Out of Patients EP424: The Good Cancer Club Sucks with Chelsea J. Smith
Chelsea walked into my studio towering over me at six foot three. Former dancer. Working actor. Thyroid cancer survivor who got radioactive iodine at 19 while everyone told her she was lucky. "You got the good one." Bull. Shit. She didn't get therapy for seven years because no one told her she deserved it. Because who complains about the "good cancer"? Who needs help when you're so lucky? I built this platform because survivors don't owe anyone inspiration. We owe ourselves honesty. Chelsea delivers that with precision that would kill at any comedy club if cancer trauma was a Netflix special. We talked Shakespeare during the pandemic. Bartending as emotional warfare training. How her body betrayed her at 19 and she spent years thinking she didn't have the right to be angry about it. Grace, she says. Grace for yourself. Grace for your body that tried to kill you. Grace for the people who don't know what to say so they say you look great while you're swallowing radiation. Listen to this episode. Then leave a review. Five stars help us reach more people who need to hear that papillary thyroid isn't a punchline. It's still cancer. Share this if you're tired of being told to walk it off. Out of Patients drops weekly.
Matthew Zachary
Producer
Matthew Zachary invented healthcare podcasting before podcasting was a thing. In 2007, fresh off building Stupid Cancer, he grabbed a mic, launched The Stupid Cancer Show and started broadcasting patient stories on internet talk radio when everyone else was still writing blogs.
17 years and 400+ episodes later, Out of Patients is still the most unfiltered healthcare show anywhere.
Matthew doesn't do softball interviews. Brain cancer at 21 taught him that time is finite and bullshit is expensive. He gets guests to say things they'd never tell Congress. CEOs admit what's broken. Patients name what actually hurts. Scientists explain what industry doesn't want you to know. The conversations other shows won't touch because of sponsor concerns or political correctness.
What makes him different: He's been on both sides of the mic. Featured in documentaries, testified before Congress, keynoted hundreds of conferences.
But he's also been the guy puking from radiation, fighting insurance denials, and watching friends die from paperwork.
That dual perspective creates interviews you won't hear anywhere else. He knows which questions make power squirm because he's asked them from hospital beds and boardrooms both.
No pre-approved questions. No PR handlers. No seven-minute segments. Just real conversations with people brave enough to tell the truth about healthcare. After 17 years, Matthew's still the guy Mark Cuban reposts when he wants to understand what patients actually think. Read More
Out of Patients EP425: Doctor No More: MaryAnn Wilbur
