This podcast episode was a conversation between Conor and Daniel who were diagnosed with cancer during their teenage and young adult years and met at a games night. They talk candidly about not taking on the cancer patient identity as a means of reclaiming control as they navigated diagnosis, treatment, and life post-cancer. They chat about the language around cancer, feeling obligated towards others' feelings, and the shame of attending a fertility clinic at 17 years old with your mum. This was a refreshingly honest and funny conversation which we would recommend to anyone considering entering a health or social care profession. 

If you’d like more information about sperm banking check out this leaflet from Belfast Trust / The Regional Fertility Centre or this information from the Cancer Research UK website. If your child is diagnosed with cancer before puberty there are less options to preserve fertility however research is growing in this area. Check out the Future Fertility Trust’s information on Testicular Tissue Cryopreservation. 

If you’d like to get in touch with Young Lives vs Cancer 

If you’d like to get in touch with Cancer Fund For Children 

Thank you to the National Lottery Community Fund for funding this podcast as part of our ‘Together we Thrive’ project and enabling us to share these stories.