And Then Came Breast Cancer - A Future Dreams Podcast

It's not just your life that changes when you get a breast cancer diagnosis - so do the lives of your family, friends and loved ones, to a different extent. For many, your partner becomes even more important as you go through one of your toughest times. But apart from providing love and support, what is their role? What do you need from your significant other? In this episode, Victoria talks to th...

The NHS say that one in 3 women who get breast cancer is over 70. That may be logical - the longer you live the greater your chances of getting the disease. But while the average life expectancy for women is 83, after the age of 71 you no longer automatically get invited for a mammogram. In this episode, Victoria talks to Baroness Margaret Hodge, who was diagnosed herself at the age of 80...she ta...

You’ll often hear the “taking one day at a time” mantra about not getting ahead of yourself, especially when you are in recovery. For some people, ticking off the firsts - first time back at work, first holiday, first family occasion - helps put distance between them and breast cancer. Is chalking off these milestones a good thing? In this episode, Victoria talks to Fran and Kimmy about the h...

Everyone’s life changes when they are touched by breast cancer and that’s why we’re here. The award-winning film director Sam Taylor-Johnson was diagnosed with the disease when she was 33 and her life changed direction as a result. In this episode the woman behind the Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black and Nowhere Boy talks to Victoria in front of a live audience at the Future Dreams House in Lond...

Everyone’s life changes when they are touched by breast cancer and that’s why we’re here. The award-winning film director Sam Taylor-Johnson was diagnosed with the disease when she was 33 and her life changed direction as a result. In this episode the woman behind the Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black and Nowhere Boy talks to Victoria in front of a live audience at the Future Dreams House in Lond...

Nobody likes waiting for a test - or a test result. There’s even a name for it - “Scanxiety” for when you wonder whether your cancer has come back or got worse or spread or whether the appointment coming up will get cancelled at the last minute. How do you control that feeling? In this episode Victoria gets advice from three women - Amanda, Melissa and Dawn who have all found ways to deal with it…...

Can channelling your creativity be one way to help you cope with a breast cancer diagnosis? When your life has been turned upside down, can a little art therapy be a good way to keep calm and get things in perspective? In this episode, Victoria talks to a panel of people who have combined creativity with the world of breast cancer - street artist Bambi, Tanya, Frankie and Emma who writes a journal...

There’s a house in London where you can go and get information, support and advice, attend workshops and classes, have a healthy drink and a bite to eat, or just sit and chill. The Future Dreams House in Kings Cross is that place and we welcome everyone from the breast cancer community. There was a special opening event earlier last year and in this special bonus episode, we hear from some of our...

Nearly half of women have dense breasts but many of them won’t know it, as only a mammogram will confirm if you have them. That same mammogram may not be able to pick out whether there’s any cancer there. Following a mammogram, women with dense breasts should consider additional screening such as ultrasound or MRI. Having dense breasts does increase your risk of breast cancer so it’s time more peo...

This episode is not about secondaries – that was Series 1, Episode 7. Nor is it about the fear of it coming back- that was Series 2, Episode 2. This is about when you think breast cancer is at last behind you. And then you receive the news that you have got it again. A second primary diagnosis - lightning, in the worst way, striking twice. Victoria is joined by three women who have been through th...

There’s a lot of help and information out there for women who have to undergo chemotherapy. Perhaps there’s a bit less about radiotherapy for two reasons - it is not perceived as being as debilitating as chemo and possibly because it comes afterwards, hopefully when you are almost on the ‘home straight’. For many women it isn’t straightforward, neither mentally nor physically. In this episode Vict...

Surgery is a part of many women’s breast cancer stories and this episode puts some of your points and queries to a breast cancer surgeon who also explains why she and her colleagues make the decisions they do. Victoria is joined by a guest who felt that before she had surgery she had no idea what the results would look like- so decided to create a resource that will help many women going through b...

This is the first of two episodes looking at surgery - which is the right operation for you - what do terms like lumpectomy and mastectomy mean and should you have reconstruction? And if so, when and how? Three women share their stories with Victoria in this episode - how their fears and anxieties were overcome and how they made the decisions they did. Some of their points will be put to a breast...

