There’s the well known concept that ‘time heals’ but instead of this sense of incremental improvements, I’ve found that it comes in fits and starts. It’s been a few weeks since the last episode of this podcast and during that time I’ve been doing a lot of healing. It’s so important to take time out for yourself- especially when recovering from cancer - in this episode I share about my recent experience going away for a retreat. Since finishing chemo, I’ve been away 4 times and each time have gone with the intention of allowing myself time and space to process buried feelings. Because, in every ..read more

So you’ve been through a cancer diagnosis, had treatment and taken time away from work… however long that has been for you, now you are considering your return to work. When is the right time to return? Returning to work after cancer raises many challenges - the brain fog after chemo, navigating whether you talk about it openly with colleagues, how you manage your energy levels, and step away from feeling like a patient to going back into a position where you can make an impact in whatever you do. I share my experiences around returning to work after finishing chemotherapy and being given the ..read more

We see so much about cancer in the general media and it’s often portrayed in such a way that suggests we need to ‘fight’ - however going into ‘fight or flight’ mode only increases our stress levels, and that doesn’t help with healing our bodies and recovering. In this episode, I share the approach that helped me find a more calming way of dealing with it and why I don’t believe in saying ‘f*** you cancer’. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit unusualwomen.substack.com ..read more

In this episode I share what helped me deal with Cancer-related Anxiety after my diagnosis and those times when I’d feel my thoughts going into a negative spiral, or struggle getting to sleep as I’d ruminate about the diagnosis and what could possibly happen in the future. Taking my usual psycho-spiritual approach. I’ve split up my tips into these groups: * When trying to get to sleep * Small everyday things you can easily do with minimal time / money investment * Bigger things requiring more time / money * Tapping into Nature as a source of stress relief Head over to Substack (unusualwomen.su ..read more

When we get that diagnosis, this is often one of the first questions that comes up- is it my fault that this has happened? Have I caused it in some way? This is a topic I feel really strongly about as I think it’s all to easy to beat ourselves up over perceived mistakes we’ve made or ‘unhealthy’ choices we may have made in our lives. Have a listen to hear my thoughts on this - exactly one year after my bowel resection operation to remove the tumour and 7 months after finishing active treatment and being given the ‘all clear.’ This time a year ago, I was in a lot of pain… right now, I’m honouri ..read more

In this episode, I share how I took a cyclical approach to chemotherapy, applying the same concept of phases as per the moon cycle (winter, spring, summer, autumn). This helped me break down the seemingly very long stretch ahead of feeling yuck with the chemo. It also helped me remember when to take the drugs and gave me a visual way of seeing my progress through the cycles. If you’d like to download my Chemo cycle tracker, you can head here - there is an editable version too if your chemo is a different structure to my 3-week cycle, or you want to set it up differently (we are all unique righ ..read more

Welcome to my new Podcast- ‘Not your normal Cancer Podcast’. Which I’m launching on the year anniversary of my diagnosis. In this very first episode, I shares the story of my diagnosis of stage 3 colon cancer aged 39. How taking an online FIT test essentially enabled me to self-diagnose much earlier than if I’d waited for the symptoms to get really bad. This was also thanks to having more awareness of the disease through the incredible Dame Deborah James aka ‘Bowel Babe’ and also through a connection with a lovely lady called Naomi on Instagram who was diagnosed 6 months earlier with stage 4 c ..read more