Byte: Rachel Minion ~ The Miracle In The Cancer Diagnosis!

In this shorter episode Rachel talks about who she is internally...and how that playful, mischievous personality came out the day she was diagnosed with cancer. But it's very clear, once you hear Rachel tell her story, that it just might be this side of herself that saved her from succumbing to her illness, and might just be a superpower!

Transcript

Hi everyone, And welcome back to another episode of the podcast and another conversation with an exemplary human being who's making this world a better place for those diagnosed with cancer. Now, I don't want to give everything away, But Rachel Minion is creating beauty in every single facet of her life. For example, Rachel is the heart behind Beyond Basic Needs, Which is a non-profit she founded to support cancer warriors with chemo care kits. She has an unapologetic style, She's absolutely funny, And she's very pragmatic when she talks about her own life and her own experiences. As you'll hear, We start the conversation talking about Gem and the Holograms, Which was one of my favorite cartoons when I was a kid. Because when Rachel popped up on the screen, Behind her was a wall of gorgeous guitars, And I just needed to know the inspiration behind them. And that's kind of what led us into the Gem and the Holograms conversation. She's the CEO and founder of Rockstar and Moon and is a marketing executive par excellence. But I want Rachel to tell you about her life and her triumphs and what she's gone through and how it's shaped her in her own words. So I'll stop talking now and get right into my conversation with her. So now, My conversation with Rachel Minion. Let me take you back to the day I was also diagnosed with cancer. Yes, I had the trip home. Yes, I told the doctor I was on candid camera. But the part in the middle that I immediately went to is the humor side of the world. And I said, Wait a minute, Doctor, You're telling me Illinois just passed medical marijuana. So are you telling me I get a pot cart? Also, To be honest, I've never heard of appendix cancer before. I didn't even know that was a thing. I am one in a million. What's crazy is my body saved my life. So I had just gotten married. Like, This is just when we had moved to Chicago. So we moved to Chicago with two week notice, Right, That we he's going to take the job. So now we need to go. We drove up over Christmas. We found one place that would take us with two big friggin dogs or three dogs. And we're like, All right, Let's let's do this. Let's go. So then we sold our condo. We're moving up to Chicago. We get all of our things together. Then two weeks after that, We had already planned our wedding in Vegas. So we have to figure out all new tickets and all the things to Vegas from Chicago, Because originally it was going to be where my husband worked. It was their user conference that we met at and we're getting married. So we're like, All right, Lots of stress, Lots of stress. We can do this. So a few months later, I am in New York. I'm sitting in like Google headquarters. It's a Verizon executive meeting. And all of a sudden I'm green. And not only am I green, My pants don't fit. They fit three minutes before it. But now all of a sudden I am so bloated. I can't function. I was like, Well, What did I do last night? I came I flew in and I went right to bed. I didn't do anything horrible. I was not out playing in the city. I didn't even go get pizza or bagel. I just got to bed and went straight to the meeting in the morning. And I'm like, All right, Something's wrong. And I start Googling symptoms. Right, Because we're all doctors, According to Google now. And so we're like, All right, Cool. I'm pregnant. I messaged my husband. I think I'm pregnant. I cannot take the smell of bagels in this room. I cannot take the smell of coffee. I am just not fitting in my pants. I am standing up and leaving this meeting that I'm supposed to be meeting with enough people on. I can't do it. I'm getting on a plane and I'm flying home. So I head straight to the airport. It was the smelliest cab I've ever been in. And now I'm craving doughnuts. I don't eat doughnuts. I've never eaten a doughnut in over a decade. And I'm like, All right. Well, I'm definitely pregnant. This is weird. So I get home really excited. Husband's excited. He leaves work early to come see me and the dogs are there. And, You know, It would have been a little bit early for me to know. So I wait to take a pregnancy test. I'm just going to see how things are. And nausea is still there. I'm not feeling great. And about a week later, My stomach hurts, But not a big deal. Whatever. A few days after that, It's a Friday night, About three in the morning. And I am awake with stomach pain and I'm Googling pregnancy and stomach pain. And everyone's like, Oh, It's the worst stomach pain for nine months. And I'm like, Oh, My God, I'm a wimp. How am I going to get through this? And it's like, All