AUDIO Perip Ep 12 Christi Zaleski

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[00:01:12] Heather Lowe: Hi, babes. Listen up. You landed here at the Peripeteia podcast, and I'm so glad to have you enjoy these real girl talk conversations about the things that matter. From the ordinary to the extraordinary, and every plot twist in between, I welcome you. Life has a way of throwing us curveballs, and these are the stories of female resilience while navigating change with newfound purpose.

This is Peripeteia. I'm so glad you're here. Let's embark on this journey together. Here we go! Hello, Peripeteia podcast listeners. I'm super pumped today because I have a guest that is so, so special to me. She was one of my first friends. She's my cousin. She's my grandma's second favorite granddaughter. And, uh, and she's a breast cancer survivor. So this is breast cancer month. And who better than my cousin, to come on and talk about it. Not only is she a survivor, but she's also a top fundraiser -- and she's one of the funniest people I know. So mixing. like cancer and humor doesn't always go together. But with Christi, it sure does. So thank you for being here. 

[00:02:28] Christi Zaleski: Thanks for having me, Heather. 

[00:02:30] Heather Lowe: Will you share a little bit about your background and your upbringing and what you do now so we can just get a sense of, like, who you are? 

[00:02:37] Christi Zaleski: Sure, I'm a genetic counselor by training, um, and I should probably start off by giving a small disclaimer that, um, I currently work at Exec Sciences, um, Prevention Genetics actually, which is part of Exec Sciences, but I'm here representing myself and I take full responsibility for anything, any terrible jokes that come out of my mouth or anything that I say, and, um, please don't hold my, um, employer responsible.

[00:03:01] Heather Lowe: That is perfect. Thank you so much. Because if we're lucky, a horrible joke will definitely come out of your mouth today. So, um, you grew up in Wisconsin, of course, right?

[00:03:11] Christi Zaleski: I did.

[00:03:11] Heather Lowe: Parents are supper club owners, so on brand. Um, what led you to, an interest in genetic counseling as far as a career? 

[00:03:19] Christi Zaleski: I took an ethics of healthcare class in college.

Um, and in that chapter, there was a little blurb about, a family that went through genetic counseling. And I kept reading that paragraph over and over and over again. So I knew that I had to learn more and to figure out more. So I did some shadowing. I watched a genetic counselor in action and everything that I learned, I fell more and more in love with the profession.

Um, so I started off as a genetic counselor in the clinical setting where I saw patients face to face. And now I work in a laboratory setting, um, where we help patients get the genetic testing that they need. 

[00:03:55] Heather Lowe: And so this kind of comes full circle because when you're diagnosed with, uh, breast cancer, genetic testing becomes part of that process, right?

[00:04:04] Christi Zaleski: It does. For many patients, it does. And the funny part was when I was first diagnosed and I was sitting in the room in the medical center that, um, I used to work in. I kept imagining myself on the other side of the table, thinking how I would give the news to myself or what I would be saying right now.

And it was probably some kind of warped coping mechanism. But it was also having one of these moments of, am I doing the right thing? Am I in my job? Am I, , am I really doing the thing that I meant to do as a genetic counselor. Um, so I was kind of having this like job crisis of like, am I in the right spot doing the right thing?

And then I told myself to shut up because I have cancer and I have to get through cancer. But when I came back to work, I found out that our company was actually, um, acquired by Exec Sciences, which is like a company of 7000 cancer fighters. Um, and it was pretty incredible to, like, I came back to work with probably more passion and more energy for what I do, kind of knowing that and having, um, the support of the cancer fighters behind me.

[00:05:05] Heather Lowe: You had a new appreciation for all those people for your company and what that was like. So had you given that, had you done like, um, the breast cancer gene, you have to educate me a little bit, genetic testing and have you, had you been on that side sharing with a patient before? , 

[00:05:22] Christi Zaleski: So in my clinical world, worked with a lot of patients that had hereditary forms of cancer, had genetic risk for cancer.

So when I was diagnosed under the age of 50, I knew that I was, in my mind, high risk and that I wanted to figure out, is there a genetic reason? Is there a hereditary reason why I got cancer? is it sort of a multifactorial situation. So I didn't do testing until after I was diagnosed with cancer, but there's actually different kinds of genetic testing in the cancer journey.

And right after, well, I was diagnosed with early onset breast cancer, and there was a genetic tumor test that I needed. Um, so basically after my surgery, We needed to look at the genetics of my tumor to determine whether or not I would benefit from chemo. And, , that test was, um, one that basically has revolutionized breast care.

And when I found out that our company was acquired, that's actually the company that is responsible for that technology. So I had one of these moments of, I can't believe I work for the company that's going to determine my chemo fate. And like, I know it doesn't quite work like that. And my healthcare provider is the one to ultimately decide if I'm going to need chemo or not.

