In this episode Sam talks about her journey though surgery, post surgery and radiation.

She shares what options she was given for surgery, how she was unexpectedly admitted back to hospital due to an infection and how recovery delayed her 3 weeks of radiation.

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Join us as we talk to Anne Gately.

Anne lived an average Aussie life - playing sport, spending long days on the beach, and falling in love with ocean swimming but in 2018 she was diagnosed with Stage IV melanoma and experienced first-hand the devastating effects of sun exposure.

She is passionate about reducing the incidence of skin cancer in Australia by changing Australia’s cultural narrative and recently released her book ‘Sunburnt. A memoir of sun, surf and skin cancer’.

For more information or to buy a copy of Anne's book visit https://www.annegately.com.au/

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Join us as we talk to Eleanor Keil.

Eleanor talks to us about her husbands battle with Leukemia and how she navigates widow life with a strong faith in Jesus, while raising 4 beautiful children.

She is passionate about paying it forward, and raising awareness on the importance of donating blood & becoming a bone marrow donor.

As mentioned in the episode, for more information on blood and stem cell donation visit https://www.lifeblood.com.au/organ-and-tissue/blood-stem-cell#register

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In this week’s episode Sam shares details on the side effects she experienced throughout her 6 rounds of chemo.

From her routine the evening and morning before treatment to how it impacted her mouth, the fatigue, a trip to the ED and a visit from the paramedics.

Trigger warning: This may trigger Sam's beautiful family as well as those that have been through chemo.

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Join us as we talk to Jodie Hampshire.

Jodie is a mum of 4 and was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 37, out of the blue, only a couple of months into a new executive role in finance.

10 years on, she is now cancer free, a non-executive director, speaker and meditation teacher, and is writing a book about ways of coping when life is tough.

Jodie publishes monthly emails on intentional living and meditation, check out this one that covers cancer - https://view.flodesk.com/emails/65e6812854a01e47d01a2774

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Join us as we talk to Elle

Elle is a Property Manager and Barre and Pilates instructor. On March 16th March 2023, at the age of 34 she was diagnosed with HER2 triple positive breast cancer and become one of the 58 women that are diagnosed every day in Australia.

Elle says it has absolutely changed her life and she can confidently say she is now loving life and so excited for her future.

Sam and Elle share a special bond as they quickly went from strangers to friends after being diagnosed with the same cancer and were connected by a mutual friend. Being on on the same treatment cycle, they supported each other every step of the way.

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Join us as we talk to Ben Smith.

Ben shares his experience of loss, grief and guilt having lost both his Dad and his Sister to cancer.

Ben was born in the UK, to his English dad and French mum. He lived in the UK until February 2022, when Ben and his young family made the decision to move to Australia. Ben now lives in Sydney with his wife and two young boys.

Ben’s Dad died from a glioblastoma in 2018, 3 months after the birth of his first child. Ben’s sister died from Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in 2022, 9 months after his move to Australia.

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Join us as we talk to Caitlin about living with stage 4 ovarian cancer.

Caitlin is an IVF Scientist and leader in healthcare with 25 years’ experience, Caitlin became ‘the patient’ herself when diagnosed with stage 4 clear cell ovarian cancer in 2017. After witnessing the impact of compassion in healthcare she founded CareFully, a compassion education business which aims to empower and support healthcare professionals to deliver compassionate care - via webinars, keynote addresses and workshops.

Caitlin is a passionate patient advocate for person-centred care and tirelessly campaigns for equity in access to best care for ALL cancer patients. Her advocacy work has led her to collaborate with numerous patient organisations and high-profile media campaigns, and to deliver keynote presentations including to the current and former Prime Ministers. Caitlin is on the Patient Advisory Boards of both the Chris O'Brien Lifehouse and Rare Cancers Australia and chairs the VCCC Alliance National Patient Advisory Committee. She is currently co-authoring a paper on compassion education, which will be published later this year.

Visit https://www.care-fully.com.au/our-founder for more information

Checkout Caitlin sharing her story for the Camilla and Marc 'Ovaries Talk About Them' campaign here - https://www.instagram.com/camillaandmarc/reel/C_FnVrmPMIb/

*Full disclosure, this was recorded back in May and Sam was sitting in a bedroom of an Airbnb she was staying in so apologies for her terrible audio.

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