How Long Have You Got? – Details, episodes & analysis

This week ⁠Sarah⁠ continues to fly solo on the podcast with a deep dive into breast cancer with the largest breast cancer charity in the UK, Breast Cancer Now.

Sarah is joined by Sally Kum who is the Associate Director of Nursing, Healthcare, Professional Engagement and Health Information who talks about the incredible work done by the charity around research, funding and support for anyone affected by breast cancer. Sally shares some of the latest findings that show breast cancer diagnoses are increasing in the UK and she explains some of the different types of breast cancer.

This episode was recorded on 29th July which by chance was the same day on which the the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) announced the NHS would not be making the drug Enhertu available to patients in England.

Enhertu is a life-extending drug for certain women with incurable HER2-low secondary breast cancer, and in an emotional moment, Sarah explores the impact of this and how you can have your voice heard through an online petition.

You can read the Enhertu announcement from NICE here.

We'd like to hear about your experiences with cancer, so please do get in touch if you’d like to share. If you're listening on Spotify, you can use the show’s Q&A feature, or please share your thoughts through our Instagram page at ⁠@howlonghaveyougot2024⁠. And please do like and recommend the show as it helps us reach more members of the cancer community.

Studio and recording by ⁠A Digital⁠. Production for A Digital by ⁠Andrew Armitage⁠.

On this week’s episode, Sarah takes the mic while Jeremy is away on holiday, and she’s joined by a special guest in the studio to talk about health, fitness and nutrition. Jo Edmondson is a friend of both Jeremy and Sarah who is not only an exercise consultant, but has also recovered from her own breast cancer diagnosis which involved both chemotherapy and radiotherapy, as well as a double mastectomy and reconstruction. Jo was a healthy 40 year old, enjoying regular exercise and a healthy lifestyle, even competing in 3 ultra-marathons but found herself embarrassed to share her diagnosis back in 2016 (she thinks).

Jo is now fully recovered and talks to Sarah about her cancer experience and why her mantra for life is to be ‘fit for anything’ as a coping mechanism - be that a medical diagnosis or other life events, and how exercise can play a key role in that.

Jo and Sarah also talk about how to get started with exercise, finding motivation and different types of food - and why a little bit of what you fancy is no bad thing! The discussion also considers how additional guidance around health, fitness and nutrition could help cancer patients at the diagnosis stage going beyond the science, with practical tips on how to improve your overall health and fitness.

We'd like to hear about your experiences with cancer, so please do get in touch if you’d like to share. If you're listening on Spotify, you can use the show’s Q&A feature, or please share your thoughts through our Instagram page at @howlonghaveyougot2024. And please do like and recommend the show as it helps us reach more members of the cancer community.

Studio and recording by A Digital. Production for A Digital by Andrew Armitage.

We don’t want people to be put off the treatments we discuss. And often, believe it not, they’re not as bad as you may think. So that you know what to expect, Sarah and Jeremy talk frankly about their own experiences of surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and hormone therapy. And in a later episode they will talk to experts in detail about the pros and cons of each of the main cancer treatments available. If you are feeling unsure or uninformed about treatments and worrying who to turn to for personal advice, next week we have Shelley, a Macmillan nurse, in the studio to talk about how the Macmillan Support Line can help you at this point of your journey. We'd love to hear about your experiences with cancer, so if you want to share these, have any particular topics you'd like us to talk about, or even people you think we should be talking to, then get in touch. If you're listening on Spotify, you can use the show Q&A feature, or please share your thoughts on the show and contact us on this page or through our Instagram page at @howlonghaveyougot2024. Please like and recommend the show and join us on our respective 'journeys' as we not only live, but aim to thrive with cancer. Studio and Recording by A Digital. Production for A Digital by Andrew Armitage and Matthew Connolly.

Navigating relationships - with family and friends, partners and lovers - can be complicated for everyone. Sarah and Jeremy look at the conundrums you can face with loved ones. As well as the way that cancer can have a major impact on your body and your sex life. If you have concerns about your sex life or relationships because of cancer, Jeremy recommends the specialist nurses at prostatecancer.org. Sarah recommends the Macmillan support line: 0808 808 00 00 Please share your thoughts on the show and contact us through our Instagram page at @howlonghaveyougot2024. We'd also love to hear about your experiences with cancer, so if you want to share these, have any particular topics you'd like us to talk about, or even people you think we should be talking to, then we'd love to hear from you. If you're listening on Spotify, you can also use the show Q&A feature to get in touch. Please like and recommend the show and join us on our respective 'journeys' as we not only live, but thrive with cancer. Studio and Recording by A Digital. Production for A Digital by Andrew Armitage and Matthew Connolly.

