So to get us all on the same
10:33
level, I wanted to start with some basic numbers. So first off,
10:37
breast cancer. It represents approximately thirty percent of all cancers. And also it
10:41
unfortunately, it's the most common cancer diagnosed within the United States. Equates to
10:46
approximately twenty two hundred and twenty thousand women and almost two thousand men each and
10:50
every year. The incident rate we've seen in recent years, unfortunately has increased
10:54
by about half a percent. Secondly, risk factors. The most common risk
10:58
factor is age. The median age of diagnosis is the age of sixty two.
11:03
That means that half of those diagnosed are under the age of sixty two.
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Also inherited genetic risk factors, family history, first degree relatives with the
11:11
history of breast or varying cancer, and those who have dense breasts. And
11:15
to be specific about that density and breast density is diagnosed on imaging. It's
11:20
not something that can be diagnosed on exam. Let me get your you gotta
11:22
get your imaging done. Got to get the imaging done. Bringing it to
11:26
that screening. That discussion screening and discussions about screening should start at the age
11:31
of forty, and most people don't realize it, but most insurance coverage it
11:33
should be all cover mammograms every one to two years for women at the age
11:37
of forty. It's important to understand your coverage the very same way that you
11:41
understand your bank account. And then I think the most important number is survivors.
11:46
Right now in the United States, there are more than four million women
11:50
and men that are surviving breast cancer and currently undergoing treatment, and I think
11:52
that that number is the most important, especially to draw on that collective strength.
11:56
They are thriving and early detection is keysly and many don't realize it,
12:01
but if you find breast cancer at the earliest stages, your five year survivalry
12:05
can be as high as ninety nine percent. So start that discussion about mammograms,
12:09
get in there and make sure that you just answer all your questions answered.
12:13
And look, I can say it can be scary to go in and
12:15
get that imaging done, but it's so much more important to do it now
12:18
and catch it early. Yes, get it out of the way. Unfortunately,
12:22
in the emergency room. I'm usually at the very beginning of many stories
12:26
of their breast cancer when they're finding masses and trying to understand what can be
12:28
the cause. And again, getting it out of the way is so key,
12:33
so important. Don't put it off. It's your health. Treat it
12:35
as the most important thing in your life. Can't say it enough, Doc,
12:37
Thank you. Well. Hey there, GMA fans, Robin Roberts here,
12:41
thanks for checking out our YouTube channel. Lots of great stuff here,
12:46
so go on click the subscribe button right over here to get more of awesome
12:50
videos and content from GMA every day anytime. We thank you for watching,
12:56
and we'll see you in the morning on GMA. Ooh boy, I tell
13:01
you, you know, looking at that and listening to how scary it could
13:09
be when you go in for your mammogram because you always go in thinking the
13:13
worst. You always assume it's gonna be something bad. But again, breast
13:22
cancer is like one of the easiest cancers to treat, but it's also impaired
13:28
to that you are doing your breast your self breast exams every chance you're able
13:35
to get. If you feel anything abnormal in your breath, in your breast,
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I'm so sorry in your breast Please make sure that you are expressing this
13:46
to your primary care physicians. If you feel like your primary care physician is
13:50
not listening to you, you find you another doctor that takes your health seriously,
13:58
because that's that's the easy way. The earlier you're able to detect,
14:03
the higher your survivorates to possibly be. So going back into breast cancer,
14:13
and again the disparities of black women, I see also social, economic,
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and behavioral factors may partially account for disparities. Black women are statistically more likely
14:30
to have diabetes, heart disease, and obesity and less likely to breastfeed.
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But I do let me say this with regards to breastfeeding, I am seeing
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more women that are starting to breastfeed. So shout out to y'all for doing
14:46
that. I love that. Excuse me, y'all. But going back into
14:54
the behavioral factors. When it comes to breast cancer, breast cancer awareness,
15:01
it's imperative. I cannot stress it enough when I see it is imperative that
15:07
you are getting the screening stuff. Again, as they stated at the age
15:13
of forty, even before the age of forty, you need to start having
15:18
these conversations with your doctor. You need to start letting them know. Hey,
15:24
I know I'm not quite forty yet, but I'm interested in the mammograms.
15:31
I say, whether you have a family history of breast cancer or ovarian
15:35
cancer, I still say it's imperative that you get checked. You know,
15:43
I myself did the brick of testing, and I'll get into that further on
15:48
into the episode where they did a genetic testing, because now they're saying cancer
15:56
is hereditary. And so I did my broker testing. And I did this
16:02
a few years ago, maybe about four years ago maybe, and I was
16:07
a high risk for I was Broker positive. So I tested. I was
16:11
a high risk for breast cancer as well as ovarian cancer. So fingers crossed
16:18
that none of that ever comes to pass, even though I carry the gene
16:21
mutation for it. I prayed that it doesn't. You know, I've stopped
16:26
smoking now, y'all don't bother me about my can do on that, but
16:30
my weight is down, uh, trying to really keep my health and check.
16:37
You know, I think me stopping me being able to quit smoking was
16:41
one of the best things that I could have ever done, because smoking increases
16:44
your risk of cancer. So anything I could do to decrease the risk.
16:48
Decrease the risks, I'll do so back into Breast Cancer Awareness Month. So
16:57
I'm gonna post a couple of webs sites that I did find with regards to
17:03
breast cancer, and then we're just gonna keep the conversation rolling out, you
17:07
know, throughout the show, I will post the different websites and then I'll
17:11
repost them back at the end. For anybody that cannot afford to go and
17:18
do their mammogram screening, they do have resources that could be free or low
17:22
costs and could provide financial assistance based on the area that you live in.
17:30
So here is one of the websites that I found. It's called the National
17:36
Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program. You can go to that website.
