From Diagnosis To Agency: How A Bestselling Author Reclaimed Her Body And Voice After Breast Cancer

Want to be a guest or know someone would be a great fit? I am looking for military vets, active duty, military brats, veteran service orgs or anyone in the fitness industry Bad news can shove you into what Cara Lockwood calls the white room—a stunned, silent place where words blur and fear takes over. When a routine mammogram uncovered HER2-positive breast cancer, the USA Today bestselling author had to navigate the shock, decode jargon, and make life-shaping choices while her mind sprinted to worst-case scenarios. We walk through that moment and the very human steps that turned panic into agency. Cara explains HER2-positive breast cancer in plain English, then shows how she built a trusted medical team, asked for explanations like a five-year-old, and found clarity using a simple filter: a hard yes or a hard no. From choosing a double mastectomy to weighing chemotherapy framed as an “insurance policy,” she reveals how real decisions blend data with gut, risk with peace of mind. We also get honest about partners and kids—how spouses want to fix what can’t be fixed, and how teens carry quiet worry that surfaces long after the hospital bracelets come off. Mindset is the heartbeat of this story. Cara rejects toxic positivity and embraces strong and salty—fight songs, dark humor, and the truth that bravery is just doing it scared. She talks body image after reconstruction, the shock of numbness and scars, and the surprising confidence that comes from surviving what once felt impossible. Humor becomes more than relief; it’s power reclaimed, proof that if you can laugh at it, it can’t own you. We close with Cara’s new book, There’s No Good Book for This, an irreverent, compassionate guide that pairs real talk with end-of-chapter pep talks, and donates half its proceeds to breast cancer research. If you’ve ever felt trapped in the white room, this conversation offers language, tools, and hope you can use today. Listen, share with someone who needs it, and if this helped you, follow the show, leave a review, and tell us your fight song. Support the show