As you can see this is a lengthy episode, but it is certainly worth a listen even if you have to break up your listening sessions!
The best way to introduce this episode is by giving a little background on Tamara's state of mind weeks before this episode was recorded.
Tamara wrote Hanna a text on February 12, 2020, that said, "I had scans done yesterday. Unfortunately, which I knew, the cancer is significantly worse. My liver is now covered in tumors. So I'm reluctantly starting IV chemo on Monday. I’m so emotionally exhausted from this life. I collapsed on Monday in the backfield looking for Frank (her lost dog) and had to be carried back to the house. My body is just giving out on me."
When Hanna received that text she thought to herself, "Is this the beginning of the end?"
On February 17, 2020, Tamara went in for her first chemo infusion where she went into anaphylactic shock. The nurses and doctors were able to quickly open her airway and get her breathing again. In true Tamara fashion, she didn't give up and went back for a second treatment. That act of going back and accepting the chemo as part of her healing process has taken her to a new 'plane'.
It's hard to say what has changed for Tamara, maybe it was the anaphylactic shock, accepting her present as is or a deep understanding of how much she is loved - whatever it was, there has certainly been a deep mental shift and it unfolds before you in this episode.
Through this conversation, you can literally hear Tamara's transformation from a down and out cancer patient to a strong, resilient human being that wants to truly understand herself and explore her mind.
This is such an impactful and inspirational episode in Tamara's journey through cancer.