So Now I’ve Got Breast Cancer

Rebecca Charlton is the voice of cycling on Channel 5, as well as a cycling journalist and author, and in the summer of 2025, she was diagnosed with breast cancer while she was breast-feeding her second child. She’s had to navigate presenting on TV whilst dealing with the aftermath of treatment and coming to terms with her delayed diagnosis, and I can’t wait for you to hear her story. 

 

Show Notes

 

Mummy’s Star are a fantastic charity supporting families through breast cancer in and around pregnancy - https://www.mummysstar.org/

 

You can follow Rebecca on Instagram here - https://www.instagram.com/p/Ddq3TtluoC5/?hl=en

 

Listen to her cycling podcast here - https://podfollow.com/the-cycling-podcast/view

 

And read her books about cycling here

 

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/fitter-further-faster-get-fit-for-sportives-and-road-riding-mr-robert-hicks/caa62a1be43a9ea3?ean=9781408186534

 

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/get-on-your-bike-stay-safe-get-fit-and-be-happy-cycling-mr-robert-hicks/b5891011e07b7044?ean=9781472904058

Did you know that after breast surgery your scars can become stuck and painful? This is where a good scar therapist can come in, and I wish I’d known this sooner after my mastectomy. Joana Pedroso is a trained cancer scar therapist who wants everyone to be able to move freely again and she explained why scars get stuck and what we can do about it.

 

Listener note - if you can watch his episode on Youtube or Spotify, there’s quite a lot to see, so you may get more out of it that way. But if that’s not possible I’ve done my best to describe it!

 

Joana’s instagram https://www.instagram.com/joanasbowen_scartherapy/reels/

Joana’s website - https://www.joanasbowentherapy.co.uk

Find a scar therapist (global) -https://restorescartherapy.com/

It’s the elephant in the room that no-one talks about when you have cancer - the fact that your sex life can also take a nose dive. But there is support out there, and this episode I’m speaking to Instagram’s @cancersextherapist - aka Zoe Yessian - a registered Mental Health nurse and psychosexual and relationship therapist, who was diagnosed with breast cancer herself two years ago aged just 35. We discuss how cancer can affect our libido and desire and what we can do about it. 

 

Show Notes

 

Zoe

Zoe’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thecancersextherapist/

Zoe’s website  - https://www.thesextherapyspace.co.uk/

If you are in London or able to get there, Zoe does bimonthly workshops at Future Dreams House  - her next two are:
October 14th - Dating beyond diagnosis - https://momence.com/s/141372815

October 28th - Navigating Sex and relationships after cancer - https://momence.com/s/141372820

Her next Breast Cancer Now workshop on intimacy and sex is at the Younger Women together day on 17th October - https://signup.breastcancernow.org/event/1ca854b5-a878-40ed-8640-de0c70d28994/2a3f4f45-f248-437a-a2d6-faa29474a78d?count=3

 

More information about sex and cancer

Future Dreams - https://futuredreams.org.uk/category/sex-intimacy-hub/

Shine cancer support - https://shinecancersupport.org/resource/sex-blog-1/

Macmillan - https://www.macmillan.org.uk/cancer-information-and-support/impacts-of-cancer/sex-and-cancer

Breast Cancer Now - https://www.survivingbreastcancer.org/breast-cancer-and-sexual-intimac

Cancer Research - https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/coping/physically/sex/effects

Find a therapist - College of Sex and Relationship Therapists - https://www.cosrt.org.uk/

 

Sex toys &  tools -

O-Nut / dilators -https://www.stressnomore.co.uk/collections/the-pelvic-people 

Liz’s favourite lube - https://www.yesyesyes.org/collections/yes-lubricants

I hope this episode bring you as much joy as it did to me to record it - self-proclaimed cancer kicker, poetry prattler, sales director, photo-grapher, animal lover and nature bather (and possibly the world’s wonkiest qualified personal trainer) Dearbhaile O’Hale aka Derv turned to writing when she was diagnosed with breast cancer to help her process the experience. She was generous enough to share some of her poems with us in this special episode, and talk about her own story from diagnosis to now. I hope her words give you some comfort, or perhaps she will inspire you to write yourself. 

 

Show Notes

 

Derv’s book of poems Things Went Tits Up is a joy to read - you can buy a copy here - https://www.thingswenttitsup.ie/

How do you know what to trust online and even - dare I say it - in podcasts, when it comes to breast cancer? There is so much information out there nowadays including people claiming to have “cures” and alternatives to traditional treatments. That’s why I needed to get Consultant Oncologist and Chief Medical Officer for Macmillan, Richard Simcock, onto this episode to help us sift through fact and fiction.  

 

Show Notes

 

Website - https://www.macmillan.org.uk/cancer-information-and-support/worried-about-cancer/cancer-myths-and-misinformation

 

Cancer Research also has a guide to spotting cancer misinformation - https://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2024/02/16/sorting-fact-from-fiction-a-guide-to-spotting-health-misinformation/