But my test came back favorable and chemo was not recommended. And it was in that moment that I decided that I had to make something good come from my journey. Like if I was going to be spared from chemo, I had to find a way to pay it forward. forward and to help other patients and to help continue to revolutionize the treatment and the care that patients with breast cancer face.

So the day after I found out I didn't need chemo, I woke up and I decided I was going to do a Susan G Komen walk in Chicago. And I was going to walk. 20 miles that year and I was going to do it by myself. I like I had in my head that like I have to prove to my first of all I have to exercise and I have to get healthy and I have to get like through this.

But I also knew that I could fundraise and I could kind of prove to myself that I'm making something good come from this. So I set out to do it by myself. But I have a good friend. Her name is also Heather. and when I told her what I was up to, she's like, Well, I think I'm going to do it with you.

Let's get blisters together. Let's lose our toenails together. Let's do this. Um, and then, um, I called my sister and she said, You're crazy. At the time, I wanted to walk the 60 miles all three days of the course, and she's like, you're crazy. Um, I'm not doing this. And she hung up.

And then a little bit later, she called me back and she's like, you know, there's a one day option. We could start there. And if you do that, I'll do it with you too. Um, so it went from, you know, a couple people to a tribe and you were part of that tribe, Heather, you walked with us as well. Um, and it was pretty incredible.

The first year we raised, I think, $33,000. And then after we did it one year, we said, We can do this again. We can do all 60 miles. Let's let's keep this train rolling. Um, and the second year we raised over $73,000? Um, so now we're on year three and we're going to see what we can accomplish. 

[00:08:30] Heather Lowe: It's amazing.

It's incredible. I'm so proud of you. It's, it was awesome to be part of your team in Chicago. What's even more miraculous is I got my husband to be part of the team. And so he like, he would probably never walked more than two miles. So to get, to get 20 was something that we trained for. What about you?

What was your background? Had you walked, I mean, 20 miles is a big deal. So you were just coming out of surgery. How did you like, what was your previous experience with long distance walking, anything? 

[00:08:59] Christi Zaleski: Um, very limited. I was not a long distance walker. Um, I did some research on what kinds of shoes I needed and I started slow and I followed some of the guidelines that Susan G Komen gave us as far as this is a training plan.

Um, and then it was just finding time. And I think up until that point, I didn't take the time that I needed to for myself every day. I I'm a busy mom. I have two teenage kids. I've got a full time job and I would always let the taking care of me and the exercise part just fall by the wayside. But, um, I decided and I was determined that if I'm going to do this and I don't want to lose toenails and I don't want too many blisters, I need to train and I need to cut out time every day to work on this.

Um, so I was pretty good about it. I, I think I was as ready as I was going to be. Didn't mean I didn't get any blisters, but, um, got through it. 

[00:09:53] Heather Lowe: That's amazing. So, so far, it sounds like since this diagnosis, you've become better at your job. You've been able to give back in a totally new way. You have a new lease on life.

But take me back. For anybody that's listening, that might be earlier in the journey than you. That might be feeling, I'm guessing, terrified. Take me back to what led up to that diagnosis, getting that diagnosis, and sort of what the steps were and where your personal story, where you were at from there.

[00:10:23] Christi Zaleski: Sure. So, um, my first screening mammogram, I had a scare and I had, I got a call back and I ultimately led to a biopsy and then, um, like a surgery to tell me that I didn't have breast cancer, but that I was at a higher risk for breast cancer because of the findings. So I was then followed on a pretty regular, um, course.

I guess the, um, interesting part about my journey was the surgeon that I met in the breast clinic sort of became my friend, which was a little atypical. And she tells me that she doesn't do this with everybody. But she sort of fired me from her practice because we, um, we started off with a debate about risk perception.

 She told me there was a 4 percent chance that there could be cancer there that wasn't detected. So I could either be watched really carefully or they could go back and cut more and make sure. And I said, 4 percent I work in Medical genetics, I see one in a million every day. 4% is like a astoundingly high number to me.

So we had a little bit of a, um, debate about 4% was high or not. Um, and then I actually sent her a book about risk perception after I went to a conference and we had this whole, 

[00:11:32] Heather Lowe: so you were trying, you were telling the surgeon how to do her job. 

[00:11:35] Christi Zaleski: No, I wasn't telling her to do her job. Um, she was, she was doing a really good job at her own job.

Um, I think we were just having a good intellectual conversation about risk perception and how different people view things differently. Um, I remember that visit. She told me about an extremely rare, like a one in a million genetic condition that somebody that she knew and loved had. And I said, yeah, I've seen three patients with that in my life.

And she was like blown out of the water. Like this is supposed to be one in a million. I'm like, yeah, that's, that's my life. Like that's my life as a genetic counselor. Um, so when I came back from my post op, she remembered me probably because I was the patient that liked to debate with her. And, um, somehow she asked me about what I was doing on the weekend.

