Get Over It Already: Life after ovarian cancer

02/06/22 • 51 min

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How many times have you been asked ‘you’re over it now, right?’ by a well-meaning friend or family member? It can be hard trying to explain our cancer experience doesn't leave us. Mandi Chambless shares her experience of being diagnosed with ovarian cancer at 28. Mandi was given a 20% chance of survival beyond five years, 13-years later she’s beaten the odds. In the first five years after her diagnosis she was terrified of recurrence, in fact, the fear of her cancer returning remains.

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Vicky Pellowe: Young Cancer Survivorship

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Can you imagine being diagnosed with stage four cancer six months after you got married? In 2016, aged 29, Vick Pellowe was in newlywed bliss when she found a lump in her neck. She was diagnosed with stage four non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and her life was turned upside down. In this episode she and Helen discuss young cancer survivorship, cancer treatment and infertility, mental health challenges after a cancer diagnosis and toxic positivity.

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Ovarian Cancer: Alisi Jack-Kaufusi on Toxic Positivity & Stigma

It's Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month and we revisit the powerful story of Alisi Jack-Kaufusi’s. At 24, Alisi’s career was flourishing, she was living in Brisbane and enjoying life. She started to notice unusual bleeding, bloating and tiredness, so saw her GP. She was on the operating table about to be put under anaesthetic when the doctor uttered the word cancer. She shares her story and she and Helen discuss toxic positivity, something commonly experienced in the cancer community after treatment