The Bottom Line Podcast

It’s Dry July and Megan and Kayla join Stephanie to talk about how bowel cancer impacted their families' lives and why they are raising funds for Bowel Cancer Australia’s in-person specialist Bowel Care Nurses through the Dry July challenge, in memory of their husband and brother. Brendan and Brad were both diagnosed with early-onset bowel cancer, in the late stages of the disease, after having ha...

Losing his wife recently to bowel cancer, Willis opens up to Stephanie about the challenges of life as a widower and being a single parent, but how the purpose of family and making memories together has helped them move forward. Willis talks honestly about making a conscious choice to be transparent around Nat’s illness, how they navigated talking with their children, and how the philosophy of con...

Sharing his empowering lived experience to raise awareness of early-onset bowel cancer, Matt Duggan is running 550km across Tasmania (for the second time!) in May 2026. Matt chats openly with Stephanie about the challenges of telling friends and family about his diagnosis and why he now wants people to recognise the signs and symptoms of bowel cancer. “Keeping my diagnosis hidden probably did more...

Highly regarded Geneticist, Professor Ingrid Winship AO discusses the dynamic world of genomics and how a genetic test may impact you and your family. Drawing on her decades of experience Professor Winship provides practical information to help unpack the complexities of genetics that empowers people to make informed decisions. “What we do is about empowering people, trying to prevent predictable...

Aged just 27 when she was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer, Taylor chats to Stephanie about the challenges of losing her identity to cancer, the pressure it put on her loved ones, and how accessing a clinical trial was literally "life-saving"! “Without this treatment I would not be here. Immunotherapy as a cancer treatment is the way of the future. It should be the gold standard. It should be t...

Navigating a bowel cancer diagnosis as a woman can be particularly complex. Issues like perimenopause and menopause can have overlapping symptoms, making it challenging to identify what’s truly going on. "Bowel cancer buddies", Kat and Kristin, sit down with Stephanie to dive into a candid conversation about all things "poop". "Women have complex body systems that deserve careful attention. Don’t...

If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with bowel cancer, we're here for you. This informative chat with Bowel Care Nurse, Fiona, and Psychosocial Support, Hannah, discusses the importance of supportive care and provides a snapshot of the pivotal role Bowel Cancer Australia’s Specialist Telehealth Support Services can play throughout the care continuum. “Let people with experience walk with you...

This New Year make exercise a priority. The benefits of exercise are well documented. Bowel Care Exercise Physiologist, Kailey, provides tips to help keep you motivated before, during and after treatment. Joining Kailey on this episode is bowel cancer advocate, Jon, who shares his lived experience and discusses how exercise empowered him to take control of his diagnosis and the positive impacts on...

Stephanie chats with Bowel Care Nutritionist, Jo and advocate, Jemima to help demystify nutrition throughout treatment, living with a stoma, and life beyond bowel cancer.  Jemima shares her lived experience and explains how Jo empowered her to implement some small changes that have enabled her to navigate her “new” normal, returning to work and travelling abroad. An episode where Jo and Jemim...

Josh and Ant chat with Stephanie around the importance of raising bowel cancer awareness and the difficulty and pain of losing their loved ones far too young - Josh’s brother Mitch and Ant’s friend Dean. Both long-time supporters of Bowel Cancer Australia’s Decembeard campaign, Josh and Ant discuss the positive impact of honouring their friend and brother through their fundraising initiatives and...

Bowel Cancer Australia advocates, Jenny and Peter join Stephanie to share their Call on Canberra 2025 experience and discussions with policy makers about the living with early-onset bowel cancer. Impacted heavily in the rush-hour of their lives, Jenny and Peter are both deeply passionate about seeing the landscape change for early-onset bowel cancer and discuss the power of the collective voice in...

Fundraising in honour of loved ones is hugely rewarding but event planning can also be incredibly time consuming.  In this episode Stephanie chats with childhood friends Sara and Amy, co-founders of Time is Precious , about the impact of losing a loved one to bowel cancer and how they have leant into their youth and desire to give back. “We are definitely trying to find ways to create a point...

Melbourne University’s Professor Mark Jenkins discusses his team’s latest research which highlights excess deaths due to the rise in early-onset bowel cancer between 1990 and 2020, as well as the disparity of bowel cancer research funding in Australia. Mark also discusses the burden early-onset bowel cancer on those who are in the rush-hour of their lives – building careers, developing relationshi...