17:41
It will provide your resources of low costs or potentially free mammogram screening in your
17:49
area. And then there was another one that I found. You have the
17:56
American I'm so sorry. Yes, the American Can Answer Society provides resources,
18:03
a resource list for free, low cost mammograms and financial assistance based on your
18:07
location. So those are two that I have found, but I found others
18:12
and I will post those later. All right, So jumping back into our
18:18
breast cancer awareness again. As I stated earlier, black women are disproportionately affected
18:26
by more aggressive subtypes such as triple negative breast cancer and inflammatory breast cancer,
18:33
and they are likely to be diagnosed at younger ages. I'm sorry I forgot
18:38
to put ages on here, but this is sad. You know when you
18:45
sit in and you look at these statistics, you sit and you look at
18:49
these cases and they increase every year for black women to have a forty percent
18:59
higher death rate from breast cancer than white women. Yeah, mortality rate when
19:10
it comes to breast cancer and black women. Let me go back, all
19:21
right, so let me move this banner out of the way, so I'm
19:23
gonna I have poster right here the barriers for Black women when it comes to
19:30
breast cancer. We get the implicit bias from health care providers, delays in
19:37
the diagnosis, and then financial factors because you have a lot of women out
19:41
here, are a lot of families out here that cannot afford insurance or cannot
19:47
afford the mammograms, and then the delays in diagnosis. A lot of women,
19:56
Black women particularly are being misdiagnosed or they're not being diagnosed in time,
20:02
and by the time they are diagnosed, the cancer is potentially at a stage
20:07
three or a stage four and it's aggressive. And then the implicit bias from
20:14
the healthcare providers when it comes to black women, we have a higher mortality
20:21
rate than white women because they don't take our pain and our issue serious.
20:29
We're seeing and I know this is not cancer related, but we are seeing
20:34
more women Black women who are dying in childbirths because doctors are not taking their
20:42
issue seriously. So if your doctor is not advocating for you, you have
20:49
to get out here and you have to advocate for yourself if something is wrong,
20:55
if you feel something is off in your body and your doctor is not
21:00
listening to you, it's time for you to go find you another position,
21:04
someone that will take your issues, that will listen to you and give you
21:10
sound advice on what you need to do going forward. But that's the biggest
21:17
thing is that implicit bias from health care providers. As you've noticed, Black
21:23
people are treated less than with health care than whites because we've been told or
21:33
we don't feel pain, or we could take pain, or our issues are
21:37
not that bad. Yes, they are, but again, you start treating
21:45
these providers like job interviews. If you are currently seeing a primary care physici.
21:51
If you are currently seeing a primary care physician, excuse me, and
21:55
you don't feel like that they are being accommodating to your needs or not listening
21:59
to your concerns, you go find you another doctor that will. And that's
22:04
one of the things we don't do as black people. We wait until the
22:08
last minute to go in and want to seek help. Anytime anything feels off
22:15
in your body, go see your doctor. Stop shrugging it off. Stop
22:23
oh, stop taking tiling all and all this thinking it's gonna go away,
22:26
because it could be something major. So I encourage you black women. Please,
22:33
if you are the ages of forty or an over, or you have
22:37
a history of breast cancer, please go and advocate for yourself. Please make
22:45
sure you are scheduling your mammograms. Please make sure that you're going every year.
22:52
Anytime you see a change or you feel a change, please get into
22:56
your doctor. Please address those concerns. Go in with your list and address
23:02
every last one. I'm with your doctors. And again, if you are
23:07
dealing with the provider that is not that you feel is not listening to you,
23:12
You'll find you one that will because those are absolutely The biggest thing is
23:21
we have to advocate for ourselves and if you don't, who will. So
23:27
let's be very proactive when it comes to our health. So going back into
23:37
the breast cancer soul, here we go. Let me see if I can
23:42
make this a little bigger, all right. So when it comes to early
23:49
cancer screen excuse me and detection at risk patience should be screened every twelve months.
24:00
You want to keep your regularly scheduled obgyn appointments that include a clinical breast
24:06
exam. You should start receiving mammograms regularly after the age of forty and you
24:12
also need to monitor your breast for lumps and changes, whether it be in
24:17
the skin, the nipple, or the size of the breast. There's also
24:25
genetic counseling, which again I will get into, which is the Burker testing.
24:30
The genetic counseling is the screening to determine the risk that could be done
24:36
through blood or saliva tests and recommended exams and tests with post follow up.
24:41
If you are at risk, okay, and then it could lead to possible
24:47
hormone therapy or prophylactic surgery. That is the genetic counseling, which is the
24:52
Burke A, Burker one and Burker two. Again. I will get into
24:56
that later into the shows, so you guys will get under a clearer understanding
25:02
of what I mean when I say the mutation, the gene mutation. All
25:08
right, So when it comes to the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer,
25:12
you have your mammography, that's you know, where they check to c You
25:18
may have a biopsy which leads into surgery, and then you have your chemotherapy
25:25
rate some require chemo, some require radiation. Some people cannot take radiation,
25:32
especially if you have heart issues. Then you have the hormonal therapy. Then
25:37
comes the plastic surgery. Excuse me. You have your fertility counseling and clinical
25:42
trials, but don't forget your supportive services nutrition, physical therapy, massage,
25:52
therapy, counseling. Counseling is big because once you're diagnosed with cancer, whether
26:00
you break the breast cancer, lung cancer, brain cancer, skin cancer,
26:03
bone cancer, or any disease, that emotional support is very imperative and that's
26:10
something you definitely need because you don't this is being diagnosed with with a terminal
26:17
illness is never something you want to go through alone, so you definitely need
26:22
that support system. You definitely need that group of people that will keep you
26:26
encouraged and uplifted. You definitely need that the educational resources. Educate yourself,
26:37
learn about breast cancer, learn what you need to look for when you are
26:41
doing your self breast exams at home, in the bathroom, in your bedroom,
26:45
you know, wherever you feel comfortable. If you're laying across your couch,
26:48
you know, just simply raise your arm up, check up on,
26:52
check the left side of your breast, check the right side, check under
26:57
squeeze, and make sure there's no discharge that comes out of your breast.
27:02
You want to note all those changes that you see when they happen, so
27:06
once you get into your doctor, you're able to tell and explain specifically what
27:11
changes you've seen. Again, if you don't advocate for you, who will.
