Overlooked is a podcast about women's health which features immersive personal storytelling in each episode. Subscribe to the newsletter to learn more about the guests and topics the show covers, and to hear about live podcast tapings and other events.
Stories from the First Person Health workshop
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First Person Health is back, and this episode is a special, ovarian cancer edition of the workshop. Our cohort this time was Deborah Binder, Jen Johnson, Nikki Myers and Molly Goodman, all ovarian cancer patients and survivors who took part in this storytelling class. I know this looks like a ordinary zoom room, but extraordinary stories came from this cohort, as it does every time with this class. It takes a bit of courage and commitment to oneself to reexamine your health story, and find a way to bring it to life creatively, in sound. I'm always in awe of the material that emerges from this workshop.
This cohort of First Person Health was made possible by the Amy Krouse Rosenthal Foundation, and its executive director, Betsy Katten, joined us for our final class in the workshop series to listen to these powerfully-told stories of transformation. You can learn more about the work of the foundation, and the moving story of Amy Krouse Rosenthal here. The class is a series of three workshops: in the first one, we open our ears and learn to listen more closely, intensely. The second class is a deep dive in audio and storytelling skills. And by the third class, each participant has made a 6-7 minute audio story, talking about their illness, diagnosis or recovery, and how it transformed their lives. As always, it's my great privilege to teach this workshop. It's part of a personal mission to share the storytelling skills I applied to tell my mom's story with ovarian cancer: I'm reminded that the reason she agreed to do the first season of Overlooked was to help other women with their own ovarian cancer journey, and this is my way of carrying on that mandate. My next workshop is early in the new year and if you want to learn more, and join the wait list, click here.
Lighting things up for ovarian cancer awareness month: Nikki Myers, one of the participants in this class, told me a terrific story I wanted to share with you. Here it is, in Nikki's own words: I had originally been trying to find a way to have the 'Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas' sign lit teal for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. Our Las Vegas T.E.A.L. committee simply didn’t have enough time to raise the $1,035 lighting fee this year, so I reached out to the County to learn more about the process. They offered to help with an ovarian cancer awareness proclamation instead.
I also reached out to Mayor Shelley Berkley and asked if she had any ideas for another way the city could support ovarian cancer awareness. I honestly didn’t expect what happened next ,she suggested lighting City Hall teal.
The lighting at City Hall hadn’t been working properly for several years, but the Mayor made it happen. On September 1, my husband Andy and I stood there together and watched City Hall light up teal.
After 11 years of Teal Tuesdays, and after losing so many women along the way, that moment meant more to me than I can really put into words. It felt like a beautiful way to keep the conversation going and honor the women we’ve lost while raising awareness for the women who are still here.
I’m especially thankful to Mayor Berkley for listening to my request and finding a way to make it happen.
What else is going on: 📕 I'm reading this book. It's not new, but it has me spellbound. 💃🏾 Next month I'm going to a 90's dance party to raise funds for ovarian cancer and if you're in New York, you should too (The dance party supports Tell Every Amazing Lady, a New York-based advocacy organization). What's coming up - the next episode of Overlooked is about our relationship with our doctors. Do you have a story about a doctor's appointment that went very wrong - or very well - that you'd want to share? Email or send a voice memo to hello@overlookedpod.com. Wishing you the best of health, Golda
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Overlooked: a women's health podcast
Overlooked is a podcast about women's health which features immersive personal storytelling in each episode. Subscribe to the newsletter to learn more about the guests and topics the show covers, and to hear about live podcast tapings and other events.
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