The MOVE Against Cancer Podcast

This episode is hosted by Tony Collier, who is an incredibly inspiring individual who despite living with incurable prostate cancer, continues to live an active and fulfilling life, and is passionate about raising awareness of men's health, particularly men's cancers.
Around 52,300 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in the UK each year.
2,400 men are diagnosed with testicular cancer in the UK each year and this is the most common cancer among young men.
Across the UK, 13 men die by suicide every day, with males accounting for around 75% of all suicides.
Tony gathered some of his friends together to take part in this conversational episode, which raises awareness of men's mental and physical health. Tony says: "We are just trying to get people talking... Maybe, just maybe, this little campaign could help save a father, a brother, a son, a friend, a partner, a man's life".

Trigger Warning: Conversations about Suicide

Episode produced by Kevin Bannon

Dr Sarah Swan is a clinical psychologist who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019.  Sarah shares her personal experience of the emotional impact of breast cancer along with her professional skills in how to cope with the difficult thoughts and feelings that result. She also talks about using her own experience to write a self help book for others impacted by breast cancer titled 'Coping with Breast Cancer: How to Navigate the Emotional Impact Throughout Your Journey'. Her book is available to buy HERE.

Episode Produced by Kevin Bannon.

We kick off our new series with 2 very special guests, Mel Kelly and Gemma Bavister. These two young people were faced with a cancer diagnosis in their 20's. In this episode they discuss navigating their way through cancer treatment, whilst also dealing with the physical, psychological and emotional changes that come as a result of their diagnosis. We talk body image, confidence, self esteem and climbing mountains (both literally and figuratively!) and how movement is a powerful tool to combat the physical and mental side effects of cancer. This is a truly inspiring and uplifting episode and we hope you enjoy listening!

In this episode, Sophie chats to Simon Darby MBE and Mark Adams. Simon has been a Young Lives vs Cancer Social Worker for 12 years and founded the MOVE Forward Programme in Northern Ireland, which is a CrossFit based exercise programme for young adults living beyond cancer.
This is an incredibly inspiring and uplifting chat and shows just how powerful exercise can be in changing the lives of those living with and beyond cancer. Find out more about MOVE Forward: https://www.younglivesvscancer.org.uk/life-with-cancer/i-have-cancer/health-and-wellbeing/crossfit-move-forward/

Simon Darby

Insta: @crossfitmoveforward @simon.younglives

Young Lives vs Cancer Social Work Manager- Northern Ireland

CrossFit Level 2 Trainer

Founder of CrossFit MOVE Forward

Adaptive and Inclusive Trainer

Mark Adams

Insta: @mark_adams_weightlifting_coach @mark__cf

CrossFit Level 1 trainer 

British weightlifting level 1 and 2 coach

Visit our website and social media channels to find out more about what we do.
https://movecharity.org/
Insta: @5kyourway
Twitter: @cancer5kYourWay
YouTube: @moveagainstcancer

Krista is an NHS junior doctor. She also has metastatic bone cancer.

She qualified as a doctor in 2021, in-between lockdowns and chemotherapy regimes, despite having been told when her sarcoma returned that there was no way she could finish medical school.

Krista likes proving her doctors wrong. As part of her primary treatment she had her femur, knee, top of her tibia and all 4 of her quadriceps muscles resected. Last year she climbed Mount Toukbal in the Atlas mountains. This year she is gunning for Kilimanjaro. Krista has a moving, funny, beautiful Instagram blog where she shares titbits from her life as a junior doctor, her life as someone living with cancer and above all, her overwhelming lust for life. Find her on instagram HERE.

This conversation was a real treat. We hope you enjoy!

Bone cancer research trust
Sarcoma UK

This week’s guest is the wonderful Louise Minchin. 

Many of you will have woken up to Louise on your TV screens as she presented BBC Breakfast for 20 years and she’s also appeared on a number of other radio and television programmes. Louise is also known for her love of endurance sport, having completed a number of extreme triathlons, which is how she met Lucy Gossage, the co-founder of our 5k Your Way initiative. In this episode, Louise talks to Sophie, MOVE’s Admin and Fundraising Coordinator, and among many other things they discuss:

• Louise’s TV career and the challenges she faced.
• Her love of extreme triathlon.
• Her journey to the London Marathon, which she will be running with her daughter this month in support of MOVE.