27:18
You have to be your own spokesperson. And again, if you find
27:22
a doctor that's not willing to address or listen to your concerns, babe,
27:27
you need to get rid of him or her and find you a provider that
27:32
will also engagement. You definitely want to find programs excuse me for breast cancer
27:41
survivors that gives you the opportunity to get involved and share your similar journeys aka
27:48
like a support group. Again, you want to be around people that are
27:52
dealing with it or have been through it, because they will be the ones
27:56
to help you along your journey and what to expect. Although everyone's symptoms and
28:03
treatments are different, but they can give you their experience and what it was
28:07
like when they were first diagnosed. So again, support groups are very imperative.
28:15
Self care, self checking is very imperative. Advocacy for your health is
28:22
absolutely imperative, and I cannot trust that enough. I go get my mammogram
28:29
this month and I will definitely let you guys know what the results are because
28:33
again, my mother had breast cancer twice. I have friends that are breast
28:38
cancer survivors. I have friends of friends that have passed away from breast cancer
28:45
because they by the time they were diagnosed, it was too late, too
28:51
late. So what we can do as a people, again, you have
28:57
to be your own. You have to be your you have to be your
29:00
advocate. We have to stop depending on others and stop listening to what the
29:08
naysayers say, and you going you take care of you. That's what you
29:12
do. You're going you protect yourself. You going there and you let them
29:17
know, Hey, this doesn't feel right, this doesn't look right. I've
29:19
noticed this change. You need to do that because if you don't, who
29:26
will. Again, when it comes to the breast cancer, so again,
29:37
you have your early detection. I wanted to make a bigger y'all, your
29:41
early detection. So it says one in eight women will develop breast cancer in
29:47
her lifetime, so everyone in eight. There's a new case of invasive breast
29:55
cancer diagnosed every two minutes. Again, y'all, let's let's run these numbers
30:03
again. One in eight women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. A
30:15
new case of invasive breast cancer is diagnosed every two minutes. What can we
30:22
do? What can we do? Your early detection and your prevention. Again,
30:33
those annual mammograms start at the age of forty some or less if you
30:37
have a history of breast cancer. Again, I've been getting mammograms since two
30:45
thousand and eight, and here we are twenty and twenty three, so for
30:48
the last fifteen years, so since I was twenty nine years old, thirty.
30:56
That's how long I've been getting mammograms for the last fifteen years. You
31:02
gotta learn to eat a healthy diet. That means, I'm not saying you
31:08
can't have your McDonald's or Burger King or Cheesecake Factor or wherever it is you
31:14
like to go, but moderations. You gotta get up and you gotta be
31:21
physically active, so you can't sit in the house all day like me.
31:26
They want you to get out and walk and maybe y'all go to the gym,
31:33
perform self examinations regularly, so which means, you know, maybe do
31:38
it every week once a week when you get out of the shower, or
31:41
maybe when you're laying in the bed and you're watching TV, throw that left
31:45
arm up and feel around in a circle of motion, Squeeze the nipple,
31:51
make sure there's no discharge that comes out. Then you raise that right arm
31:56
and you do that right do the right breast, same way. You want
32:00
to document any lumps or bumps that you may find, and if there's any
32:07
discharge that comes out of your breast, you want to notate that. You
32:10
want to document all of that because again it's imperative that you are getting that
32:15
you're doing the early detection and the prevention. When it comes to breast cancer,
32:19
again, y'all, one in eight women will develop breast cancer in her
32:24
lifetime. And again, every two minutes, a new case of embrasive invasive
32:30
breast cancer is diagnosed. But remember, y'all, I told y'all the mortality
32:35
rate forty percent higher than white women. Black women when it comes to breast
32:43
cancer, forty percent higher mortality rate. And again, by the time we're
32:51
diagnosed, it's aggressive. It's an aggressive form of breast cancer. I want
33:00
to run back. I want to run back to that again, says again.
33:07
Among women under fifty, under the age of fifty, ladies and gentlemen,
33:13
the disparity is even greater. Again, while young women have a higher
33:17
incidence of aggressive cancers, young Black women have double the mortality rate of young
33:25
white women forty percent, y'all under the age of fifty. When I tell
33:40
y'all, I get a lot of calls, y'all about people that have been
33:46
diagnosed with cancer, whether it's liver cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer,
33:52
bone cancer, skin cancer. I get those calls, and I'm gonna tell
33:57
you the saddest part to me is when I have that patient's information up,
34:04
I look at the age. I look at the age a few weeks ago,
34:13
y'all, No, about a month ago. Maybe a young man fifty
34:17
years old going in the hospice, stage four colon cancer, fifty fifty years
34:30
old, y'all. Like they say, you have to treat your body like
34:38
a temple. You have to take care of it. If you want your
34:42
body to take care of you, you have to take care of your body.
34:46
But being in a health care feel, y'all, I see so many
34:50
things. I hear so many stories. See I read so much information about
34:57
patience that I can't help but want to get my health and check. You
35:04
know, I can't help but want to take care of my body because these
35:09
cancer diagnosis, they're getting younger and younger by the day, by the day.
35:21
Had a call to day patient had no coverage for a colonoscopy, which
35:29
is early detection for colon cancer. No coverage. You hear that, no
35:37
coverage even though the patient has a family history. No coverage. So I
35:49
see a lot. I hear a lot when it comes to these different illnesses.
35:57
But the one that always takes me down and says, this breast cancer
36:01
and to know men are developing breast cancer as well. Again, rich A
36:07
Roundtree who just passed have breast cancer. So men can get breast cancer just
36:19
like women. Kids can get breast cancer. Yeah. So again I'm gonna
36:29
stress this. You have to be your own advocate. You have to advocate
36:35
for your health. You have to get out there and you have to speak.
