Fertility 101

07/05/20 • 49 min

Lisa is joined by Donna Bell in episode 5: Fertility 101.

Donna Bell is a Nurse Practitioner at MD Anderson Cancer Center and an expert in onco-fertility. She cares for pediatric, adolescent and young adult patients in the pediatric leukemia/lymphoma division and she helped to start and leads the onco-fertility consultation service.

We dive deeper into the meaning of the fertility terminology used and:

Why the initial conversation matters
Burden parents of patients with sarcoma carry
Information overload and squeezing in the fertility conversation
All you need is one good man – this is true for marines and sperm
Why yearly fertility follow up is so important

And so much more!!!

Lisa is joined by Donna Bell in episode 5: Fertility 101.

We dive deeper into the meaning of the fertility terminology used and:

Why the initial conversation matters
Burden parents of patients with sarcoma carry
Information overload and squeezing in the fertility conversation
All you need is one good man – this is true for marines and sperm
Why yearly fertility follow up is so important

And so much more!!!

Previous Episode

Sarcoma and Fertility

We are joined by Dr. Abha Gupta in episode 4: Sarcoma and Fertility.

Dr. Gupta is a sarcoma and onco-fertility expert.

We discuss female and male fertility and:

Do you even want to be a parent? And if yes – is it important if your future baby is related to you?
What’s the rush – why fertility question needs to be asked when someone is first diagnosed with cancer and is there a rush?
Balloons/marbles = ovaries/eggs
Push and pull of AYAs (adolescents and young adults) and their parents
Changing your mind – loss and regret

And so much more!

Music: Rospigg

Artwork: Tucker Good

Next Episode

Building the Yellow Brick Road - Count Me In!

We talk to the amazing Dr. Corrie Painter Dr. Painter is the Associate Director of Operations and Scientific Outreach for the Broad Cancer Program and the Associate Director of Count Me In. Corrie shares with us her own Angiosarcoma story and how her diagnosis ultimately led her to her current position at the Broad Institute where she is leading the charge on the Count Me In patient driven projects that are pioneering how cancer research is done and making impacts on finding cures in rare and metastatic cancers. The Count Me In projects include the following cancer types:

Metastatic Breast
Angiosarcoma
Metastatic Prostate
Stomach and Esophageal
Brain Cancer - any type
Osteosarcoma
All tumors types

Open to all people in the US and Canada. If you or someone you know is interested in joining click this link: Count Me In Breakdown of specific topics: 5:00 - description of Angiosarcoma 6:00 - length of time to Corrie's diagnosis with sarcoma 7:30 - sarcoma treatment 12:00 - journey of Corrie's cancer treatment:Yellow brick road laid out in front of you on your way to Oz - With Angiosarcoma - We didn’t even have bricks - we didn't even know what bricks were 15:30 - connecting to work together to build that road 22:30 - Broad Institute and Count Me In: beginning with metastatic breast cancer 28:00 - Building and some results from the Angiosarcoma Count Me In project 38:00 - what is count me in - how does it work to take part? 40:00 - key is building with patients involved 50:00 - the power of people giving their history directly to scientists for research 52:00 - the closure/space available for loves ones 54:00 - the power of loved ones - making a difference in angio sarcoma 57:00 angiosarcoma turtle mascot - slow and study - we will get there and win the race

Music: Rospigg

Artwork: Randall Ruiz