Cancer support at work
Cancer in the workplace
Half of us will get cancer at some point in our lives, mostly in old age. But some people diagnosed with cancer might also have to work. This can be a worrying time for anyone affected â whether you have a diagnosis or are supporting someone else.
It can help to learn about different cancers, how to spot the signs and when to get support.
In-depth Bupa cancer guides
Learn more about the more common types of cancer and find information on symptoms and treatment.
Breast cancer
Prostate cancer
Bowel cancer
Lung cancer
Myth busting breast cancer
Dr Frankie Jackson-Spence sets the record straight and reveals the facts everyone should know about breast cancer.
Can this daily hygiene habit cause breast cancer?
Hi, I'm Dr Frankie, and I'm going to bust some common myths about breast cancer.
Using underarm antiperspirant deodorant causes breast cancer.
This is false.
Some people believe that the aluminium found in some deodorants can absorb through the skin and increase risk of breast cancer, but there is no scientific evidence that this is true.
A glass of red wine can prevent breast cancer.
Unfortunately, no amount of alcohol is safe, and alcohol actually increases the risk of many types of cancer, including breast cancer.
Breast cancer doesn't always cause a lump you can feel.
This is true.
Breast cancer can also present as skin changes, nipple changes, or a change in the size or shape of the breast.
If you want more facts on breast cancer or any other type of cancer, you can find lots of resources on our website.
Myth busting bowel cancer
We look at some of the myths around bowel cancer: who gets it, symptoms, and why early screening is important.
Who's most likely to get bowel cancer and what can help prevent it?
I'm Doctor Frankie and I'm going to bust some common myths about bowel cancer.
Dairy increases your chance of getting bowel cancer.
Actually, this is false.
And studies show that increasing the dairy in our diet and getting more calcium reduces the risk of developing bowel cancer.
Young people don't get bowel cancer.
Whilst it's true that most cancers occur in people over fifty, actually we do see a large amount of bowel cancers in people who are younger.
Blood in your poo doesn't always mean cancer.
This is true.
Blood in your poo can be caused by lots of different things, but it is a red flag for bowel cancer.
And so if you have this symptom, it's important to get checked out.
You can find lots of information on this on our website.
Living with cancer
Explore ways to manage cancer and hear from people who have experienced it.
Timâs prostate cancer story
Dr Tim Woodman shares his experiences of cancer. He talks about his journey, including what it means to live with cancer.
Transcript
Who are you and what is your role?
Hi, I'm Dr. Tim Woodman
I'm one of the medical directors
at Bupa UK Insurance.
I work primarily in the cancer area,
and I've been doing that at Bupa for 13 years.
But before that, I was a GP in the NHS
and worked in the NHS in total for about 30 years.
I've also got prostate cancer
and I've been living with prostate cancer now for six years,
but that's not who I am.
That doesn't define me. That's just a bit of me. Who am I?
I'm a grandfather. I'm the daddy
of all bad dad jokes.
I am absolutely obsessed
with getting a decent seafood platter
whenever I can find one.
I also kept a scorecard
of steaks the last time I was in America
to see who did the best.
I'm also very proud of my family history, the fact that
my father was in the Royal Navy
and my grandfather was in a cavalry regiment
during the First World War.
So there is a lot more to me than my prostate cancer.
What cancer do you have, and can you briefly explain the background of this?
I've got prostate cancer.
I've been living with it now for six years.
I was diagnosed in July, 2019.
It was a long time ago now.
I was originally treated with chemotherapy,
and straight after that I had radiotherapy.
And then we went into lockdown.
A couple of years later, it came back
and I was put on some additional medication,
which I've been taking ever since.
And the treatment for prostate cancer involves
blocking testosterone
because that's what drives the cancer cells.
So as a consequence of the treatment that I've had,
I get tired easily.
I get hot flushes, which I get very little sympathy
for from my wife, obviously.
I also find that I've lost a lot of muscle.
I used to play a lot of rugby.
I would never have regarded myself as super fit,
but I was fairly active.
But there's a lot of things I can't do now that I used
to do, and the chemotherapy has affected
the nerves in my feet.