And I told her, well, I had a book club without books event. And she started to laugh and I explained book club without books is when my friends we'll plant plants or wwe'll hang out or we'll watch movies or we'll do something fun as a group of women and we tell our families that it's book club so that none of them want to come with us and her r eyes sort of perked up And I just had this feeling of like, I think she needs book club.

Like, I think she would benefit from my group, my tribe of women. Um, so I invited her and, um, she accepted. And then she's like, I don't think you could be my patient anymore if we're going to be friends. Um, so she fired me and, um, I went to see her nurse practitioner so that I could stay in the, in the breast clinic that I was.

But I went every year afterwards to see her. Um, nurse practitioner. And, um, then a few years later, I had another call back and this time I was not lucky and I was diagnosed with, um, invasive labular carcinoma. And it was this moment of, um, I was home alone. Actually, I wasn't home alone. I was home. My daughter was just got home from school.

It was. Five o'clock and I thought okay, I'm off the hook I'm not getting biopsy results today because it's after five and I kind of had this sigh of Relief of today is not the day that I'm gonna hear bad news in my head I was just convinced that I was gonna hear bad news this time. I don't know why I guess it was just a feeling and then at 520 the phone rang and I went into my bedroom and And I heard the news, invasive lobular carcinoma, and I heard that chemo was uncertain, and it was uncertain like what stage I was, they thought it was early, but like I remember swearing, I remember screaming, I remember asking for her to not give me any, um, swear word types of doctors, like I needed a good breast team, um, and then I needed Like I got off the phone and I kind of just sat there and then I had to sort of recover and know I had to come out of my bedroom because my daughter was in the other room and when I opened up my bedroom door, my daughter was sort of standing there looking at me kind of like a deer in headlights so she had heard it all, um, unintentionally, um, I think in that moment I had to like turn the light switch and become a mom and stop thinking about myself and start taking thinking about her and what she just heard and how we're going to figure out how we're going to process this together.

Her friend, um, in school , his dad had just died of cancer, completely different situation, but I was thinking that was her perspective and I needed to tell her that it's not the same, and I'm not gonna die of this, like, at least I hoped I wasn't gonna die of this. And then a little bit later, the phone rang, and it was my friend and my surgeon, the one that fired me, and she said, okay, I heard the news, because she ultimately was still part of my care.

She just wasn't like directly part of my care. And she said, Get Lucy on the phone. Get my daughter on the phone. I need to talk to her. And she's like, Lucy, this is Anna. Um, I remember I'm, I'm the person that buys cakes from your budding baking business. You know me, right? I'm also a really good breast surgeon and I'm going to take care of your mom and we're going to be okay.

Um, and it was kind of in that moment that I had to get a grip and I had to realize that we're going to figure out a plan and there's a lot of uncertainties. And in those early days and weeks, the uncertainty was probably worse than anything else because you don't know. You don't know, um, how bad it is.

You don't know what the treatment's going to look like. Um, I had to make decisions about what kind of surgery I was going to face. Um, and it was a lot to process and a lot to figure out. Um, I would say to anybody facing this, that like, It's okay to not know and it's okay to be overwhelmed in that, um, you know, every day you learn more information and every day you keep making decisions and ultimately one day you look back and you think I'm on the other side.

[00:16:07] Heather Lowe: Wow. And I imagine getting the news yourself was one thing trying to process words and you're in health care. You know what those words mean. You've seen this, but you had to immediately do the hardest thing, which is then to. talk it through with your daughter.You have a a lot of loved ones. One by one did you go through and start sharing this news and did it bring up emotion for you? What was that like?

I mean the next steps, of course appointments with your doctor and more information and a treatment plan and also personally, sharing with your loved ones. 

[00:16:43] Christi Zaleski: It felt a little bit like Groundhog Day. Like, I didn't feel like I had cancer.. I believed it, it's not that I was denying it, but it was almost like I was talking about it in third person of like, so this is going on. Um, and I didn't have all the facts, so it's really hard to talk to somebody and try to assure them or give them the information they need when I didn't have the information that I needed.

Um, early off, I felt like the only control I had was who I told and how I told them. Um, so I felt really strongly that if I told somebody I wanted it to be a top secret, like I want it to be the person that if I'm going to share the news, I'm gonna be the person to share it myself. And I got really angry when people, I know people just cared about me and they, you know, they're talking about me.

Um, but I really didn't want them to tell each other I needed to be the person. And that was my, uh, control freakism probably. Um, and then over time... 

[00:17:37] Heather Lowe: yeah. First born girl. First born granddaughter. Also, I will say stolen from me. Um, but you wanted to own your story. 

[00:17:49] Christi Zaleski: I wanted to own my story. And then at a certain point, I think , the lever switched of, you know, the more people, that know, if I'm going to make good come from it, I can't keep it a secret.

I remember my surgeon saying, you know, we do this comedy against cancer event. So someday months from now, years from now, when you're way on the other side, like maybe you'll speak at that event. And I remember thinking, What do you mean years from now? Like, I'm going to do, I want to do this next year. And like, that's what I told myself, but I had to wait for the invite, of course.