36:40
You find you a doctor that will take your concerns seriously. I have
36:49
a video, Uh, let me get back to it where they talk about
36:59
the importance of breast cancer detection. Here we go. Breast cancer accounts for
37:06
about thirty percent of all new cancers for women. For Black women, that
37:10
diagnosis often comes at a later stage than for others. Debora Roberts has more
37:15
on the disparity, a very very personal story for her. Good morning dev
37:21
Good morning Robin. Yeah. I'm here for my overdue breast cancer screening.
37:24
Like a lot of women, I've put off my exams. But my doctor
37:29
is my team. Doctors Cassell, doctor Mitnick, and doctor Tachman don't want
37:32
to hear that. They want me triple screen for breast cancer, which includes
37:37
a mammogram, a sonogram, and today an MRI. I am at higher
37:42
risk because I have a family history and I'm a woman of color, and
37:45
that's a combination I now personally know can be deadly. Breast cancer awareness is
37:52
paramount for my sisters and me. In two thousand and nine, we lost
37:55
many to the disease at age fifty six. Then in twenty nineteen, Janet
38:00
was diagnosed too. After chemo and radiation, Thankfully she's now cancer free,
38:06
but our worries haven't gone away. Bernadette Osen knows that feeling my mortality was
38:15
right there in my face. In twenty twenty one, like Janet, she
38:19
was diagnosed with invasive ductyl carcinoma, and she soon learned that age and lifestyle
38:23
are not predictors for breast cancer. I don't eat red meat. I was
38:29
walking four miles a day. Then another sobering discovery, Black women are forty
38:34
one percent more likely to die from breast cancer than white women, despite having
38:38
similar incidence rates. Incident's rates of breast cancer among black women, coupled with
38:44
the fact that black women are more likely to get biologically aggressive patterns of the
38:47
disease, has resulted in a widening of the mortality gap. For twenty years,
38:52
doctor Lisa Newman has been researching key socioeconomic, genetic, and systemic race
38:59
disparities that compounded stack high against Black women. They have done leaps and bounds
39:06
with breast cancer research. It is not a death sentence, It is actually
39:10
a life sentence. And as Bernadette, a single mom of two knows,
39:15
early detection is key. My treatment's done, this course is run, and
39:22
I have one by way after chemo this summer. She's turning the page.
39:30
But that's not the case for so many other black women. Newman says,
39:34
poverty rates, the likelihood of being under insured. These all result in delays
39:38
in making a breast cancer diagnosis, inadequate treatment, in complete treatment. So
39:45
survivors like Donna Robinson in remission eleven years, have found a calling. The
39:50
story that captured me was a young black girl that was going through chemotherapy and
39:57
she didn't have transportation, and she would go for chemo treatment and catch the
40:01
bus and ride home. In Saint Louis, Missouri, where the black white
40:06
disparity in breast cancer death is among the fifth highest in the country. Donna's
40:09
giving new meaning to purpose driven treatment is hard. It's hard emotionally, it's
40:15
hard physically. She's a volunteer with the American Cancer Society's Road to Recovery,
40:22
a program pairing cancer patients in need of transportation with drivers like herself. If
40:27
one person's heart is a little lighter, I've done something that makes volunteering and
40:32
worthwhile. But not all disparities are financial. Systemic racism affects all aspects of
40:38
society, including public health, and it unfortunately remains true that there are some
40:45
pretty appalling disparities in delivery of breast cancer care. My first experience was not
40:51
enjoyable. It's why the Mitchell sisters out of Arkansas are embracing the Grabbing their
40:57
Girls campaign and taking on health to get yah. It is a scary thing
41:01
to go to the doctor for anything, definitely to go for screening for cancer,
41:07
and no matter what the outcome, no matter what the news, having
41:12
great support there is key to everything. These survivors teach us that self advocacy
41:19
is so urgent in taking care of ourselves and finding you know, early detection.
41:23
So it's up to us to push our doctors, our insurance companies,
41:28
anything we can do to stay vigilant and of course to stay up on our
41:31
screenings and I'm going in for mine right after this, Robin, And how
41:36
are you feeling about that, dab. I'm a little nervous. I'm always
41:40
a little nervous when I do these things, but you know, I'm also
41:44
very hopeful to We'll be checking with you later, you know that, all
41:47
right, Tip, take care? Thank you well, Hey there, GMA
41:52
fans, Robin Roberts here, thanks for checking out our YouTube chat. A
41:54
lots of great stuff here, so go on click the subscribe button right over
42:00
here to get more of awesome videos and content from GMA every day anytime.
42:06
We thank you for watching, and we'll see you in the morning. On
42:08
GMA, you can't help but get emotional when you watch stuff like that and
42:17
when you hear these stories, and to know that we are thought of less
42:28
than when it comes to our health care, like you really can't like you
42:32
can't help but to be sad about it, because we are dealing with a
42:42
lot of disparities when it comes to our health care. Even if you're going
42:45
to the doctor for just a simple cold, they're not listening to us.
42:52
But you do have to find a provider that will listen to you. Again,
42:58
I stated, and I'm gonna repeat this again. You have to be
43:01
your own advocate. A lot of these doctors don't care. A lot of
43:08
us again, as they said, we're under insured or we cannot afford insurance.
43:15
A lot of people don't even qualify for Medicaid because they say you make
43:20
too much money. But please, and I cannot stress this enough again,
43:28
be your own advocate. Anything feels off of abnormal in your body, you
43:35
go to your doctor, go to a clinic. Something I wish things would
43:44
change. We deserve the same amount of health care as our whites, Asians
43:51
or Latinos. We deserve the saint. Unfortunately we'll never get that, but
43:58
we do. We deserve the saint level of care and respect when we go
44:02
in to see these doctors. And I don't care if you have insurance through
44:07
your job, through the marketplace, or you have government such as Medicare and
44:14
Medicaid, I don't care. I feel like we should all be treated the
44:16
same. But again, it is imperative. The earlier you are able to
44:24
detect, the easier it is for it to be treated. Again, do
44:30
yourself exams, throw that right arm up, I'm gonna, I'm gonna and
44:35
you check squeeze the nipple, and then you do your right or however you
44:40
do it, do your right, your left, but make sure you are
44:43
checking both of your breast. Make sure you're notating any changes in your breast
44:49
that you see, if the if the skin looks different, if your nipple
44:52
starts to become inverted, if you feel any type of lumps, if you're
44:57
leaking any type of discharge that has never what happened before, you document that
45:01
and you make yourself an appointment to get into your doctor to get that check
45:06
immediately. Again, we are forty one percent higher forty one. I said
45:15
forty, but they gave us forty one, So forty one percent. When
45:21
it comes to breast cancer mortality rate, y'all forty one percent than white women,
45:37
and we're being diagnosed at younger ages. That's deep. That's very deep.
