inspiring stories of resilience from cancer patients, survivors, and family members
episodes
When Steven Sudell’s brain cancer became terminal and his parents Amy & Paul’s optimism began to waver, they didn’t have to look far for inspiration. Laying on his deathbed, Steven took up drawing and started a YouTube channel that would spread joy to hundreds of thousands across the globe.
Steven's Coloring Book
Steven & Paul's YouTube Channel
Through chemo, limb salvage surgery, and intense pain management, Gabby Galarneau doesn’t remember a whole lot from her nine months of treatment, but the one thing she does remember is how therapy dogs made a difference for her mental health. In this episode, you’ll hear Gabby and her mom, Kristi, share how their family managed Gabby’s fight with Osteosarcoma and their advice for families grappling with a new diagnosis.
Just months after the birth of her first child, Kezia Fitzgerald was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, and a few months later, her daughter was diagnosed with neuroblastoma. In this episode, you’ll hear Kezia recount how her journey battling cancer became tangled by her daughter’s diagnosis, and how the experience led to her co-founding a company that’s helping thousands of patients across the country.
Before her leukemia diagnosis at 15 years old, Ava Paige was performing over 150 shows per year as a country music singer-songwriter. Now 10 months into treatment, she’ll share some of the ups and downs of her journey, and how cancer is influencing her career in country music.
- Ava described her career as a young country artist.
- Ava described her diagnosis.
- Ava describes some of the frustrations of how cancer limited her ability to practice her passion.
- Angel Richards gives a short interlude of why his polar bear themed non-slip socks are so special.
When Danielle was at her three month check-up after finishing treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma, her oncologist told her about a girl named Ellie that was the same age with the same diagnosis. In this episode, you’ll hear about how their journeys overlapped and what it was like to confront cancer in high school.
Young Adult Cancer Organizations
Connecticut Children's Medical Center Young Adult Cancer Program
- Danielle and Ellie recount the the initial letter that brought them together.
- Danielle and Ellie talk about their experiences with different wigs.
- Danielle and Ellie discuss how cancer challenged their identity as high performing student athletes
- Emma Rae provides a short interlude of why she made non-slip socks featuring her dog, Little Red.
- Danielle and Ellie provide advice for others facing this disease.
When 12-year-old Kylie was diagnosed with metastatic sarcoma, her odds of survival were around 35%, but this didn’t hinder her father Mark’s eternal optimism that she would make a full recovery. In this episode, you’ll hear Mark share uplifting moments of community support and how he navigated the heartbreaking grief following Kylie’s passing.
Smiley for Kylie Facebook Page
Missing Kylie: A Father's Search for Meaning in Tragedy
Kylie's PSA Video | The Truth 365
- Mark shares how Kylie was originally diagnosed after experiencing continued knee pain.
- Mark outlines her initial treatment plan and reflects on the sad fact that treatments for childhood cancer have progressed very minimally because of their lack of funding.
- Mark describes how Kylie's sisters came up with the idea of Smiley for Kylie to keep her spirits high during treatment.
- Naaman and his sister Nadine have a short interlude about how every purchase of Naaman's non-slip penguin socks support other children in the hospital.
- Mark shares how Kylie's disease took a turn for the worse, and how he processes her passing.
Since being diagnosed with an oligodendroglioma brain tumor at age 12, Jeremy has managed the ups and downs of remission, recurrence, and everything in between. In this episode, he’ll share how it all unfolded and how his approach to managing life amidst an uncertain future has evolved over the years.
- Jeremy provides vivid descriptions of his diagnosis, recurrence, etc.
- Jeremy reflects on how he processed these moments, and how his mindset evolved over the years.
- Emma Rae provides a short intermission to share her grippy socks
Lynn and her mom Cindy share their journey battling leukemia, from the moments leading up to Lynn’s diagnosis to the ins and outs of managing treatment and how they look back on the experience as a whole.
The Willow Project Facebook Page
Over the last four years, the cancer community has repeatedly shown me what resilience is all about, and this podcast is about sharing their stories.
Welcome to socks with stories, a show about inspiring stories of resilience from patients, survivors, and family members. I’m your host and fellow survivor, Jake Teitelbaum. As a cancer patient, I couldn’t stand the poorly made hospital socks. So I started a company, resilience gives, to make fun, better quality non-slip socks, co-designed by children battling cancer. Over the last four years, this cancer community has repeatedly shown me what resilience is all about, and this podcast is about sharing their stories.
every journey is unique and every person has their own story
Hi! I'm Jake and I'm the host. I'm four years in remission and am grateful that my days no longer consist of hospital food, infusions, or poorly made hospital socks.
Through the socks with stories podcast, we seek to share stories from across the spectrum of cancer experiences - from frustrating and heartbreaking to uplifting and inspiring. In documenting these experiences, we hope to create a resource for families in the thick of it and to spread awareness of the disease through impactful storytelling.
Thank you to all who have tuned in thus far!
We value our community and would love to hear about your experience with cancer.