Um, but kind of, it was in that moment of like, I can make something good come from this. If I can tell my story, maybe it'll help. one other person and that that's enough. Or maybe we can raise thousands of dollars and figure out a way to, um, further research or further treatment or, um, help patients get better access to care.

So at a certain point I decided I didn't care who knew and I wanted everybody to know because I was sort of on this mission of, um, it kind of makes it worthwhile. Like now I can look back and say, you know, cancer sucks and I would never choose getting it again. Um, but I think there's more good that came from it than bad in my situation.

And I know it's not like that for everybody. And I know that I was really very lucky, um, to get caught at such an early stage. Um, and I'm grateful to the advances in medicine that like the new mammograms, the 3d mammograms, I'm so grateful for that technology. Um, because it probably like, 20 years ago, it probably would be a completely different story.

Um, and who knows how early I would have been diagnosed. 

[00:19:27] Heather Lowe: Mm hmm. Yeah. So at first you felt protective of yourself and your story and you wanted to own it. And eventually as word started getting out and you recognized you could be a speaker for this, you could be an advocate for this. And you grabbed onto that quickly and early in your process.

Really. I know people that have kept it a secret forever, right? Never want to know. And my sister in law, it's funny. She, Also had a breast cancer diagnosis and felt like you did like they probably got the paperwork wrong. Like, I feel fine. This isn't me. Like, you need to go check your number. I don't think she said that to anybody, but the first feeling is, oh, no, this is not me that there's been a mistake, right?

In shock. 

[00:20:09] Christi Zaleski: You don't pick the day that you want somebody to give you bad news, right? And that's sort of like this pretty big disruptor of, like, you need to put your life on pause because we've got something that we've got a battle that we've got to fight and we've got to get through. And, um, it was a disruptor, that's for sure.

[00:20:26] Heather Lowe: Well, and there's a before and after. Forever there's a before and after that phone call, right? Yeah. So how about your husband? 

[00:20:34] Christi Zaleski: He was very supportive. I'm very lucky. Um, not as medical as I am. His background is, you know, not in the healthcare field. I remember going into that first appointment.

Knowing it was COVID time, COVID era, and I could only bring one guest. And they said, you know, you can bring a guest. And I, of course I wanted to bring my husband, but I knew that he wasn't going to ask any medical questions that would be helpful for me later. So I asked him to please not talk, like, please just bring a notebook and a pen.

And I'm gonna, I have a list of questions. We're going to get through them. I'm going to own this. I'm going to be in control. And you just ferociously write down everything because I might not remember everything and I might need to see it again.

So he agreed, but he didn't take any notes. He sat and I think he was listening and he was trying to be a good support person. Um, but we kind of laughed afterwards like, where's the notes? And there were none. 

[00:21:31] Heather Lowe: Okay. So, so then, um, he continued to be a support person through your entire journey.

You had other support people. I know your mom was a huge support. And what was the treatment plan? 

[00:21:43] Christi Zaleski: So, I ultimately, um, chose to undergo a double mastectomy. Um, that was going to, um, help me to avoid radiation, which I, why I wanted to avoid for, I don't know, I guess, fear that I've, that I had about radiation.

Um, and I wanted to do the double because I didn't ever want to have to go through this again. So I wanted to minimize my chance of getting a second primary breast cancer. Um, the recurrence risk was going to be the same, whether or not we did a lumpectomy with radiation or if we did, um, a mastectomy.

Um, but I knew that if I left healthy breast tissue around that I would have to be high risk forever. I mean, I probably am still high risk forever because of what I've been through, but I didn't ever wanna have to go have another mammogram again. Um, I didn't, I just wanted to do everything in my power to reduce the chance of facing a new breast cancer down the road.

So that's what I chose to do. I really like some women really struggle with that decision and for me, it was like they got to go. Um, I don't, I like it was time to evict them. Um, I also wanted symmetry and when I learned about reconstruction options, I wanted to just have it the same on both sides.

Um, so it was, it was a pretty, that was the one easy decision for me. Um, it wasn't easy to go through, um, and it wasn't fun to go through, but it was an easy decision for me. 

[00:23:05] Heather Lowe: Oh, you were like, they can go. I don't want to lose my toenails, but I will get rid of these breasts. 

And then we did have some fun with our cousins about what would be the right size for the new ones. 

 My size or yours? What should I put down on my plan? 

[00:23:17] Christi Zaleski: So my daughter's friends and their moms are my friends. So we decided that we were going to all go out for dinner.

We were going to have a girl's night. We were going to do a movie and we were going to do dinner. And somehow that conversation around the table was all of the moms telling me what size bras they wore. And like me sort of inspecting them of, is that how I want it? And like the younger girls are like, Oh my God, like moms like stop.

Um, but we ended up being able to try to find some humor early off. Um, and I, I do think laughter is probably the best medicine and what helped me get through this the most. 