45:49
Then I also found another stat again, I want to go into the
45:55
Burker testing, the Burker one and the Burker two, which is the genetic
46:00
testing. That is the testing that to determine if you carry the gene mutation
46:07
for breast cancer or ovarian cancer. So the Bricer one and Bricker two are
46:15
two genes that are important to fighting cancer. They are tumor suppressor genes.
46:21
Now follow me. Burka one and Burker two again are the two genes that
46:28
are important to fighting cancer. They are tumor suppressor genes. When the work,
46:36
When they work normally, these genes help keep breast ovarian and other types
46:43
of cells from growing. So again that's the Burka one in the Burker two.
46:51
Those are the two most important genes that are important to fighting cancer because
46:58
what they do is they help suppress the two. They're tumor suppressors. And
47:05
again, when they're working normally, these genes helped to keep breast ovarian and
47:10
other types of cells from growing. Let me roll this clip that gives you
47:15
a little more detail on Burka and then I'm gonna start posting the resources excuse
47:23
me that I found with regards to them, We're gonna go ahead and bring
47:28
the show to it again. I wasn't doing this was not gonna be a
47:30
long show tonight. I wanted to just recognize Breast Cancer Awareness Month, although
47:37
I was not able to do it last night. I said, hey,
47:39
I know it's November first, but hey, you, I don't feel like
47:45
there's a specific date or month that you don't discuss breast cancer, although yes,
47:50
I know they dedicate October. But we need to talk about this every
47:53
day, as well as mental health and domestic violence, AIDS, HIV.
47:59
All of that needs to be discuss every day, not just particular months of
48:02
a year. But that's just my own opinion. Some people may agree,
48:07
some may not agree, but here we go. What the burka is.
48:15
Breast cancer strikes women and men of all ages and races. White women are
48:19
slightly more likely to get breast cancer, However, Black women are forty percent
48:23
more likely to die from the disease. While researchers aren't exactly sure why there
48:29
is such a striking disparity, some say it could be the fewer minorities are
48:31
aware of their hereditary breast cancer risks and only a very small percentage undergo genetic
48:37
testing. Sarah Coosta has some steps of women of color to consider to lower
48:42
the risk and save lives. Neonatal intensive care nurse came yat to Fraser feels
48:46
empowered in her job helping premises get healthy. I take care of them from
48:51
the time they are born until the time they go home with their families,
48:54
but in her personal life, Fraser could do very little as she watched one
48:59
relative out after another after another battle breast cancer. My mother just passed away
49:04
from breast cancer. Her sister is currently dealing with stage four triple negative breast
49:09
cancer. She lost her older sister to breast cancer, and my grandmother,
49:15
her mother, also had breast cancer. Three aunts on her father's side all
49:20
had breast cancer. Gets in multiple generations. There's a lot of affected people.
49:24
With genetic testing, technicians take a person's blood or saliva and look for
49:29
mutations. With testing, patients like Frasier can take preventative measures if they test
49:35
positive for a gene mutation. We may want to screen your breasts more frequently.
49:38
We may want to do a colonoscopy earlier than you would have needed.
49:43
A very low percentage of black women pursue genetic testing, in part because of
49:46
common misconceptions. One is that this is specialty medicine and you have to be
49:52
sort of, you know, rich or famous to get this testing. Not
49:55
true at all. Most insurance now covers genetic tests staying Over the past decade,
50:00
the cost of the testing has dropped to about two hundred and fifty dollars
50:04
and sometimes as little as one hundred dollars. Despite her strong family history.
50:08
None of Fraser's doctors recommended genetic testing until she asked about it. It's not
50:14
painful, it's nothing bad. It can very well save your life or extend
50:19
your life. Sarah Coosta case that twelveth News. So again, you have
50:29
to advocate for yourself. You have to start asking questions when you go in
50:34
and you see your providers. As this woman in the video that I just
50:38
played, she knew nothing about this burke of testing, nothing about it until
50:44
she asked about it, because no doctor had ever given her had offered that
50:51
to her, even though despite the fact that she has multiple family members on
50:57
both mother and father's side that have breast cancer, and not one provider said,
51:06
let's do this genetic testing to see where you fall. Do you carry
51:13
the gene mutation? And this is what I mean. And I'm gonna run
51:16
this back one more time. Self advocacy. You have to go in and
51:22
speak for yourself. These doctors are not gonna do it. You have to.
51:30
And if you find a doctor that is not willing to address your concerns
51:36
or sound empathetic or compassionate with regards to how you're feeling, you go find
51:40
you another doctor. Unfortunately, we do encounter these disparities again, we do.
51:52
A lot of us can't afford insurance, a lot of us can't afford
51:55
Medicaid or Medicare because they say, oh, you make too much money.
52:00
And then you wonder why there's so many people run that are out here that
52:05
are suffering from cancer and don't even know it. Then you have patients that
52:12
are being misdiagnosed, or you have patients that are having a delay in the
52:19
diagnosis. So by the time the person is diagnosed, it's already very aggressive.
52:25
You're in stage three, stage four. You have to advocate for yourself.
52:35
You find you again, You find you a provider. You push these
52:38
doctors, you push these insurance companies. Your health is everything. And again,
52:45
if you don't take care of you, who else will? Who else
52:52
will? Self care is very important. Self advocacy is very important. Follow
53:04
everything you can for early detection. Again, when you get about thirty five,
53:13
start speaking with your provider, thirty six, thirty seven, start speaking
53:19
at the age of forty. Please start getting your mammograms. Every year you
53:24
feel something off or different, you document that. You let your doctors know,
53:34
build that beautiful support team that you need that will help you on your
53:37
journey, because we all need that, and that's imperative. Being able to
53:44
have the support as you go on your journey is imperative. It's much needed.
