Her Health Compass with Yonni & Heather

Her Health Compass with Yonni Wattenmaker & Heather Ouida: Biological Detour

The Biological Detour: A podcast about Cancer, Fertility, and the Path to Motherhood
  
They tell you to fight for your life, but nobody mentions the life you were planning to start. When a diagnosis crashes into your dreams of motherhood, the world doesn't just stop—it shifts. Today on Her Health Compass, we’re talking about something that many people don’t realize cancer can take from patients: their fertility. What does it mean to navigate the dream of parenthood while facing a life-changing diagnosis?
 
We’re thrilled to be joined by Suzanne Stone, CEO of the Livestrong Foundation, an organization that helps cancer patients access so many different resources, including support around fertility preservation and family planning and Shea Mencel, co-founder of We Are Here and .
In this episode, we’ll hear Shea’s incredible journey, talk about why conversations around fertility are so important for cancer patients, and explore how organizations like Livestrong are helping people build families even in the face of cancer. 
 
Suzanne Stone is a graduate of Texas Christian University and a native of Louisiana. Her career began in the television industry in Dallas, earning a regional Emmy Award for her work.  She eventually traded producing television for teaching it in the non-profit sector in 1998, working in public access television both in Naperville, Illinois, and then in upstate New York. After enjoying her four-year tenure as Head Coach of the local New York community college women’s basketball team while running the station, she headed back to Texas. Since arriving, she’s worked and led local non-profits around the state like Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) and Children’s Miracle Network, Lake Travis Education Foundation, and Susan G. Komen Greater Central and East Texas.  Continuing to look for ways to scale social impact, she joined Livestrong to lead their mission initiatives in 2019.  In November of 2023 she became President & CEO where she leads the team to ensure anyone affected by cancer has the resources and tools they need to have the highest quality of life possible.
 
Shea Mencel is a Co-Founder and the VP of Navigation & Impact at We Are Here, a software platform built to close critical gaps in cancer care by connecting patients and families to the right support—exactly when they need it. As a certified integrative health coach and two-time breast cancer survivor, Shea brings both lived experience and professional expertise to reimagining how care is delivered beyond the clinic. Her journey to motherhood was profoundly shaped by cancer. First diagnosed with stage II breast cancer at 29, followed by a metastatic recurrence at 32, Shea faced the loss of her ability to carry a pregnancy- completely redefining her path to family. Through embryo preservation and ultimately growing her family with the help of a gestational carrier, she experienced firsthand the emotional complexity of fertility after cancer - the grief, uncertainty, and hope that coexist in this journey.

Her Health Compass with Yonni & Heather: Decoding Your Mammogram

Read the Report, Not the Room: Decoding Your Mammogram
“You’ve Got Mail” on a patient portal notification can send anyone into a spiral of anxiety. From the mysterious BI-RADS score to the dreaded "callback" for more imaging, the world of breast health often feels like a foreign language we never asked to learn.
Today, we’re pulling back the curtain on the imaging suite. We’re breaking down the difference between 2D and 3D, decoding the scary words like "asymmetry" and "calcification," and explaining why a callback is usually a reason for a deep breath, not a panic attack. Whether you’re prepping for your first scan, concerned about your family history, or navigating news of dense tissue, this episode is your roadmap to breast health with less stress and more clarity.
Bio:
Dr. Pamela Weber, MD is a board-certified radiologist specializing in breast and body imaging with White Plains Hospital Physician Associates. She completed her medical degree at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, her radiology residency at Northwell Health (where she served as Chief Resident), and her fellowship in Breast and Body Imaging at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
Dr. Weber brings deep expertise in advanced imaging, including mammography, ultrasound, and MRI, with a strong focus on early detection, diagnostic precision, and guiding patients through complex imaging findings with clarity and care.
Find Yonni & Heather here https://www.herhealthcompass.com/

Her Health Compass with Yonni & Heather: Sweet Dreams & the Elusive Nature of Sleep

Sweet Dreams & the Elusive Nature of Sleep: How a Good Night’s Rest Benefits Physical and Mental Health 
If you’re like us and have ever stared at the ceiling at 2 a.m. begging your body to go back to sleep,  this episode is for you. We’re joined by Rachel Baumel, founder and CEO of Sleep Again Pillows, and author, songwriter and podcast host, Carrie Rowan, to unpack the elusive nature of sleep and why quality rest is one of the most powerful tools we have for physical and mental well-being. Sweet dreams aren’t just a luxury—they’re a necessity.
Carrie Rowan, dubbed by her clients as the Professor of Happiness & Joy, is a transformational edutainer/speaker, a mindset strategist, award-winning singer/songwriter, and best-selling author. Blending the art of music with neuroscience, she inspires audiences to transcend limiting narratives and embrace joy as life’s new anthem. Radio Show/Podcast Host of Look for the Good, with over 300k listeners, Carrie’s work has been featured on CBS and NBC. After a decade-long corporate career, she now shines as a beacon of empowerment and joy in the personal development world.
Rachel Baumel was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017 and underwent four surgeries for breast cancer and ovary removal the next year.
Following her double mastectomy, she created a pillow system to make herself more comfortable while sleeping on her back. She had to find pillows and put them together to make a comfy and cozy cocoon. Her husband called it the "life raft.”
After lending her pillow system out to other women following their surgeries, she saw how others could benefit.  She and Kate Devlin founded Sleep Again Pillows in 2020 and have now helped thousands of people sleep and heal following surgery.  
Find Yonni & Heather here https://www.herhealthcompass.com/

