Trigger Warning: this episode discusses cancer, cancer treatment, pregnancy, family planning and mental health.

Episode 199: Part of the Living With and Beyond Cancer Series (Part 67)

Description: In this powerful episode, Naman Julka-Anderson and Jo McNamara sit down with Mandy Geyman is a mom, inflammatory breast cancer survivor, and public speaker who completed chemotherapy while pregnant while also navigating an autism diagnosis for her oldest daughter. She and chaos are basically on a first-name basis. Mandy now shares her story through Instagram to help survivors feel seen and supported using humour and honest storytelling about cancer, motherhood, autism, and mental health…typically against a backdrop of 90s/Y2K nostalgia. Through her creativity and online community, she helps people reclaim joy, reconnect with their inner child and remember that healing can be both playful and empowering.

This episode is a deep dive into Mandy’s pregnancy, diagnosis and treatment for cancer along with the benefits of social media.

CPD Reflection Points:

1. Read and be aware of breast cancer signs and symptoms.
2. Read this blog and reflect about Mandy’s journey.
3. Consider how physiological breast changes during pregnancy and the postpartum period can mask malignancy.
4. Reflect on how evidence-based cancer care can be adapted during pregnancy without compromising pregnancy outcomes, including the timing of imaging, surgery, and systemic therapies, and how multidisciplinary decision-making supports this balance.

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Links from the Episode:

• Mummy’s Star Charity
• Bright Spot Network
• Cancer and pregnancy register
• BRCA 1 and BRCA2
• Hope for Two Charity
• Neulasta
• Article: “Why More Women Are Facing Breast Cancer in Pregnancy and Postpartum” by Erica Sloan (11/7/25)

Research links from the Episode:

• CAnceR IN PreGnancy(CARING) – a retrospective study of cancer diagnosed during pregnancy in the United Kingdom
• Adverse pregnancy outcomes and multiple cancers risk in both mother and offspring: an umbrella review of systematic reviews with meta-analyses
• Long-term Mortality in Individuals Diagnosed With Cancer During Pregnancy or Postpartum
• Effects of pregnancy on breast cancer immunology: immune biomarker and TIL quantification
• A systematic review and meta-analysis of pregnancy-associated breast cancer incidence rate
• Survival in pregnancy-associated breast cancer patients compared to non-pregnant controls
• Pregnancy vs. Postpartum Breast Cancer: Distinct Tumour Biology and Survival Trends in a Contemporary Cohort
• Gestational breast cancer: distinctive molecular and clinico-epidemiological features
• Shared immunosuppressive mechanisms between pregnancy & cancer
• Maternal age, delayed childbirth & breast cancer risk

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Credits: Music and jingle credits: Dr. Ben Potts and Adam Cooke.

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