Jo vs Cancer

This is the episode we never wanted to make. Battling cancer was the fight of Jo's life, but on July 25, she died peacefully at home, surrounded by family, after staving off stage 4 cancer for more than two years. Determined to the last, she asked friend and colleague Colleen O'Hanlon to record one last conversation for this podcast. With her family's support, we are releasing it to honour one of Jo's final wishes.

A range of organisations, including the Cancer Society and Bowel Cancer NZ, offer support services and information to cancer patients and their whanau. For a longer list, visit Health Navigator.

In this special bonus episode, Jo and Colleen talk to two people who have become key to Jo's wellbeing since her diagnosis: her oncologist, Dr Chris Jackson, and Marie Wales, supportive care manager for the Cancer Society in Otago and Southland.

Chris shares general treatment tips and his views on how to improve Aotearoa New Zealand’s cancer outcomes, while Marie discusses the right - and wrong - ways to talk to patients and the barriers to rural residents accessing treatment.

Of course Chris wouldn't normally talk about patients in public, but agreed to appear at Jo's request. He recommended several websites where patients and their loved ones could get credible information. They are: https://www.cancer.gov/

https://www.macmillan.org.uk/

https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/

https://www.eviq.org.au/

https://www.cancer.org.nz/

In the final episode, Jo talks about how hard it is to face the future. With characteristic humour, she reveals how she chose her own embalmer - and why she might officiate her own funeral. She concludes by telling Colleen that cancer might have hijacked her life, but it hasn’t crippled her: “I'm still a strong woman and I'm fighting this with every ounce of my breath.”

A range of organisations, including the Cancer Society and Bowel Cancer NZ, offer support services and information to cancer patients and their whanau. For a longer list, visit Health Navigator.

Cancer doesn't only take a toll on people with the disease, but their nearest and dearest too. Jo discusses the ripple effects on the most important people in her life, including the impact on intimacy with her partner. She also tells Colleen about the right - and wrong ways - of talking to patients.

A range of organisations, including the Cancer Society and Bowel Cancer NZ, offer support services and information to cancer patients and their whanau. For a longer list, visit Health Navigator.

Jo explains how she makes herself comfortable during chemotherapy and why she likes talking to other patients. She tells Colleen about the cost, both financial and physical, of travelling hours to her appointments. She busts myths about hair loss and tackles the mental impact of her illness.

A range of organisations, including the Cancer Society and Bowel Cancer NZ, offer support services and information to cancer patients and their whanau. For a longer list, visit Health Navigator.

Meeting her oncologist for the first time, Jo received two pieces of shocking news: her cancer was incurable and the huge cost of life-extending drugs. She tells Colleen about adjusting to a new routine dictated by treatment, learning to accept help and her anger at paying GST on unfunded medicines.

A range of organisations, including the Cancer Society and Bowel Cancer NZ, offer support services and information to cancer patients and their whanau. For a longer list, visit Health Navigator.

In the aftermath of surgery to remove a tumour “like a big wedge of pizza”, Jo was faced with difficult conversations: what to tell her kids and the choice between public and private healthcare. She also discovered the power of hope and humour. She laughs with Colleen about her first post-op fart - and the extremely intimate story she told medical students in hospital.

A range of organisations, including the Cancer Society and Bowel Cancer NZ, offer support services and information to cancer patients and their whanau. For a longer list, visit Health Navigator.

Jo explains her motivation for making this podcast, recalls becoming fast friends with Colleen and shares the first part of her cancer story. The aspiring ultra-marathon runner discusses the gradual deterioration of her health, her fight for a colonoscopy and the life-changing moment she was told she had a tumour in her bowel.

A range of organisations, including the Cancer Society and Bowel Cancer NZ, offer support services and information to cancer patients and their whanau. For a longer list, visit Health Navigator.

Jo McKenzie-McLean’s life was turned upside down after a stage 4 bowel cancer diagnosis. In this candid podcast, the mother-of-two joins friend and fellow journalist Colleen O’Hanlon to explore life with an incurable illness. Through tears and laughter, Jo shares her experience - from diagnosis to surgery and chemo; from the impact on self-identity and her loved ones to facing the future. Jo vs Cancer is a vulnerable yet powerful series of conversations that provides insights you’ll wish you had years ago.