October 28, 2024 • 28 mins
In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, join us for another heartfelt and inspiring episode of Covering Your Health. In the second part of our special series, “Facing Breast Cancer with IEHP,” we welcome Jeannie Moews, a Quality Assurance Claims Specialist at IEHP. Jeannie shares her personal journey through breast cancer, offering insights into her diagnosis, treatment, and the emotional challenges she faced along the way. Her story is one of resilience, hope, and the importance of support systems.
Tune in to hear Jeannie’s powerful testimony and learn more about the resources available for those battling breast cancer. This episode is a tribute to all the brave individuals fighting this disease and a reminder of the strength within us all.
For more information on this show's topic visit IEHP.org or (800) 440-IEHP.
Reach out to Evelyn via Instagram @evelynerives or email her at EvelynErives@iHeartMedia.com
Tune in to hear Jeannie’s powerful testimony and learn more about the resources available for those battling breast cancer. This episode is a tribute to all the brave individuals fighting this disease and a reminder of the strength within us all.
For more information on this show's topic visit IEHP.org or (800) 440-IEHP.
Reach out to Evelyn via Instagram @evelynerives or email her at EvelynErives@iHeartMedia.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, and welcome back to another episode of Covering Your Health,
presented by IHP and hosted by me Evelinie Revis. So
happy to have you here for another episode.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
I can't believe it.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
It's almost been a full year that we've been doing
this wonderful show and I have learned so much and
I'm so inspired.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Last week, well, I should say last.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Episode, we featured two incredible ladies who were impacted by
breast cancer in.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
One way or another, and we thought.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
A very good way to close out Breast Cancer Awareness
Month would be to continue that conversation with another member
of our IEHP family, Genie Mays. Genie is a quality
assurance claim specialist for the health Plan, working directly with
members to make sure iehp's product or service meets state
(00:53):
quality standards and requirements. It's a big job, but behind
the scenes, Genie battled. Yes, she did triple negative breast
cancer and is currently recovering from that trauma, which includes
mourning the loss of parts of her body that will
makes her and I'm going to use her quote, feel
like a woman. We're so grateful to have Genie on
(01:15):
the podcast to speak about her journey, her recovery and
how her friends and family, including her IHP family rallied
around her, and why education continues to be key while
sharing her story.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Welcome to Covering Your Health, a wellness podcast dedicated to
covering all areas of living a healthy and happy lifestyle,
from healthy hearts to understanding health plans and everything in between.
Each episode will provide you with a better understanding of
managing your health, preventative care, and staying on the right
path for your family's wellness journey. The Covering Your Health
(01:51):
podcast is presented by i EhP. Now your host Evelina Revez.
Speaker 4 (01:58):
Well.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
I would love to welcome Genie.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
Thank you so much for joining me, Thank you for
having me.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Oh my gosh, so happy to have you.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
So last week we talked to a couple of wonderful
women from IEHP also about breast cancer, and we also
started the episode the exact same way, so I want
to make sure that I do it exactly with you
the same. I want to know a little bit about you, Genie.
Tell me when did you start at IHP, did you
always find yourself going into healthcare.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
I want to know your hobbies, tell me everything.
Speaker 4 (02:31):
I actually have been in healthcare since gosh, probably two
thousand and one, two thousand and two. Yeah, I well,
actually no, I take it back. I started in healthcare
back when I was nineteen, so like nineteen ninety two,
ninety three. I was working in a doctor's office, and
(02:54):
then I got married, moved moved away, got out of
that for a little while, and then I came back
and started working back in healthcare for probably yeah, probably
about two thousand and two. And then I started working
at IEHP in twenty sixteen. My friend Jen constantly bugged me,
(03:18):
you need to come work here, you need to come
work here. So I did.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Nice, that's great.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Did you know that you wanted to go back to
healthcare anyway? Was that something that you It struck a
chord with you.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
Yeah, I really, I really enjoyed it. I even worked
in the emergency room for a while, and that was interesting,
to say the least, but it was a lot of fun.
So I but I wanted to get back to working
on the behind the scenes with billying and you know
stuff like that. So now I audit and you know,
(03:53):
make sure that correct payment goes out for all of
our claim stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
The real nitty gritty all the good stuff. Tell me
about a little bit about your hobbies outside of IHP.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
I love my grand babies I have right now, I
have four and there's one more on the way, another girl.
So two boys right now, two boys, two girls, and
another girl on the way. Oh, we're super excited. And
(04:26):
I love going to car shows. My husband and I
were part of a car club for a while, but
now we basically just do our own thing, go to
car shows. And I love watching baseball Go Yankees. Oh,
and I love watching football. Goh Stealers.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Oh nice. Oh that's my brother's team too.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
He love Steelers, And I have to tell you on
a side note, I sort of only like the Steelers
because Russell Wilson went from the Seahawks and I'm a
Seahawks fan, and I.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Still love Russell and fans.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
Can you do?
Speaker 2 (05:01):
What can you do?
Speaker 4 (05:03):
Right?
Speaker 2 (05:04):
I love that. I heard you also love to volunteer.
Tell me a little bit about that.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
I do like to volunteer with UH basically, like outside
of IHP, I do volunteer at UH. I did volunteer
for a while in Hemmet at my mom's church with
the the let's what do we call them? The age
(05:32):
older but young. I call them the young young men
and women in the community. Yeah, and I also I've
also volunteered at a couple of skilled nursing facilities, just
kind of just give my time to the younger Yeah,
(05:54):
they you know, just basically letting them talk. They everybody
always needs some to talk to, so I do. I
do that on occasion. I've also volunteered with softball, Corona
Girls Softball. I was also a coach when my daughter
played for quite a while.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
My daughter played Corona softball too.
