Cancer Can Do One: Life After Cancer Treatment

We all know sleep is important. But if you have a chronic illness—or cancer—it's not just about feeling rested.

Sleep plays a direct role in treatment effectiveness, recovery, and overall health. Lack of sleep affects so many of us in the modern world and the working life culture of the West doesn't exactly help. Fancy an afternoon nap at work? Ridiculous waste of time. Except it isn't. The opposite, in fact as you're about to hear over the next 20 minutes.

The problem?  Culturally too many see sleep as a waste of time in certain situations. Plus, sleep science is still in its infancy, and resources in the UK are shockingly limited.

In this episode, I sit down with Consultant Clinical Psychologist Dr Jill McGarry to break down the facts: why sleep matters more than you think, how poor sleep can impact some cancer treatments, and what practical steps patients can take today.

#cancercandoone #cancertreatments #poorsleep #lackofsleep #sleepscience #louthrunforlife #cancerawareness #chronicillness

What happens when cancer gets a sense of humour? And when a late autism diagnosis changes how some healthcare professionals see cancer care?

In this episode, we meet two men rewriting the script—literally. One through a fabulously funny, no-holds-barred blog about his incurable cancer experience, the other through a powerful new book unpacking autism, prostate cancer, and the gaps in some healthcare professionals' understanding.

Meet Martin Howell and Mac. Two men, two very different experiences—talking to Robins or taking a TV to bits to make a radio. Why? Well, you'll hear over the next 20 minutes.

Both reshaping how we think about illness, identity, and how we tell our stories. 

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Martin Howell's Blog

https://prostatecancer.me.uk

Mac's Book on Amazon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Late-Diagnosis-Autism-Diagnosed-Challenges/dp/1835634257

#prostatecancer #cancerawareness #pancreaticcancer #incurablecancer #menscancer #cancercandoone #louthrunforlife 

'I wish I had understood the risks more clearly.  My family made decisions they didn't fully understand...'

This isn't a blame game, absolutely not - this is just life.  Everyone is doing the very best they can in a horribly difficult moment.

There is a limited time to get a message across, options need to be outlined, recommendations made. And jargon and specific terms can be used, that in clever hindsight, we just didn't understand.

It's a pressure cooker moment when suddenly you face the oncologist for the first time.  You listen as carefully as you can but emotions are swirling, concentration is fading. Should you ask a question? But...if you could, what should it be?

Phil Richards MBE has been in that chair.  He knows first-hand when he was told about his incurable kidney cancer.  He was a young man, married had a very successful senior HR retail career and had a fulfilling life.

He asked questions at that first meeting but now years down the line, he realises they were the wrong ones...

So  - based on his considered experience - what should you do, what should you say and what are the consequences of saying...I'll just wait and see what happens next...

#cancercandoone #cancerresearchuk #louthrunforlife #kidneycancer #cancerquestions #cancermeeting

What we eat can shape our cancer risk and treatment—and for those undergoing treatment, food can be a lifeline.

In this episode, we explore how diet impacts prevention, why some cancer patients lose weight, and how food traditions in some cultures are evolving.

So, from cultural habits to healthier alternatives, we uncover practical steps to take control of your health.

Gina Geibner is an Advanced Specialist Oncology Dietitian with a clinic in Haddington East Lothian and an NHS job in Glasgow, Scotland, and Nevine  Baligh is a Non-Diet Health Coach with an MSc in Psychology in Cairo, Egypt.

Listen now to rethink your plate and empower your choices.

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 Please find out more about Nevine on her new website

https://healthyish.me/

And Gina's website is here

https://therehabdietitian.com/

More useful links

https://www.dargolan.com/world-music #Uppbeat : License code: OV4JX0OUSXKVGKIK.

#cancercandoone #louthrunforlife #cancerresearchuk #foodandcancer #cancerdiets 

'You're looking well. You know where I am if you need anything...' 

All statements with the best of intentions from a good place.  But they are statements. They're not questions. We accidentally close the conversation down by never having a conversation in the first place. Didn't mean to, didn't want to upset you any more, is perhaps the thinking.

Sharron Moffat will tell you there isn't necessarily a right or a wrong way to have that conversation. But it would be great if that patient - and we must never forget the caregiver - had a safe space to hear 'I bet this is really challenging for you. How are you feeling..?'

So...what do I say to a cancer patient and the caregiver..?

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Music credits:

Music: #Uppbeat : License code: OV4JX0OUSXKVGKIK Music: #Uppbeat: License code: 72NRLUXGF9BOFB8U

#CancerVoices #HiddenHeroes #CancerCanDoOne #MentalHealthMatters #CancerCaregiver #CancerConversation #LouthRunForLife #CancerResearchUK

Stay with me; it’ll make sense in the end. Trust me.  Now, I’ve got to be honest. I couldn't have second-guessed some of the topics we've talked about on the #CancerCanDoOne podcast, which only began earlier this year…

I imagined a cancer awareness agenda because you've got to start somewhere, and quite rightly, with audio projects like this, it’s the audience that decides on that agenda.  And it transpires the audience that was looking for a voice and support. So we'll refresh our memory with just a few of the conversations over our part of 2024.

