Episode 82: Same Badge, New Scars: Returning to Work After Cancer with Christine Anastos
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Christine G. Anastos spent seventeen years as her mother's caregiver before becoming a patient herself. She built Connect and Thrive, known as CAT, to close a gap she lived through firsthand: conventional medicine can get you to remission, but almost nothing addresses the underlying conditions, physical, emotional, and financial, that got you there in the first place.At the center of CAT is the Kitty Fund. Friends and family contribute, and one hundred percent of the money goes directly to the patient to spend inside a vetted marketplace of coaching, energy medicine, nutrition, and other integrative practitioners. There is also a lower-lift version, a CAT e-gift card, for people who want to give without asking a patient to publicly tell her story.
Kathy and Christine talk about the split between Christine's professional and personal selves, fierce and unyielding at work, giving until there was nothing left everywhere else, and what she now recognizes as her own Type C personality. They talk about her blog post on returning to work after cancer, same badge, new scars underneath the blazer, and why the kindest response to someone in that transition is a question, not an assumption. And they talk about Christine's realization, watching both of her parents move through illness, that caregivers left unchecked can become the next patients.
In this episode, Kathy and Christine discuss:
returning to work after cancer
Type C coping patterns
caregiving and boundaries
integrative cancer support
asking for and receiving help
identity after treatment
Timestamps:
00:01:18 Meet Christine Anastos
00:03:15 The mission behind Connect & Thrive
00:08:30 How diagnosis changed Christine's perspective
00:13:44 Becoming a caregiver for her mother
00:19:29 Asking “What caused my cancer?”
00:23:34 Grief and suppressed emotion
00:30:27 Returning to work after cancer
00:34:21 How treatment changes you
00:37:29 How workplaces can support recovery
00:41:26 KittyFunds vs. CAT E-Gift Cards
00:43:30 Giving patients choice and control
00:45:22 The bell vs. the bridge
00:46:40 Giving, worthiness, and Christine's legacy
00:51:15 The toll of caregiving
00:54:34 Learning to receive help
00:57:08 Free resources for cancer patients
01:01:18 Christine's gift package
01:02:28 The hope pill
01:03:04 The story behind CAT's cheetah
Connect with Christine Anastos
Follow @christine-anastos on LinkedIn
Learn more about Connect and Thrive
My life took a new direction following my breast cancer diagnosis. This personal experience ignited my determination to better understand and address the factors that may contribute to cancer development. Driven by my analytical skills, I saw the need for a collaborative healthcare approach that combines prevention with healing. I founded Connect & Thrive, Inc. (CAT), a Public Benefit Corporation, to bridge conventional and holistic medicine by offering comprehensive support to previvors, patients, thrivers, and caregivers. My mission is to empower individuals to proactively identify and manage health risks before they manifest as disease and to support women navigating a cancer diagnosis and recovery journey through a visionary approach grounded in empathy and expertise.
Connect with Kathy Washburn
Sign up for Kathy’s Sense of Peace Substack
To learn more about Kathy and her coaching services, head over to https://kathywashburn.net/
To schedule a free consultation with Kathy visit https://kathywashburn.net/contact
Follow Kathy on Instagram @kathywashburndotnet
Sign Up for Kathy’s On Demand Anchored Hope Course https://kathy-washburn.teachable.com/p/anchored-hope