ASCO: You’re listening to a podcast from Cancer.Net. This cancer information website is produced by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, known as ASCO, the voice of the world's oncology professionals. The purpose of this podcast is to educate and to inform. This is not a substitute for professional medical care and is not intended for use in the diagnosis or treatment of individual conditions. Guests on this podcast express their own opinions, experience, and conclusions. Guests’ statements on this podcast do not express the opinions of ASCO. The mention of any product, service, organization, activity, or therapy should not be construed as an ASCO endorsement. Cancer research discussed in this podcast is ongoing, so data described here may change as research progresses. In this podcast, esophageal cancer survivor Rachael Kearney shares her story with Dr. Frank Penedo, Associate Director of Cancer Survivorship & Behavioral Translational Sciences and the Director of the Cancer Survivorship Program at the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, and an Advisory Panelist on the Cancer.Net Editorial Board. They discuss her podcast, Call On Courage, which features conversations connected to courage, starting over, and overcoming. They also discuss the value in sharing your story, and tips for people with cancer and survivors. You can view disclosures for Dr. Penedo and Ms. Kearney at Cancer.Net. Dr. Frank Penedo: Hello, I am Frank Penedo. I am the associate director of cancer survivorship and behavioral translational sciences and also the director of cancer survivorship and supportive care programs at the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. I'm also an advisory panelist on the Cancer.Net Editorial Board. Today, it is my pleasure to welcome and talk with Rachael Kearney. Rachael is an esophageal cancer survivor who lives in Manchester, England. After she received her cancer diagnosis, Rachael started a podcast called Call On Courage, which features conversations connected to courage, starting over, and overcoming in general. Rachael, thank you so much for talking with us today. Rachael Kearney: Thanks for having me, Frank. I'm excited to get into this conversation. Dr. Frank Penedo: Before we begin, Rachael, I should mention that we have no relationship to disclose related to this podcast today. Rachael, can you please tell us a little bit about your experience being diagnosed with cancer and your journey thereafter and what was it like? Rachael Kearney: Yeah, so this is kind of coming into about 15 months ago. Out of nowhere, I had sort of severe acid reflux. And I was due to meet up with some girlfriends in Manchester, and I was just really struggling to eat my breakfast. It was just bizarre because I've not had those type of symptoms before. And essentially, what happened very quickly, within a 3-week period, this acid reflux increased, and it got worse. And it got to the point where I couldn't tolerate water. So I knew something was seriously up. But there was a waiting period before I got admitted to hospital, before I could have an endoscopy, which is obviously what I knew was going to get to the bottom of things to find out what was going on. And, yeah, it was just very scary in terms of not being able to tolerate normal food. But essentially, when I did get admitted, the endoscopy appointment came a lot quicker within a matter of 2 days, and then the actual diagnosis of esophagus cancer was within 24 hours after that. Obviously, it was just a massive shock because there wasn't a history of this in my family. And at the time, I was only 42. I'm 43 now. And it just felt very bizarre because I hadn't heard of anyone else that had esophagus cancer in my age group or friendship circles or whatever. Dr. Frank Penedo: Yeah, you mentioned, Rachael, a couple of words in there that stand out. It's just a shock of that diagnosis and, of course, the fear that comes along with that. It sounds