Speaker 4 (06:15):
Oh did she did?
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Yeah, well, when we lived in Corona. She's since graduated,
but she Yeah, we were part of that organization for
a long time. It was really really fun, all stars
and all of that stuff.
Speaker 4 (06:27):
So so were we Yeah, my daughter's going to be
twenty six now.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
So yeah, yeah, yeah, so she was.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
Involved with a long time.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Yeah, so we're like two ships in the night because
my daughter is going to be twenty two, so she
really yeah, oh wow, Yeah, so that was a fun
organization though I really knew. I thought my husband coached
and stuff too cool. Right, Well, getting back to with
working with I e HP, I know, working with it.
(06:56):
You probably hear all sorts of stories everyday dealings about
in the membership community. Why did you feel so open
to coming on the podcast today to talk about your
own cancer journey.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
I'd love to hear that.
Speaker 4 (07:11):
For me, if sharing any part of my journey and
recovery can help even one person give them any sort
of strength to get through whatever it is they're going through,
then that makes me feel like a million dollars. It
really does. When I was first, when I was diagnosed
(07:33):
the first time with Hodgkins lymphoma in twenty ten, I
was grateful enough to meet somebody that I worked with
that had it and he beat it and he literally
told me, ask me anything you want. He shared his treatment,
he shared his experience with me, and it helped me
so much because it almost was like I already knew
(07:56):
what to expect and I hadn't started treating yet, and
it was like somebody, you know, somebody gets it.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
So if I can help, like I said, even one person,
then that's good enough for me.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
And you're going to do a lot of good by
being on the podcast today, because this is going to
live forever, you know, and this is going to be
one of those moments where it'll sit online and at
the right time for the right person, maybe they'll find
this and realize, Okay, I'm not alone.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
People have been through this as well.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Now you're you've been battling from the form of cancer.
You said it was Hopkins lymphoma and you got and
that was twenty ten. You said, yes, twenty ten. So
first with Hotchkins lymphoma that December, and then triple negative
breast cancer diagnosis.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Eight years later.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Did you experience any symptoms or notice anything that led
you off to get checked? How was it different from
your first cancer diagnosis to this next different kind of
cancer diagnosis.
Speaker 4 (08:59):
Well, with the Mutchkins lymphoma, I really didn't have a
whole lot of symptoms. Some random fevers I had swollen
lymph nodes caused me to go to the doctor and
went all through the testing and found out, oh, hey,
you have cancer. I'm like, oh, lovely.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Right, wonderful news.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
Wonderful news. But as far as the breast cancer that
was found honestly on a fluke, Oh, my husband and
I were in Vegas for bike week and I woke up.
We were staying at a friend's house and I woke
up one morning and I had horrific chest pain. I thought,
(09:41):
oh my gosh, I'm having a heart attack. I could
not breathe. He took me to the He took me
to the er. It was basically I was having issues
with my blood pressure. They did all kinds of tests.
The doctor noticed there was a lump in my left
rest from the CT scan. My husband remembers him saying
(10:04):
that I don't remember. I Yeah, they had me on whatever.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
You were going through a lot at that moment.
Speaker 4 (10:11):
Yeah, So that didn't even He said, you didn't hear it.
I said, no, I didn't hear it. So came back California,
went to Kaiser, did all the buyops, these mammograms, this,
that and the other thing. They came to, Hey, you
have triple negative breast cancer. Cancer does not run in
my family. Yeah, so it was it was a huge
(10:34):
shock that, Okay, I have cancer again, you know, and
now it's breast cancer. But they have since attributed the
breast cancer to the radiation that I had the first
time I had cancer. Yeah, so that's the only thing
that they can attribute it to because I was tested
for the brockagene all that I don't have it. Wow.
(10:57):
So they just said, I we really believe it's from
the radiation you had previously.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Yeah, and you know you're not the first person to
tell me a story like that.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Oh right, right.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
I have a good friend, her name is Diane Callahan,
who I hope to have on the show in the future.
She started with blood cancer as well. Wow, and years
later she actually battled blood cancer three times and then yeah,
she's she's a little warrior that one. And then and
then breast cancer in the last two years. So, which
(11:30):
is so fascinating to me because you know, you're trying
to do all the things you can to stop this
one disease here, and you just don't know, unfortunately what
could happen down the road with this type of treatment.
But what do you do if you don't do the treatment.
I mean, there's so many there's so many things to
take into consideration, but it's so it's so crazy to me.
(11:53):
So when you when you found that out, you're you're
in a totally different place. You're not at home when
you're filling these symptoms. You're not at your home hospital,
you're not you know, and all of those those different things,
and you're in a whirlwind. So grateful that you had
your husband there because I always think that. I always think,
what if you know, my family member wasn't with me
when that happened, and he's the one that heard, you know,
(12:14):
about the lump that you didn't even know you had, right, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (12:19):
I I honestly don't know. And that's gone through my head,
like I really don't know what I would have done,
right if I didn't if he didn't hear that, I
just it's like, oh, I would have just you know,
given my record, you know, I would have given my
records to my my primary doctor here. But who knows
(12:40):
if he would have noticed it.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
I really sometimes and sometimes it's it's by accident, you know,
that they just didn't see. They look and they're like, well,
she's feeling better now, she's doing okay, we'll just follow up,
and they may just miss the one thing that really
is the most important thing.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Right, So grateful.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
I always tell people now, like, make sure you have
someone with you, make sure you have an advocate. I
know it's hard if you're especially if something happens to
you when you're by yourself, but it's it's so crucial
to have someone with you. And you had had you
ever done a check like you had not not. It
wasn't something you could feel this lump.
