Ep 75: Redefining Strength After Breast Cancer - Megan-Claire Chase on Pain, Pride, and Perseverance - The Patient From Hell Podcast
In this compelling episode of The Patient From Hell, host Samira Daswani sits down with Megan-Claire Chase, widely known in the cancer community as "Warrior Megsie." With honesty, humor, and an incredible gift for storytelling, Megan-Claire shares her deeply personal journey through breast cancer and the lasting impact of survivorship. She discusses the physical and emotional toll of treatment, the challenges of rediscovering her identity post-cancer, and the power of self-advocacy. Through her candid reflections, she reminds us of the importance of asking for help, finding community, and embracing resilience in the face of adversity.
About Our Guest
Megan-Claire Chase, also known as Warrior Megsie, is a breast cancer survivor, patient advocate, and Breast Cancer Program Director at SHARE Cancer Support, where she also hosts the Our BC Life podcast. Based in Atlanta, she is dedicated to amplifying patient voices, addressing healthcare disparities, and advocating for the unique needs of the adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer community.
Her advocacy spans multiple platforms—she serves on Bayer Oncology’s Digital Patient Council, contributes to the Oncology Data Advisor Editorial Board, and is a board member for the Worth the Wait Charity. As a writer and speaker, she has been featured in The New York Times, People Magazine, Cancer Health, Cancer Today, and CURE Magazine.
Megan-Claire’s impact extends beyond traditional advocacy. She has participated as a panelist at the 2024 ASCO Quality Care Symposium, co-authored educational content on genetic testing in metastatic breast cancer, and collaborated with Pfizer on the Action Guide to Disrupt Inequitable Health Outcomes. She also shared her personal journey on PBS’s Beyond Cancer through Stories from the Stage.
Outside of her advocacy work, Megan-Claire is a talented voiceover actor, social justice activist, and devoted cat mom to Phoebe.
Key Moments
21 minutes:
“Something that people outside of Cancerland may not fully understand is the side effects from the toxic treatments, the side effects from multiple surgeries, the pain that some get fades, they heal, but for others, like moi, I really got the motherload of permanent damage, permanent side effects, effects that happen like a year, two years post cancer. And so I, as I'm talking to you right now, I am in pain. And I often have people say, ‘you don't look like you're in pain.’ And I'm like, look, it's not Halloween yet. I don't want to scare you. If I looked how I truly, truly felt on the daily, you would think you're in a scary movie. And so, dealing with multiple types of pain, chronic pain, is something I never, ever thought would be part of my cancer experience.”
38 minutes:
“‘I'm divorcing you. Thank you for getting me to this point. Appreciate that, but you're not listening to me and I need a doctor who's going to listen to me.’ And she, the look on her face was like, she goes, ‘no one's ever said that to me before.’ And I was like, well, maybe they wanted to, and they just didn't have the words.”
44 minutes:
“When I got that breast cancer diagnosis, I realized this is bigger than me. I was like, this isn't the flu.I am going to need help. And that took a lot. And not just help around, my home, but financial help. And I was embarrassed, I felt ashamed. And then I was like, hello, you've got cancer. This is not the time to be embarrassed or ashamed.”
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