53:51
It makes it a lot easier for you to deal with when you know
53:54
you have the support not only of the people around, but of your doctors.
54:00
That definitely makes a difference. When you have a doctor that is concerned
54:06
and shows that they're concerned about your health, that's that's imperative. I know
54:15
it's it's easier said than done. I know this, I know this,
54:22
But you gotta take care of you. You gotta be your own spokesperson.
54:29
You gotta be your own personal cheerleader. You gotta get out there and you
54:32
have to make sure your health is good. Whether whether they listen or not.
54:39
You gotta take care of you. You gotta put you first. Gotta
54:45
put you first. So again, y'all, I know, October is Breast
54:54
cancer Awareness month. As you can see, let me get my fingers together.
55:02
There we go. I put the ribbon up for breast cancer, Think
55:06
Pink, take care of those tatas. Again, some of the resources that
55:15
I did find. Let me go, let me go back again. You
55:22
have the National Cancer Institute. Information about free or low cost mammogram screening programs
55:30
is available through NCI's Cancer Information Service line and their phone number is one eight
55:37
hundred four two two six two three seven. And I will leave this down
55:43
at the bottom for a few moments because I do have a couple of other
55:46
resources that I was able to locate. This is for anyone that cannot afford
55:52
mammograms or maybe do not have insurance. Here is one resource down here at
56:00
the bottom. Again, this is the National Cancer Institute. They give you
56:07
information about free or low cost mammogram screening programs that are available through the NCIS
56:14
Cancer's information and their phone number again is down here at the bottom. It
56:19
is one eight hundred four two two six two three seven. Again that is
56:24
the National Cancer Institute, and again they provide you information about free or low
56:31
cost mammogram screening. I also found the Cancer Financial Assistance Coalition, and the
56:43
c FACT is a coalition of organizations that help patients reduce financial barriers during cancer
56:49
treatment. So this UH program here, the Cancer the Cancer Financial Assistant Coalition
56:55
will help you to reduce the financial barriers that you may in core during your
57:01
cancer treatment. I will leave this up for about thirty more seconds and then
57:07
I'll go back and post the last two resources. But again, welcome back
57:15
to another episode of Black Girl Interrupted. I just I want to say thank
57:20
you guys for even tuning in and showing into support for tonight's show. Again,
57:24
I did you know, Like I told you all, this was not
57:27
gonna be a very long show because next week I got to get messy.
57:34
But anyway, we're gonna wrap this up. But again, I still have
57:37
down at the bottom of the screen the Cancer Financial Assistance Coalition and again the
57:44
SEA FACT is a coalition of organizations that will help patients reduce financial barriers during
57:49
your cancer treatment. So it doesn't matter if you're a breast cancer, just
57:53
any type of cancer blood, long, kidney, liver, cole and pancreatic
58:00
up, cross state, brain, skin. This is the website you will
58:06
go to that will help you to reduce those financial barriers during your cancer treatments,
58:10
which is definitely something that is imperative because not only are you dealing with
58:16
a disease, but now you have to deal with the financial burden of the
58:21
cost of the treatments for your cancer. So again the Cancer Financial Assistance Coalition.
58:30
Again. I also have oh, I'm so sorry already posted that one.
58:35
We have the American Cancer Society or ACS on which does provide resource lists
58:42
for free or low cost mammograms and financial assistance based on your location. So
58:47
once you go to the American Cancer Society again, I'm gonna leave this up
58:51
for another for another minute or so. That website, the American Cancer Society,
58:58
does have resources up the list of resources that can help you get free
59:02
or maybe low cost mammograms and also financial assistance based on your location. So
59:07
you go to the website and you just input the state, but you utilize
59:12
your zip code. I'm so sorry. You put in your into your zip
59:15
code and it will pull up the resources that are available to you in your
59:19
area, whether it's for free mammograms or maybe even a low cost mammogram or
59:23
some type of financial assistance. Excuse me, and I'll leave that up for
59:30
just about thirty more seconds. Again, that is the American Cancer Society,
59:38
Okay, all right, And then I have the National Breast and Servical Cancer
59:45
Early Detection Program, which is the NBCCEEDP. You'll go to that website again,
59:53
they do provide resources for free or possibly low cost mammograms that are in
59:59
your area. That is the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program.
1:00:07
Again, I'll leave that up for a few more moments, but I also
1:00:12
want to let you guys know again when it comes to excuse me, uh,
1:00:19
the self uh, the breast exams. So here are your five steps
1:00:27
to detecting breast cancer early. So Number one, you definitely want to practice
1:00:32
your routine self exams. Number two, you want to know your risks and
1:00:40
your family history, so it's imperative that you know your family history. Number
1:00:47
three, visit your doctor regularly, so make sure you're getting those annual exams
1:00:52
every year. Make sure you're if you are able to do mammograms, please
1:00:58
make sure you are getting your mammograms every year. And in between that,
1:01:01
make sure you're keeping those obgyn appointments. Make sure you're getting your path smears.