Speaker 4 (13:17):
No, it was later, probably a week, literally a week later,
I did. I was doing a self check and I
was like, oh, there, it is like I didn't feel
it before. I really didn't. Oh I had no. I
had absolutely no idea.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Wow, Wow, that is that is crazy.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
So in putting this episode together, we have some like
a little bit of information about you, and there's some
stuff that really definitely stuck out to me. You mentioned
that you're you're grasping with the fact that you did
lose parts of your body that made you feel like
a woman. Can you share a little bit about how
you've been coping with that, how that process was for you.
Speaker 4 (14:02):
I've gone through a lot of soul searching, a lot,
I've done journaling, I've talked to a therapist. But for
me personally, it's a day by day. There are still
days I get down on myself or I feel down,
and that's normal. I mean, I've also embraced the fact
(14:24):
that I've gone through the terrible C word twice and
I'm still here to be here for my family, my friends,
my grand babies, and that's that's all I can do.
I try not to think about it so much because
(14:45):
then that just makes me, you know, depressed. And sometimes
I don't have like a I don't have any way
to express how I'm feeling because some I honestly I
don't know. It's going through chemo twice, going through this,
(15:06):
it's it really messes with your head, it really does.
And that's that's the God's honest truth. I can't describe
it any other way. But I just do what I
have to do to just live day to day. Yeah,
I don't. I don't. I try to leave it in
the past. I try to just move forward and just
(15:28):
keep on going because it's not worth I guess living
in pity or you know, self pity something like that.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Sometimes you have to look at all the other positive things, right, Yes, yeah,
and that's hard to do. I mean really really, it's
really hard to do. When you feel like you were
at your lowest. Sometimes you have to go outside of that.
And sometimes you can't bring that to your family. Sometimes
that's something you don't want to leave them burdened with
(16:01):
or thinking.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
About all the time.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
I and I and as a mother, I'm sure that
is an even heavier thing on your conscience through like,
I don't want to I don't want them worrying about this. Yeah,
this is not something that they need to be thinking about.
Have you saw have you sought therapy or any outside
services or or or groups. Have you maybe support groups
(16:23):
of any kind?
Speaker 4 (16:25):
Yeah? I I I've joined a couple of support groups
on Facebook and those have helped tremendously. I also did
seek a therapist and she's helped me a lot, just
kind of work through expressing my feelings when i'm you know,
(16:50):
when I get that anxiety and unfortunately the cancer has
given me anxiety now and I'm just like, oh, thank
you so much, thank you so much. I really needed
I really needed that on top of everything else. But
she's really helped me. You know, the journaling, the support groups,
(17:16):
it's helped tremendously. It really has it really cool.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
Yeah, let's talk about the key role that your family
and friends have played in this, including IHP.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
How have they helped with your road to recovery?
Speaker 4 (17:31):
Family and friends have been so incredibly supportive From day
one when I was going through cancer. The first time,
I said to myself, I don't want to burden anybody.
I'm going to do this on my own. I went
to chemo and radiation on my own. There was a
(17:55):
couple of times I needed family to take me because
you know, they had to put a port in so
they had to put me to sleep whatever, so I
couldn't drive myself home. But other than that, I did
that on my own because, like you said, I didn't
want to burden anybody.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Yeah, that's just me.
Speaker 4 (18:13):
I would rather help somebody than get the help. But
the second time, my husband was like, you're not going
by yourself. I will go with you. He went with
me to all my chemo treatments. He's gone with me
to you know, every surgery that I've had. He's been
there or and or other family members. So my family
(18:38):
they pray for me all the time. My ninety eight
year old grandmother, she's so cute. She's like, I'm always
praying for you. I said, I'm good, thank you, though,
you know, because I don't want her to worry. I
really don't want them to worry IEHP though they've been
awesome when I was diagnosed. Because when I was diagnosed
(19:02):
with Hodgkins lm foma, I was not working Friday, HT
but when I got the breast cancer diagnosis, they allowed
me to start working from home at the end of
twenty eighteen because I was going to have my mess
step to me and go through chemo. They have been wonderful, wonderful,
(19:25):
you know, anything, any any time off that I need
for recovery, whatnot. They've been just spectacular.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (19:32):
So that was a huge help letting me go work
from home. Yeah, so that I could recover a lot easier.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Yeah, And man, I wish more employers understood having that flexibility,
especially when someone is sick and someone needs that time.
Speaker 4 (19:53):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
I feel like we might be coming closer and closer
to that with a lot more employers, But it still
feels like it's something that needs to be just blanketed
across all workforces because you just don't have that everywhere.
You just don't get that support. You know, in many
cases they're like, well, how quickly can you come back?
You know, it's just I don't know how this I've
(20:17):
never done this part again.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
I don't know what this cancer is going to be
like compared to that cancer.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
What do you want me to die?
Speaker 2 (20:23):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
I was I was kind of you know this is
not nearly cancer. But I had COVID in late September,
and I had COVID one other time way before, and
that that in comparison to this time, night and day
in a very different way. I had to be like
with my employer, I am so much more sick this time.
(20:46):
I am not going to be back in three days.
