Episode #65 - Be the CEO of Your Health: What Every Woman Over 45 Needs to Know | Dana Sherwin

A gentle reminder — Dana shares her personal journey through a blood cancer diagnosis and stem cell transplant. If anything she shares stirs something in you about your own health, please reach out to your healthcare provider. Have you ever left a doctor's appointment and driven home realizing you forgot to say the most important thing? You're not alone — and this episode is for you. Dana Sherwin spent more than 35 years as a healthcare executive and consultant. She knew how the system worked from the inside out. Then she became the patient — diagnosed with a blood cancer disorder in her forties, living with it for 15 years before a stem cell transplant in 2019 changed everything. Through her initiative The Thinking Patient, Dana helps people become informed, confident, engaged partners in their own healthcare. In this conversation she shares what it truly means to be the CEO of your own health — not as a concept, but as a practice. In the doctor's office. In the 15 minutes you have to get it right. In this episode: Why your OB-GYN should not be your primary care physician How to find the right doctor and why that relationship changes everything What genetic testing can and cannot tell you Why 85% of diagnoses depend on what the patient communicates How to prepare for a 15-minute appointment and walk out clear The question you are most afraid to ask — and why you must ask it Why preparation is an act of self-respect Have you ever left a doctor's appointment realizing you forgot to say the most important thing? Tell me in the comments — you are not alone. Find Dana Sherwin: 🌐 The Thinking Patient 📲 Connect through her healthcare consulting and speaking work Connect with Denise | Thrive After 45™: 🌐 Denise Drinkwalter 📲 @thethriveafter45podcast 💫 IGNITE: The Inner Uprising™ — November 2026 👉 ignite2026.lovable.app Timestamps: 00:00 — Welcome to Thrive After 45™ 00:30 — When the healthcare expert becomes the patient 02:35 — Welcoming Dana Sherwin 02:44 — Dana's origin story 04:12 — Ignoring the symptoms — what women do and why 04:56 — Why your OB-GYN is not your primary care physician 05:19 — The stomach pains that changed everything 06:22 — The emergency room, the blackout, and the diagnosis 07:28 — Living with blood cancer for 15 years 08:31 — The stem cell transplant and a stranger's gift 09:33 — What Dana did wrong and what she learned 10:56 — Rule #1 — Find a primary care physician 12:42 — The case for a geriatrician in midlife 14:26 — Rule #2 — Genetic testing 15:54 — Rule #3 — Be the CEO of your own health 16:23 — Why 85% of diagnoses depend on what you communicate 17:25 — Journal it, track it, monitor it 18:28 — What you've been withholding from your doctor 19:30 — How to prepare for a 15-minute appointment 21:34 — This is a meal for your health 23:30 — The question you must always ask 25:02 — The second question every patient needs 26:19 — Preparing as an act of self-respect 29:33 — Writing it down frees your brain to listen 31:12 — Voice notes, notebooks, bringing someone with you 33:11 — Closing reflections 34:27 — IGNITE: The Inner Uprising™ 🔔 Subscribe and tap the bell 💛 Share with a woman who needs this 💬 Leave a comment — your voice matters here #ThriveAfter45 #BeYourOwnCEO #MidlifeHealth #WomensHealth #HealthAdvocacy #PatientEmpowerment #WomenOver45 #MidlifeWellness #ThinkingPatient #StemCellTransplant #HealthcareAdvice #MidlifeWomen #SelfAdvocacy #WomensEmpowerment #MidlifeTransformation #WomenOver50 #MidlifeCoach #DeniseDrinkwalter #IGNITETheInnerUprising #PatientAdvocacy #OwnYourHealth #MidlifeAwakening #WomenWhoLead #HealthcareWomen