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Shameless Leadership

134: Barb Anderson: Life with Pediatric Cancer

Shameless Leadership

Sara Dean

Self-improvement, How To, Business, Management, Education

4.7 • 800 Ratings

🗓️ 7 June 2017

⏱️ 65 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

After graduating at the top of her MBA class and landing an interesting job, Barb Anderson suddenly found herself staring directly in the face of every parent's worst nightmare when her 18-month old son, Jude, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. With this diagnosis, Barb was thrown into her new role as a "Momcologist," a position where she serves as chief advocate, medical officer and public relations expert for her family.    Jude's journey has defied all odds, surviving three relapses, two bone marrow transplants and travel across the United States for groundbreaking clinical trials. He is now approaching six months after his second bone marrow transplant (for which Barb was the donor) and recovering well.   Barb loves living in the kind, vibrant city of Tucson, Arizona with her husband, Aidan, Jude and younger son, Finn. When not serving as a Momcologist, Barb loves to cook, drink wine, brew kombucha, and connect with friends & family. She is a double graduate of the University of Arizona with an undergraduate degree in Marketing and an MBA in Entrepreneurship.    I asked Barb to come on the show to talk about her story as a momcologist. She is going to walk us through the last 3 years of her life since Jude was diagnosed with Leukemia at just 18 months old.    Listen in to hear Barb share: How Jude was diagnosed  What life looks like with the ups and downs of pediatric cancer What kind of emotional turmoil remains even when the cancer is gone What it’s like to raise a sibling of a child with pediatric cancer What NOT to say (or send) to people fighting cancer The alarmingly low research funding that supports pediatric cancer   Links Mentioned: Jude’s Man and Woman of the Year Leukemia and Lymphoma Donation Page  Team Jude inspirational merchandise order form    Book: The Emperor of Maladies  Sponsor: Aaptiv.com (use code SMA30 for a free 30 day trial)           Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

This is the Shameless Mom Academy, episode 134 with Barb Anderson. Show notes for this episode

0:06.1

can be found by going to shamelessmom.com and clicking on episode 134.

0:14.5

Welcome to the Shameless Mom Academy. I'm your host, Sarah Dean, and I'm here to give you and

0:19.6

other passionate, dedicated moms

0:21.3

the tools you need to bridge the gap between motherhood and living the life of your dreams.

0:25.7

I'm also here to help you be a little more shameless every day, because if you aren't

0:30.2

building a life, you're extraordinarily proud of, what kind of legacy are you building?

0:34.5

So let's dive in.

0:41.6

This episode of the Shameless Mom Academy is brought to you by Aptive. Active is an app that brings your workouts right into your earbuds by syncing the

0:46.7

motivational guidance of a personal trainer with a perfect playlist to bring you an elevated

0:51.0

on-demand audio fitness experience.

1:00.5

After graduating at the top of her MBA class and landing an interesting job,

1:05.6

Barb Anderson suddenly found herself staring directly in the face of every parent's worst nightmare when her 18-month-old son Jude was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. With this diagnosis,

1:12.9

Barb was thrown into her new role as a momcologist, a position where she serves as chief

1:17.1

advocate, medical officer, and public relations expert for her family. Jude's journey has defied

1:22.8

all odds, surviving three relapses, two bone marrow transplants, and travel across the U.S. for groundbreaking

1:28.8

clinical trials. Jude has now hit six months cancer-free after his second bone marrow transplant,

1:36.4

his longest stint in remission since his first diagnosis. Barb was actually the donor for

1:42.5

his second bone marrow transplant, so we get to hear about that

1:45.0

story as well. Jude and Bard are both recovering well right now. The rest of Barb's family

1:50.2

consists of her husband, Jude's father, Aidan, and their little boy, Finn, Jude's younger brother.

1:56.8

When not serving as a momcologist, Barb loves to cook, drink wine, brew kombucha, and connect

...

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