A New Voice After Trauma

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Sometimes the thing that is supposed to take your voice away becomes the reason you use it more powerfully than you ever have before. Welcome back to Healthy Mind, Healthy Life. I'm your host, Yusuf, and this is the show where we have real conversations about healing, resilience, and what it actually takes to build a life that feels worth living. Especially after something tries to take that away from you. Today's guest is Alicia Harris, speaker, author, cancer survivor, and someone whose story I think is going to land very differently for people depending on where they are in their own journey. She is the author of The Good Kind of Cancer Turning Pain into Purpose. And in 2026, she was selected as the featured guest speaker and author at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, one of the largest literary events in the country. Today, she's here to talk about her journey through thyroid cancer, paralyzed vocal cords, and what it really means to rebuild from the inside out. So without any further ado, I welcome my guest Alicia to the show.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

Hi Yusuf, thank you for having me. That was a wonderful introduction. Thank you so much.

The Myth Of Good Cancer

SPEAKER_01 1:40

Yes, very much.

SPEAKER_00 1:43

So before we step into the story itself, I want to ask you something about the title of your book. But good kind of conquer. And you know, that is a phrase a lot of people will have heard, maybe even said to someone going through thyroid cancer. And it also is a phrase that I imagine learns very differently when you're actually inside the experience. So where did that title come from for you?

SPEAKER_02 2:11

The title, The Good Kind of Cancer, actually came from my doctor that when I was diagnosed in January 2022, he had told me, Oh, we can wait on the surgery. You've got the good kind of cancer, so there's no rush. From what I've gathered, there is not a good kind of cancer at all. I have had, oh sorry, I have had other people to help me, oh, you're so lucky you had the good kind of cancer. And I just don't believe that there is a good kind of cancer at all.

SPEAKER_03 2:49

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 2:52

And can you tell what does it really mean like to have a good kind of cancer?

SPEAKER_02 3:00

There it there just really isn't a good kind of cancer. They think thyroid is a good kind of cancer because it's supposedly a sm a slow-moving cancer. But my cancer in six months ended up going to stage two and it spread to my lymph nets. So I'm glad we didn't wait any longer to have my surgery.

What People Never See

SPEAKER_00 3:28

Alicia, I want to start with something that I think a lot of cancer survivors, especially those with cancers that are considered treatable, or as we just had a discussion, the good kind of cancer run into regularity. You know, the experience of being told directly or indirectly that they should be grateful, that it could have been worse. You know, and well and while that is well-meaning, it can quietly dismiss what the person is actually going through. So I want to know what was the journey for you? Like what was the biggest misconception people held during the time when you were navigating your cancer journey?

SPEAKER_02 4:11

You know, oh, it's stage two, it could, like you said, it could have been worse. It only spread to your lymph nodes, it could have spread further. It doesn't matter, it takes a toll on your body, no matter what stage, no matter if it's spread or not. They don't see, people don't see our everyday struggles with cancer. And if they were to walk a mile in our shoes, they would be like, oh my gosh. So when you don't live it, it's hard for people that have been blessed not to have cancer to understand what we go through on a day-to-day.

SPEAKER_03 4:56

Yeah. Yes, you're absolutely right.

SPEAKER_00 5:03

And and specifically with thyroid cancer, there is often this assumption that because it is one of the most eatable cancers, the emotional and psychological weight of it must be very lighter. What was the reality of that for you? What did people not see or understand about what you were carrying?

SPEAKER_02 5:24

People didn't see that with thyroid cancer. I was, and I'm gonna be, you know, totally honest in graphic, I was throwing up blood on a day-to-day. I couldn't swallow food, I would choke. It was so swollen inside that I mean I was miserable. I was in a lot of pain. And just it was just tough to continue on that way.

SPEAKER_00 5:58

You know, so the label of good cancer carries its own particular burden. This pressure to escape past the fear, the grief, and the and the real disruption to your sense of self because the prognosis is comparatively favorable. That does not make any sense.

Surgery Complications And Vocal Paralysis

SPEAKER_02 6:18

No, I mean, what happened to me is it doesn't happen to everybody. I had stage two when he went in to do the surgery. He paralyzed my vocal cords, which is why my voice is the way it is. It can happen. I was the first person he had ever done it to in his whole career. He didn't know how to treat it, what to do to make it, you know, better. And I died on the table and my lungs collapsed. I woke up the next day from a medically induced coma, not knowing what had happened to me.

SPEAKER_00 6:59

Wow. And I want to talk about the vocal cords because I think that detail of your story is one one that hits in a very specific day. You know, your voice is literally your instrument for connection, for expression, for being heard in the world. And that was directly affected for someone whose message and work is so centered on speaking, on sharing, on equipping others with through their own stories. What did that experience do to you emotionally and psychology?

