Episode Details

“When we go through a crisis, what makes us feel alive again?”

Marquina Iliev-Piselli was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer at age 36. While undergoing chemotherapy, she used her passion of air guitar to create a project (glam rock air guitar!) to help lift her spirits (as well as those around her) through treatment. This was featured in her TedX talk titled “The Unexpected Lifeline.” Since then, she has created Share Triumph to share both big and small cancer triumphs. She is hosting the upcoming Share Triumph Virtual Conference (starts on August 5th – sign up today!) and has curated an essay collection called TOUGH: Women Who Survived Cancer that will be released in September (Pre-order on Amazon NOW!).

(Photo posted with permission by Marquina Iliev-Piselli)

What We Discussed on Today’s Episode:

Marquina’s experience with glam-rock chemo (2:00)

How Marquina was diagnosed with breast cancer (7:12)

What to do after getting the call that the initial biopsy is positive for cancer (8:53)

Marquina’s meeting with her breast surgeon (10:54)

Her experience with chemotherapy (11:57)

Marquina’s recovery after surgery (13:23)

Attending Project Koro, a camp for breast cancer survivors (14:54)

How Marquina learned to rediscover herself and trust her body again (15:16)

Marquina’s tips on how to recover from cancer treatment (16:03)

SHARE Triumph and looking for the good (17:30)<