Her Health Compass with Yonni & Heather: Eat Well, Play Well

Eat Well, Play Well: A Woman’s Guide to Balanced Nutrition & Wellness in 2026
This January New Year’s edition of Her Health Compass kicks off with Lauren Slayton, M.S., R.D., founder of Foodtrainers and nationally recognized nutrition expert known for making wellness doable, digestible, and realistic for women living full lives.
In this conversation, Lauren helps cut through the noise of New Year health trends and brings the focus back to what actually works, balanced nutrition, thoughtful planning, understanding emotional eating, supporting gut health and immunity, and building habits that last well beyond January.
This isn’t about perfection or restriction. It’s about creating a smarter, more supportive relationship with wellness, one that fits real schedules, real stress, and real goals.
Find Yonni & Heather here https://www.herhealthcompass.com/

Her Health Compass with Yonni & Heather: Life 2.0: Love, Loss and Second Chances

Life 2.0: Love, Loss and Second Chances
Each of us has experienced some sort of grief in our lifetimes. We often think of grief as death but there’s grief in divorce, leaving your family home, moving to a new location, even in losing dreams or versions of ourselves. In this episode we are joined by Melissa Stein, creator of My Life 2.0 to hear her story of loss, renewal and second chances.
With more than 30 years in entertainment publicity and brand storytelling, Melissa Stein has spent her career helping some of the world’s most beloved franchises connect with audiences. As Vice President, Publicity for TV, Animation & Originals at Warner Bros., she oversaw campaigns across TV, Genre, Family, and Animation, including Warner Bros. Animation, DC Comics, Hanna-Barbera, and LEGO.
Now, she is channeling that same storytelling instinct into her next act: My Life 2.0, a lifestyle blog and community for women starting over in midlife.  It’s there that she shares her reinvention journey with humor and heart covering everything from love and loss to motherhood, fashion and the gadgets that make life a little easier.
Whether in the boardroom or on the blog, Stein’s mission remains the same, to connect, inspire, and remind us it’s never too late for a reboot.
Find Yonni & Heather here https://www.herhealthcompass.com/

Her Health Compass with Yonni & Heather: Choosing the Right Healthcare Professional

The Bonds We Make: Choosing the Right Healthcare Professional
The Bonds We Make: Choosing the right healthcare professional is such a critical part of any experience. Hear from our guests, Dr. Elisa Port of the Dubin Breast Center at Mt. Sinai and The Today Show’s Jill Martin about the power of a successful doctor and patient team, and the lessons they have learned in their careers, along this journey, and how they embrace life to the fullest.
Jill Martin is an Emmy Award–winning television personality, New York Times Best Selling Author, entrepreneur, and the longtime Lifestyle & Commerce Correspondent on NBC’s TODAY show, where she has inspired audiences for more than 20 years. She has built a successful lifestyle brand on QVC for nearly two decades, known for bringing consumers accessible elegance. Following her breast cancer diagnosis, Jill launched a new apparel line, jillmartin.com, designed to blend style with comfort while championing early health testing and advocating for women’s health. Beyond television and business, Jill serves on the board of the Garden of Dreams Foundation, part of the Madison Square Garden family, dedicated to improving the lives of children facing challenges. Over the course of her career, Jill has earned twelve Emmys for her reporting, particularly with the New York Knicks. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a degree in communications. Her career reflects a commitment to entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and purpose-driven storytelling — blending personal experience with professional passion to empower and uplift others.
Elisa Port, MD, FACS is the Chief of Breast Surgery and the Director of the Dubin Breast Center at Mount Sinai Hospital. She is also the Associate Attending Physician in the Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount-Sinai School of Medicine. After receiving her medical degree from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in 1992, Dr. Port was a general surgery resident at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. She then joined Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center for a breast cancer surgery research fellowship and later completed a general surgery residency at Long Island Jewish Medical Center. She is currently working on developing research protocols for investigating the use of avatar models in triple negative breast cancer. Her clinical research work involves investigating and characterizing the role of MRI, 3D mammography, and patient decision making in breast cancer screening and surgery. Dr. Port has an active practice and performs hundreds of operations each year. She is an expert in sentinel-node biopsy, nipple sparing mastectomy, as well as the use of breast MRI in high-risk patients. She is also a member of several professional associations, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Society of Breast Diseases, the Society of Surgical Oncology, and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. 
Find Yonni & Heather here https://www.herhealthcompass.com/