Like I can't explain it. And I was very lucky
because my my my boss at the time, is like, yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
I could hear it, and I need you to rest.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
It's and I was so grateful because you don't know
how each illness is going to affect your body, and
it's so wonderful that IHP was there to support you.
And do they continue, I mean, you know you're still
undergoing No, are you undergoing treatments still or are you
you just monitoring you know, through the years.
Speaker 4 (21:18):
Okay, Yeah, I've been. I've been in remission since twenty nineteen. Okay,
so every six months I go get a pet scan,
you know, that entire full body scan. I've yeah, I'm
always I feel like I'm always seeing the doctor. I
but you know what, it's it's okay as long as
(21:39):
they tell me you're good. We'll see you in six months. Hey,
not a problem. I will go as often as I
need to, It's not a problem.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
I love that you become besties with your doctor.
Speaker 4 (21:51):
Kaiser knows me well.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
They're like, oh you again, Oh hey, let's just get
you in and out of here. Okay, Right, what kind
of advice do you have for someone who is recently diagnosed?
Speaker 4 (22:08):
There? There's honestly, there's so much information out there about
just just the triple negative breast cancer that I had.
There is that, for example, there's so much information out there,
Internet support groups, the American Cancer Society, there is support
(22:31):
groups available through I e.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
HP.
Speaker 4 (22:34):
We have the breast cancer mobile clinics at our community
wellness centers.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Yes, I just heard about those.
Speaker 4 (22:40):
Yeah, that's that's awesome because and a lot of people
unfortunately don't know about that, right right, and just to
have that even if God forbid, there's nothing else, you know,
that's that's wonderful. But there's really a lot of information
on the old Internet, and like I said, Facebook, there's
(23:04):
so many support groups and it's been extremely helpful, especially
you know, for me, because there you do feel like,
oh my gosh, I'm the only one and in all reality,
you're not.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
You're not.
Speaker 4 (23:20):
And I can't believe how many people that I've met personally,
that I know personally that have had the same type
of cancer. And it's like, wow, it's it's scary, how
how much, how how it is now it really is.
But to be able to talk to someone else and
(23:42):
to be able to share your experience, it's it's it's
just wonderful.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
Yeah, you you kind of expressed that in the very
beginning when you talked about with your Hotchkins lymphoma diagnosis,
how just having someone else who you knew who had
it sort of walk you through the process so you
didn't feel scared, You knew what to expect, you were
prepared mentally for that.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
That recovery right, that road to recovery.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
It's the same with any type of cancer and really
any illness. Find someone that has been where you've been,
right who can walk you along that path and maybe
even hold your hands.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
There are a one.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
There are so many wonderful groups out there now, especially
for breast cancer. I just feel like, you know, while
it's it's true, so many more people, so many more
men and women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. There
are vast amount of resources for breast cancer survivors. So
which is you know, it's such a blessing. How do
(24:50):
you and I feel like I know the answer to this,
but how do you remain so positive despite facing this huge,
you know, beast of a diagnosis and disease? Really you Yeah,
that you've tamed I will say that you've tamed right.
Speaker 4 (25:05):
I am extremely grateful every single day for the wonderful
family and friends and co workers that continue to support
me no matter what. I'm I'm the type of person
I don't quit. I don't. I don't say I give up,
I've had enough, I'm done. I don't. I'm not like that.
(25:28):
I'm just I'm just not. It's not always an easy road,
but I just continue just to take it day by day. Yeah,
that's that's all. That's all I can do. I can't.
I can't see into the future. I'm not going to
live in the past. I just I just I don't know.
(25:48):
I guess I've always kind of been that way. I
try to be as positive as I can be. Yeah,
I have my bad days, like I said, Like I've said,
I have my bad day. Everybody does. But I'm not
gonna let it beat me. That's all.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
I love that I'm not gonna let it beat me.
And that's the best positivity you can have. Just, you know,
even if I'm not feeling great today, I'm just I'm
not gonna let it beat me.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Yep, not today, not today.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
Before I let you go, I you know, it's been
such a pleasure talking to Genie. Will you I always
ask this at the end of every episode. The three
key takeaways for anyone who's watching this today. They may
see this a year from now, they may see this
five years from now. What are the key things that
they should leave this episode having top of mind?
Speaker 4 (26:43):
Don't ever quite fite every step of the way. It's
gonna take everything you have. It may be simple, it
depends on the person, but do not quit. Find a
support group, friend, or some sort of shoulder to cry on,
talk out your feelings, cry when you need to, and
(27:07):
laugh as much as you can. Love that. And get
your mammograms girls, oh yeah, don't put it off. Don't
say I don't have time. Go get checked. And even
if it's it comes out nothing's wrong with you. Still
when you're scheduled to go, go do it. Don't. Don't
(27:27):
put it off. I can't. I had a friend who
I don't need to go. Yeah, you do, and unfortunately
it turned out there was something wrong and I said
you needed to go, like a long time ago. Yeah,
just don't put it off. If you think something's wrong,
you keep your intuition. I mean, just go go get checked.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Yeah, listen to your body, right, yes, thank god you
listened to your body that day, right y, yes, no matter.
You weren't even close to home and you still went, Nope,
something's wrong.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
I'm going in right now.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
Ye oh, well, I applaud your your bravery, two time
cancer survivor, she is a warrior. Yes, thank you so
much for joining us. I know that this is going
to be so invaluable for somebody, you know, for me, hope,
So I'll tell you for me it already is.