1:01:07
That is one way for them to detect ovarian possibly cervical cancer, so
1:01:13
you want to make sure you're on top of these appointments. Number four,
1:01:16
you want to know when to get your mammogram. So if your doctor says,
1:01:21
hey, you're gonna do your mammograms every year. You want to try
1:01:23
to do your mammograms around the same time every year. Okay, you definitely
1:01:29
want to do that. And then number five, you want to do a
1:01:32
follow up after your screening or your test. When you in that follow up,
1:01:38
that's when you sit down with your doctor and you address any concerns that
1:01:42
you may have with regards to your test results. Okay, say one comes
1:01:47
back. Say it comes and you don't have cancer, or maybe they do
1:01:52
find the potential lump in your breast. You want to discuss that. You
1:01:54
want to know what options are available to you. So you want to make
1:02:00
sure again you're making a list and you're taking this into your provider and you're
1:02:05
addressing these issues or concerns you may potentially have. Again, those are five
1:02:12
steps to detecting early breast cancer early. Also again, your diet. You
1:02:17
want to eat healthy, you want to get out, and you want to
1:02:21
get active. Your alcohol consumption. I'm not saying you can't have a glass
1:02:25
of wine or two a day, but don't overdo it. If you are
1:02:30
a smoker, you may want to try to cut back on smoking or maybe
1:02:35
try to stop altogether. Again, these are ways that you can help reduce
1:02:40
the risk of any cancer diagnosis, whether it's breast, lung, liver,
1:02:46
kidney, skin, brain, et cetera. Blood you want to do and
1:02:53
make sure you stay on top of this. Please, please, please,
1:02:55
ladies and gentlemen, make sure that you are staying very proactive when it comes
1:03:01
to your well being, because again, if you're not asking questions, a
1:03:07
lot of these providers they're not They're not gonna tell you what you need to
1:03:09
do. Well, you know what, Let me back up, let me
1:03:13
not say that, let me correct myself, because you do have some providers
1:03:16
that will say, hey, have you had your mammogram yet? Have you
1:03:20
had your colonoscopy yet? Have you had this? Have you had your path
1:03:22
smear? Have you do you do self uh, the breast self exams?
1:03:27
Do you do that? You do have some providers and that may be just
1:03:30
a handful of them, but again, you have to self advocate and I'm
1:03:37
gonna keep saying that any changes in your body, write them down, make
1:03:44
sure you take that listen with you to the doctor and you say, hey,
1:03:46
you know what, dot something don't feel right, because I'm gonna let
1:03:51
you know when I go in and I see my doctor. Let me tell
1:03:54
you. I tell him everything. If and I know this may sound nad,
1:04:00
but if I start to smell a little differently, what's going on,
1:04:08
and I'll tell him, Okay, so I did switch up, you know,
1:04:12
I did switch up. Maybe the water, I did eat some garlic,
1:04:15
or maybe I eat some of your onions or something. Whatever the situation
1:04:17
is, I'm always telling my doctor. And I go in and I give
1:04:20
him the reel. Because one of the beautiful things about my provider, I
1:04:25
can't go in there and lie to him because he sees my face. He
1:04:28
knows hip Miss Pitts what's going on. And then it's like okay, and
1:04:32
then I have to break it down. I have to give him the real
1:04:36
Be honest with your providers so that way they know how to handle your situations.
1:04:42
Don't go in there and act like you're scared to know. If something
1:04:45
is wrong with you, you've experienced some type of change or some type of
1:04:48
difference, you let your provide a note. You let him know and say,
1:04:53
hey, dot, I started noticing last couple of weeks my feet are
1:04:57
swelling. You know, something along those lines. But you have to advocate
1:05:01
for yourself. That's one of the things you have to do. Uh,
1:05:09
let me post this real quick. Let me move this out of the way.
1:05:11
This is a picture that I took from M. D Anderson Cancer Center's
1:05:15
website. Let me see if I could make it bigger. With regards to
1:05:20
uh, the eleven symptoms of breast cancer. So, you may see redness.
1:05:28
Ah, these are changes in how they how your breast look and feel.
1:05:33
You may see the redness. You may feel a lump in your breast.
1:05:39
Excuse me, you may feel a lump in the armpit. Uh.
1:05:43
It may be an orange pill structure. It may be dimpling in the breast.
1:05:47
And then with your nipples, it may be a discharge. Your nipples
1:05:53
may be inverted. They may be pushing in. Your nipples may be pushing
1:05:59
in. These are just some of the things to look for with regards to
1:06:04
early breast cancer detection. So these are things to look for. Your breasts
1:06:12
look different. Document that and say hey, on November first, I noticed
1:06:17
my right breast looked a little swollen, or maybe my left breast, my
1:06:21
nipple looked a little inverted. Document that. Get into your doctor and say
1:06:27
hey, doc, so I mean right, but again, you have to
1:06:31
keep advocating for yourself. You have to put you first. You have to
1:06:35
take care of you first, because again, if you don't, who will,
1:06:41
Who will? Who will? So please take care of yourself. Ladies
1:06:51
and gentlemen, please take care of yourself. Please be your own advocate.
1:06:58
If you feel like your doctor is not listening to you, you go,
1:07:01
you find and you go and find one that will, one that will take
1:07:05
your health care. Seriously, I'm so sorry we're rolling into the final thoughts,
1:07:12
but you find that provider. You be your own advocate. Again.
1:07:17
Make sure you're doing those breast exams. Your self breast exams. You could
1:07:21
just be laying in a bed and you just rub and squeeze, squeeze the
1:07:27
nipple. If there's any type of discharge that you've never seen before, you
1:07:30
document that. Then you're lay in a bed and you go to your left
1:07:34
or right however you want to do it. But just make sure you're doing
1:07:38
this. If you don't want to do it in a bed, do it
1:07:40
when you get out of the shower. You know, when you're naked.
1:07:45
If you're laying across the sofa and you're watching TV and you just you know,
1:07:47
check takes all about maybe less than five minutes for you to check any
1:07:54
changes, lumps, bomps that you may see. You document that, and
1:07:58
you let your provider no once you get in there. Hugh. When it
1:08:04
comes to breast cancer, y'all, like the young lady said, it's not
1:08:13
a death sentence. The earlier you get it detected, the earlier the treatment
1:08:18
can begin. Please make sure you have a strong support group around you as
1:08:26
you go on this journey. Please make sure that you are asking questions and
1:08:33
you're letting your providers know, Hey, something ain't right. You're letting them
1:08:39
know. You have to be your voice for yourself. You have to be
1:08:44
your own voice. If they don't listen, you'll find you someone that will.
1:08:53
You're in control of your life. Take care of yourself, take care
1:08:58
of your body, Love yourself. That's most important. Self care definitely important.