So my balance isn't brilliant,
and I'm famous for falling over, which is a little bit
worrying because another side effect
of my treatment is it's made my skin very thin.
So I bruise easily and I bleed easily.
But still in all, it's much better than the alternative.
I'm still working full time.
I'm still able to enjoy time with my family, so
I'm not too bothered really.
When and how did you first suspect something might be wrong? What symptoms did you display?
I was first diagnosed in July, 2019.
Although, truth be told, I probably could have been
diagnosed at least six months earlier.
But being a man, being a doctor, I ignored everything.
So my initial symptoms were I was getting up at night
to pee a bit more often than I would've expected to
and without necessarily having had a significant
amount to drink that night.
But I just put that down
to being a man approaching his sixties.
When it got to the point
of getting up pretty much every hour,
my wife finally told me to get something done about it.
So I went to see a Bupa GP
who sent me to see a urologist.
I kind of knew what the diagnosis was going to be
because the big irony of all of this is
that I had spent most of my time at Bupa working on cancer,
particularly on prostate cancer and new treatments for it.
So I saw the urologist.
He did a PSA measurement, which hadn't been done before.
Slightly surprisingly, you allowed one from the age
of 50 on the NHS,
but the thought never really crossed my mind.
My PSA was 80,
and at my age, you don't want a PSA of more than four.
So 80 was pretty high.
I then had a scan, which showed that my
prostate had almost kind of exploded,
and it was spread into my pelvis,
into the lymph nodes in my pelvis,
which meant I couldn't have surgery.
So I got diagnosed at that point in time,
and it wasn't an entirely unexpected shock,
but it still took a bit of getting used to.
What was your initial emotional reaction to receiving a prostate cancer diagnosis (as a doctor)?
When I was diagnosed, it was a strange sort
of numb feeling almost.
I kind of felt like nothing had changed.
I still had my symptoms, obviously,
because I hadn't started any treatment and
because I probably knew far more than was good for me,
I wasn't totally surprised that that's
what the diagnosis was.
And I also had absolutely no idea
how somebody who's newly diagnosed
with cancer is supposed to feel.
There's no guidebook, there's no manual.
So I thought my sort of
mildly apathetic reaction was completely normal.
And it was more just a case of, okay, I'm now going to have
to experience something treatment wise.
I had no idea what the treatment would be at
that point in time, and I don't even know what effects
that treatment's going to have.
So I was very much living at the moment thinking,
let's just take things as they come
and we'll see how it all pans out.
What myths or misconceptions about prostate cancer would you like to dispel?
One of the things that I've found out since I was
diagnosed is
how many men have no idea whatsoever about
where their prostate is, what it does,
and how you can tell if something's going wrong with it.
What a lot of men do have is a little collection
of schoolboy tales
and myths about what prostate cancer is
and how you can get it,
and I think it's important to dispel some of those myths
because it tends to mean that some men will think, oh,
I have sex incredibly frequently.
I'm not going to get prostate cancer.
That's not actually true shame, though it is.
Yes, ejaculating regularly means
that your sperms stay relatively young,
but it doesn't have a statistically significant effect
on the likelihood of you getting prostate cancer.
Some men seem to think prostate cancer is a disease
of old men because you tend to see old men with it.
But as we know, certainly the past couple of years,
quite a lot of considerably younger men have been diagnosed
with prostate cancer, and yet
undoubtedly much more common when you're in your seventies.
Not completely unheard of if you're in your forties,
and there may be reasons for that,
which I can go into later on.
Other myths about prostate cancer, it can be caused
by riding a bicycle too vigorously,
vigorous exercise.
Again, there's no causative link to that.
There's nothing that people can prove scientifically, so
I think it's really important that men understand that
prostate cancer can pretty much affect any man.
The only things in your lifestyle
that can have any effect on it are
having a healthy lifestyle, not being overweight,
moderating your alcohol intake,
but a lot
of the stuff you learned at school from your mates is
definitely not true.
What are the warning signs of prostate cancer I should watch for?
Prostate cancer has symptoms, which as with a lot
of cancers, can mimic other conditions.
But there are certain things that you should look out for.
