Writing or talking about the after-maths of cancer and how it affected our ability of having a family has been difficult, because it involves so many emotions. It feels like I am opening a Pandora’s Box, and I am not sure if I will be able to hold on to hope like Pandora did. It brings up excitement but fear and anxiety as we navigate complex and unexplored paths that intersect biology, medicine, psychology and law, combined with the need of a lot of kindness and generosity from others that are required for us to complete our little family. If you haven’t been following my blog, let me briefly ..read more

The topic of cancer is one that has left a personal mark on myself and my family. My aunt is currently dealing with the effects of a lifetime of smoking and has recently had her larynx removed due to recurrent throat cancer. My grandfather passed from colon cancer and my mother and grandmother both suffered with cervical cancer. That’s why I decided to share what I have learnt about helping someone we love going through cancer. It’s difficult to watch loved ones struggle with cancer treatment, including treatments that have challenging side effects such as chemotherapy. They may also be battli ..read more

I'm sure you will agree with me when I say that cancer leaves us with more than visible scars: it also leaves us with psychological scars. Today, however, I want to talk to you about the visible ones, as several types of cancer will involve surgery and leave us with physical scars. These scars serve as a reminder of our fate and what we went through. I have a few… a port-a-cath surgery that went wrong (and resulted in a week in hospital with a collapsed lung - can you spot it in the picture?), 2 cancer surgeries 3 years ago and a few more… So here are some tips on how to deal with them. 1- Us ..read more

Today’s blog is based on a lovely chat with Associate Professor André La Gerche, a cardiologist, exercise specialist and my colleague at the Baker Institute – if you haven’t started your chemo yet, you can join his clinical trial on breast cancer and exercise here. His top 2 tips to exercise during chemo are: Plan an exercise regime and if needed look for help from an exercise practitioner –know you will face some challenges but it is possible to exercise during chemo. Be realistic! Exercise when you are feeling well, and when you are unwell try to stay active without pushing the limits. I h ..read more

Hello my chemo friends and sorry for my absence! Between organising our wedding, getting a puppy and moving houses, plus still working full-time and trying to live and enjoy a healthy cancer-free life, it has been busy here – but a ‘good’ busy as these were all exciting! If you are starting chemo soon, please check my other blog about avoiding hair loss during chemo, so you can skip this blog. Otherwise, if like me, you lost your hair, I hope this blogs helps you! I can’t believe I started writing this blog almost 2 years ago, but then I stopped. I decided that at that stage I was desperate t ..read more

As a recent cancer survivor, I understand that from the day we are declared ‘cancer-free’ and don’t need any further treatment, all we want is to have our old ‘normal’ life back. But before you continue to read this blog, I need to make it clear that having our old life is not always possible and we need to adapt – so consider this recreating a new exciting life after cancer. Don’t think this as a disappointment – we have been given a new opportunity and the way I see it is that we can have a ‘better’ life, almost any life you have ever wished for. For example, in the past 15 months since I ha ..read more

When we are diagnosed with cancer, it takes a while for us to process everything that is happening. It might feel it is not real. I remember waking up several nights thinking I was having a nightmare. I would then reach for my (short or non-existent) hair or touch my belly, and would be immediately reminded of my fate. We feel confused, since there is so much to think about, and sometimes we forget to make the right questions or take some very necessary actions. So today I wrote a guide on how to prepare for chemo, physically and emotionally. Tip #1: There is no such a thing as a dumb questio ..read more

The night before my diagnosis, I remember crying a lot. I didn’t cry that night because I was afraid of being diagnosed cancer, nor because I thought I could die. I was devastated about the thought of losing my hair. I know it may sound silly for those who haven’t gone through a cancer/chemo diagnosis, but it is not. Our hair symbolises much more than ‘just hair’, and is fundamental for self-stem and feeling ‘normal’ and healthy. My fears were confirmed on the following day, when the doctor confirmed I had ovarian cancer, and yes, I needed chemo and was going to lose my hair. I never felt so s ..read more

Today is a very special day for me. Exactly one year ago my life was completely changed as I was diagnosed with cancer. Last month I wrote about how I was told by the doctors in Australia that I had a large, but benign, cyst. My sister insisted that she didn’t like the look of the ‘cyst’ in my first ultrasound, and therefore it would be safer to remove it anyway. I then arranged another doctor in Melbourne who had agreed to remove the ‘cyst’, but I had issues with my private health insurance, so the surgery didn’t go ahead. So my sister arranged for me to go to Brazil to do a videolaparoscopy ..read more

We all have heard stress is bad for us. But what is stress? According to the Oxford dictionary, stress is “a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances”. Why is stress bad for cancer patients? A recent research by Melbourne-based researchers demonstrated that cancer spreads faster in mice exposed to chronic (prolonged) stress.(1) They also found that breast cancer patients who were taking beta-blockers, a medication commonly used to treat patients with cardiovascular disease that acts by blocking the action of hormones that mediate the ‘fi ..read more