When Chemo is the New Black

I discuss ways in which more honesty about treatment can increase hope, decrease the risk of medically induced PTSD, and increase patient trust in treating doctors. I also look at some of the ways to increase honesty in treatment if this is currently lacking.

Planning to get a tummy scar that looks like you wrestle with sharks? This episode looks at how to deal with the Mother of All Surgeries, from a practical and emotional standpoint. And for bragging rights afterwards ;)

If you are dealing with cancer, the chances are that you already know how to survive bad news. This episode talks through the phases of possible reactions that can come from getting bad news, and some of the ways to make this process easier, faster, and hopefully have less of a difficult longer term impact. 

Cancer will shake up your relationships, some will get stronger, others may be weaker or disappear, it's a good idea to take none of the shenanigans that can occur personally. This episode looks at some of the ways your relationships can change, warning signs for exploitative or unhelpful relationships, and how to protect yourself from toxicity and strengthen positive influences while maintaining...

How to eat for your current gut functioning, and still enjoy yourself. Also what to do when something goes wrong digestively speaking...(as well as contacting a dr and cancer-specialised nutritionist asap). 

This episode is at the request of a lovely friend, who said, basically, if we feel like shit why shouldn't we be allowed to look like shit? Why is there so much pressure from everyone to keep looking 'normal'?  If ever there was a time to relax the beauty standards for women, I would have thought that chemo and cancer treatment was probably it.  It does seem like a lot of the well-meant messaging...

As a way of convincingly distracting myself from my own scanxiety, this episode talks through some ideas about what to do about the anxiety that can happen leading into a follow-up scan after finishing front line treatment.   

This episode talks through what the major researchers, patients, and myself think are signs of a good doctor.  I also talk through some practical advice (with my psychologist's hat on) on how to try and make appointments more effective for communication if, like me, you have difficulty thinking straight or having a reasonable discussion with a doctor when you are seriously ill, very stressed, or o...

Insomnia can be a massive challenge for anyone, but is a particularly difficult and common aspect of dealing with cancer and going through treatment. There are many things that can cause this, for example,  strong emotions, worry, and the cancer itself can cause difficulties sleeping due to pain, being uncomfortable, and changes in body functions that make sleep harder. 'Dexamethazoning', the slee...

This episode looks at ways to use your mind to protect your emotional energy and facilitate your physical and emotional well being.  It contains some ideas for different types of meditations, ways of connecting with yourself and others and mental exercises to improve your health as much as you can.  These include; - guided meditational exercises developed by Dr Simonton (psychologist) - ways in wh...

How not to despair is one of the major challenges for anyone dealing with a body that is temporary and will one day die. If you think about it, we are all in this boat. This episode talks about how to dis-identify from your physical body and work on identifying with a sense of self and existence in the world that is not just your physical form. This is a major way to reduce your suffering when fac...

Nous ressentons tous du chagrin à différents degrés, il est impossible d’être humain sans faire l’expérience de la perte (perdre mes clés, mes cheveux, et peut-être ma raison), et le deuil est un processus naturel et inévitable. La manière dont nous vivons notre deuil lorsqu'il s'agit de cancer est donc vraiment importante. Il existe différentes étapes et tâches pour traverser le deuil, selon le c...

Ne paniquez pas (sauf si paniquer est utile) Le soleil explosera dans environ 3,5 milliards d'années, mais tout ce qui se passe d'ici là reste probablement entre nos mains. Cet épisode examine notre réaction face à des périodes de stress extrême et comment gérer ces réactions de manière créative et constructive. Il inclu les techniques psychologiques et pratiques pour gérer mieux dans les situatio...

Cet épisode explore les nombreuses formes que la force peut prendre. Il examine également comment développer davantage de force afin de trouver des moyens de traverser des situations difficiles ou (apparemment) impossibles La force sous toutes ses formes Force physique  Force émotionnelle  Force mentale  Force spirituelle  Force relationnelle  La curiosité Le sentiment que la vie a toujours un sen...

Cet épisode explore comment trouver de l’espoir face à une maladie dont les chances de survie à long terme sont aussi rares que celles de survivre à une attaque menée par une meute de crocodiles sauvages. Si tant est que les crocodiles chassaient en meute… et remercions le ciel qu’ils ne le fassent pas (sauf qu'en Australie ;)... 1. Trouver un plan de traitement efficace rapidement L’importance du...

This episode looks at how to deal with the fear that happens to nearly all cancer survivors, the fear of recurrence. We talk through some ideas about how to tackle this fear so that it can be a motivator for useful personal growth, and not something that detracts from your quality of life.

What is being immunocompromised? This episode looks at how to manage this common, but fluctuating effect of chemo and other cancer treatments, without having to live the life of a recluse, unless that's actually your thing!

Christmas and other major holidays can be an intense emotional time, due to past and current situations, grief or anger over past or future losses, performance expectations, and the feeling that it has to be perfect. This podcast is an invitation to an imperfect Christmas, but making sure that is one that suits you and adds to your life, rather than being overwhelming or somehow emotionally or fin...

For the lucky 13 th episode I decided to ask the question online about what were some fun things that people had done during chemo. I was blown away by the replies. Skydiving, cruises, travelling to other countries, learning new crafts, reconnecting with old friends, hiking around the Grand Canyon and other feats of physical endurance really show that people can do anything during chemo if they ha...

We are all grieving to some degree, it's impossible to be human and not experience loss (losing my keys, my hair, and maybe my mind), and grief is a natural and unavoidable process. So how we grieve when dealing with cancer is really important. There are different stages and tasks for working through grief, depending on which researcher and model you look at. Grief reactions look different at diff...

When dealing with a serious illness managing other peoples' expectations shouldn't really be your problem, but, well, yadda yadda yadda. Catching cancer is a great time to take stock of your own limits (as this will happen regardless), take stock of your relationships, and to figure out where the healthy boundaries are that will work for you right now. Practical advice on how to take steps to put...

This episode looks at the many forms that strength can take. It also looks at how to develop more strength so as to find ways through difficult or (apparently) impossible situations. In reality, there are so many things we can do to improve our sense of strength.  Please note that this episode was recorded just after chemo, so it's a little breathless, but recording it certainly gave me more...

This episode is brought to you by the ministry for silly walks, interpretative dance, and loads of dark chocolate.  Cancer, serious illness, and treatments can be traumatic for the person experiencing it as well as for those around them. But there are many things you can do to try to lessen the impact of these moments on your emotional wellbeing. We look at techniques to use in the moment, an...

It is very normal to wonder if treatment is working, and sometimes it can be hard to tell.  This episode looks at signs that chemotherapy is working, and how to tell in the unlikely situation that is might not be.  We also talk briefly about how to harness the natural anxiety about treatment in such a way as to facilitate treatment hopefully working better.