Speaker 4 (28:21):
So I'm glad. Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
So much for joining me, and I wish you continued
health and congrats on the grand baby that's on the way.
Speaker 4 (28:31):
Yeah, thank you,
Hello, and welcome back to another episode of Covering Your Health,
presented by IHP and hosted by me Evelinie Revis. So
happy to have you here for another episode.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
I can't believe it.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
It's almost been a full year that we've been doing
this wonderful show and I have learned so much and
I'm so inspired.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Last week, well, I should say last.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Episode, we featured two incredible ladies who were impacted by
breast cancer in.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
One way or another, and we thought.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
A very good way to close out Breast Cancer Awareness
Month would be to continue that conversation with another member
of our IEHP family, Genie Mays. Genie is a quality
assurance claim specialist for the health Plan, working directly with
members to make sure iehp's product or service meets state
(00:53):
quality standards and requirements. It's a big job, but behind
the scenes, Genie battled. Yes, she did triple negative breast
cancer and is currently recovering from that trauma, which includes
mourning the loss of parts of her body that will
makes her and I'm going to use her quote, feel
like a woman. We're so grateful to have Genie on
(01:15):
the podcast to speak about her journey, her recovery and
how her friends and family, including her IHP family rallied
around her, and why education continues to be key while
sharing her story.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Welcome to Covering Your Health, a wellness podcast dedicated to
covering all areas of living a healthy and happy lifestyle,
from healthy hearts to understanding health plans and everything in between.
Each episode will provide you with a better understanding of
managing your health, preventative care, and staying on the right
path for your family's wellness journey. The Covering Your Health
(01:51):
podcast is presented by i EhP. Now your host Evelina Revez.
Speaker 4 (01:58):
Well.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
I would love to welcome Genie.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
Thank you so much for joining me, Thank you for
having me.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Oh my gosh, so happy to have you.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
So last week we talked to a couple of wonderful
women from IEHP also about breast cancer, and we also
started the episode the exact same way, so I want
to make sure that I do it exactly with you
the same. I want to know a little bit about you, Genie.
Tell me when did you start at IHP, did you
always find yourself going into healthcare.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
I want to know your hobbies, tell me everything.
Speaker 4 (02:31):
I actually have been in healthcare since gosh, probably two
thousand and one, two thousand and two. Yeah, I well,
actually no, I take it back. I started in healthcare
back when I was nineteen, so like nineteen ninety two,
ninety three. I was working in a doctor's office, and
(02:54):
then I got married, moved moved away, got out of
that for a little while, and then I came back
and started working back in healthcare for probably yeah, probably
about two thousand and two. And then I started working
at IEHP in twenty sixteen. My friend Jen constantly bugged me,
(03:18):
you need to come work here, you need to come
work here. So I did.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Nice, that's great.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Did you know that you wanted to go back to
healthcare anyway? Was that something that you It struck a
chord with you.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
Yeah, I really, I really enjoyed it. I even worked
in the emergency room for a while, and that was interesting,
to say the least, but it was a lot of fun.
So I but I wanted to get back to working
on the behind the scenes with billying and you know
stuff like that. So now I audit and you know,
(03:53):
make sure that correct payment goes out for all of
our claim stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
The real nitty gritty all the good stuff. Tell me
about a little bit about your hobbies outside of IHP.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
I love my grand babies I have right now, I
have four and there's one more on the way, another girl.
So two boys right now, two boys, two girls, and
another girl on the way. Oh, we're super excited. And
(04:26):
I love going to car shows. My husband and I
were part of a car club for a while, but
now we basically just do our own thing, go to
car shows. And I love watching baseball Go Yankees. Oh,
and I love watching football. Goh Stealers.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Oh nice. Oh that's my brother's team too.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
He love Steelers, And I have to tell you on
a side note, I sort of only like the Steelers
because Russell Wilson went from the Seahawks and I'm a
Seahawks fan, and I.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Still love Russell and fans.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
Can you do?
Speaker 2 (05:01):
What can you do?
Speaker 4 (05:03):
Right?
Speaker 2 (05:04):
I love that. I heard you also love to volunteer.
Tell me a little bit about that.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
I do like to volunteer with UH basically, like outside
of IHP, I do volunteer at UH. I did volunteer
for a while in Hemmet at my mom's church with
the the let's what do we call them? The age
(05:32):
older but young. I call them the young young men
and women in the community. Yeah, and I also I've
also volunteered at a couple of skilled nursing facilities, just
kind of just give my time to the younger Yeah,
(05:54):
they you know, just basically letting them talk. They everybody
always needs some to talk to, so I do. I
do that on occasion. I've also volunteered with softball, Corona
Girls Softball. I was also a coach when my daughter
played for quite a while.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
My daughter played Corona softball too.
Speaker 4 (06:15):
Oh did she did?
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Yeah, well, when we lived in Corona. She's since graduated,
but she Yeah, we were part of that organization for
a long time. It was really really fun, all stars
and all of that stuff.
Speaker 4 (06:27):
So so were we Yeah, my daughter's going to be
twenty six now.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
So yeah, yeah, yeah, so she was.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
Involved with a long time.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Yeah, so we're like two ships in the night because
my daughter is going to be twenty two, so she
really yeah, oh wow, Yeah, so that was a fun
organization though I really knew. I thought my husband coached
and stuff too cool. Right, Well, getting back to with
working with I e HP, I know, working with it.
(06:56):
You probably hear all sorts of stories everyday dealings about
in the membership community. Why did you feel so open
to coming on the podcast today to talk about your
own cancer journey.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
I'd love to hear that.