Louise is a huge supporter of MOVE Charity and has previously won money for us on The Celebrity Chase and Pointless All Stars. She will also be joining us for the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge in September! Louise is such a warm, funny and honest person and we are delighted to have her as a guest on our podcast.

If you would like to support Louise for the London Marathon this year, you can donate to her fundraising page HERE.
Louise’s new book - ‘Fearless: Adventures with Extraordinary Women’ is out on 25th May and can be preordered HERE.

Leah talks to MOVE’s Sophie Mulligan, who has had cancer herself and also had a partner support her through it. In this episode they discuss:

-Andrew’s previous treatment and very recently receiving news that the cancer had returned.
-The highs and lows that a couple goes through when one of them has cancer.
-How life changes for the partner, as well as the person with the diagnosis.
-How being a partner of someone with cancer can be lonely and isolating.
-Coping mechanisms and how looking after yourself means you can be a better version of you to support your partner through their treatment and beyond.
-How still doing things that you enjoy together and also communicating and being honest with each other can benefit the relationship.
-Advice and support for partners of someone with cancer.

This is the first episode we’ve done which features a partner as opposed to the person with cancer themselves and we guarantee that even if you are not affected by cancer directly, you will learn something from this episode and you will feel inspired by Leah’s strength, character and honesty. Cancer is a journey full of highs and lows and this episode will encourage you to embrace your emotions and use them to build a better version of yourself, in order to be a better person to support those around you.

Listen to ‘Cancer and the Comeback with Andrew McAslan’ HERE.
Andy's blog on our website.
Athletics Weekly Article.

Cancer and the Comeback

Linktree
YouTube

Instagram: @cancerandthecomeback

Twitter: @cancerncomeback 

Laura and Nicola have a remarkable ability to find a silver lining to any adversity life throws at them. Despite everything she has and is going through, Laura still says she is lucky.

In this episode we discuss:

·      Laura’s bucket list

·      Balancing treatment with university

·      The implications of a cancer diagnosis on friendships

·      Travelling to Germany for treatment

·      The challenges and benefits of speaking publicly about cancer

·      The highs and lows of twitter for Nicola

·      Their ambassadorial role for the Brain Tumour charity

Laura and Nicola epitomise the tag- line of this podcast. They’re ordinary people doing extraordinary things despite cancer and I dare you not to be inspired by them.

Twitter: @shitscaredmum

www.doingitforlaura.com

@braintumourorg

Henry is articulate, eloquent, funny and brutally honest.

During this conversation, among many things, we discuss:

·      Henry’s experience of transitioning from eminent neurosurgeon to cancer patient.

·      How a rational person can entertain irrational thoughts.

·      The challenges of hormone therapy for prostate cancer.

·      Finding the balance between empathy and detachment.

·      What he thinks makes a good doctor.

·      Hope – finding the balance between realism and optimism.

·      Decision making as a neurosurgeon and as a patient.

·      Failure as a doctor.

·      Henry’s relationship with running.

·      Why he believes assisted dying should be legalised and his thoughts about death.

·      Why being a doctor still can be the best job in the world.

Twitter: @DrHenryMarsh

Erin’s now taken a temporary step back from rowing to finish her treatment but in the meantime, is using her platform to raise awareness of breast cancer in younger women and highlight the importance of early detection. Erin is an incredibly articulate speaker and has mastered the art of finding the silver linings that can come with adversity.

Discussion points include:

• The role of a cox in a rowing boat and the importance of the team.
• Balancing treatment with rowing and making difficult compromises.
• The frustrations that cancer treatment rarely sticks to plan and how she overcomes these.
• Learning to accept support from those who care about her but doing so on her terms.
• Communicating what she needs and wants (and conversely what she doesn’t need and want) from those in her camp.
• www.mealtrain.com
• Choosing to share her treatment experience publicly.
• Turning challenges into opportunity and looking for silver linings.
• Erin’s changing room challenge.

Twitter: @ErinWysocki
Instagram: @erinmwj
Watch Erin’s BBC interview that went viral HERE.
Coppafeel Instagram and website.
British Rowing.