Best Friends Launch Podcast Series to Help Women with Breast Cancer Navigate Dating, Sex and More

Mar. 15, 2025

Melissa Berry and Deltra ‘Empowered Intimacy’.Photo:Jen Rozenbaum

Jen Rozenbaum

Melissa Berry and Deltra are using their experiences with breast cancer to empower other women.

The two have only known each other for just over a year, but they grew close very quickly thanks to one shared experience: a breast cancer diagnosis.

“When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I didn’t need to look like a supermodel, I just wanted to look like myself,” she told PEOPLE exclusively. “Once I knew [I would get] a bilateral mastectomy and chemotherapy, and that meant losing my hair and my breasts and my lashes, I was like, ‘How am I ever going to feel like a woman again?'”

She founded what she dubbed “theVogueof breast cancer” inCancer Fashionista, an online resource where women can find beauty tips, self-care products and other essentials they need “before, during and after treatment.” Cancer Fashionista was so successful that Berry saw there was a need for more positive and uplifting platforms, so she took the same concept and created her podcast,Dear Cancer, I’m Beautifulwhere she merges the conversation about “life-saving cancer treatment with fashion, beauty and wellness advice.”

Deltra recalls her diagnosis upending her life at a shockingly quick pace: “Within a month timeframe, I went from getting a cancer diagnosis to getting a stage four cancer diagnosis before I started getting treatment because it had already spread to my liver,” she tells PEOPLE. “A lot of people say that no one goes through cancer completely unchanged, and I never say that I’m grateful for cancer — I don’t necessarily feel a need to look for a silver lining — but in my case, it definitely nudged me to make changes in my life.”

It was through her work that she crossed paths with Berry, who was looking for a guest willing to talk about dating and cancer. Berry recalled asking a mutual friend, “‘Do you know someone who would be willing to talk about dating and metastatic breast cancer?’ And before I even got the words out, she was like, ‘Deltra!'”

The two connected ahead of their taping, and immediately developed a friendship that went beyond the podcast episode. Now they’re working together on the podcast seriesEmpowered Intimacy: Getting Your Sexy Back After Breast Cancer,which “addresses the need for sexual health and intimacy support for breast cancer survivors.”

It’s fun, lighthearted and above all else, it serves as an important reminder that women, like Berry and Deltra, can still enjoy their lives fully, even while still being treated.

For Deltra, who had not dated for a while, she had questions she wanted to answer.

“I had been married for a long time and I had five children. I was the stay-at-home partner my entire marriage,” she said. “[Dating] didn’t feel like a real option. And so I know for many people with MBC, they feel that way … Because even though we’re young, many of us end up not being able to work anymore. It’s a very real thing to just feel like, ‘Well, who will want me now? Who will want to deal with all of this and appointments and the body changes and the sexual issues to navigate?’ "

Empowered Intimacyaims to address those worries and share stories and tips from women who have lived through those same experiences.

“I just wanted all those women to have someone and tell them, ‘Someone will want you. And even if you didn’t immediately find someone who did, you have to want more for yourself,'” Deltra says.

Adds Berry, “Breast cancer and sex are two terms you don’t hear together a lot. And I think sex and intimacy and dating are hard enough without cancer, but you add cancer to it and it’s whole other universe. And unless you’ve had cancer or breast cancer, it’s very hard to understand some of the challenges that we face.”

“What I wanted to give [was a place] where you can listen in on two best friends talking about how do you get through breast cancer, dating and intimacy, because there is no book,” she continues. “I wanted to fill a void for information and for just a real conversation that others can really feel, first of all, that they’re not alone and we offer solutions.”

Empowered Intimacy: Getting Your Sexy Back After Breast Cancerlaunched on Sept. 30 and is available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts as well as YouTube.

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AnaOno Melissa Bra

AnaOno Melissa bra.

02of 10AnaOno Trish BraAnaOno Trish bra.“I love theTrish bra,” Deltra says. “It just suits my body really well. The thing I love about them too is that they have all these bras for whatever — whether you’ve been able to keep your breasts or if you had a lumpectomy. That’s really a really cool aspect.“Adds Berry, “After reconstruction, it’s really not good to wear underwire because you lose sensation so sometimes the wire can poke you [without you realizing]. People love the Trish bra because it’s a molded bra, and it looks like an underwire bra, but it’s not.”