SPEAKER_02 7:34

Oh, it led to a very deep depression. Um, I had to have a tracheostomy tube inserted inserted in my throat in order to breathe and speak properly. It was it was one of the darkest times of my life because I love to just not that I had a singing voice, but I love to sing with the radio. And, you know, when I'm yelling at the kids, I need this or I need that, or it really makes you embarrassed. I was I was embarrassed to go out into public social settings. People would be like, what, what? Because at the time my voice was so low. It's a lot better now, but it was embarrassing.

SPEAKER_03 8:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:29

You know, there is something almost a taken, deeply human about the fact that the thing that threatened your voice is now the reason so many people are leaning in to hear what you have to say. That kind of transformation does not happen automatic automatically, it requires a very specific kind of decision. And I think that decision is at the heart of everything you are sharing today.

SPEAKER_02 8:59

Yes, that decision was very hard. I like I said, I have been through 10 surgeries within three and a half years. There was a time I was told I would never speak again. And, you know, I do have a voice now. And I sat here and I thought, why me? Just like everybody else does when they are diagnosed with something or, you know, going through a tough time. Why me, why me, why me? And it finally, yeah, one day I know my why. Because I need to be the voice that helps others go through this process. And I accepted that.

SPEAKER_00 9:50

And you talk about equipping people with mental frameworks,

Depression Embarrassment And Isolation

SPEAKER_00 9:54

not just telling your story, but actually giving people tools to work with. I want to understand what that looks like in practice. Like what are the tools that you are talking about and how they help them.

SPEAKER_02 10:08

The tools that I like to use a lot of it is meditation, mindset. You know, I believe that if we can change our way of thinking, we can change a lot in our life. You know, I tell I tell my people, my community, that it's okay to feel that pain. It's okay to grieve that pain, you know, it's okay if you need to stay in bed today and not get up. But don't run back and stay there. Let's find a reason to get out of bed tomorrow. But you have to feel your loss.

Mindset Tools That Help You Move

SPEAKER_02 10:47

You have to mourn that loss. You have to feel that pain. Because if you don't, you're not gonna move forward.

SPEAKER_00 10:56

Yeah. Yes, that is true. And you also speak about reclaiming control, which is the theme that comes up a lot in the context of illness and trauma. So, what is the difference between the kind of control we lose and can never get back, and the kind that is always still available to us, even in the hardest moments?

SPEAKER_02 11:22

You know, the way you think is really huge. You have to control what you can, because right now I don't have a lot of control over my voice. You know, when I had a trait, I didn't have control over the things I could and couldn't do anymore. Things were just handed to me whether I wanted them or not. So you've got to find that light that makes what you're going through not as bad as it seems. Because I totally understand. I sat on that couch for six months and I did the woe is me. Oh my gosh, you know, cancer. Oh my gosh, I'll never speak again. And that did nothing for me. It did nothing but put me in a darker place to where I was ready to check out. So control what you can, which is your mindset, you know, still love yourself. Let people help you. I know that's very hard to let people in when you were dealing with stuff like this. The people that ask an offer, let them help you. I didn't have a lot of that. So believe me when I tell you, you're not a bother. Let them do what they need to do.

SPEAKER_00 12:55

Yeah. Wow. And your book, your speaking, your whole platform is built on this idea that adversity can become leverage. But I want to push on that a little bit because I think that idea can sometimes be misread as just stay positive or everything happens for a reason. And I do not think that is what you are saying at all. So, what is the honest version of turning pain into purpose? The honest version is I didn't lay down and die.

SPEAKER_02 13:32

As much as I wanted to.

SPEAKER_01 13:36

I found a a way, I found a new purpose for my life, and it is to help others, which in turn actually helps me.

SPEAKER_03 13:53

Yeah.

Where To Find Alicia And Closing

SPEAKER_00 13:58

Alicia, for people who want to connect with you or want to read your book, where can they find that?

SPEAKER_02 14:04

They can find the good kind of cancer on Amazon. It comes in paperback in the Kindle. You can reach out to me for a signed copy at Alicia Rush77 for Instagram, Alicia Bacarush on Facebook, and Alicia Baccharush at Outlook.com. Just email me and I can get you a book that's autographed.

SPEAKER_00 14:29

Wow, perfect. And to everyone listening, all these links are in the show notes, so just go and check those out. Alicia, is there any last message that you want to leave us with?

SPEAKER_03 14:50

Look for that light. It's there.

SPEAKER_00 15:01

Thank you for your honesty, for your no excuses, courage, and for the way you refuse to let your story be only about what happens to you.

SPEAKER_01 15:13

Thank you so much for letting me share it.

SPEAKER_00 15:18

And to everyone listening, whatever you are going through, your story is not finished yet. The chapter you are in right now is not the last one. And sometimes the most important decision you will ever make is simply deciding that the difficulty is going to mean something. We will be back with more honest conversations like this one. Until then, take care of yourselves and keep going.