This episode of the Mood Food podcast, part of a Breast Cancer Awareness Month series, is co-hosted by Preeti Butani, co-founder of KUBTEC, and Dr. Pramila Vishvanath ("Dr. Pram"), a naturopath, in conversation with Dr. Camelia A. Lawrence, Director of Breast Surgery at the Hospital of Central Connecticut. The episode opens with a brief segment on KUBTEC's intraoperative specimen imaging technology, where surgeons describe how 3D margin imaging has helped lower re-excision rates. From there, Dr. Lawrence talks about what drew her into medicine — shaped by growing up in a developing country with limited healthcare access and by early mentorship from a surgeon she shadowed in medical school — and how she built a faster, more patient-centered model of care within Hartford HealthCare, where women with an abnormal mammogram or ultrasound can often get a same-day consultation, biopsy, and results within 24–48 hours.

The conversation then turns practical, covering what patients can expect before, during, and after surgery: how the surgical team and family communication work on the day of the procedure, the collaboration between breast and plastic surgeons when reconstruction is part of the plan, and how a multidisciplinary team helps guide treatment decisions. Dr. Pram brings a whole-person care lens, discussing anti-inflammatory, Mediterranean-style eating before and after surgery, supplements to pause pre-surgery (vitamin C, omega-3s, turmeric) due to bleeding risk, and healing-supportive foods like bromelain and papaya afterward, alongside the emotional and spiritual dimensions of recovery. The episode closes on Dr. Lawrence's message of hope: breast cancer, while indiscriminate, is highly treatable when caught early, reflected in the more than 3 million breast cancer survivors in the U.S. today.