And the first thing is don't do as I did,
just do as I tell you.
So if you find that
you are peeing more than you expect to,
particularly at night,
particularly if you haven't drunk a lot, if you go out
and have a few pints, obviously you're going
to get up a couple of times in the night.
But if you find you're getting up three
or four times regularly, that's a waring sign
that things may not be quite right.
And the reason for that is your prostate gland is wrapped
around the urethra, which is the tube
that drains from your bladder.
When your prostate gland gets bigger,
it pushes onto the bottom of your bladder,
makes you feel like you need a pee.
So peeing when you haven't had a lot to drink.
Definite warning site. Because the prostate clans wrapped
around the urethra, it could restrict the flow.
So you might find when you go for a pee, it's not
as strong as it used to be.
All teenage boys have tried to see
how far up the wall they can pee compared to their mates.
That gets less when you've got problems with your prostate.
Similarly, you might find it hard to get started
because you need to generate more pressure.
And weirdly, you might then find it hard to stop afterwards
and you might embarrassingly find that you leak a bit.
Other signs that are less common is
that you might spot blood in your urine or sometimes
because what the prostate does, as well as plain habit
with your bladder is it generates the fluid
that your sperm float in.
You sometimes might find blood when you ejaculate.
All of those things need to be checked out.
All of those things don't necessarily mean
you've got prostate cancer.
Your prostate can get inflamed,
your prostate can get infected.
So as with anything, if it's not normal for you, seek advice
and get it checked out.
What is your ongoing preventative treatment and monitoring?
When you have one cancer, you have to bear in mind
that doesn't stop you getting other cancers for a start.
So although I'm living with prostate cancer, I'm obviously
trying to reduce my risk of getting other cancers.
So I try and eat more healthfully than I used to.
I'm trying to exercise more than I used to,
although when we talk about my treatment,
you'll see why I'm finding that difficult.
And those are the two boring things
that actually make the biggest difference
to your risk of getting cancer.
Obesity is very strongly linked with at least a third
of all cancers.
Exercise has been shown obviously to
increase your general physical and mental wellbeing helps
to keep your weight down.
So again, it can help to prevent cancers.
In terms of my prostate cancer, we are at a point where
it's going to come back at some point
because it had spread outside my pelvis.
So the treatment I'm having is aimed at delaying
that point at which it returns.
When it does return, there's other treatments I could have.
So the treatment I'm having at the moment is all about
reducing or eliminating testosterone from my system
because testosterone the male hormone, that's
what encourages your prostate gland to grow.
Flip side of that is it has some interesting effects,
which we can come onto,
but I'm taking
testosterone blocking treatment at the moment.
It's been working pretty well for the last three years.
In terms of monitoring, there's no point having scans
and things unless I'm getting new symptoms.
So I have my PSA checked now.
I'm sure a lot of men will have heard of the PSA test.
It's a rubbish test for diagnosing prostate cancer,
and that was never what it was intended
for when it was first discovered.
PSA is a very good test for monitoring
what your prostate is doing once you've been
diagnosed with prostate cancer.
So my PSA level has been pretty well non-existent
for the last three years since I changed my treatment onto
the new hormone blocker.
It's just starting to niggle up a little bit at the moment.
So I'm having conversations with my oncologist about
what we do when it finally goes up to a point where we need
to take action and there's plenty of other treatments
that I could have because of the treatment I'm having.
I also have regular blood tests in addition to the PSA,
to look at things like my kidney function
and my liver function, just to make sure they're all normal
because the treatment can affect those
and also if they're not normal, they can affect
how much treatment you can actually have.
So it's a continuous process
and what that does, it generates what I call
Anxiety.
P-S-A anxiety every month.
The day before I have my PSA test, I get a bit anxious
until I've got the result back.
Other people have that
with other cancers when they're coming up for their scans.
They call it Scanxiety.
And it is a well known phenomenon. People live with cancer.
But again, it is part of my life.
It's a regular thing
and I just get on with it, regard it as normal for me.
How would you combat the fear message that a cancer diagnosis can bring?
When I was diagnosed with prostate cancer,
I probably had an advantage in
that I had been working in that area.
