766. Christine Thorn Fischer, Stage-4 Breast Cancer Survivor & 3:09 Marathoner

Ali on the Run Show

Ali Feller

Run, Health & Fitness, Women, Inspiration, Runner, Entrepreneur, Sports, Fitness, Health, Running

4.9 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 21 November 2024

⏱️ 93 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

"You’re so much more than just somebody who has survived cancer. And also...you’re somebody who has survived cancer! Figuring out that new identity is an interesting thing to navigate."

At 28 years old, Christine Thorn Fischer was a happy, healthy, elite-level steeplechasing, elementary school teacher. Then, she found a lump in her breast. Christine was diagnosed with stage four invasive ductal carcinoma — breast cancer — that spread to her spine and sacrum. Suddenly, instead of dreaming about her next race on the track, Christine was undergoing intense treatment including eight rounds of chemotherapy, radiation, immunotherapy, and hormone therapy. In this conversation, Christine — who is married to professional marathoner Reed Fischer — talks about her diagnosis and the days, weeks, and months that followed. She talks about her experience with scalp cooling to preserve her hair during treatment, about the worst day of her life, and about what it was like learning that she might die within a few years.

Not only did Christine get a "no signs of disease" report from her most recent scans, she is living. Christine is officially back on the run, and just ran her first marathon — the TCS New York City Marathon — a few weeks ago, conquering the course in 3:09:52

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In this episode:

Christine reflects on running the 2024 TCS New York City Marathon (5:45)
On being a “cancer survivor” (11:40)
What Christine was needing when she went on a Boarding for Breast Cancer retreat (13:50)
All about Christine’s breast cancer diagnosis and the days, weeks, and months that followed (19:45)
Christine recounts the worst day of her life (34:00)
Christine’s advice on how to support someone going through a cancer diagnosis and treatment (44:50)
What Christine recalls as the hardest parts of her cancer journey (50:00)
Christine’s decision to do cold capping during chemotherapy (59:40)
On reaching the light at the end of the cancer tunnel (1:07:45)
How Christine’s perspective on fear has changed over the past two years (1:16:20)
Why Christine wanted to run the New York City Marathon after completing cancer treatment (1:17:50)

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Allie on the Run show.
0:06.8	I'm your host, Allie Feller, and on every episode, I talk with people who are doing exciting things on the run and beyond.
0:13.9	From professional athletes and celebrity runners to the everyday, amateur, and back of the pack runner,
0:20.1	we are here to celebrate everyone and
0:22.3	anyone who enjoys a life on the run. Whether you are running towards something big or away from
0:28.4	something that has been holding you back, I am here to help you pick up the pace. My guest today
0:33.9	is Christine Thorne Fisher. This conversation has been a long time coming. Christine has
0:41.0	been one of my biggest inspirations and resources over the past year and a half. Christine was diagnosed
0:46.7	with stage four invasive ductal carcinoma, breast cancer, just a few months before I was. I followed
0:54.1	her journey obsessively. I reached out to her
0:57.6	often for advice, for insights, for comfort. I was a total stranger and she always responded.
1:06.1	Christine's diagnosis was really scary. She found a lump in her breasts while putting on a
1:10.0	sports bra to go for a run,
1:11.8	found out she had breast cancer, and then found out that it had spread to her spine and her sacrum.
1:18.3	Christine's treatment was pretty intense, and she crushed it, all while continuing to teach
1:23.2	at an elementary school and keep running whenever she felt up for it. Christine is an absolute ray of
1:30.3	sunshine. You will pick up on that immediately. Finally getting the chance to talk to her, it was a
1:36.7	joy in many ways and turns out it was kind of therapeutic for me. Turns out I have not unpacked any of my own cancer stuff. And this brought up
1:50.2	some stuff for me. I did not expect to cry as much as I did right off the bat in this conversation.
1:55.4	And I definitely did not intend to talk about my own stuff as much as I did. But I'm not surprised. Christine has a way of making
2:04.3	people feel comfortable and getting them to open up. And so that's just what happened. Plus,
2:09.6	you know, we have some stuff in common. So this was certainly more of a conversation than an interview,
	...

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