Valerie David, also known as The Pink Hulk, is a three-time cancer survivor (non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, stage 2 breast cancer, and stage 4 metastatic breast cancer) who turned her journey of resilience into an award-winning one-woman show. Through humor, raw honesty, and advocacy, she inspires audiences worldwide—proving that even cancer won’t stop her from taking center stage.
Check out Valerie’s show, The Pink Hulk here: https://pinkhulkplay.com/
Key Highlights:
-
Valerie trusted her inner voice when symptoms appeared, even when doctors initially dismissed them. If you are able to get second opinions, advocate for yourself, and listen to your gut, you’ll find this to be useful in other parts of your own life.
-
Surround yourself with friends, family, and doctors who believe in your survival as much as you do.
-
Balancing intuition with fear over symptoms can be tricky, but Valerie advises: don’t panic over nothing, don’t choose to live in fear. Instead, stay proactive by communicating with your care team about any arising symptoms.
About our guest:
Valerie David is an actor, playwright, writer and editor. Her greatest accomplishment in life is being a three-time cancer survivor. She was diagnosed and treated for Stage III Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 1999, Stage II Breast Cancer in 2014 and 2015, and Stage IV Breast Cancer in 2018. As of April 2019, she has beaten cancer again! Valerie reactivated her superhero within, and exactly 5 months after receiving hormone treatment only in pill form–no surgery, no radiation, no chemotherapy, Valerie no longer has active disease. She has since kept up a full schedule of performances–nothing has stopped her. Valerie’s inspirational solo show, The Pink Hulk, has been accepted into almost 50 different play festivals worldwide since its 2016 debut, won multiple awards and has been touring since its very first performance, impacting audiences with the show’s universal message of hope and empowerment. She has performed in over 25 different cities and globally, including in England, Sweden, Iceland, and Finland.
A graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, her credits include the Off-Broadway production of A Stoop on Orchard Street, Cookie in Rumors and Claudia Shear’s Blown Sideways Through Life. Films: How I Became that Jewish Guy, which premiered at a November 2015 NYC Film Festival, and Bridges and Tunnels. Valerie volunteers as a motivational speaker at the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training events and Make-A-Wish Foundation. As a marathon cyclist, she co-founded Cycle of Hope, which raises money for national and international cancer organizations through bike marathons. Her most recent biking event raised almost $5,000 for the American Cancer Society and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Key Moments:
At 7 minutes 28 seconds “What is my choice? Is my choice going to live in fear every single day? Is it going to be well, we'll deal with it when it happens. So I think what I've learned from cancer is don't worry until there's something to worry about.”
At 39 minutes 30 seconds “And I remember walking in a daze, you know, the first time and also the second time, like, like looking at people on the street walking in Manhattan, and I'm like, I have cancer. Wow. I don't look at it, you don't see me, but I have cancer. That's why you never know what someone's going through. That's why you treat people with kindness.”
At 46 minutes 28 seconds “Don't be afraid to ask for help. I think that that's really important. There's this shame of: I need to be strong enough and I'm tough enough. I still get counseling for cancer, and I have no shame in that. You have to ask for help. Friends want to help and they'll say, no, what could I do for you? I had friends coming over doing laundry, bringing meals over, coming with me to radiation. I always had someone at radiation sign up and come with me to radiation. So I think too, people want to help and you're not a burden.”
At 49 minutes 57 seconds “Just make sure you have that superhero squad with family friends and doctors who believe in your survival as much as you believe in your own survival.”
