Ep. 54: Barbara Caplan-Bennett on Losing Her Nose to Save Her Life

The physical manifestations of cancer are unique to every journey, and some are more outwardly obvious than others. Our guest this week, Barbara Caplan-Bennett — a published author of several essays, articles, and novels including "Noseworthy", a memoir about her journey as a melanoma cancer survivor — knows first-hand the impact a skin cancer diagnosis can have on your appearance. In this episode, she gets honest about her diagnoses, recoveries, and the transformative personal sacrifice she made to save her life. Barbara's experiences will have you amazed at her ability to find the humor and inspiration to use her cancer journey to follow her life's dream. In this episode, we're diving into:   Barbara's unique story about how a weird bump on her nose changed her life What is Mohs technique and how Barbara felt looking in the mirror for the first time after surgery The innocent comments that led Barbara to make a doctor's appointment The shocking news Barbara received about her nose, and the questions it left her asking about getting back to normal What people don't tell you about the impact of head and neck surgeries (and what that meant for Barbara's physical and mental well-being) The freeing moment Barbara got her prosthetic, plus the lesson she learned about ALWAYS asking for exactly what she wants Barbara shares her experience with a Tumor Board — what it is, how she came to be a part of it, and what the doctors concluded about her diagnosis and recovery Why Barbara is finally able to see the light side of her cancer journey (it took a long time!) and how it gave her the opportunity to live her life's dream Barbara gets real and gives us ALL the interesting details you might be wondering about prosthetic noses  And much more! Get your copy of "Noseworthy" on Amazon here: bit.ly/NoseworthyBarbara. Autographed copies (personalized, if desired) of "Noseworthy" are available by emailing [email protected]. Check out the HuffPost article Barbara wrote about her cancer journey, "I Had To Have My Entire Nose Removed Or Risk Dying. Here's How It Changed My Life.": https://www.huffpost.com/entry/melanoma-cancer-nose-surgery-removal_n_5fa9809ac5b6f21920de8570 Connect with Barbara through the Noseworthy Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Noseworthyamemoir  Join me for a Coffee Chat here: https://fitnessdesignsolutions.as.me/CoffeeChat Continue the conversation in my free private Facebook group, Surviving is JUST the Beginning: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SurvivingisJUSTtheBeginning/ Follow me on Instagram to get the latest updates on the podcast: https://www.instagram.com/thejennifercochran/