Her Health Compass with Yonni & Heather: Detecting the Often Undetectable

Detecting the Often Undetectable
One family’s insight into ovarian and uterine cancer, finding support, cherishing family and making change through philanthropy.
Diane Trounson-Chaiken, PsyD
Diane was born and raised in Long Island City, NY and as a true New Yorker did all of her schooling in NYC. She received her BA in Psychology and Education from Barnard College, Columbia University in 1988 then traveled downtown to New York University where she received her MA and Doctor of Psychology in Child Clinical Psychology in 1994. For many years she worked in early intervention with developmentally delayed preschoolers and their families. She also taught psychology graduate courses to Masters and Doctoral students at several universities, most notably Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. 
Diane met her husband Warren in 1989. They were married in 1993 and moved to the Philadelphia area in 1994. They have two sons, Ben (27 years) and Josh (23 years). Ben graduated from Colgate University in 2020 and lives in Manhattan. Josh graduated from Wake Forest University in 2024 and currently lives in Chicago. Spending time with her husband and sons is what Diane loves most in life. Whether traveling the world, a passion they all share, or sitting on the beach at the Jersey shore, it’s all about being together.
In April 2023, Diane was diagnosed with Stage 3B Clear Cell Ovarian Cancer & Stage 1 Uterine Cancer. She is treated at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, recognized as a nationally leading cancer center for both clinical care and research. After surgery and chemotherapy Diane achieved remission in October 2023. A year later in November 2024 she suffered a recurrence that resulted in surgery.  Again, this summer in June 2025 she had a more significant recurrence with several areas of metasteses. Diane is currently undergoing chemotherapy which will be followed by surgery and continued chemo. She has learned that this journey is not a sprint but much more of a marathon and is so grateful for the love and support of  her family and many dear friends. 
Following are several organizations and programs the Chaiken family supports philanthropically. 
-Fox Chase Cancer Center, Ovarian cancer research
-Unite for Her, a national organization that provides free services and support for breast and ovarian cancer patients
-We Are Wake, a campus wide program at Wake Forest University that supports students’ mental health.
-Her Health Compass
-Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America 
Warren Chaiken is a seasoned executive with over two decades of experience leading complex organizations and driving growth through strategic innovation, operational excellence, and customer-centric leadership. Most recently, Warren served as President & CEO of Almo Corporation, a leading national distributor of appliances, consumer electronics, and professional A/V equipment. Under his leadership, Almo experienced significant expansion, culminating in its successful acquisition by DCC Technology, a division of DCC plc.
Warren began his career in accounting and finance before joining Almo, where he held progressive leadership roles across operations, logistics, and sales. As CEO, he championed a culture of service, integrity, and continuous improvement while fostering key partnerships and launching new business units, including Almo Professional A/V.
His functional expertise spans strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, supply chain management, and go-to-market strategy. He is also recognized for his ability to build high-performing teams, guide family-owned businesses through transformational growth, and lead with vision in dynamic markets.
Warren and Diane Chaiken are committed philanthropists. Together, they support the Philadelphia Board of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America, Unite for HER, Committee to Benefit the Children, and Swim With Purpose. They also endowed The Chaiken Family Ovarian Cancer Visiting Professorship at Fox Chase Cancer Center. In addition, they founded the Chaiken Cares Foundation to promote health and provide assistance for a variety of children’s needs. Their past involvement includes serving on the Parents Committees of both Wake Forest University and Colgate University.
Warren and Diane have been married for 32 years and are proud parents of two sons—Ben, 27, and Josh, 23.
Warren holds a B.A. from Lafayette College and an MBA from Penn State University. He currently advises companies in the distribution and technology sectors.
Sue Weldon, Founder/Chief Executive Officer of Unite for HER, founded the organization in 2009 following her breast cancer diagnosis at age 39. Her vision for accessible integrative cancer care has transformed the organization from serving 23 patients to helping thousands annually. A nationally recognized leader in health equity, Sue serves as a patient advocate advisor to the American Cancer Society, Lilly, AstraZeneca, Deloitte, Daiichi-Sankyo, Pfizer, Novartis, and AbbVie. She holds a BA from West Chester University and has received numerous honors, including AstraZeneca's Catalyst for Care Award and West Chester University's Distinguished Alumni Award. She has three grown children, Taylor, Evan and Corrine and resides with her husband, Chip in West Chester, PA
Find Yonni & Heather here https://www.herhealthcompass.com/