[00:23:52] Heather Lowe: Mm hmm. And so the surgery, it's a huge endeavor. And tell us about the recovery and what that was like for you. 

[00:24:01] Christi Zaleski: Um, surgery was tough.

Um, I ended up having a second surgery to, uh, we'll call it a revision to kind of clean up some things. Um, it was hard. You can't use your arms. Um, I was told that I was going to have T Rex arms and like for the life of me, I didn't really know what that meant. And ultimately what it meant is you can move your arms like back and forth like a dinosaur, but you can't do lifting.

You can't lift them over your head. You really don't want to move. Um, you sleep sitting up in a recliner for, for me, it was many weeks. Um, it was a lot. Um, I slowly started to walk like just to like I need to do something during the day and it would be like I'd walk, I don't know, a half a mile and I'd be like, that's all like, that's all I can tolerate.

But slowly it got better. Yeah, it was, it was a lot. It was a lot. 

[00:24:55] Heather Lowe: And you were off work for a period of time? 

[00:24:58] Christi Zaleski: I was off of work. Um, yeah, I, it's like it all kind of blurs together. Like I definitely was off of work. I think it was about four weeks and then I came back very, very part time.

Um, and then slowly worked back up to full time. 

[00:25:12] Heather Lowe: And you weren't capable to, like, join in on your kids activities and things during that recovery period? 

[00:25:17] Christi Zaleski: Oh, I did Heather. Um, I think that was, on day four of being home and I kind of was pretty stubborn and I thought, like, I might have breast cancer, but breast cancer doesn't have me.

So I, like I couldn't do much and they had drain sticking out of my sides and I had to hide, you know, like hide them inside of, um, zip down shirts. But I remember my kids were in the middle of basketball season and I didn't want to miss their games. And I didn't want to say that I couldn't go to their games because I had cancer.

Um, so I remember going to the gym really early. Um, I was pretty sore and I was really like nervous of like, If anybody touches me, I think I might have to punch them in the face. Um, so I remember finding the athletic director in the hallway saying, I'd really like to sit behind the players, um, on the stage because I don't want to have to climb the bleachers and I don't want to be by people and he's like, yeah, no problem.

[00:26:06] Heather Lowe: I imagine people know what you're going through. They care about you. You've had surgery. The first thing I want to do is go give you a big hug, which is like, 

[00:26:14] Christi Zaleski: yeah, that's some people didn't know. Right. Like some of the dads that were up there, like, I remember one of them slapped me on the back of like a greeting of like, Hey, it's just like, don't touch me.

[00:26:26] Heather Lowe: Right, right. You need to be in bubble wrap, but also wanted to be there. So you got to sit by and players. 

[00:26:31] Christi Zaleski: I've got to sit behind the players to hear some of the players. 

[00:26:35] Heather Lowe: Being with the band. Yeah. Okay. So you still did that, but you were off work and then you slowly, slowly got back in. What is the process from there?

[00:26:44] Christi Zaleski: The process from there is start to train like, well, I was waiting for pathology results. Um, I had to do a consult with my oncologist. I actually didn't meet the oncologist until after my surgery, because we knew what my surgery was. Because we knew that I would be based on the hormone studies of my

cancer, I knew that I would not need to have chemo before surgery. Um, so we kind of just kept that train moving. I was on this. Um, it was December 13th when I found out like the day that I got the call and I wanted surgery on Christmas Eve, which was a Saturday that year. Um, and my surgeon said, you know, I would do this for you on Christmas, but you really don't want this on Christmas.

Like, no, I do. Like, if you give me, if you remove my boobs for Christmas, um, I'll bring you cookies. I'll have my daughter make you cookies. And she's like, that doesn't seem like a very, like, 

[00:27:36] Heather Lowe: And is this Anna, your friend that consulted your daughter and promised her to take care of you? The same. doctor who accepted you back?

[00:27:46] Christi Zaleski: She did accept me back. And that was a whole nother, um, part of our, I guess, friendship and our journey is that, , she's the go to person in our area. There isn't anybody else. So if I was going to find a different breast surgeon, I was going to have to travel pretty far. And I really didn't want to, but I was afraid of dual ethical roles and how are we going to sort through this?

And are we still going to be able to be friends? And is she going to be able to be objective? So when I went into that first consult where I knew I was going to see her, Her nurse was there first and I, I started laying into hers like, is this a good idea? Is she going to be able to separate like my friendship with this?

Like we're a small town, so it's not unheard of to take care of patients that you also know because there aren't a lot of choices. Um, but I wanted to make sure that she was comfortable, that she wanted me to be her patient. So I was asking all of these questions and I was like really freaking out about this.

Um, and the nurse started laughing and I'm like, why? Like, what's so funny? This is not funny. And she's like, I'm only laughing because before you got here, Like, Anna was doing the same thing and it was kind of in that moment of like, she's also thinking about all the same things I am. Um, and I just kind of knew in that moment, I didn't want anybody else to be my surgeon.