right. So I went back to bed. When we got up in the morning, I was like, I think we just go to urgent care. Let's just do a pregnancy test and make sure that's what this is, Because if it's not like we should know. And so we did. And they said, Ma'am, You're not pregnant. All right. Well, What am I? I don't know. It's a Saturday. Our labs close tomorrow. So on Monday, We'll call you and they have answers. Well, Cool. We went about our day and seven o'clock the next morning, I'm about to let the dogs out. And I get a phone call from the lab that's not allowed to call me that they are doing this because they've never seen a white blood cell count so high. And this goes past all the guidelines that there ever are. And they're like, Go to the hospital now. And I was like, Well, Are they going to feed me? I said, Ma'am, Go to the hospital. And I'm thinking, Wait, I'm Chicago. It was Saturday night. Now it's Sunday morning. There's going to be gunshot victims everywhere. There's no way I'm getting in. If I'm waiting hangry in a waiting room like this is not something anybody needs to see. So we stopped and got bagels. And then we went to the hospital and they didn't even let me fill out the registration card. I showed them the test results that were emailed to me, Which this is before you were even allowed to do that. But they had to give me something to show at the front desk, Show them my results. And I said my name to the registrar and then they wheeled me straight to the back. I didn't even get a chance to get my insurance. None of those things. And so with that, They noticed my appendix had burst. It encapsulated. And they can't do surgery because now it is a week and a half past. It is the biggest infection. So they keep me in the hospital for three days. There's no food. There's no drink. There's no nothing. I am just getting pumped full of antibiotics. And then I have another six week course of antibiotics once we get out of the hospital. And then I finally get surgery. So, Of course, This is an interesting ordeal. We're newlyweds in a brand new city. I have no idea what's going on. Right. And I then have this moment where I'm offered another job and I take it. So I go in after surgery and for my follow up and they've delayed me. I'm sitting in this brick building in South Side, Chicago, And they delayed me and delayed me and delayed me. So now I'm the last appointment of the day and I was supposed to be at one o'clock. My phone is basically dead and they say and I've asked multiple times, Do I need to bring somebody with me? And I'm like, No, You're fine. Just come. So they said, Ma'am, You have cancer. I was like, No, I don't. I'm on camera. This is not funny. Just bring in the guys. It's fine. Like, Not funny. You got me, But not funny. They're like, No, We'll just let you sit here. I was like, No, I quit my job yesterday. This is really not funny, Guys. And they're like, Well, Cancer's never funny. Like, Oh, So we're real. Got it. And I'm like, Next steps are what we should be talking about. So you need to do surgery. We need to see what happened. We need to see how big this is. And it was just they were randomly biopsying my appendix to just see why it burst. So after this and, You know, I get out of the doctor's office, I text my mom, My dad and my husband. Hey, So I have cancer. It goes through and then my phone shuts off. It's like, Oh, My God. And it's Friday afternoon in Chicago. So now instead of it taking 45 minutes, An hour to get home, It's two and a half hours. That is absurd. And I do want to just let you know, I grew up after we came back from living overseas. I grew up in Batavia, Which is about 45 minutes southwest, Which I always say it's near Geneva, St. Charles or Wayne's World party on. Excellent. So I know Chicago very well. It's a beautiful city. Amazing hospitals. If you can get to see the right practitioner. Incredible. Just there's a brain trust there for health. So I'm so glad. But I mean, Talk about fast and furious. Talk about things that you don't plan for. Especially age 34. You must have just felt like you were on some sort of crazy bus. But I think I'm used to the crazy bus. See. I have avoided Vegas my entire life. I read I was like, I am going to meet my husband there. I am not going. So I finally have a job with a three day notice. They send me to Vegas to go to this user conference and they're like, You just have to go talk to John. Just you have that. We have to get our tech fixed. You have to go. This is the only way we're going to do it. Or else they're going to charge us five hundred dollars or something an hour to just work with you to get the stuff fixed. I was working for a really cheap company, So I didn't expect I was going to be sent. So you put me in Vegas and I'm like, All right, Let's get this stuff done. Show me, John, Get me, John, Because I want to fix this now so I can go Vegas. And they were, You know, John was teaching, John was this, John was that. So