Voice actor launches podcast after cancer diagnosis
COURIER LIFE, OCT. 9-15, 2020 5
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
A 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 horrifi c
images,” said Zaremba. “The
fi rst 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.
Zaremba was surprised
to fi nd 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 fi ber of my
being what matters most.”
After fi nishing 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
fi tting and her ups and downs
through her journey.
In her line of work, Zaremba
did not have to necessarily
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 little bit of guilt at fi rst 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” offi cially
dropped all 15 episodes on Oct.
1, making it binge-able for podcast
listeners. 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 through breast cancer
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.
“When you have the fl u, no
one owns your fl u. 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.
Tina Zaremba. Heather Swanson
/chemostories.com
/tinazaremba.com