So when she came in the room, um, I'm like, I knew we had to just have this conversation together. And I'm like, are you sure you want to be my doctor? And she's like, well, are you sure you want to be my patient? Um, and she's like, if you don't want to, I'm going to take some time off of work and I'm going to come with you and I'm going to be your advocate.

I'm going to ask questions for a minute there. I thought, well, at least she would ask good questions And then at some point we were both crying and we both said like, we can figure this out, like we will, we can figure this out. Um, and we did figure it out.

And it was actually one of the best things to have her as my surgeon. Um, there was a lot that was thrown at me in that appointment and I don't, and I didn't remember it all. And I had no notes to reflect on to try to remember it all. And she came over to my house and she brought sandwiches. And, um, I remember she passed me a sub and she's like, give me a piece of paper and pencil because I'm going to, I'm going to redraw the surgery and what the excision lines are going to look like.

And we're going to talk through this and I'm not leaving until you feel like you feel like you've got the information. Um, that was wonderful. Like she knew what I needed. I was an information seeker. I needed the plan. I needed to know what was going on. And, um, she met me where my needs were. 

 

[00:30:11] Christi Zaleski: And another like a sequel of that of my surgeon is I called her after I decided to make the team and I said she was on a cross country vacation at that point.

Um, had my surgery. Um, I think I was waiting. Well, I had my path and she was now across the country. Um, so I texted her and I said, I have this crazy idea. I'm signing up for a 20 mile walk. Um, I'm really now hoping that I can get a lot of friends and family. Is this something that you would ever consider?

And the first reaction was, uh, no. Um, but I think she thought about it some more too. And she's, she decided like, why not? Like, why, why am I not doing this? Like I, my life is dedicated to breast cancer. I'm a breast surgeon. Like this, this could be fun. So she said, yes, I'll join your team too. Um, so then, um, that was pretty cool to feel like, uh, You know, I'm bringing, I'm bringing my surgeon with me to the walk in the pink bubble.

Um, and that year we had her on the back of her shirt, breast surgeon, and she was so popular. I felt like a movie star just walking next to her. People would come up to me saying, are you, are you the Christi that brought her surgeon? I'm like, yeah, that's me. I felt almost kind of famous.

[00:31:18] Heather Lowe: I love it so much. I know I got to walk with her too and I got to sit with her at dinner at the night before and I think that full circle friendship, breast cancer healing, beautiful story all the way around. I absolutely love it. So tell us, let's, is there anything else that we need to know about your breast cancer journey, that, that time of your life?

Before we move on to, I do want to hear more about this team and, and all the good and everything you're doing. But is there anything left over? that you want to share? 

[00:31:49] Christi Zaleski: I think we covered most of it, Heather. 

[00:31:51] Heather Lowe: Okay, so tell everybody the name of your team. 

[00:31:54] Christi Zaleski: We are Hakuna Matatas, um, because we are walking for no worries.

It took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to name the team, and I bounced it off of a lot of our teammates of like, what should we be? And we had all kinds of crazy ideas. But ultimately, we settled on Hakuna Matatas. And it's been kind of fun because a lot of our fundraisers, we now do a play on the name.

Um, and I feel like we're almost Even becoming known in this area because of all of the social media posts and all of the crazy stuff that we've come up with. 

[00:32:21] Heather Lowe: Yeah, you didn't know breast cancer was a title or a role that you were going to have or a label that you would wear, but also You didn't know Hakuna Matata is like head Hakuna.

It was going to be a title. And then you are a top fundraiser, Christi, your energy is contagious. I love to watch it. I love being part. I was part for real when you were in Chicago and I'm part virtually of everything, always on your team, always rooting for you, of course. But okay. So you decide to do this thing.

You know, you have a friend doing it with you. Now you have another friend doing it with you. Now you have your surgeon doing it with you. Tell us how you've grown. I mean, first of all, you have a competitive spirit. We know that. So fundraising really is right up your alley. But how did it, how did it grow from there?

And what was the first year like? And then tell me the rest. 

[00:33:10] Christi Zaleski: Yeah, the first year was I think we had 23 people ultimately that caravaned down to Chicago together. And, um, you know, it was a lot of laughs. It was a lot of, like, it was a lot of work to get through it. But, um, it was, we had so much fun. Like, we just, like, you, It's hard to describe the pink bubble of what it's actually like, but that's what it was.

It was a pink bubble that you enter and everybody there is there for the same cause. And everybody there is sort of instant friends, no matter who they are. We had a lot of laughs. , I wanted to stay in a hotel that had a hot tub. That was my only requirement. I put my sister in charge of finding a hotel and ultimately that hotel had a broken hot tub.