finally. Day one goes by, Day two, I wake up and I'm like, I am going on a bar crawl today. And the guys that were with me were the CFO of the company, Not a fun guy. And a guy who'd been with his wife since they were six years old, Not a fun guy. And it's like, All right, Well, Let's go on a bar crawl. We've never done that before. I'll fix that. We're we're going. And we finally get into this one class because I see John's name on it. We're sitting down. Now I see who he is and I'm like, OK, Great. But it's talking tech and it's really not interesting. So I get up and leave. I figure I'll see him afterward. I know who he is now. I'll go around him later. And I left my phone there. So now I'm stuck sitting outside the friggin thing, Waiting to get back into the classroom so I can get my phone. So it ends. I run back in to go get the phone and John comes out and he says, So you're the one I've been looking for. I was like, Well, What took you so long? We have this great conversation. He fixes the tech in 30 minutes because it was something that just wasn't making sense. He put in a ticket. And it's fixed. Right. And. I was like, Well, You know, If you want, We're going on a bar call tonight. You're more than welcome to come with us. I know you probably don't want to hang out with us clients, But it's cool. It's like, Oh, No, I have a client dinner and then I'll meet you afterwards. So we go on our bar crawl. And he messages me, He meets up with us and he's like, So how's your night gone so far? Well, John. It could be better. And he's like, Why? What happened? I was like, Well, When we walked past Treasure Island, It had the best smelling barbecue ever. And I really want a barbecue. Like, You just smell good tonight. But it was closed for a private event. And these guys, I can't talk my way in with them because they're going to tell the truth. But you you're the most famous country singer nobody's ever heard of. And I will walk in any bar and I will get a VIP. I just want to barbecue. Come on. And he's like, Well, That's great. I need a name. John Black. John Black is the most famous country singer nobody's ever heard. Like, This isn't how fast it's coming. Right. And he's like. Great story. Amazing name. We're not going for barbecue. Right. So this is how I meet my husband. This is our like real first conversation. And he's been known as John Black since. And like my life is such a whirlwind that a month later we have our first date in Germany. What? We were both there for a conference. I was interviewing to go move to Israel and go work for HP. And it was just the biggest print conference. So he was going to be there anyways. And HP flew me out. So we went to a Spanish German restaurant for our first date. OK, I that is a pretty intense meet cute, I have to say. See, It's always just a whirlwind. Yeah, That's that's maybe the understatement of the century. But what I just love about that is that you seem like you're comfortable being along for the ride. I love the ride because what else are we going to do? Are we going to dread it? Like, Let's see where this goes. Let's have some fun. Let's enable something stupid. Oh, My God. Let's enable something stupid. That's amazing. Let's that should be on a T-shirt somewhere. Well, Hi, I'm Rachel. I'll be your enabler tonight. And that's a wrap on my conversation with Rachel. I need to thank her for her grace, The way she moves in the world, Her sense of humor and for sharing all of her powerful stories. You know, She had an experience that most people would consider devastating, But she approached it with aplomb. She approached it with incredible strength and she approached it with a certainty that all would be well. And after surviving cancer and recovering, She decided to change the world because she saw the need. She saw where chemo kits would be of service, Where she could be of service. And now she's bringing this gift to those who need it. So I need to thank Rachel for being on the show and for sharing her beautiful self. I want to thank all of you for listening. Please know that ratings and reviews change the world for me. So if you like what you hear, Please do consider leaving a rating or writing a little review. Thank you for listening. And here's my one request. Be like Rachel. See the need. I mean, Rachel went through a potentially devastating and extraordinary experience in her life. And instead of coming out on the other end, Bitter or resentful, She thought, No, I'm going to use my experience to make this world a better place for others suffering or diagnosed with cancer. And so she saw the need and then she went out and she did it. She created the chemo care kits that are making such a difference in so many lives. So you, You out there in the world, Where do you see the need? Where do you see action that needs to be taken? Be like Rachel and step forward and make that change for others to make this world an even more incredible and bountiful place.