I'm not a cancer specialist,
but I had been doing a lot of work around all cancers,
but particularly prostate cancer
and the newer treatments, the newer forms of diagnosis.
So I had a bit of an unfair advantage.
Most people don't have that level of knowledge.
Their knowledge of cancer is based on the media,
friends, family members, loved ones who've had cancer
with varying outcomes.
Often it's social media as well.
It's misinformation
and it's just general fear of the unknown.
So when people are diagnosed with cancer,
there is an awful lot of fear involved.
And I think the really important thing if you have a cancer
diagnosis is obviously get your advice from the experts.
So speak to your specialists in particular.
If there's a specialist nurse, speak to them
because they usually have more time than doctors.
And to be frank, as a doctor,
they're usually much better at communicating than we are.
Also, if you're going to go online
and look up your cancer, go somewhere reputable, go
to the NHS website, go
to the macmillan Cancer Support website, go
to the Bupa website.
They're all accredited by objective bodies that they are
high quality sources of information.
If you are worried at all when you've had a diagnosis
of cancer, if you've got Bupa Insurance, you can all speak
to our mental health team for support with any anxiety
that it cancer might be generated
and then they can pass you onto the oncology team
who can provide you with answers.
But generally speaking,
my experience has always been knowing
is better than not knowing.
So fear of the unknown is the big fear,
and if you get over that, you'll be in a much better place.
How would you encourage men to talk about their health and seek medical support?
I go out for a curry with a couple
of good friends every six weeks or so,
and you can guarantee, we'll talk about rugby, cricket,
beer, old school days.
The one thing we will never talk about is health,
which is silly really, because one of them is diabetic.
One walks the stick and I've got prostate cancer.
But health really doesn't come up in our
conversations very much.
And that really is a shame
because men can be a great source of support to each other,
and men need to be encouraged to talk about their health.
And I think the key here is to tell
your mates that you are not embarrassed talking about it.
I mean, don't sit down, wait for the papa dump drive,
and then announce that you've got problems with your bowels.
But have a conversation. Be frank.
There's nothing to be embarrassed.
It's not a sign of weakness.
One in two of us will get cancer at some point in our life.
So if you're in a group of four,
there's a reasonable possibility somebody is either living
with cancer or is going to be,
there's a definite, there's almost certainty.
And I know somebody who is, so it's really important that
you just feel able to talk about this.
I think also men will make jokes about
late spread beer, bellies, et cetera.
I think men need to be a little bit more open
and again, talking to each other about, let's go
for a walk next week before we go and have a curry.
Let's do a little walk around the park.
Maybe this week we'll skip the rice.
Just start having conversations about healthy lifestyles.
We're not good at it.
We need to encourage each other to do it.
And often the best way to do it is lead by example.
But don't go at it like a bullet, a gate.
What advice would you give to someone supporting a friend or family member?
It can't be easy when somebody close to you
has been diagnosed with cancer
and they start going through their treatment.
Remember, it's not easy for them either.
No two cancers the same.
You could have two people who are directly related.
You both have say, bowel cancer
and their experiences will be completely different.
So they don't know how they're going
to react to their treatment.
They don't know how they're going to react to their disease.
So their behaviour might be a bit unpredictable.
They might, strangely enough, be
oddly euphoric because they're taking a bit
of a head in the sand approach.
Obviously, there'll be days when they're feeling low,
there'll be days when their treatment's affecting them,
if it's making them feel tired or feel weak
or feel nauseous,
but they still want to take part, so
they'll be pushing themselves when they shouldn't be.
So I think the advice for you when you are dealing
with somebody that you know love
who has cancer is give them time.
Give them space. Let them know you are available
for them to talk to.
You're available as a shoulder.
You're available to do things if they need doing.
But again, don't come across
as offering them charity.
So you could say if they're having a bad day,
if they're really tired, you could say something like,
right, I'm off to the shop service.
Really get for you.
Don't say, would you like me to do your shopping today?
Just be very alert to the fact that the course
of any cancer treatment, even if it ends up as a cure,
is always unpredictable and you just have to be very open
and accepting of the fact that this person
that you know really well may not be behaving in the way
that you were used to.
