What happens when a cancer diagnosis turns out to be the beginning of a mission, not the end of a story? In episode 267 of Joy Found Here, Tim McDonald shares how a stage IV colorectal cancer diagnosis in 2020 led him through chemo, a search for a living liver donor, and ultimately a transplant that changed everything—and how that journey turned him into a research advocate, author, and podcast host fighting to make sure others don't face the same battle alone. For Tim, the story isn't about just surviving—it's about becoming his own best advocate and using that power to help others do the same.

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

03:29) Tim's cancer journey begins: symptoms and a Thanksgiving breaking point

(08:48) Diagnosis day: "you have cancer" and the confirming colonoscopy

(09:48) Finding a liver transplant option after being ruled out for surgery

(14:07) Why colorectal cancer research funding is missing—and who it's costing

(14:55) Finding purpose within days: from "why me" to advocacy

(18:33) The mindfulness that shaped his calm response to diagnosis

(21:55) His wife's caregiving journey and the trip that tested their fear

(28:47) Writing From Patient to Advocate as a guidebook, not a memoir

(31:39) Becoming "coach" of his care team—and firing the wrong doctors

(42:14) Pushing for bipartisan funding and what's next for advocacy

Tim McDonald is a stage IV colorectal cancer survivor and liver transplant recipient who turned his 2020 diagnosis into a mission of patient advocacy. He's a Research Advocate with Fight Colorectal Cancer and Florida Chapter Leader for Man Up to Cancer, and serves on patient advisory councils with HOPA and the PAN Foundation. He hosts the Advocacy at Work podcast and Substack and is the author of From Patient to Advocate: Turning Survivorship into Impact. He lives in the Tampa Bay area with his wife.

In this episode, Tim McDonald shares his journey from a 2020 stage IV diagnosis with liver metastases through chemo and a liver transplant from an altruistic living donor after a 14-month search. He reflects on integrating mind and body in his treatment, the toll and growth in his wife's caregiving role, and his shift to becoming the "coach" of his own care team — switching oncologists and pursuing options doctors initially dismissed. He also discusses his advocacy work pushing for dedicated colorectal cancer research funding in DC, his podcast and Substack spotlighting other patient advocates, and his new book.

Connect with Tim McDonald:

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Book: Tim McDonald - From Patient to Advocate

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What if the quiet feeling that you're not enough isn't a character flaw — but something your nervous system learned long ago just to keep you safe? In episode 266 of Joy Found Here, psychotherapist and author Kristine B. Jensen unpacks one of the most misunderstood and under-named emotions we carry: shame — and how the stories we've been telling ourselves for decades may finally be ready to be set free.

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

(4:45) Kristine's decades as a psychotherapist couldn't shake her own unnamed inner struggle

(6:27) Retiring forced her to face herself — and what that revealed

(9:53) The moment she named her feeling as shame for the first time

(13:00) Shame as a survival instinct — and why we never choose it

(15:42) Where "shame speak" comes from and why it once protected us

(19:33) How childhood emotional nourishment shapes our nervous system and self-worth

(29:23) The client who sparked a book that almost didn't get written

(32:55) Compassion for our younger selves and seeing our parents differently

(35:23) Forgiveness as an inside job — and the freedom it brings

(44:48) First steps: self-talk awareness, journaling, and breaking the cycle of old stories

Kristine B. Jensen is a speaker, author, and licensed psychotherapist with over four decades of experience helping people understand the hidden roots of self-doubt. She reframes shame not as a personal flaw but as a survival response — and knows this territory from the inside out. She is the author of Bruised Not Broken: Healing the Shame of a Troubled Childhood.

In this episode, Kristine shares how — despite decades as a successful psychotherapist — she carried a feeling she couldn't name until retirement forced her to sit with herself and she finally identified it as shame. She explains that shame is not a character flaw but a survival instinct the nervous system triggers automatically, often rooted in childhoods where feelings didn't matter or approval had to be earned. Healing, she offers, means speaking to our younger selves with compassion, doing the work of forgiveness as an inside job, and noticing our self-talk — because what's waiting on the other side is freedom.

Connect with Kristine B. Jensen:

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Book: Kristine B. Jensen - Bruised Not Broken

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What happens when a woman who spent decades holding everyone else together finally has no choice but to let go? In episode 265 of Joy Found Here, Florence Acosta — former Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, healthcare executive, and the person everyone leaned on — shares how a stroke at 50 became the moment that shattered her old identity and cracked her wide open. Her story is a powerful reminder that sometimes the body says stop long before we ever will.

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

(3:46) How Florence went from holding everything together to having a stroke at 50

(6:05) Why chronic givers struggle to receive — and the mindset keeping them stuck

(7:43) The sisterhood circle that cracked open her awareness around control and letting go

(11:51) The childhood moment at age three that silently took her voice for decades

(13:17) How writing on Substack became an unexpected act of reclaiming her voice

(20:54) How the Miracle Morning helps Florence create space and stay grounded in recovery

(23:04) The "Question of the Day" ritual she runs for her Substack subscribers

(24:15) Florence's new business venture with her sister — and why she broke her own rule

(26:41) Her "C-cubed" self-care approach: cooking, crocheting, and creative writing

(31:03) Why people want to help — and how telling them how changes everything

Florence Acosta spent nearly 30 years in healthcare — first as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, then as executive director of a surgical center — carrying the weight of patients, teams, and everyone around her without ever pausing to fill her own cup. At 50, a stroke caused by an undetected arteriovenous malformation forced her to stop, and through the slow road of recovery, a women's sisterhood circle, and the discovery of writing, she found the voice she had quietly lost decades before. Today she writes about intentional living, mindset, and personal development through her Substack publication Becoming You with Florence Acosta.

In this episode, Florence shares how decades of over-giving as both a healthcare professional and the person everyone leaned on ultimately led to her stroke — and how that rupture became the catalyst for rebuilding on her own terms. She traces her lifelong silence back to a childhood moment at age three, and how Substack became the unexpected place where she finally reclaimed her voice. Florence also opens up about her Miracle Morning practice, a new business venture with her sister, and her "C-cubed" self-care approach — cooking, crocheting, and creative writing — while delivering a powerful message to fellow chronic givers: open your hands and let people in before life forces you to.

Connect with Florence Acosta:

Substack

Instagram

Let's Connect:

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Instagram

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