Taking control of how things go in your life is easier said than done. How do you get on that path no matter what life brings your way? Adam Nugent and Kate Strong have an in-depth interview with master mediator Krista Andersen. In the process of tackling conflict resolution for her clients with strength and grace, she has taken on her cancer battle in the same way. Hear more about how she has taken on this challenge with grit and determination, the unique way she has shown support for others in her fight, and how she has found light through all of it.
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In this podcast excerpt, Krista Andersen shares how she tried to bring an element of joy to her breast cancer treatments by wearing silly costumes to each of her chemotherapy sessions.
AN: So Krista, what are some of the things that you did that got you into a positive mindset?
KA: I 100 percent believe that cancer is as much of a mental experience and emotional experience as it is physical. I made a choice very early in my treatment that I would wear costumes to my cancer treatment. I hadn’t seen other people do it. I didn’t have some example that told me that wearing a costume to cancer treatment would work for me, but it gave me something to think about other than what was going to happen. And during COVID, you can’t have a support person with you at treatment. You are alone. You’re in a room with all the other people who are getting chemotherapy on that particular day, and everybody is sick. And it’s a very sad experience. And even the chemical smells of the chemotherapy that are in the air, it’s just a surreal, weird, awful place to be.
But I decided that I was going to wear superhero costumes to chemotherapy, and then it evolved to all sorts of other costumes. I began wearing costume to all of my treatments. And initially my providers thought it was just funny. But then after a while, the people who were at chemotherapy began to look forward to it as much as I did. So when I would walk in the door and people would say, “We’ve been wondering what you were going to wear today.” It wasn’t fun, but it added a layer of fun to the experience. It added a light to others who didn’t otherwise have it.
Follow Krista Andersen on Instagram at @twosidestothestory.
► You’ll also like: Episode 4: The Strength Within Your Circumstance with Jeanette Bennett