Her Health Compass with Yonni & Heather: Embracing Survivorship

Breaking Barriers, Making Healthy Choices, and Embracing Survivorship
Breaking Barriers, Making Healthy Choices, and Embracing Survivorship. In this episode Yonni and Heather sit down with Dr. Laurie Kirstein from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, who made history as the first female chair of the American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer. We will talk about breaking glass ceilings, access to quality healthcare, pain management and the impact of smoking on women’s health outcomes.
Dr. Laurie Kirstein is an Attending Breast Surgeon at memorial string Cancer Center. She attended downstate medical school, Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein University for residency and Massachusetts General Hospital for Breast Surgery fellowship. Prior to arriving at Memorial Sloan Kettering she was attending surgeon and Breast Fellowship Director at the Rutgers Cancer Center Institute of New Jersey. At Memorial SloanKettering she is the Surgical Site Director for their Monmouth, NJ location. She is the current Chair for the American College of Surgeon’s Commission on Cancer. She is the lead for the national quality improvement project Breaking Barriers: overcoming barriers to cancer care across America. Her research interests include surgical decision for breast cancer, postoperative pain management and tobacco cessation for cancer patients.
Find Yonni & Heather here https://www.herhealthcompass.com/

Her Health Compass with Yonni & Heather: Managing Disease and Remission

How Do I Do This? Managing Disease and Remission
Whether a diagnosis has an immediate fix, a lengthy treatment regimen or is a chronic one, there are so many issues that arise: How to tell loved ones and friends, even children? What techniques are there to help manage mental health? Where, in the pain of it all, are there silver linings? Join Yonni + Heather and special guests Kiley Durham Castriccone and Julie Rosenthal Ruby for a powerful and inspiring conversation.
Bio for Julie Ruby:
Julie Ruby, LCSW is a psychoanalytically trained therapist with over 20 years of experience working with adults to help them navigate a wide range of life challenges. She specializes in supporting individuals and couples in all stages of their cancer journeys, fertility issues, and the complexities of parenthood. As a breast cancer survivor herself, she is passionate about helping women sort through the complexities of post-surgery body changes and body image.
Bio for Kiley Durham:
Kiley Durham-Castricone is an artist and designer residing in Old Greenwich, Connecticut. Prior to her diagnosis of stage four breast cancer in 2017, Kiley spent 15 years as a dress and accessories designer in New York City. Throughout her extensive treatment journey, she rediscovered painting as a therapeutic outlet and subsequently made the decision to pursue an art career full-time. Her artwork frequently depicts multiple women in a single composition, celebrating the profound connections between women and the transformative power of female relationships. Motivated by her battle against metastatic breast cancer and the countless individuals she has encountered, Kiley has dedicated herself to advocating for others within the cancer community. In addition to donating a portion of the proceeds from her artwork sales to support cancer research, she collaborates with organizations such as the Breast Cancer Alliance and New York Presbyterian Hospital to raise awareness and instill hope in patients and their caregivers. Kiley is also a member of the Greenwich chapter of Pitch Your Peers, a non-profit grant funding organization and a member of the Greenwich YWCA’s board of directors.
Find Yonni & Heather here https://www.herhealthcompass.com/

Her Health Compass with Yonni & Heather: Genetic Testing

Shaking the Family Tree: Risk Factors, Genetic Testing and More. 
Whether it is a concern for a cancer diagnosis, diabetes, heart disease or other condition, knowing your family history can be a key factor in early detection and treatment for inherited disease. Knowing something is not rooted in family history is important as well! Dr. Sarah Cate will help breakdown our understanding of genetics, epigenetics and more on this important episode.
Bio: Dr. Sarah Cate is a breast surgical oncologist, specializing in breast cancer surgery. She joins Stamford Health as the chief of the division of breast surgery. She is a graduate of UMDNJ/ Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and trained in general surgery at Westchester Medical Center. She is a graduate of the Mount Sinai West and Downtown Breast Surgery Fellowship.
Dr. Cate has a special interest in oncoplastic surgery, as well as nipple-sparing mastectomies with direct-to-implant reconstruction. She is board certified in general surgery and is certified in Hidden-Scar™ surgery. She was previously at Mount Sinai for 10 years, where she developed and lead high-risk programs for the Mount Sinai Health System, as well as lead the breast surgery quality program for the last two years. She will be bringing the latest research and innovations to Stamford Hospital.
Dr. Cate also enjoys training the next generation of breast surgeons and was the associate program director of the Mount Sinai West Breast Surgery Fellowship. Her research has been published and presented at the national level. She is a sought after national and international speaker. Her care philosophy focuses on patient-centered care, with warmth, knowledge, and shared decision-making.
Find Yonni & Heather here https://www.herhealthcompass.com/