And you have to make allowances for that.
How do you balance your professional responsibilities with your treatment and recovery?
My experience has been interesting, shall we say,
because through the six years that I've
been living with prostate cancer,
I've carried on working full time,
primarily in the cancer field.
I go to cancer conferences most days
of most weeks, I'll have two
or three conference calls related to cancer
in one way, shape, or form.
Now, on the one hand, that gives me
an interesting perspective.
Obviously, I've got a lived
experience I can bring to the table.
I've got a clinical background I can bring to the table.
But what I mustn't bring to the table is the fact that,
well, if this was me,
I'd want this done a bit different to fit in with me.
What I have to bear in mind is that I'm working
for an organisation, I'm working for the benefit
of the majority for all of bupa's members,
and I'm very conscious of that fact.
So particularly when we've had conversations
around prostate cancer, I'll leave it
to other clinical colleagues
to make suggestions about new treatment avenues we might
want to pursue because I don't want people
to think when he's only doing that because he's got it,
and why are you ignoring all these other areas?
Sometimes perhaps I almost lean too far in the other
direction, and I make sure we're considering all
types of cancer, we're considering other illnesses other
than cancer, not the only thing I do at work.
I just think it's very important having
that Chinese wall in your head
and just making sure that when I work, I'm working
for bupa's purpose and not mine.
How has your diagnosis affected your mental health and outlook on life?
When I was first diagnosed with prostate cancer,
I had this kind of non-reaction.
Really, it didn't seem
to be doing one thing or another to me.
I told my immediate work colleagues
and I said, if you want to share this
with your teams, that's fine.
And it was quite touching the amount of support that I got
when I started my initial treatment, which was chemotherapy.
I felt okay. I was feeling tired before
because of beginning up so much at night for a pain.
I didn't really notice the tiredness of the chemotherapy.
It was when I started radiotherapy a few months later,
and I've struggled with working out y.
Having X-rays aimed at your pelvis
would make you feel so tired.
But I was just locked out in the afternoon,
so I struggled a bit.
I suppose you could, with hindsight,
I would say I was probably a little bit depressed,
but carried on working,
felt I could push through this.
And actually I did for probably about four years or so.
Then 18 months ago, the bubble burst.
I quite rapidly found that I was feeling
much less motivated, much more tired,
very depressed, didn't want to get out of bed at all.
And I think that was a accumulation of
the overall physical feelings I was having, of being tired
and feeling that everything was just getting on top of me
and too much to bother with.
A close family member was very ill just
before that, which I think didn't help either.
And I thought at that point, to be honest,
I'd actually hit rock bottom
and thought, where do I go from here?
And I was lucky on two levels.
One is as a Bupa employee, I've got access
to our 24 hour employee assistance programme.
And they were brilliant. They put me in touch
with a psychotherapist.
But the other thing was I got an absolutely brilliant work
colleague who was an absolute rock, gave me
God knows how many virtual hugs
and miracle of miracles managed to actually speak to GP
and get prescribed some antidepressants.
But there was a period of a couple
of months when I felt really, really bad
and things then slowly started to pick up.
And it's not until you start to feel normal that you realise
how well you felt beforehand.
Because
Once my mental health started to improve
with the antidepressants
and the psychotherapy, I realised just
what a pain I must've been to live
with for the previous three years.
So now I've got a much more positive outlook.
I enjoy my work much more.
I'm still taking the antidepressants.
I'm not having the psychotherapy anymore.
I've still got my best mate, so that's okay. Yeah.
And this is one of the things I think that people struggle
with sometimes with cancer, particularly
sometime after the initial diagnosis.
Because when you initially diagnose your cancer, I think
for a lot of people it's almost like an adrenaline rush.
There's so much going on.
There's so many tests and so many scans
and so many treatment appointments.
You don't really have time to sit down and take stock.
And at some point you do.
And that's when people react in different ways.
And some people will get very low a
few weeks or months into their treatment.
For other people like me, it takes a lot longer.
I think there are very few people
who've had a cancer diagnosis
who hand on heart cannot say they have felt pretty
grim at some point.
But there are sources of help out there.