We don’t talk about ‘fighting’ the disease on this podcast but we do talk about how people are left changed by the experience of having had breast cancer. Many women decide that post-cancer they want to do something different- that from now on, it’s about experiences and living life to the full. In short, to be bold and brave. In this episode Victoria – who stripped off twice for the “Full Monty”...

Everyone’s cancer journey is unique and in this episode you’ll hear how Victoria’s guests demonstrate that by talking frankly about their differing responses to being told they had breast cancer. The fact that two of those guests are sisters only adds to the point. Cathy and Tracey - two siblings of seven - were diagnosed a few months apart and despite their closeness, they got on it in different...

Victoria was diagnosed with her breast cancer in 2015 and she didn’t have an obvious lump. She was told she had a form of breast cancer called “lobular” and in this episode she is joined by an expert to explain what it is, how you can spot it, and what the treatment options are. Victoria’s other guests are women like her, who until diagnosis, were unaware of what Invasive Lobular Carcinoma (to giv...

A breast cancer diagnosis can make you feel like you have no control. Every decision is in the hands of the experts who are now taking care of you. But there is a way when your voice can be heard- that you work with the professionals who will save your life and make sure your opinion is taken on board. In this episode, Victoria talks about “advocacy” or to put it another way, standing up for yours...

How does your relationship cope when you are diagnosed with breast cancer and your partner is not only a high profile politician but he spends a lot of time travelling for his job? This special episode, from easily the grandest room we’ve ever recorded in, features Susie Cleverly, a wife and mother who was told she had breast cancer in 2021. Her husband James, who represents an Essex constituency,...

What does a breast cancer diagnosis mean for your sex life, now and in the future? As you digest the news that you have the disease, are you worried that your body may not look the same and how might that affect your confidence when it comes to intimacy? The Future Dreams charity gets so many questions about this, which is why this episode is needed, honest and moving. Victoria is joined by two co...

Getting a breast cancer diagnosis is traumatic enough when it comes as a surprise. What if you know there’s a higher chance you might get breast cancer because of a genetic fault? Not only that, it might get passed on to your children. If you have close relatives who have had breast or ovarian cancer you may have a higher risk of developing the disease yourself. Most cases of breast cancer&nb...

What is the difference between a radiotherapist and a radiologist ? Stage 3 and Grade 3 ? If you’re told you have carcinoma in situ, how bad is that? When you are diagnosed with breast cancer it marks the beginning of the steepest learning curve you’ve probably ever been on. You’re learning a whole new lexicon while you are coping with the stress and the fear of knowing you now have a serious illn...

The drugs you take when you’ve had a breast cancer diagnosis can prolong your life by reducing the chances of your cancer coming back. But they can also come with some pretty unpleasant side effects- from hot flushes and fatigue- to pain and depression. In this episode, Victoria speaks to women who’ve experienced a variety of hormone therapy treatments- and gets some advice and guidance from consu...

It may sound obvious, but what you eat during and after breast cancer treatment is hugely important for the way in which you deal with the illness, and helps you towards the hoped-for recovery. In this bonus edition of the podcast, guest presenter Louise Court talks to nutritionist and dietician Jane Clarke who shares advice and ideas drawn from her more than 30 years of experience in this field....

It should be one of the happiest stages of a woman’s life when they find out they are having a child. But in around one in a thousand pregnancies cancer, in one of its forms, can rear its ugly and unwelcome head. The changes in a woman’s body during that time can disguise breast cancer symptoms. Getting a diagnosis then or soon after giving birth can be psychologically, emotionally, and physically...

It would be impossible to do a series helping women when they get a breast cancer diagnosis if we don’t talk about dying-or the fear of dying. For many people that is a conversation they don’t want to have or it may be a conversation they don’t want to have right now- which is understandable. Others find it therapeutic and helpful to have frank conversations about it. If this is you, please listen...