Not Your Grandma‘s Cancer Show – Details, episodes & analysis

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.

Benisha and Poornima chat with Tatum about their cancer diagnoses, feminist fathers, younger brothers' weddings and being single.  They share what it's like to have doctors who understand, as well as as situations which could have been better.  Benisha and Poornima met in a Shine Break Out Programme and they share what it's like to be able to talk to other people who 'get it'.

If you're newly diagnosed with cancer, welcome, you're in the right place.  

In this episode, members of the Shine community share their top tips and what they wish they knew when they were in your position. We have two great guests, Matt, diagnosed just last year with bowel cancer, shares his whirlwind entry into the world of cancer and how important humour is, and Ceinwen, co-founder of Shine Cancer Support, shares the breadth of her knowledge. Having met hundreds of newly diagnosed younger adults she reminds us that however we are feeling we aren't alone and we're not doing it wrong.  

Tatum explores what it's like to carry a 'cancer gene' and speaks to Helen, who carries the BRCA gene, and Cara who has Lynch syndrome. 

Cara developed bowel cancer at 32 for which she was successfully treated. She later developed early stage womb cancer and had a hysterectomy and oophorectomy during the pandemic. Her father had also had bowel cancer. 

Three generations of Helen's family have been affected by cancer, including her mother who died of breast cancer in the 1990s. Helen tested positive for the BRCA1 gene mutation as a child and later developed ovarian cancer. 

Both Cara and Helen discuss what it's like to live with the constant awareness of cancer and how they continue to process their experiences.

Tatum speaks to Dr. Char Goodwin and Neil MacVicar, both of whom are neurodivergent and have been diagnosed with cancer.

The quote Char references is from Dr Jac den Houting  @JacdenHouting  TED talk https://www.ted.com/talks/jac_den_houting_why_everything_you_know_about_autism_is_wrong?language=en

October is breast cancer awareness month and in our latest podcast Tatum speaks to three members of Shine's community about their experiences of the UK's most common cancer.  She speaks to Kate, who was diagnosed in lockdown and Hannah who was diagnosed with breast cancer after an earlier cancer diagnosis. Tatum also speaks to Dror about what it's like to be a man living with advanced breast cancer. 

This month, we're delighted to speak to Prof Gerard Evan who is based at the UK's Francis Crick Institute and is one of the world's leading cancer researchers. Prof Evan talks to Tatum about why cancers occur, how we can treat them, and why there are many reasons to be hopeful for the future of cancer treatment. Fun fact: you have more cells in your body than there are stars in a thousand Milky Way galaxies.

Like what you hear? Join us *in person* on 14 October at Shine Connect, the UK's only conference for younger adults with cancer. Find out all the details and register here. 

In this episode, Tatum chats to Sarah and Cheryl of the Cancer, Sex and Intimacy Project which is now a partner of Shine Cancer Support. Sarah and Cheryl talk about what inspired them to work on the topics of sex and intimacy after cancer and also unpick whether advice not to sleep in the same bed as your partner means you can have sex on the couch....

Cheryl and Sarah will be joining us at Shine Connect (Shine's annual conference) in October 2023. 

You can check out Cancer, Sex and Intimacy on Instagram @sex_cancer_intimacy and read their booklet here. 

Cheryl's story: 00:01:20

Sarah's story: 00:02:20

Differences between men and women in approaching sex after cancer: 00:17:29

Reigniting pleasure: 00:23:17

To celebrate London Pride, our podcast this month is looking at how we can navigate the desire to go OUT OUT for Pride while also managing cancer and all the things that brings with it. Tatum is joined on the podcast by Scott, who lives with multiple myeloma, and Indigo who is living with the effects of kidney cancer treatment. 

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:54 - Scott's story 

00:11:56 - Indigo's story 

Topics:

- LGBTQI+

- Pride

- Multiple myeloma

- Kidney cancer

- Coping with long-term conditions

In this podcast, we explore what it's like to be left infertile after cancer. Tatum talks to Amanda, Katy and Gemma about their experiences of cancer diagnoses, treatment, fertility preservation and adjusting to the thought of a life without children.

00:00:00 - Intro

00:01:17 - Amanda's story

00:15:04 - Katy's story

00:31:42 - Gemma's story

Topics:

- Breast, ovarian and womb cancer

- Cancer diagnosis

- Treatment

- Fertility preservation

- Life without children

- Living with infertility

- Coping strategies