Out of Patients
with Matthew Zachary
Welcome to 2026: The Year of the Patient where the sick shall inherit the ballot.
Tamika Felder Built Cervivor. Then She Built a Family.
At 25, cervical cancer forced Tamika Felder into a hysterectomy without fertility preservation. Two decades later, another survivor donated embryos that helped her become a mother. A story about systemic gaps, advocacy, and the family she built anyway.
Yes, I Partnered With a Skincare Company. Here Is Why.
After 30 years of cancer survivorship, Matthew Zachary explains why he partnered with Codex Labs. This post explores radiation side effects, steroid driven treatment cycles, skincare regulation gaps, and why barrier focused science matters for compromised skin.
Out of Patients EP431: Reclaiming the Vowels: Sarah Gromko
Berklee trained composer Sarah Gromko left film scoring for speech language pathology and now helps adults recover voice after stroke, ALS, brain injury, and cancer. In EP431 she explains aphasia and motor speech disorders and shares how melody helped a 16 year old gunshot survivor say I love you Mom again.
Freedom to Go Broke
After surviving brain cancer at 21, Matthew Zachary examines how modern healthcare policy repackages risk as freedom. From cash subsidies to math free promises, this essay exposes why consumer style healthcare fails the moment illness enters the room.
30 Years Cancer Free
I was 21. Brain cancer came via a blinking answering machine. There was barely an internet. No young adult programs. We kind of all just died back then. But I didn't. I've watched three decades of impossible become ordinary—and it's been the greatest terrible privilege. 2026 is the Year of the Patient.
2025 Gratitude Reflection: The 30-Year Overnight Success
People call it overnight success. From the inside it looks like decades of repetition endurance and saying uncomfortable truths out loud. This reflection examines advocacy patience family grounding and why progress in healthcare only comes through time memory and staying power.