The C Word

Dr Liz O'Riordan was working as a consultant breast surgeon in 2015 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer for the first time. After decades of treating people with breast cancer, the doctor was now the patient and Liz realised how little she knew about the treatments and experience for breast cancer. Three years later cancer returned on her chest wall. She had both breasts removed which meant she couldn't move her left shoulder and was forced to retire.

Helen is joined by Amanda Wallace from deep in the US mid-west, Idaho. Amanda was diagnosed with leukemia in 2019 after experiencing flu-like symptoms. At the time she was working at her local movie theatre, and once she was diagnosed treatment happened almost instantly. Amanda had a recurrence in 2020 right in the middle of the pandemic. Going through cancer treatment is one thing, but going through it during a global pandemic? No one prepares you for that situation.

Cancer, Covid, and children are three C’s you never hope to experience at the same time. In this episode, Jessica Licata shares her experience of having a beautiful baby and being diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma during the pandemic. Accessing healthcare as Covid ripped through Chicago was challenging, Jessica shares the lengths she went to in order to get a diagnosis. And why it’s important to learn how to advocate for yourself.

Produced at Planet FM 104.6, community access media in Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland

Cancer can be a traumatic experience in both mind and body. Once treatment ends many of us fear recurrence. So what if happens when you discover that your cancer has returned? Olivia Clarke was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. At the end of 2021, her cancer returned. Despite the challenges she faced, she found humour in her own little ways, and eventually formed an online community helping people undergoing cancer treatment by raising money and awareness with her blog Humor Beats Cancer.

What's the worst birthday present you've ever had? For New Yorker Jonny Puglia a shock diagnosis of Stage 4 colon cancer was not the gift he was expecting on his 30th birthday. Fortunately, Jonny decided not to dwell on it and decided to face it with humour. After battling stage IV colorectal cancer for years, beating cancer not once but twice, he has now used his experience to help adults who are also affected by cancer with his blog Thrivr.

The C Word revisits an interview with New South Wales based Kiwi Gautami Motupally. At 13,Gautami thought she was just bloated when doctors discovered she had ovarian cancer. She joined Helen to talk about how her experience has impacted her mental health and body image.

Jane was in her early 30s when she was diagnosed with low-grade serous ovarian cancer in 2017. A rarer form of ovarian cancer, patients are usually given a life expectancy between 5-15yrs and is more common in younger women. Jane started the charity Cure Our Ovarian Cancer when she realised how little research or funding there was for her type of ovarian cancer. experienced niggling health problems for a number of years before her diagnosis and works tirelessly to advocate and raise awareness.

It's Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month and we revisit the powerful story of Alisi Jack-Kaufusi’s. At 24, Alisi’s career was flourishing, she was living in Brisbane and enjoying life. She started to notice unusual bleeding, bloating and tiredness, so saw her GP. She was on the operating table about to be put under anaesthetic when the doctor uttered the word cancer. She shares her story and she and Helen discuss toxic positivity, something commonly experienced in the cancer community after treatment

How many times have you been asked ‘you’re over it now, right?’ by a well-meaning friend or family member? It can be hard trying to explain our cancer experience doesn't leave us. Mandi Chambless shares her experience of being diagnosed with ovarian cancer at 28. Mandi was given a 20% chance of survival beyond five years, 13-years later she’s beaten the odds. In the first five years after her diagnosis she was terrified of recurrence, in fact, the fear of her cancer returning remains.