In this episode of the Mood Food podcast, hosts Preeti Butani and Dr. Pramila Vishvanath speak with Allison and Val, two breast cancer survivors from Grande Prairie, Alberta, whose experiences with treatment led them to co-found the Mozart Mission. Both describe the shock of their diagnoses — Val, a busy mother and business owner, and Allison, a working mother of four who was diagnosed after a routine ultrasound turned up an unexpected finding — and the very different ways they coped, with Val leaning on her support network and faith while Allison initially tried to push through and keep life feeling normal for her kids. Allison's treatment path involved a lumpectomy that repeatedly came back with unclear margins, ultimately requiring five surgeries in total, including a double mastectomy; Val's path involved chemotherapy first, followed by a single lumpectomy and additional radiation.

The conversation covers the emotional and physical toll of treatment, the importance of community and peer support (including a private Facebook group that connected the two women), and practical coping strategies like breaking recovery into manageable stages rather than looking too far ahead. Reflecting on how many surgeries could have been avoided with better real-time imaging, Allison researched specimen-imaging technology and began rallying her local breast cancer community, which snowballed into a grassroots fundraising effort — the Mozart Mission — that brought in donations from individuals and local businesses and fully funded a MOZART® specimen-imaging system for their hospital in under a year. The episode closes on the pair's message that no two cancer journeys look alike, that asking for help isn't weakness, and that turning a difficult experience into something that helps other women is possible for anyone.