NYC voice actor launches podcast
chronicling breast cancer diagnosis
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
A New York City voice
actor is giving the world a
glimpse into her journey
through navigating breast
cancer in a new podcast.
Tina Zaremba was diagnosed
with breast cancer in
June 2019. Though she was in
the early stages of the disease,
Zaremba opted for a double
mastectomy that summer prior
to starting treatment, and
has since gotten implants.
She started chemotherapy
in September and did eight
rounds of treatment, followed
by radiation in January 2020.
“What freaked me out the
most was chemo. You always
hear ‘cancer doesn’t kill,
chemo does,’ and in the media
and entertainment industry
you always saw these horrific
images,” said Zaremba.
“The first four rounds were
fairly short, an hour with the
IV, while the last four rounds
were long, about 4-5 hours. I
was given taxol, which can
lift your nailbeds or your
nails could turn black. I ended
up icing my hands and feet
for 4-5 hours.”
As she underwent treatment,
Zaremba found there
were many things that go
unsaid when talking about
breast cancer treatment and
recovery. While she expected
that she might end up being
weak and lose weight during
chemo, she learned that most
women end up gaining weight
while in treatment, and even
that her own treatment could
accelerate different aspects of
her life, and what she expected
to happen did not necessarily
happen to everyone.
“The chemo cocktail that
they give my particular type
of breast cancer pushed me
into menopause. One day I’d
be fine walking around the
streets of Manhattan, the
next day I’d be sobbing. Part
of that was the fear, the other
part was I was front and center
with menopause,” said
Zaremba. “I remember walking
into my oncologist’s office
and bawling, saying ‘I don’t
know what’s wrong with me,
I think I’m crazy!’ and she
said, ‘Oh, we just pushed you
into menopause.’ I would have
liked that memo in the beginning.”
Photo courtesy of Chemo Stories
Zaremba was surprised to
find out how emotional the
journey through breast cancer
would be, but ultimately
it gave her the ability to let go
of some of the control she was
holding on to for her own life.
“I think of going through
chemo and breast cancer as
my personal pandemic that
kind of allowed me the opportunity
to release the control
that I was unaware of that I
was plugged into, like wanting
to control my life and have
it be a certain way,” said Zaremba.
“It’s given me the gift
of knowing every fiber of my
being what matters most.”
After finishing treatment,
Zaremba decided to put her
15 years of voice acting to
use while in quarantine during
the COVID-19 pandemic
and create her new podcast,
“Chemo Stories.” The podcast
explores Zaremba’s life
as she navigated through
her diagnosis and treatment,
from what life was like being
a mom and working while undergoing
chemo, to her fears
and the gifts she received
along the way, to wig fitting
and her ups and downs
through her journey.
In her line of work, Zaremba
did not have to necessarily
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.26 COM | OCT. 9-OCT. 15, 2020
be with other people the
majority of the time. The few
times she did go into the studio,
she was met with support
from her producers, but she
still opted to not tell her clients
that she was diagnosed
with breast cancer.
“I do feel blessed that
I was able to work
during chemo because
it gave me a
sense of normalcy,
but I didn’t
tell my clients,”
said Zaremba.
“I posted about
the podcast on
LinkedIn and
many of them
emailed me saying
‘Oh my gosh,
I had no idea
you were going
through
this.’ There
was a
l i t t l e
bit of
guilt
a t
f i r s t
with not
sharing it,
but a coach
of mine shared with me, ‘You
don’t have to tell anyone if
you don’t want to,’ and at that
moment I think I needed permission
to not share it. And
it was huge for me — with everything
about wanting control
and craving control, and
feeling like your whole life
has blown up, that’s the one
piece you can hold on to.”
“Chemo Stories”
officially dropped
all 15 episodes on
Oct. 1, making
it binge-able
for podcast
l i s tener s.
So far, the
podcast has
had good reception
from
listeners, with
Zaremba saying
that her DM’s have
been blowing up
since the launch.
Zaremba says
that there have
been people
who may not
have gone
t h r o u g h
b r e a s t
c a n c e r
but had a
family member
that did and
hopes that the podcast
shined a light on how
to be with them in a more
authentic way.
Zaremba recognizes that
what may have worked for
her may not work for other
people, but she hopes that
the podcast can help those
who are struggling on their
journey through breast cancer
while giving friends and
family members some tools
on how to be there for those
who have cancer.
“When you have the flu,
no one owns your flu. But
when you get cancer, everyone
owns your cancer and it
becomes theirs,” said Zaremba.
“I think it helped people
recognize that you don’t have
to own it and you can allow
space for whoever in your
life is hurting to just be and
be that support for that person.
At the end of the day,
I share my story for what
helped me, but everyone is
different.“
“Chemo Stories” is available
on chemostories.com and
on Spotify, and will soon be
available on Apple Podcasts.
Learn more about Zaremba
at tinazaremba.com.
Reach reporter Emily Davenport
by e-mail at edavenport@
qns.com or by phone at
(718) 260-2567
/chemostories.com
link
link
/tinazaremba.com
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