1:09:09
On that note, thank y'all for tuning in to another episode of Black
1:09:15
Girl Interrupted next Tuesday. We are going to get into this infamous date list
1:09:26
that's been circulating around social media. Does a first does where a man take
1:09:32
you on a first date really constitute how that man feels about you? We
1:09:39
gonna talk about that next week. But again, y'all, thank you so
1:09:43
much for tuning in to another episode of Black Girl Interrupted. Y'all already know
1:09:46
it's your girl, Ash bringing y'all the tea, the juice, the gossip,
1:09:51
education. I just bring it all to you. Whatever. Black Girl
1:09:57
Interrupted is in a mood for baby, that's what I bring to y'all.
1:10:00
But don't forget. Black Girl Interrupted goes live every Tuesday. Every Thursday at
1:10:04
eight thirty pm Central Time non thirty pm Eastern Time. Black Girl Interrupted can
1:10:10
be found on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok anywhere you listen to your
1:10:15
podcast, just put in black Girl Interrupted and it'll pop up. You can
1:10:18
always catch the live replace on YouTube. You can always catch any of the
1:10:25
past episodes, whether you want the visual on YouTube or if you just want
1:10:29
to listen to it. It's on Spotify, Google. Let's see, here
1:10:31
we go. I don't know if y'all can really see, but are you
1:10:38
anchored which is now Spotify? I'm on Okay iTunes, I'm on Spotify,
1:10:45
I'm on Google, I'm everywhere. I'm on audible, baby, black Girl
1:10:48
Interrupted podcast is everywhere, Baby, Just put it in and you're gonna find
1:10:53
it. But again, I didn't do anything empowering at the beginning, so
1:10:59
I said I was gonna save it for the end. So I want to
1:11:01
say this to you. Anybody that's going through anything, just know that I
1:11:04
love you, I'm praying for you, and please know that your storm does
1:11:08
not last always. You are definitely in your winning season. So we're gonna
1:11:13
go ahead and close with something empowering and I will see you guys next Tuesday,
1:11:16
eight thirty pm Central time, nine thirty Eastern time, same place.
1:11:20
And baby, don't forget, we're gonna get into that infamous dateless like again,
1:11:26
does where a man take you for a first date really matter? And
1:11:29
is he required to spend five hundred dollars on you on the first date.
1:11:34
We'll get into that, but on that note, I love you guys.
1:11:39
I hope you guys have a great weekend, a great rest of the week.
1:11:42
Let me say that, I hope you guys have a great weekend.
1:11:44
Please continue to stay safe. I love you, guys. And here we
1:11:48
go. When everybody it's against you or don't believe in your number, it's
1:11:57
a lonely feeling. Oh it hurts very badly. I know what that's like.
1:12:02
And look at you with that look and say, why don't you try
1:12:05
something else? Why don't you give up? Get away from these people that's
1:12:11
in your life that ain't doing nothing. Get away from people in your life
1:12:15
that's hey, get away from them, Get away from them. If you
1:12:19
take an oak tree seed and you put it in a two foot pot,
1:12:25
that seed will never become the oak tree that oak trees are capable of becoming,
1:12:30
because it's gonna get stifled by the two foot pot. New check this
1:12:35
out. They nothing wrong with the seed. Seed just fail prey to the
1:12:41
environment. Don't you allow your environment to dictate the oak tree that you become.
1:12:48
Hey, time you moved for being normal, to try to be exceptional.
1:12:51
People aren't gonna like this normal people. It makes them feel like she's
1:12:57
judge you. And that's why every true leader they're called weird. They're called
1:13:00
eccentric. When you do the things of real leadership, you're gonna be called
1:13:05
strange. Get strong enough in your own skin that when people laugh at you,
1:13:11
or when they throw stones at you, you keep on going. I
1:13:15
respect any motherfucker that wakes up every day and work they ass off to live
1:13:20
their life and lifestyle clubbing, party and hanging out. That ain't from me.
1:13:27
I'm gonna be out here running in the hot sun, practicing while everybody
1:13:30
else is clubbing and hanging out. You got your focus right. Don't expect
1:13:34
people to understand you. Don't expect it to make sense to anybody. Why
1:13:40
you've got to do this, Why you have got to go, Why you
1:13:43
leave? This is a good job. I'm going they pay you well.
1:13:46
I'm going why. I don't understand. You don't have to I'm going for
1:13:50
me. This is something I have got to do. How are you going
1:13:55
to make it? I don't know, but I will. The universe responds
1:13:59
to the man or woman that refuses to be denied, because that is your
1:14:03
commitment, that business that you want, that book you want to write,
1:14:08
that dream that you have of controlling your destiny, that is yours. That's
1:14:13
available to you. But you've got to be willing to stand there and face
1:14:16
disappointment, not have support, feel lonely, doubt yourself, sometimes be rejected
1:14:23
again and again and again, become bankrupt if necessary, again and again and
1:14:27
again, and refuse to turn around until life gives it up. Life will
1:14:31
always be to a loge extent what you make it, not what circumstances will
1:14:36
make of it, not what other people will make of it, not what
1:14:41
other people say it will be, not what the environment will try and dictate
1:14:45
to you, but what you make of your life. So when you're in
1:14:47
common, get ready for the criticism. When you're in common, get ready
1:14:50
for the opposition. When you're uncommon, get ready for the common people not
1:14:55
to understand you. If I decided to experience the fear of rejection, the
1:15:00
fear of know the fear of failure, the fear of standing by myself,
1:15:08
the fear of people not liking me, what else is available? Of taking
1:15:12
a chance, a fear of losing it all? What else is available to
1:15:15
me? People are going to think you're crazy. You don't have nothing but
1:15:20
living in the corner of your pockets. You want to talk about living your
1:15:24
greed and people laughing at you and they're doubting you. To case. Gosh,
1:15:30
ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you, I believe in revenge.
1:15:32
Like Frank Sinafi, he said, the best revenge is massive success. Is
1:15:38
that a kunum of kindness? It's Worsi his success