The chutes were shooting up straight. It was like a lukewarm bath with your strangers and friends. And then there was like a giant scab floating in the tub. So like, Oh, time to exit the hot tub. We're not staying in it. Um, but we laughed, like it was just, it was, It was fun and it was this community and I was kind of thinking to myself of do I even dare suggest that we do this again and that next year we do all three days and walk 60 miles and all commit to more fundraising.

But I sort of brought it up and. People didn't tell me I was, I mean, a few people told me I was crazy, but almost everybody on the team said like, yeah, we'll do this again. So we got a bus the next year and we got a little bit smarter with how we fundraised. And we started contacting area businesses. Um, and I really hate fundraising.

Like I hate asking people for, I don't hate fundraising. I hate asking people for money, but I feel like I'm not asking it for me. Like I'm asking it for this cause and I'm asking them to get behind this cause. And that's, that's the difference, but you know, one day I remember my mom and my aunt Lou, your, our aunt, um, Louise, we walked around a small town and we went from business to business, seeing if they would want to support us and like in between businesses, we would die laughing.

Like it was just a really, um, it brought people together. Um, and every time we do a fundraiser or do something in the community, it, gives me like purpose. Um, so our team's been great. It's not really me. It's the team that has done all of the work. Um and that continues to do all of the work. So the second year I think we had about 30 peopleand we over doubled what we raised the first year. And then we said, let's do it again.

Um, and now this year, Chicago, isn't an option. So we bought plane tickets and found a big, nice, fancy Airbnb in San Diego. So this fall will be the San Diego walk and got some lofty goals to reach a hundred thousand this year, which is a big goal. And I don't know if we'll get there, but, um, it's not going to stop me from trying.

[00:35:54] Heather Lowe: Oh my gosh, I love it. It's huge. You're making such a difference. And I felt in that first walk, like , everybody that was a friend of yours, and there were people from all areas of your life, right? There were family, there were childhood, they were work, they were, um, just community or whatever, everybody was so awesome.

And I thought that was a real testament to you, Christi, that you surround yourself, friend of yours would be a friend of mine, or you surround yourself with the best people, just smart. friendly, open, kind, every single one of them. It was so, it was so fun. And, um, we want to help you. So it is breast cancer month.

I'm going to put all your information on how people can donate to Hakuna Matata. It is significant, like even as a participant. I don't, what is it? What is it for one person to, to join? What is the amount they need? 

[00:36:38] Christi Zaleski: So if you join and commit to walking all 60 miles, you commit to also raising $2,300, um, as an individual.

Um, although we all help each other once we meet our individual goals. Um, if you commit to walking one day it's $750, um, so this year we sort of invented a virtual option because we are across the country. So we're kind of working with the event planner. There's a few people that say like, I'd really like to walk, I'd really like to commit to raising 750, but I can't make the trip.

I'm like, that's fine. You can still raise the 750 for the team. It's all like, that's what it's all about, really. . So yeah, like if anybody wants to join the team, it's not too late to join the team. Um, and you're right, like bringing together people from all different aspects of my life, from childhood, best friend, cousins, to, um, adult moms that I sit in the bleachers with and cheer with, um, and then everything in between coworkers.

Um, we got my, Employer to get behind us as a sponsor. So this year we've, um, tripled our, um, employee, participation. We, I think we've got 15 people from work that are doing it. It's really just like, let's come together, um, let's have fun, , and let's do something good and make something good come from this.

[00:37:48] Heather Lowe: I love it. And you just had a fundraiser this week at McDonald's, just maybe last night. I saw it and you have like, just tell us about, just tell us. It's like the stories and the light and the joy that is passed around through these connections, through other people wanting to give or giving up their time or their resources is just, it's priceless.

You have a fun story from last night. 

[00:38:12] Christi Zaleski: Yeah, my dad is a frequent flyer of McDonald's. He's retired. His friends are there every morning and he's become very good friends with the store owner in our local town. Um, and somehow my dad came and said, I think they will do a, um, like how they do McTeacher nights.

 They usually sponsor school systems. Um, and they have a McTeacher night where teachers come in and they help serve food and they clean tables and they said they would do a night for us. I'm like, they'll do a McTata night. Um, so we called the McTata night. We made posters.

We spread the word to the community and then we showed up in our capes. in our pink clothes. Um, and we got behind the counter and my mom was like, um, I love Lucy with the conveyor belt, with the drinks and trying to keep the covers on them as fast as she could. Um, and McDonald's sponsored us. Um, like a certain percentage of the sales came to the team.

I think we raised 660 last night. Um, just for working for a couple of hours. Um, and it was really fun. Um, one of the managers at one point, they're like, where is our manager? And I'm like, he's outside. On the corner with our street cheerleaders trying to draw traffic in What's he doing? Um, and then he came back in and everybody was so excited They're like we think he's going to join the team Um, and he was trying to advocate that a couple of the managers should be allowed to join the team and leave work for A couple of days to do it with us He also, you know pulled some middle schoolers back in inside that came in to buy a drink.

