Cancer Takes and Takes, But It Also Gives: Clara's Story
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“I think it's important to always have something to look forward to, to kind of keep you going.”
Clara was living her life in Colorado Springs, running regularly, working as a graphic designer, navigating her thirties. When she began experiencing hip and back pain that wouldn’t resolve, she thought she’d injured herself training. But other symptoms kept appearing: a lump in her breast, swollen lymph nodes, debilitating lightheadedness. Then, one day she couldn’t keep anything down and drove herself to the emergency room.
A scan revealed what no 30-year-old expects to hear: cancer. Not just cancer, but stage 4 Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer that had already spread to her bones, liver, and—as they would soon discover—her brain. Thirty to thirty-five masses in her brain.
Clara moved back to Iowa to be near family and began the grueling work of treatment. Six rounds of aggressive chemotherapy plus immunotherapy, whole brain radiation, and two hospitalizations for sepsis that nearly killed her. She went from being an independent young woman to needing a walker, then a cane, and requiring full-time care from her parents.
In this deeply honest conversation, Clara talks about the shock of her diagnosis, the brutal reality of chemotherapy (“I thought I knew what sick was, but I didn’t at all”), and facing impossible choices—like whether to preserve her eggs before surgery removes her ovaries, knowing she may not live long enough to raise a child.
But Clara refuses to be defined by what cancer has taken. She’s finding purpose in advocacy work, looking forward to skydiving next summer, and cherishing time with family and friends. She talks about learning to accept help, voice her needs, and set boundaries—hard lessons for someone who’s used to being independent.
This episode is a window into resilience, the power of looking forward even in the darkest times, and what it means to live with intention when your finish line comes into view far sooner than you ever imagined.
Find Clara on social media @C_Cirks
For more information on the sponsor of this episode,
please visit the Iliff Death Care Collective.
>>Theme Music by Michael Shynes, "The Other Side"<<
Music featured in this week's episode (please follow and support these beautiful artists):
Lance Conrad & Georgia Day, Our Way Back Home
Brittin Lane, Four Corners
Louis Island, We’ll Come Round