Three topics came up again and again in social media chats - breast cancer, prostate and menopause. And I suspect the same will apply in 2025.

Music: #Uppbeat : License code: OV4JX0OUSXKVGKIK. Additional music by kind permission of Alphonso Archer

#cancercandoone #cancerconversation #HER2 #HER2breastcancer #cancerstories #breastcancer #cancerawareness #cancerresearchuk #louthrunforlfe #cancerpodcast #cancermaverick #oncologist  

Fake news, websites, 'kryptonite'. There's a sizable list to get through here. And since when has stress been a key factor in our cancer susceptibility?

We're all stressed - a bit or a lot. Life can be a bit of a handful at times, and we know we need a bit of stress to keep us...well...aware; alert.

Bystanders like me who simply don't know, for certain, the how and why answers to the above - and a very long list of other questions - need to get non-sugarcoated facts from the best.

And one of the world leaders in the field - particularly in breast cancer - is UK-based, Dr Hugo De La Peña, MD, PHD, FRCP. Cancer Research UK Ambassador and Maggie's Clinical Lead.

As Hugo says “Lifetime commitment: cure cancer in every patient”

And here's how, for the most part, he's doing precisely that...

Another download listening 20 minutes you won't regret.

The #CancerCanDoOne podcast from Louth Run For Life.

Hugo's website

https://www.drhugodelapena.com/

Music: #Uppbeat : License code: OV4JX0OUSXKVGKIK

#cancercandoone #cancerconversation #HER2 #HER2breastcancer #cancerstories #breastcancer #cancerawareness #cancerresearchuk #louthrunforlfe #cancerpodcast #cancermaverick #oncologist  

Anna Rathkopf was diagnosed with HER2-positive breast cancer. She was 37.

She was suddenly unable to express herself, temporarily cut off from the day-to-day.  As she puts it, she felt she was 'no longer a driver in my own story.'  So she turned to what she best understood.  Already an accomplished photographer she began documenting that story with her camera, taking hundreds of images over seven years.

Her husband Jordan - also a highly skilled photographer, had no idea what she was doing initially. Anna's original idea was to capture memories for their little boy - just in case.

But now the couple, who live with their son in Brooklyn, New York, have just published their photographic story as a remarkable book titled, 'HER2, The Diagnosed, The Caregiver And Their Son'. And it's already attracting huge media acclaim around the world.

It's a visual story, unaffected by language barriers, to illustrate the real, unfiltered story of #cancerunder50.

Find out more here.

https://www.rathkopf.com/personal-projects/her2

Remember please 'FOLLOW' this podcast.  It helps me spread the cancer conversation - and we both know how much that's needed.

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Cancer Can Do One Podcast - part of the cancer charity Louth Run For Life in partnership with Cancer Research UK

Music: #Uppbeat : License code: OV4JX0OUSXKVGKIK

#cancercandoone #cancerconversation #HER2 #HER2breastcancer #cancerstories #breastcancer #cancerawareness #cancerresearchuk 

The extraordinary power of music and how it changes lives.

Music therapy has a massive, positive impact on helping cancer patients find some peace and bring back valuable memories at a very tough time.  Alphonso Archer previously worked in sales in IT in the UK, but his own cancer diagnosis shifted priorities. 

Now with a Masters Degree in Music Psychotherapy, he helps patients, including those who have never played an instrument before, to create music that means so much, particularly those facing end-of-life... 

Once again, hands up, this was a subject I had no idea was even a thing until a few weeks ago. And the music you're about to hear, recorded by a cancer patient who had never touched a musical instrument before Alphonso pressed the record button is...well...moving and simply extraordinary.

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Contact Alphono Archer at:

https://www.livingwellthroughmusic.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alphonsoarcher/

Music: #Uppbeat : License code: OV4JX0OUSXKVGKIK

Additional Music By Kind Permission of Alphonso Archer.

#cancercandoone #louthrunforlife #cancerresearchuk #cancermusictherapy #musicpsychotherapy #cancerawareness  

More than 24,000 cancer cases have been confirmed since the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center in New York in 2001.

And the story is as relevant today as ever.  Because new cases continue to come forward, and getting those cases officially recognised is an ongoing battle. A struggle made harder for those with English as a second language.

It's still a raw story to tell for the many who survived the attack and who are now facing cancer.  When the first plane hit, Will Rivera was a teenager waiting for a school bus in Lower Manhattan. He lived near the towers.

By the age of 30, he had a tumour.

Will spoke to me from his home in New York State. He's rarely talked about this because of the trauma. But he's refocused and now doing all he can to speak out and to help those caught in the cancer communication trap...  

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Resources recommended by Will Rivera for those affected.

https://www.vcf.gov

You can contact Will Rivera on his LinkedIn page

https://www.linkedin.com/in/riverawd/

#cancercandoone #louthrunforlife #cancerresearchuk #cancerchampions #cancerconversation #twintowers

#canceradvocate

Music: #Uppbeat : License code: OV4JX0OUSXKVGKIK