LISTEN, LEARN & LIVE HEALTHIER

From Robin

We Are Live

One week ago today, on Sept. 1, the Well Said Health podcast officially launched. I have been dreaming about, learning how to do it, and planning this moment for months — and I can tell you that hearing the first episode go out into the world was even better than I imagined.

Here is what surprised me most about launch week: hearing from you! So many of you wrote to tell me about the moment you realized you needed to speak up for yourself or someone you love in a healthcare setting. That is exactly why this show exists — because the right words, at the right moment, can change the care you receive. Thank you for listening, for sharing the show, and for being here from the very beginning.

Listener Health Hack

You Shared — I Love It

Push Up for Your Health

In my first newsletter, I shared my top 10 personal health hacks and asked for yours. You delivered! Our first-ever featured listener health hack comes from E. Brenman of San Antonio, who does 50 pushups every single morning.

I love this one for so many reasons: It requires zero equipment, travels anywhere and it is done before the day has a chance to get in the way.

Fifty is impressive — but the real hack is the “every morning” part. Consistency beats intensity every time.

Do you have a personal health hack? Reply to this newsletter and yours could be featured next month.

On the Drawing Board

When Doctors’ Words Wound

Here is an episode I am working on for the future — and I need your help.

Sometimes the way a doctor describes a diagnosis — or the absence of one, or your treatment options — can be traumatic to hear. A sentence delivered in 30 seconds can echo for years. I want to do an episode about taking control of those moments: specific language to slow the conversation down, process what you are hearing, and reflect before fear takes the wheel.

For instance, very early into my first pregnancy, I started bleeding and went to the doctor. Because it was so early, the doctor failed to find the heartbeat at that appointment. My doctor told me and my husband in a matter-of-fact tone, “Well I can’t hear the heartbeat, and some pregnancies are non-viable.” Then she left the room. I turned to my husband and asked, “What just happened?!” Of course I was upset. Did this mean I was having a miscarriage? What happens next? The doctor and staff did not provide any additional information.

When I got myself together later in the day, I called my doctor and said, “You do this all day every day, but what you said and how you said it was not OK with me. This is my body and baby.” She apologized and said she had been up all night delivering another baby, but she did HEAR me. And … as it turned out, my pregnancy was successful. Our first child was born, and she was then and still is very healthy, now in her late twenties, with her own baby today.

Sometimes doctors say things that are not true. I had forgotten this experience until recently, when a friend with a rare cancer heard from her oncologists, “your cancer is so rare that if a unicorn had a unicorn, that is how rare it is, so we don’t really know how we treat it.” Turns out that her cancer was not that rare and there were protocols to treat it.

So I have two asks: If a clinician’s words ever landed hard on you — what was said, and what do you wish had happened instead? I would be honored to hear your story. And if you know a guest who could teach us this language — a clinician, psychologist, or advocate who helps patients navigate hard conversations — please send them my way. Just reply to this newsletter.

Question of the Month

How do you prep for a trip to the doctor?

Reply to this email and tell me about it. Your answer may be featured in an upcoming issue of Well Said Health.

The Latest Episode

Meet Anne Llewellyn

She is a critical care nurse and pioneering patient advocate who spent decades helping others find their voice — until she suddenly needed an advocate of her own.