Facing the Rarest of Cancers (with Katie Coleman)

The Doctor's Art

Henry Bair and Tyler Johnson

Medicine, Society & Culture, Health & Fitness, Philosophy

5 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 6 September 2022

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On New Year's Eve of 2020, at the age of 29, Katie Coleman was diagnosed with metastatic renal oncocytoma, a type of kidney cancer so rare that she is the only known case in the United States and one of only a handful around the world. The sheer uniqueness of her situation resulted in a prolonged course of prognostic and therapeutic uncertainty. Thanks to the work of oncologists at the National Cancer Institute and MD Anderson Cancer Center, Katie is now in remission. Today, she is a patient advocate who passionately supports other patients through their cancer journeys. In this episode, Katie joins us to share her incredible story, her experiences with grief, uncertainty, and hope, and her lessons learned on finding joy and meaning in life.

In this episode, you will hear about:

Katie’s backstory and the events leading up to her diagnosis - 1:50
The experience of being diagnosed with one of the rarest cancers in the world - 3:58
How Katie’s oncologists discussed this unusual diagnosis with her - 10:42
The experience of receiving treatment with the goal of prolonging life, rather than curing the disease - 13:06
How co-host Dr. Tyler Johnson communicates issues of serious illness with his patients - 15:38
How the uncertainty around a terminal cancer prognosis impacts the way patients approach living their lives - 22:21
How Katie’s changing prognoses have altered her life plans - 28:53
The wisdom on living well one gains from facing a life-limiting illness - 34:32
Lessons on hope in the face of uncertainty - 39:55
The various ways clinicians can open up and connect with their patients on a human level - 44:14

Katie’s story has been profiled by the National Cancer Institute, NBC News, and the Today Show.

You can follow Katie on Twitter @KayDAustin

Katie is also an active content creator and patient advocate on Youtube, TikTok, and Instagram.

Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to [email protected].

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, I'm Henry Bear.
0:03.4	And I'm Tyler Johnson.
0:04.8	And you're listening to the Doctors' Art, a podcast that explores meaning in medicine.
0:09.9	Throughout our medical training and career, we have pondered, what makes medicine meaningful?
0:15.2	Can a stronger understanding of this meaning create better doctors?
0:18.8	How can we build healthcare institutions that nurture the doctor-patient connection?
0:23.1	What can we learn about the human condition from accompanying our patients in times of suffering?
0:28.0	In seeking answers to these questions, we meet with deep thinkers working across healthcare,
0:33.1	from doctors and nurses to patients and healthcare executives, those who have collected a career's worth of harder and wisdom.
0:40.2	Proving the moral heart that beats at the core of medicine, we will hear stories that are by turns heartbreaking,
0:45.6	amusing, inspiring, challenging, and enlightening.
0:49.3	We welcome anyone curious about why doctors do what they do.
0:52.9	Join us as we think out loud about what illness and healing can teach us about some of life's biggest questions.
0:59.9	On New Year's Eve of 2020, at the age of 29, Katie Coleman was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer,
1:09.5	for ever changing the course of her life.
1:12.2	Katie has metastatic oncositoma, a cancer so rare that she is the only known case in the United States,
1:18.2	and one of only a handful around the world.
1:20.6	Today, she is a patient advocate who passionately supports other patients through their cancer drains.
1:26.3	In this episode, Katie joins us to share her incredible and unique story, her experiences with grief,
1:31.9	uncertainty, and hope, and her lessons learned on finding joy and meaning in life.
1:36.8	Katie, welcome to the show, and thanks for being with us.
1:40.3	Yeah, I appreciate the opportunity to talk to you guys.
	...

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