It's Dry July and Stephanie chats with two passionate fundraisers Justin and Conor who are raising funds for Bowel Cancer Australia in memory of their Dad and Mum, respectively. Funds raised through Dry July help support the Charity's specialist in-person Bowel Care Nurse Program, which aims to improve equity of access to personalised care and tailored support, allowing more people to access coord...

Walkley Award-winning author, investigative journalist and author , Lucie Morris-Marr chats to Stephanie about her lived experience. From her initial stage 4 bowel cancer diagnosis to undergoing a groundbreaking liver transplant, Lucie discusses her roller coaster ride. “I am lucky to be here. I’m very grateful for that and I want to give back, because people have really given generously to m...

Danae shares her “good news” cancer story, highlighting her proactive GP who ultimately saved her life. “I became the good luck story of 2022. Instead of dismissing my symptoms due to perimenopause my GP wanted to be thorough and sent me for a CT scan that ultimately revealed stage 2 bowel cancer.” Danae discusses the importance of a positive outlook and how finding her “tribe” and the bowel cance...

Flamboyant and infectiously positive, Sooz has always tried to find a “glimmer” in every day since she was a little girl.  Not even a stage 4 bowel cancer diagnosis has extinguished her bubbly personality. That doesn’t mean there are not moments that are hard, but as she explains, she chooses to view everything with a positive filter. Sooz talks about how (despite being health literate) she w...

We know bowel cancer is the deadliest cancer for people 25-44 and Australia has the highest rates of early-onset bowel cancer in the world, but we don’t know why. On this episode Associate Professor Daniel Buchanan discusses the importance of funding bowel cancer research, his Angel Study and why he is excited about bowel cancer research. “In my lifetime we can do something to prevent it. . ....

On this episode, celebrity chef and author Justine Schofield opens up about the death of her best friend Beth to bowel cancer aged just 38. Justine talks about the joy of female friendship, her shared love of food with Beth and how the loss of her lifelong friend at such a young age has impacted her and their close-knit group. “There is something so very special and effortless about a female frien...

This New Year make exercise a priority, no matter how big or small. The benefits of exercise are well documented when going through a cancer diagnosis and in this episode of The Bottom Line Podcast, Bowel Care Exercise Physiologist Kailey provides tips and tricks to help keep you motivated throughout the bowel cancer journey. Joining Kailey on the podcast, bowel cancer patient Jon shares his lived...

A long-time bowel cancer advocate, Jodie’s delayed diagnosis was 'explained away' as female related issues, pregnancy and being a young Mum.  It wasn’t until she advocated for herself that she finally got the answer to her ongoing symptoms – Stage 3 bowel cancer. 'Self-advocacy is my big message - if something doesn’t feel right, look right and you’re not happy with the responses you're recei...

For avid runner, Brendan, looking after his mental health and body through running was a daily routine. But when he was struggling to complete his normal running regime and feeling tired and exhausted, he decided to see a GP. After being turned away twice and told it was nothing to be concerned about, Brendan listened to his body and sought a second opinion and was diagnosed with stage 2 bowel can...

Diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer and HER2 gene mutation at 35, Pei, (a GP registrar) chats with Stephanie regarding the importance of GP’s treating the patient in front of them without age bias.  Pei talks about her realistic and pragmatic approach to living her life with a terminal illness and how her love of the outdoors keeps her focused on the 'now'. 'I live my life in 9-week cycles –...

TV writer and director, Darren Ashton, discusses with Stephanie how his stage 3 bowel cancer diagnosis informed the tone of the hit ABC show, 'Austin'. 'When you're knocking on deaths door, you think about the important things. I wanted to put something joyous into the world and this is why “Austin” became a positive show.' In this frank chat Darren talks about the importance of a good support net...

Palliative Care doctor and author of, 'With the End in Mind' , Kathryn Mannix demystifies the often uncomfortable topic of death and dying. Chatting with Stephanie, Kathryn reminds us that we often fear death because of the unknown; that death is not what is portrayed in Hollywood movies and that we have forgotten about the process of 'ordinary dying'. Drawing on her decades of experience, Kathryn...