They were sweating. I think they were skateboarding and he's like, you know what? Tonight's a really good cause. I'm buying you some supper. So how does 30 chicken McNuggets sound? And like, I heard that and I saw it and like, I almost wanted to start crying of like, this has touched him. And he came over to me and he said, you know, most nights.

I get satisfaction out of feeding people and making them happy. Um, but tonight it's actually gives me purpose and I get to be a cancer fighter. Um, and that was pretty cool that like it's helping us and our team, but many of the employees said, like, this is the best, these are the best nights of like, when we get to do something kind of beyond what we normally do.

We had a lot of local business support. Um, there's a local restaurant, there's a local, um, like there's lots of like local events going on where everybody's trying to get behind us. And it's, it's really cool to see the community come together like this. 

[00:40:29] Heather Lowe: I love it. So we can donate. We can all donate to, um, Hakuna Matata's ourselves, right?

We can just give a donation. How else can we, anybody listening to this, be a cancer fighter? What advice do you have for, for the listeners? 

[00:40:44] Christi Zaleski: I think, yeah, that would be great. I mean, I would love for our team to hit our goal and for your readers or your listeners to help us get there. If anybody wants to join the team, um, you know, they're welcome to join the team.

They can make their own team. Um, I would say cancer touches all of us in some way. If it's not us personally, it could be a friend, a family member, a relative. Um, you have the opportunity to be that support person, to listen, um, to be the one, to not shy away from the conversations and try to be a support person.

Um, it takes one person to be your sort of your confidant or your person, your champion to kind of get through it. Um, and that's something that all of us could do because all of us see cancer in some capacity or another. 

[00:41:31] Heather Lowe: Yeah, it's so true. It's affected all of us. And a cute full circle thing that we have is you have recovered from cancer, I have recovered from alcohol, and the leader of, Susan Carter used to be the leader of the Susan G Komen Foundation, and then she was the leader of SheRecovers.

So there's this sweet connection and women, women supporting women, men supporting women, everyone supporting women, right? Um, to fight cancer everywhere. But this cause especially is so female dominated for breast cancer. And the other thing is alcohol is a carcinogen. So I think one thing just to say is a little informed consent, right?

With, um, has it, has it changed you in the, the way that you consume things or, um, any of your habits since that diagnosis? 

[00:42:20] Christi Zaleski: It has. Um, so I am on a 10 year tamoxifen or um, estrogen blocker plan. And when I was prescribed tamoxifen, I Did a lot of reading about it, and I read that alcohol can exacerbate the side effects, um, and I just made the life decision that I don't need alcohol.

Like, I, like, that was, that's what it took for me to say, like, I'm going to choose sobriety, um, not because alcohol has ever been a problem for me, but, I don't want to increase the risks of any bad side effects that are coming from tamoxifen. There's enough on the label for me to worry about without me trying to contribute to that.

So, um, I made the decision, um, and I know we've had conversations about sort of our two different journeys and like different reasons and different kind of purposes. But, um, I give a lot of credit to anybody who's, um, chosen a life of sobriety, it's not easy. and you're doing some pretty amazing things, Heather, being a support for so many people.

[00:43:21] Heather Lowe: I love it. And I'll sit and sip a kiddie cocktail next to you anytime, Christi. Thank you so much for sharing your story, for your openness. Um, I'm just so proud of you for everything you've been through, for how you're being out loud about it. I mean, I know one thing in my journey is sharing stories heals.

That's why I started this podcast and having a sense of belonging, knowing you are not alone. Actually, um, one of your taglines, , it is walking for no worries, but another one of your tagline is no one walks alone. And we decided that too on the walk that, um, even with our mutual competitive spirit, like we didn't have to win the race, let's say that we were going to cross over together.

Right. 

[00:44:02] Christi Zaleski: And no one walks alone except for when I got lost and half the team was in front of me and half was behind and I was completely by myself. 

[00:44:10] Heather Lowe: . We walk alone for short periods of time. 

[00:44:13] Christi Zaleski: And then we find our tribe.

[00:44:15] Heather Lowe: I love that. I think any journey having connection and feel a sense of belonging and you have created that for yourself. You've created an energy and a vibe with your fundraising and with your knowledge, with your background, with your own personal experience.

And it absolutely has a huge ripple effect for the rest of the world. So I'm proud of you. Proud to be team Hakuna Matata and Um, I know our listeners are going to love this. Hopefully they can donate too for breast cancer month, October, and we wish you the best of luck in San Diego. 

[00:44:42] Christi Zaleski: Thanks, Heather.

Thanks for being part of the tribe.

[00:44:46] Heather Lowe: and that's a wrap for today's episode of the Peripeteia podcast, a talk show for women.

The Peripeteia podcast is sponsored by Sunnyside. I could not ask for a better partner. Thanks, Sunnyside! And don't forget to download my free ebook, The 12 Truths to change your life. Do it for the plot. \ , We'll see you in the next episode. Lots of love. .