Episode 198: An Olympian’s Story of Feeling Betrayed by Her Body

Healthy lifestyle choices, such as being physically active, maintaining a healthy weight and eating a balanced diet are linked to a lower risk of breast cancer, yet no one knows exactly why one person gets breast cancer and another doesn’t. Everyone is at risk. In fact, the two most common risk factors for breast cancer are being a woman and getting older. Today’s guest was blessed with a body that had served her extremely well – it helped her win a bronze medal at the Olympic Games, to navigate a successful, decade long career on Wall Street and brought two healthy babies into the world. Despite being a top-level athlete, having no history of breast cancer in her family and not being a carrier of the BRCA genes, Lauren McFall Gardner was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer at the age of 40. She is here today to share her story and the impact that breast cancer had on her life and her vision of health.