Speaker 4 (07:11):
For me, if sharing any part of my journey and
recovery can help even one person give them any sort
of strength to get through whatever it is they're going through,
then that makes me feel like a million dollars. It
really does. When I was first, when I was diagnosed
(07:33):
the first time with Hodgkins lymphoma in twenty ten, I
was grateful enough to meet somebody that I worked with
that had it and he beat it and he literally
told me, ask me anything you want. He shared his treatment,
he shared his experience with me, and it helped me
so much because it almost was like I already knew
(07:56):
what to expect and I hadn't started treating yet, and
it was like somebody, you know, somebody gets it.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
So if I can help, like I said, even one person,
then that's good enough for me.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
And you're going to do a lot of good by
being on the podcast today, because this is going to
live forever, you know, and this is going to be
one of those moments where it'll sit online and at
the right time for the right person, maybe they'll find
this and realize, Okay, I'm not alone.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
People have been through this as well.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Now you're you've been battling from the form of cancer.
You said it was Hopkins lymphoma and you got and
that was twenty ten. You said, yes, twenty ten. So
first with Hotchkins lymphoma that December, and then triple negative
breast cancer diagnosis.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Eight years later.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Did you experience any symptoms or notice anything that led
you off to get checked? How was it different from
your first cancer diagnosis to this next different kind of
cancer diagnosis.
Speaker 4 (08:59):
Well, with the Mutchkins lymphoma, I really didn't have a
whole lot of symptoms. Some random fevers I had swollen
lymph nodes caused me to go to the doctor and
went all through the testing and found out, oh, hey,
you have cancer. I'm like, oh, lovely.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Right, wonderful news.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
Wonderful news. But as far as the breast cancer that
was found honestly on a fluke, Oh, my husband and
I were in Vegas for bike week and I woke up.
We were staying at a friend's house and I woke
up one morning and I had horrific chest pain. I thought,
(09:41):
oh my gosh, I'm having a heart attack. I could
not breathe. He took me to the He took me
to the er. It was basically I was having issues
with my blood pressure. They did all kinds of tests.
The doctor noticed there was a lump in my left
rest from the CT scan. My husband remembers him saying
(10:04):
that I don't remember. I Yeah, they had me on whatever.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
You were going through a lot at that moment.
Speaker 4 (10:11):
Yeah, So that didn't even He said, you didn't hear it.
I said, no, I didn't hear it. So came back California,
went to Kaiser, did all the buyops, these mammograms, this,
that and the other thing. They came to, Hey, you
have triple negative breast cancer. Cancer does not run in
my family. Yeah, so it was it was a huge
(10:34):
shock that, Okay, I have cancer again, you know, and
now it's breast cancer. But they have since attributed the
breast cancer to the radiation that I had the first
time I had cancer. Yeah, so that's the only thing
that they can attribute it to because I was tested
for the brockagene all that I don't have it. Wow.
(10:57):
So they just said, I we really believe it's from
the radiation you had previously.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Yeah, and you know you're not the first person to
tell me a story like that.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Oh right, right.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
I have a good friend, her name is Diane Callahan,
who I hope to have on the show in the future.
She started with blood cancer as well. Wow, and years
later she actually battled blood cancer three times and then yeah,
she's she's a little warrior that one. And then and
then breast cancer in the last two years. So, which
(11:30):
is so fascinating to me because you know, you're trying
to do all the things you can to stop this
one disease here, and you just don't know, unfortunately what
could happen down the road with this type of treatment.
But what do you do if you don't do the treatment.
I mean, there's so many there's so many things to
take into consideration, but it's so it's so crazy to me.
(11:53):
So when you when you found that out, you're you're
in a totally different place. You're not at home when
you're filling these symptoms. You're not at your home hospital,
you're not you know, and all of those those different things,
and you're in a whirlwind. So grateful that you had
your husband there because I always think that. I always think,
what if you know, my family member wasn't with me
when that happened, and he's the one that heard, you know,
(12:14):
about the lump that you didn't even know you had, right, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (12:19):
I I honestly don't know. And that's gone through my head,
like I really don't know what I would have done,
right if I didn't if he didn't hear that, I
just it's like, oh, I would have just you know,
given my record, you know, I would have given my
records to my my primary doctor here. But who knows
(12:40):
if he would have noticed it.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
I really sometimes and sometimes it's it's by accident, you know,
that they just didn't see. They look and they're like, well,
she's feeling better now, she's doing okay, we'll just follow up,
and they may just miss the one thing that really
is the most important thing.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Right, So grateful.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
I always tell people now, like, make sure you have
someone with you, make sure you have an advocate. I
know it's hard if you're especially if something happens to
you when you're by yourself, but it's it's so crucial
to have someone with you. And you had had you
ever done a check like you had not not. It
wasn't something you could feel this lump.
Speaker 4 (13:17):
No, it was later, probably a week, literally a week later,
I did. I was doing a self check and I
was like, oh, there, it is like I didn't feel
it before. I really didn't. Oh I had no. I
had absolutely no idea.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Wow, Wow, that is that is crazy.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
So in putting this episode together, we have some like
a little bit of information about you, and there's some
stuff that really definitely stuck out to me. You mentioned
that you're you're grasping with the fact that you did
lose parts of your body that made you feel like
a woman. Can you share a little bit about how
you've been coping with that, how that process was for you.
