Not Your Grandma’s Cancer Show

On this episode of Not Your Grandma's Cancer Show, we explore speaking up in medical settings. Amelia joins Tatum to share how she literally and figuratively lost her voice after being diagnosed with tongue cancer, as well as how she refound it. Kavita, a patient involvement lead, highlights practical advocacy tips and why hearing from you can help others.      

Christian, Satveer, and Ceinwen join Tatum to share their varied experiences of being diagnosed with a high-grade blood cancer. Christian had just moved out of home for the first time, Satveer was recently married and Ceinwen had given birth to her daughter, when they were thrust into the whirlwind of diagnosis and facing the impact of treatment.  They touch on how their diagnosis impacted family...

What do you do when doctors don't have a lot of answers, treatments are new, and there are no organisations specifically for your cancer? George and Maddie join Tatum to share how having a rare cancer impacted their diagnosis, treatment and sense of odds. 

How do we say goodbye to the things we loved or wanted? Megan and Brian join Tatum for a fascinating discussion on how we hold endings. Megan shares how it felt to create an 'end of career' ceremony. Brian's experience of cancer and being a celebrant has given him insight into why rituals can be so powerful and how to make an event meaningful. 

In this episode, Tatum is joined by Roland, Sally, and Mel to explore how cancer can impact body confidence.  They explore what it's like having extensive scars, swimming with their child, deciding to remain flat after a double mastectomy and approaching life with a stoma. Together, they share what helps them on tough days and how they now redefine what confidence looks like.

Welcome to Scamuary! Ceinwen and Clare join Tatum for a lighthearted dive into the nefarious world of cancer scams. Ceinwen discusses the story of an infamous all-curing cannabis oil and Clare explores the practice of infusing legit science with unprovable claims. By the end of this episode you'll have a list of key words to ring alarm bells that it may be a scam.   Check out our other episodes on...

As we approach the festive season we're diving into family dynamics.  Often we imagine families pulling together after a cancer diagnosis but sometimes it doesn't quite work out like that. Tatum's joined by guests, Naomi and Fiona, sharing how they've managed to cope with their family and being sick, at the same time.

In this episode, Tatum cosies up with the science of sleep, pulling back the covers on the latest research to learn how we can all get a few more Zzzzs.   Sleep experts Andrew Davies and Shauna Munir explain why spending less time in bed may actually help you sleep more.   They also share their best research and science-backed tips to help you get a better night's rest.

If you missed our Shine Connect conference, do not fear! In this upbeat live episode, recorded at the event, we not only hear about Shine's upcoming research but Tatum and Ceinwen are joined by our fabulous panel: Fatima, Kaleb, Kerry and Louis (as well as the Shine Connect audience).

In this episode, Tatum chats with Clare, Shine's Programme Delivery Manager, to lift the lid on what really goes down in a cancer support programme — spoiler alert: it’s not just sitting in a circle and crying!

Getting your heart broken is brutal. Add a cancer diagnosis into the mix? That’s a whole other level of emotional chaos. And yet, no one really talks about how often this happens — or how isolating it can feel.  Jess and Donna both experienced the double hit of relationship breakdown at the same time as cancer turning their life upside down.  They join Tatum to explore the complex dynamics with th...

Travel after cancer is sometimes easier said than done. You might have more worries, more aches and pains, less confidence and higher insurance premiums. In this episode, Tatum talks to Izzy, Will and Renee about their favourite places (before and after cancer), what travel means to them, and how they've worked on some of the more daunting aspects of leaving the country. 

What happens to our anxiety when we get a cancer diagnosis? Can our previous coping strategies keep up with the extra anxiety workload? Is there anything about anxiety which is useful?   Alison, Fatima and Sanna join Tatum to explore the complexities of anxiety and share the approaches they've found useful.     

Cancer can be expensive. For many of us, income goes down just as expenses go up. Our SHINE survey revealed we miss out on benefits—not because we’re not eligible, but because we don’t know what’s available or feel overwhelmed to start the process. Chartered Accountant Matthew Bourne joins Tatum to share top tips on where to begin with benefits.

Sam and Professor Jonathan Koffman join Tatum to give an inside look at what palliative care offers.  There are so many misconceptions so it can be reassuring to know what it's actually all about. Jonathan lends his expertise as a Professor of Palliative Care and 29 year old Sam's shares his experience of movie nights in hospice. 

What do I put on my CV to explain the gap? What if I go back to back to my job but I can't do the role like ? Julie Denning joins Tatum to share her expertise as a Health Psychologist and returning to work specialist coach.   

Sam and Lana join Tatum to share how they instantly bonded at a Shine meetup event with humour about living with stomas.  They share tips of what they wish they had known sooner and why it makes such a difference meeting others who understand.

Joss and Gemma join Tatum to dive into the surprising trickiness of words when communicating with others after a diagnosis. They share their PR campaigns, humour and come up with new cancer words! 

Dani joins Tatum to talk about all things hormonal, why we deserve more options and why its ok to be a bit more of a difficult patient!  She also shares what inspired her to start the organisation, Menopause and Cancer.     https://menopauseandcancer.org/  

Clare, Ceinwen and Tatum are back on the cancer scamming case.  They delve into the seedy world of dodgy detection machines, TikTok bots creating fake arrests and a whole wild west of deworming.  You can also listen to Part 1 of this (we even chat about Belle Gibson) here: https://shinecancersupport.podbean.com/e/cancer-scams-and-scammers/        

In this podcast we're looking at faith and cancer. It's not a topic that gets spoken about a lot, so we thought we'd examine the different ways members of the Shine community have found their different faiths helpful (and challenging) in navigating their experiences with cancer. Tatum talks to Hannah, Suki, Anoushe, Rachel and Sarah about how they navigated their treatments and diagnoses and the r...

Having cancer in your 20s is just different.  It can feel especially isolating because friends are busy dating, travelling and diving into careers when you  you are in waiting rooms with other cancer patients five decades older.  Hex, Aimee and Neil share what it's like having cancer when adult life only just started.

Tatum talks with Jakub, Andrew and Pete about coping with grief, especially when the emotions that come with it are sometimes surprising.  

In this special live episode, Tatum hosts the podcast with Shine Co-CEO, Ceinwen, and speaks to guests Rena, Matt, Becca and Adam about how they've coped with their diagnoses and what resilience means to them (and whether it's useful).  Rena was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer and underwent 15 months of surgery. Matt was diagnosed with two brain tumours at the age of 17. Becca is livi...

Jesse, Farman and Meera join Tatum to share how their sense of time has been impacted by their cancer diagnoses. All three of our guests are living with an incurable cancer diagnosis and they discuss with Tatum how they live now, including how they cope with the pressure to make the most of their time - whether that means keeping busy or chilling out with their cat and watching Eastenders.