Last month, a friend of One Summit, Abby Pastyrnak, was featured on Healing Conversations – a One Mission Podcast hosted by Ashley Haseotes. Ashley founded One Mission, a childhood cancer nonprofit that "does whatever it takes for kids fighting cancer." She and her husband Ari started One Mission back in 2009 after their son Nicholas finished his treatment for AML leukemia. One Mission's programs and initiatives help pediatric cancer families in many ways, including creating a better hospital experience, financial assistance, emotional support, and wrap-around care and community from diagnosis through whatever happens afterward.

Earlier this year, Ashley started recording Healing Conversations to further support the community and share stories through a new medium. It's "a podcast for people who find themselves on a healing journey, who need help and want to hear stories of those who have walked before them." Abby Pastyrnak, One Mission's Managing Director, was Ashley's guest in early September on Episode 8 in Season 2.

Our Executive Director, Dianne Lynch, has been a nonprofit colleague and friend of Abby's for a decade. As Dianne reflects:

"In Abby's typical quiet grace, she had not shared her initial cancer diagnosis in 2017 with an extensive community. Upon her relapse in 2019 with stage IV metastatic breast cancer, she stepped out of her comfort zone to share her story and asked for help, knowing she 'couldn't do this alone.' As many of us know first-hand, this is not an easy step, yet it has allowed Abby to 'live the life she is supposed to live,' and I'm fortunate to be a small part of that inner circle. This podcast speaks to building a community of support, trusting yourself, storytelling, finding inspiration in others, and, as always, resilience."

Check out Abby's episode to hear the story of her cancer diagnoses and her advice for those experiencing terminal cancer. Then, check out the two seasons' worth of other episodes of Healing Conversations with many other guests, including parents and caregivers, hospital staff, wellness professionals, and more! In the meantime, we will leave you with a quote from Abby that applies to us all, no matter where we have been, what we are going through, or what the future holds:

Do you have a great Resource in Resilience that you would like to share with the One Summit community? Connect with Max at maxwell@onesummit.org to tell him more about it!