Not Your Grandma’s Cancer Show

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!

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/

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.  

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'.