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AnaOno Trish Bra

AnaOno Trish bra.

“I love theTrish bra,” Deltra says. “It just suits my body really well. The thing I love about them too is that they have all these bras for whatever — whether you’ve been able to keep your breasts or if you had a lumpectomy. That’s really a really cool aspect.”

Adds Berry, “After reconstruction, it’s really not good to wear underwire because you lose sensation so sometimes the wire can poke you [without you realizing]. People love the Trish bra because it’s a molded bra, and it looks like an underwire bra, but it’s not.”

03of 10Bonafide Revaree SuppositoriesBonafide Suppositories.“When it comes to vaginal dryness [which can be a side effect of cancer treatment], my gynecologist had actually recommended [theRevaree suppositories]. They’re hormone-free vaginal suppositories,” says Berry. You get 10 suppositories in a box and the company offers single purchase, monthly or three-month plans.

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Bonafide Revaree Suppositories

Bonafide Suppositories.

“When it comes to vaginal dryness [which can be a side effect of cancer treatment], my gynecologist had actually recommended [theRevaree suppositories]. They’re hormone-free vaginal suppositories,” says Berry. You get 10 suppositories in a box and the company offers single purchase, monthly or three-month plans.

04of 10Perkies PetalsPerkies Nips.“Something I never knew: When you have reconstructed nipples, they’re always erect,” says Berry. “There are times that we [are wearing] something sheer and we want to conceal them a little bit.Perkies Petalsare nipple covers I love. And they come in all shapes and sizes.”

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Perkies Petals

Perkies Nips.

“Something I never knew: When you have reconstructed nipples, they’re always erect,” says Berry. “There are times that we [are wearing] something sheer and we want to conceal them a little bit.Perkies Petalsare nipple covers I love. And they come in all shapes and sizes.”

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StyleEsteem Headwraps

StyleEsteem Head pieces.

06of 10Paris Laundry Everywhere OilParis Laundry Everywhere Oil.Made with sesame, moringa, and jojoba oils, theEverywhere Oilis certified organic and can help keep the skin moisturized as people go through treatment.According to Berry, breast cancer survivor Kathy Buchi “just couldn’t find the right moisturizer for her skin when she was going through radiation and breast cancer treatment,” so she created an all-purpose oil to do the trick.

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Paris Laundry Everywhere Oil

Paris Laundry Everywhere Oil.

Made with sesame, moringa, and jojoba oils, theEverywhere Oilis certified organic and can help keep the skin moisturized as people go through treatment.

According to Berry, breast cancer survivor Kathy Buchi “just couldn’t find the right moisturizer for her skin when she was going through radiation and breast cancer treatment,” so she created an all-purpose oil to do the trick.

07of 10Headcovers Baseball HatsHeadcovers Baseball Hat.Many cancer patients get a wig after hair loss, but they’re not always the most comfortable or practical solution, particularly when it’s very hot out."[Wearing a wig] is a lot sometimes in the summer andHeadcoversmakes these baseball caps with little bobs and full on, it looks like a wig,” Berry raves. “I probably wore that more than my wig; I just absolutely love those.”

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Headcovers Baseball Hats

Headcovers Baseball Hat.

Many cancer patients get a wig after hair loss, but they’re not always the most comfortable or practical solution, particularly when it’s very hot out.

“[Wearing a wig] is a lot sometimes in the summer andHeadcoversmakes these baseball caps with little bobs and full on, it looks like a wig,” Berry raves. “I probably wore that more than my wig; I just absolutely love those.”

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Thrive Causemetics Lash Serum

Thrive Causemetics Lash Serum.

09of 10Amazon Afro Puff WigsAmazon Afro Wig.“I was able to find a lot ofAfro puffs,” says Deltra, who said she was “healthy-presenting” when she wore this style. “It was like a headband wig, that’s what they’re called. They make them with textured curly hair or with the Afro puffs … It was really nice to have something to just throw on my head.”

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Amazon Afro Puff Wigs

Amazon Afro Wig.

“I was able to find a lot ofAfro puffs,” says Deltra, who said she was “healthy-presenting” when she wore this style. “It was like a headband wig, that’s what they’re called. They make them with textured curly hair or with the Afro puffs … It was really nice to have something to just throw on my head.”

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Magnetic Lashes

source: people.com