Speaker 4 (14:02):
I've gone through a lot of soul searching, a lot,
I've done journaling, I've talked to a therapist. But for
me personally, it's a day by day. There are still
days I get down on myself or I feel down,
and that's normal. I mean, I've also embraced the fact
(14:24):
that I've gone through the terrible C word twice and
I'm still here to be here for my family, my friends,
my grand babies, and that's that's all I can do.
I try not to think about it so much because
(14:45):
then that just makes me, you know, depressed. And sometimes
I don't have like a I don't have any way
to express how I'm feeling because some I honestly I
don't know. It's going through chemo twice, going through this,
(15:06):
it's it really messes with your head, it really does.
And that's that's the God's honest truth. I can't describe
it any other way. But I just do what I
have to do to just live day to day. Yeah,
I don't. I don't. I try to leave it in
the past. I try to just move forward and just
(15:28):
keep on going because it's not worth I guess living
in pity or you know, self pity something like that.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Sometimes you have to look at all the other positive things, right, Yes, yeah,
and that's hard to do. I mean really really, it's
really hard to do. When you feel like you were
at your lowest. Sometimes you have to go outside of that.
And sometimes you can't bring that to your family. Sometimes
that's something you don't want to leave them burdened with
(16:01):
or thinking.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
About all the time.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
I and I and as a mother, I'm sure that
is an even heavier thing on your conscience through like,
I don't want to I don't want them worrying about this. Yeah,
this is not something that they need to be thinking about.
Have you saw have you sought therapy or any outside
services or or or groups. Have you maybe support groups
(16:23):
of any kind?
Speaker 4 (16:25):
Yeah? I I I've joined a couple of support groups
on Facebook and those have helped tremendously. I also did
seek a therapist and she's helped me a lot, just
kind of work through expressing my feelings when i'm you know,
(16:50):
when I get that anxiety and unfortunately the cancer has
given me anxiety now and I'm just like, oh, thank
you so much, thank you so much. I really needed
I really needed that on top of everything else. But
she's really helped me. You know, the journaling, the support groups,
(17:16):
it's helped tremendously. It really has it really cool.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
Yeah, let's talk about the key role that your family
and friends have played in this, including IHP.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
How have they helped with your road to recovery?
Speaker 4 (17:31):
Family and friends have been so incredibly supportive From day
one when I was going through cancer. The first time,
I said to myself, I don't want to burden anybody.
I'm going to do this on my own. I went
to chemo and radiation on my own. There was a
(17:55):
couple of times I needed family to take me because
you know, they had to put a port in so
they had to put me to sleep whatever, so I
couldn't drive myself home. But other than that, I did
that on my own because, like you said, I didn't
want to burden anybody.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Yeah, that's just me.
Speaker 4 (18:13):
I would rather help somebody than get the help. But
the second time, my husband was like, you're not going
by yourself. I will go with you. He went with
me to all my chemo treatments. He's gone with me
to you know, every surgery that I've had. He's been
there or and or other family members. So my family
(18:38):
they pray for me all the time. My ninety eight
year old grandmother, she's so cute. She's like, I'm always
praying for you. I said, I'm good, thank you, though,
you know, because I don't want her to worry. I
really don't want them to worry IEHP though they've been
awesome when I was diagnosed. Because when I was diagnosed
(19:02):
with Hodgkins lm foma, I was not working Friday, HT
but when I got the breast cancer diagnosis, they allowed
me to start working from home at the end of
twenty eighteen because I was going to have my mess
step to me and go through chemo. They have been wonderful, wonderful,
(19:25):
you know, anything, any any time off that I need
for recovery, whatnot. They've been just spectacular.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (19:32):
So that was a huge help letting me go work
from home. Yeah, so that I could recover a lot easier.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Yeah, And man, I wish more employers understood having that flexibility,
especially when someone is sick and someone needs that time.
Speaker 4 (19:53):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
I feel like we might be coming closer and closer
to that with a lot more employers, But it still
feels like it's something that needs to be just blanketed
across all workforces because you just don't have that everywhere.
You just don't get that support. You know, in many
cases they're like, well, how quickly can you come back?
You know, it's just I don't know how this I've
(20:17):
never done this part again.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
I don't know what this cancer is going to be
like compared to that cancer.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
What do you want me to die?
Speaker 2 (20:23):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
I was I was kind of you know this is
not nearly cancer. But I had COVID in late September,
and I had COVID one other time way before, and
that that in comparison to this time, night and day
in a very different way. I had to be like
with my employer, I am so much more sick this time.
(20:46):
I am not going to be back in three days.
Like I can't explain it. And I was very lucky
because my my my boss at the time, is like, yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
I could hear it, and I need you to rest.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
It's and I was so grateful because you don't know
how each illness is going to affect your body, and
it's so wonderful that IHP was there to support you.
And do they continue, I mean, you know you're still
undergoing No, are you undergoing treatments still or are you
you just monitoring you know, through the years.
Speaker 4 (21:18):
Okay, Yeah, I've been. I've been in remission since twenty nineteen. Okay,
so every six months I go get a pet scan,
you know, that entire full body scan. I've yeah, I'm
always I feel like I'm always seeing the doctor. I
but you know what, it's it's okay as long as
(21:39):
they tell me you're good. We'll see you in six months. Hey,
not a problem. I will go as often as I
need to, It's not a problem.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
I love that you become besties with your doctor.
Speaker 4 (21:51):
Kaiser knows me well.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
They're like, oh you again, Oh hey, let's just get
you in and out of here. Okay, Right, what kind
of advice do you have for someone who is recently diagnosed?
