#155: On today’s episode, Han sits down with actress, founder, and breast cancer survivor Miranda McKeon for a conversation around mental health, grief, identity, and what it means to surrender. At 19 years old, Miranda had just come off the Netflix series Anne with an E when she discovered a small lump in her breast. She quickly was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer.
Miranda and Han explore how trauma changes your relationship with mental health, and how Miranda reclaimed a sense of agency. The girls get into:
- Being diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer and how she navigated eight rounds of chemotherapy, a double mastectomy, and 25 rounds of radiation
- The mental, physical, and spiritual toll of cancer treatment
- The grief that comes when the future you imagined suddenly disappears
- Having to surrender when you are someone who craves control
- Learning to speak to yourself like someone who will always have your back
- navigating depression as someone who never struggled with mental health issues
- the problem with outsourcing comfort and validation
- how women tether themselves to our physical appearance
- The complicated relationship women have with beauty, value, and appearance
- Moving away from a “why me?” mentality and the art of reframing
- How changing your language can help you reclaim agency
- Why surrendering can still be an intentional choice
- How facing mortality changed the way Miranda values her time and her life
- Learning not to waste energy obsessing over things you cannot control
- Therapy, journaling, and returning to the tools that support your mental health
- The breast cancer signs and symptoms young women need to know
- The rise of breast cancer diagnoses among young women
& MORE!
This episode is for anyone navigating grief, depression, trauma, illness, or a season of life that has forced them to release control. If you're looking to feel inspired to move through your trauma, this episode is for you!
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 – Introduction
05:21 – Coming off Anne with an E and believing her career was just beginning
05:40 – Being diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer at 19
06:00 – Finding a lump during a breast self-exam
07:55 – The immediate mental-health impact of a cancer diagnosis
08:25 – Surrendering control when your future feels uncertain
11:07 – Why your relationship with mental health changes over time
11:35 – Egg freezing, chemotherapy, a double mastectomy, and radiation
11:50 – The mental, physical, and spiritual toll of cancer treatment
12:30 – Depression and losing hope for the future
15:00 – Grieving the life and future you thought you were going to have
16:20 – Why mental-health struggles can feel so isolating
18:04 – Outsourcing comfort and validation when you feel alone
19:40 – The wounds cancer brought to the surface
20:35 – Why women are taught to use beauty as an asset
21:58 – Why losing her hair did not feel empowering
22:30 – Moving away from a “why me?” mentality
25:00 – Reframing the way you speak about difficult experiences
25:15 – Changing “I have to” into “I get to”
25:39 – Using language to reclaim agency and control
27:13 – How surrendering can still be a choice
31:35 – Why Miranda no longer perseverates on everything that goes wrong
32:00 – How facing mortality changed the way she values her life
32:20 – What Lexapro and antidepressants actually changed
34:29 – Learning how to live with the unknown
35:07 – Struggling to release control
35:33 – Why obsessing over what you cannot change only wastes your energy
36:00 – Returning to the mental-health tools that support you
36:43 – Therapy as a tool for healing
40:22 – Creating resources for women navigating breast cancer
42:30 – The rise of breast cancer among young women
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