Season 2

If you’ve ever thought, “I don’t have time to be mindful,” this episode is for you. In caregiving, time always feels tight. So mindfulness? It sounds like a luxury you can’t afford. But what if mindfulness isn’t about carving...

When you’re caregiving, your mind is focused on tasks, timelines, and to-dos. But your body is paying attention to what you’re not saying out loud. In this episode, Charlotte explores how the physical body holds stress, tensi...

After caregiving for so long, you might feel like you’ve lost parts of yourself you didn’t even know were missing. This episode isn’t about returning to who you were before cancer. It’s about reconnecting with the person you'...

When you picture a caregiver, what image comes to mind? Often, it’s someone running on empty, holding everything together, and putting their own needs last. But what if preserving yourself isn’t selfish but essential? In this...

Becoming You Again Series: Part Two Caregiving comes with a weight no one else can see. It's the emotional backpack you carry every day: filled with guilt, fear, responsibility, hypervigilance, and resentment. You can’t alway...

Becoming You Again Series: Part One Before the doctor’s calls, the waiting rooms, and the constant updates… there was you . In this episode, Charlotte invites cancer caregivers to pause and remember the version of themselves ...

You’ve been praised for your strength. For keeping everything together. For never falling apart. But what if that pressure is exactly what’s breaking you? In this final episode of the Holding It Together (When You're Falling ...

You’re standing in the pharmacy and can’t remember what questions you meant to ask. You’re staring at a bill but can’t process the numbers. You’re not lazy. You’re not failing. You’re in a state of caregiver cognitive overloa...

Have you ever found yourself panicking in a grocery store or crying in a hospital bathroom stall and then scolding yourself to “get it together”? You’re not broken. You’re not weak. You’re activated . In this episode, Charlot...

What does “holding it together” really look like when you’re a cancer caregiver? Spoiler: It’s not color-coded calendars or calm conversations with doctors. It’s clenched jaws, shallow breathing, and crying behind a locked ba...

There’s a moment in every caregiver’s journey when you quietly break. Not in a dramatic, movie scene way... no tears on the floor with a spotlight overhead, but in the grocery line, in the middle of the night, or while washin...

To the medical teams walking alongside us, this is what every caregiver wishes you knew. In the final episode of the "Things I Wish You Would Know" series, Charlotte speaks directly to oncologists, nurses, and care providers....

To neighbors, coworkers, classmates, and community members of caregivers, this episode is for you. When a caregiver disappears from the potlucks, PTA meetings, or yoga classes, it’s not because they stopped caring. It’s becau...

To the families of cancer caregivers, this is what we need you to understand. When caregiving enters the picture, family dynamics shift in ways no one expects. In this episode, Charlotte speaks directly to the family members ...

What you always wanted your friends to understand about caregiving that you didn’t think you could share with them. When words feel too hard to find, this episode becomes your voice. It speaks directly to the friends in your ...

When words fail, this episode speaks for you. Designed to be shared with the person you care for, this emotional message puts voice to everything you’ve struggled to say out loud. From invisible emotional labor to longing for...

You are not just a caregiver. You’re still you. In this moving finale to our Midyear Reset series, Charlotte guides us through the quiet but powerful work of remembering who you are outside of caregiving. Through tender stori...

Find your free Scanxiety Toolkit at https://www.cancercaregiverpodcast.com/tools Grief isn’t just for funerals. In this episode, Charlotte explores how caregivers can feel deep love and overwhelming grief at the same time. Wi...

What is survival mode really costing you? In this eye-opening episode, Charlotte breaks down the hidden toll that caregiving stress takes on your mind, body, and identity. You’ll discover how chronic stress reshapes your brai...

Asking for help can feel like a full-body cringe, especially for cancer caregivers who are used to doing it all. What if the very thing you’re avoiding is the one thing that could ease your load? In this episode, Charlotte un...

In this kickoff to our Midyear Reset series, Charlotte gently guides caregivers through a powerful reflection: what happens when you finally get a moment to yourself… and don’t know what to do with it? If you're feeling numb,...

What if skipping your loved one’s appointment wasn’t neglect, but a radical act of love? In this episode, Charlotte shares a gut-wrenching story that turned into a breakthrough for sustainable caregiving. If you’ve ever felt ...

In this powerful bonus episode, host Charlotte Bayala joins forces with Bob Coughlin and Paul Kidwell of In Sickness: Men and the Culture of Caregiving to shine a much-needed spotlight on male breast cancer. Survivors Arvind ...

Not all difficult cancer moments happen in the scan room. Sometimes, they happen in the doctor's office. When a dismissive tone, a careless comment, or an unwillingness to collaborate shakes your confidence what do you do? In...