Speaker 4 (22:08):
There? There's honestly, there's so much information out there about
just just the triple negative breast cancer that I had.
There is that, for example, there's so much information out there,
Internet support groups, the American Cancer Society, there is support
(22:31):
groups available through I e.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
HP.
Speaker 4 (22:34):
We have the breast cancer mobile clinics at our community
wellness centers.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Yes, I just heard about those.
Speaker 4 (22:40):
Yeah, that's that's awesome because and a lot of people
unfortunately don't know about that, right right, and just to
have that even if God forbid, there's nothing else, you know,
that's that's wonderful. But there's really a lot of information
on the old Internet, and like I said, Facebook, there's
(23:04):
so many support groups and it's been extremely helpful, especially
you know, for me, because there you do feel like,
oh my gosh, I'm the only one and in all reality,
you're not.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
You're not.
Speaker 4 (23:20):
And I can't believe how many people that I've met personally,
that I know personally that have had the same type
of cancer. And it's like, wow, it's it's scary, how
how much, how how it is now it really is.
But to be able to talk to someone else and
(23:42):
to be able to share your experience, it's it's it's
just wonderful.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
Yeah, you you kind of expressed that in the very
beginning when you talked about with your Hotchkins lymphoma diagnosis,
how just having someone else who you knew who had
it sort of walk you through the process so you
didn't feel scared, You knew what to expect, you were
prepared mentally for that.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
That recovery right, that road to recovery.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
It's the same with any type of cancer and really
any illness. Find someone that has been where you've been,
right who can walk you along that path and maybe
even hold your hands.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
There are a one.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
There are so many wonderful groups out there now, especially
for breast cancer. I just feel like, you know, while
it's it's true, so many more people, so many more
men and women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. There
are vast amount of resources for breast cancer survivors. So
which is you know, it's such a blessing. How do
(24:50):
you and I feel like I know the answer to this,
but how do you remain so positive despite facing this huge,
you know, beast of a diagnosis and disease? Really you Yeah,
that you've tamed I will say that you've tamed right.
Speaker 4 (25:05):
I am extremely grateful every single day for the wonderful
family and friends and co workers that continue to support
me no matter what. I'm I'm the type of person
I don't quit. I don't. I don't say I give up,
I've had enough, I'm done. I don't. I'm not like that.
(25:28):
I'm just I'm just not. It's not always an easy road,
but I just continue just to take it day by day. Yeah,
that's that's all. That's all I can do. I can't.
I can't see into the future. I'm not going to
live in the past. I just I just I don't know.
(25:48):
I guess I've always kind of been that way. I
try to be as positive as I can be. Yeah,
I have my bad days, like I said, Like I've said,
I have my bad day. Everybody does. But I'm not
gonna let it beat me. That's all.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
I love that I'm not gonna let it beat me.
And that's the best positivity you can have. Just, you know,
even if I'm not feeling great today, I'm just I'm
not gonna let it beat me.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Yep, not today, not today.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
Before I let you go, I you know, it's been
such a pleasure talking to Genie. Will you I always
ask this at the end of every episode. The three
key takeaways for anyone who's watching this today. They may
see this a year from now, they may see this
five years from now. What are the key things that
they should leave this episode having top of mind?
Speaker 4 (26:43):
Don't ever quite fite every step of the way. It's
gonna take everything you have. It may be simple, it
depends on the person, but do not quit. Find a
support group, friend, or some sort of shoulder to cry on,
talk out your feelings, cry when you need to, and
(27:07):
laugh as much as you can. Love that. And get
your mammograms girls, oh yeah, don't put it off. Don't
say I don't have time. Go get checked. And even
if it's it comes out nothing's wrong with you. Still
when you're scheduled to go, go do it. Don't. Don't
(27:27):
put it off. I can't. I had a friend who
I don't need to go. Yeah, you do, and unfortunately
it turned out there was something wrong and I said
you needed to go, like a long time ago. Yeah,
just don't put it off. If you think something's wrong,
you keep your intuition. I mean, just go go get checked.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Yeah, listen to your body, right, yes, thank god you
listened to your body that day, right y, yes, no matter.
You weren't even close to home and you still went, Nope,
something's wrong.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
I'm going in right now.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
Ye oh, well, I applaud your your bravery, two time
cancer survivor, she is a warrior. Yes, thank you so
much for joining us. I know that this is going
to be so invaluable for somebody, you know, for me, hope,
So I'll tell you for me it already is.
Speaker 4 (28:21):
So I'm glad. Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
So much for joining me, and I wish you continued
health and congrats on the grand baby that's on the way.
Speaker 4 (28:31):
Yeah, thank you,
Popular Podcasts
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Decisions, Decisions
Welcome to "Decisions, Decisions," the podcast where boundaries are pushed, and conversations get candid! Join your favorite hosts, Mandii B and WeezyWTF, as they dive deep into the world of non-traditional relationships and explore the often-taboo topics surrounding dating, sex, and love. Every Monday, Mandii and Weezy invite you to unlearn the outdated narratives dictated by traditional patriarchal norms. With a blend of humor, vulnerability, and authenticity, they share their personal journeys navigating their 30s, tackling the complexities of modern relationships, and engaging in thought-provoking discussions that challenge societal expectations. From groundbreaking interviews with diverse guests to relatable stories that resonate with your experiences, "Decisions, Decisions" is your go-to source for open dialogue about what it truly means to love and connect in today's world. Get ready to reshape your understanding of relationships and embrace the freedom of authentic connections—tune in and join the conversation!