A brief episode in which Sarah & Jeremy react to the amazing feedback & support they’ve had since launching the podcast, the story about them appeared in the Saturday Times Magazine, and the generosity of listeners and readers in sponsoring their upcoming Mighty Hike for Macmillan

In the second episode of How Long have you Got?, Sarah Edmundson and Jeremy Langmead discuss the difficulties of waiting to find out if you have cancer, the anxiety that comes with scans and biopsies, dealing with the well-meaning but sometimes overwhelming questions you get from family and friends, and coping when you face the actual diagnosis. Sometimes this can be one of the most difficult parts of the journey. Sarah and Jeremy will shared their experiences and insights with their usual mix of candour and humour. Please share your thoughts on the show and contact us through our Instagram page at @howlonghaveyougot2024. We'd also love to hear about your experiences with cancer, so if you want to share these, have any particular topics you'd like us to talk about, or even people you think we should be talking to, then we'd love to hear from you. If you're listening on Spotify, you can also use the show Q&A feature to get in touch. In our next episode we talk about cancer and relationships: family, friends, lovers, dating and sex. Please like and recommend the show and join us on our respective 'journeys' as we not only live, but thrive with cancer. Studio and Recording by A Digital. Production for A Digital by Andrew Armitage and Matthew Connolly.

In this first episode of How Long Have You Got, Sarah Edmundson and Jeremy Langmead talk about why they wanted to make this podcast series, their cancer journeys so far - Sarah has secondary breast cancer, Jeremy has recurrent prostate cancer - and the things they wish they’d been told, and the things they think you might want to know.  Please share your thoughts on the show and contact us through our Instagram page at @howlonghaveyougot2024. We'd also love to hear about your experiences with cancer, so if you want to share these, have any particular topics you'd like us to talk about, or even people you think we should be talking to, then we'd love to hear from you. If you're listening on Spotify, you can also use the show Q&A feature to get in touch. In our next episode we talk about the experiences we both had around our cancer diagnoses, so please like and recommend the show and join us on our respective 'journeys' as we not only live, but thrive with cancer. Studio and Recording by A Digital. Production for A Digital by Andrew Armitage and Matthew Connolly.

Here’s a short intro from Sarah to our new podcast series launching next week…

Tessa Parry-Wingfield shares her extraordinary story. Tessa, who runs a communications company and lives in London with her husband and two daughters, was out for a regular run just over a year ago when her vision felt slighty blurry. It turned out she had a large tumour within her eye which very quickly had to be removed. Here Tessa reveals how it felt knowing an eye was to be taken out, talks about the operation itself, and how she’s about to have a 3-D printed eye to replace the one she lost. Tessa also talks about telling her children, the novel use of spreadsheets for treatment notes, and how she wanted her close friends to treat her post-surgery.

We'd like to hear about your experiences with cancer, so please do get in touch if you’d like to share. If you're listening on Spotify, you can use the show’s Q&A feature, or please share your thoughts through our Instagram page at @howlonghaveyougot2024. And please do like and recommend the show as it helps us reach more members of the cancer community.

Studio and Recording by A Digital. Production for A Digital by Andrew Armitage and Matthew Connolly.

To open our second series, actor, presenter and writer Stephen Fry talks to Jeremy & Sarah about his own experience with prostate cancer - from diagnosis to surgery and life post-cancer. He discusses how kindness, contact and smiling are clinically proven to aid recovery. And, as a renowned wordsmith, we ask him to suggest alternatives to some of the terminology often used in the cancer community (he’s not a fan of community btw) Please do like and recommend the show as it helps us reach more people who are living with, or affected by, cancer. We'd like to hear about your experiences with cancer, so please do get in touch if you’d like to share. If you're listening on Spotify, you can use the show’s Q&A feature, or please share your thoughts through our Instagram page at @howlonghaveyougot2024. Studio and Recording by A Digital. Production for A Digital by Andrew Armitage and Matthew Connolly.