There is light in the end of the tunnel.
Yes, there are the formal sources of help.
IE for Bupa, our employee assistance programme for
other Bupa customers,
their companies will have similar access to it.
But that's when your informal networks kick in as well.
And that's when you realise how important it's
to have really good friends.
What coping strategies have helped you stay resilient?
Everybody reacts differently to situations in life,
and we all have different ways of coping with them.
And I learned fairly early on that actually
if you keep your head in the sand,
you're going to get your bum kicked.
So that's not a great posture to accept.
And what's my coping strategy?
Sometimes it is actually to appear to be making light
of things, which other people would think it's perhaps a bit
distasteful to make light of.
But that's what I've always done.
And I think that's when people notice if there's something
wrong with me is when I'm not making jokes.
So part of my coping strategy has been to carry on doing
that, carrying on working has been part of that.
I think the biggest coping strategy
has been talking about it.
I couldn't really decide what
to do when I was first diagnosed.
I told my immediate workmates
what I'd been diagnosed with
and what I anticipated my treatment would be.
And then I kind of went back into my shell
for a little while, and then I thought, well,
I'm supposed to know about this stuff.
Maybe I should lead into it a bit more,
talk about what I'm going through.
So I started putting stuff on bupa's,
internal social media about the prostate cancer,
the treatment, the side effects,
the wonderful faceplant photo when my legs gave out on me,
and I head butted a concrete slab, all that kind of thing.
And when I had my really bad mental health episode last
year, because I just think
you can overshare sometimes,
but if people are able to see what you are going through,
then within that they may see elements of
what they've been going through,
or they may identify things that they're afraid of
and realise they don't need to be so fearful.
So I think my main coping strategy
has actually been sharing stories like this.
What legacy or impact do you hope your experience will have on others?
I've often wondered whether
being open about my diagnosis, my treatment experience,
is it a vanity project
or is there actually going to be anything
meaningful after all of this?
And I hope that what people can take from
the conversations I've had,
the social media posts I've done talks like this, is that
there's nothing weak about being unwell, whether it's
physical or mental, there's often
nothing you can personally have done about it.
Yeah, we talk about reducing risks, and it's true.
There are things you can do to reduce your risk
of getting illnesses.
There is nothing you can do to guarantee that you're going
to live a healthy life to 130.
So let's take the guilt out of it.
Let's take the shame out of it
and let's just be open about the fact that 50% of us
are going to have to deal with a cancer diagnosis
at some point in our lives.
And you can either curl up in a ball or just be open
and say, okay, that is just a different part of me now.
It's another part of me.
It doesn't define me any more than the white beard does.
It's just part of me that I've got to live with,
that you've got to interact with.
So let's make the best of it.
What advice would you give to other men facing prostate cancer treatment?
Prostate cancer is now, it's the biggest killer
of men in the uk.
And there's a bit of debate about whether it's actually the
most common cancer in the uk.
One in eight men will get it twice that
if you are of African heritage, significantly higher than
that if there's a family history.
So it's something that a lot
of men are going to be affected by.
If you're diagnosed with prostate cancer,
particularly if you're diagnosed at a younger age, again,
get away from this mindset that it's a disease of old men
and there's nothing that could be done about it.
Get away from this mindset that any treatment
for prostate cancer means you'll never be able
to get an erection and you'll be in nappies
for the rest of your life.
Because treatment has advanced so much that
that is very much the exception.
Even for radical surgery.
The recovery periods are shortening,
the side effects are shortening.
Get away from the idea that you no longer a man.
Yes, the hormone treatment,
if you need it, will cause issues.
Your testosterone will go down.
You may not be beach body ready,
but think of what you were like this as a friend.
I always told me this. Think of
what you were like when you were 10.
You hadn't hit puberty, but you were full of life.
You were full, full of activity.
You could do a lot of things.
You could do a lot of things without a huge amount
of testosterone in your system.
So I think that the key message to men who are diagnosed
with prostate cancer is it's the start of
potentially a fairly bumpy road,
but the majority of men are not going to die
of their prostate cancer.
And it's a road that you can manage.
You will get through this and again, talk to your mates.
What role has family and friendship played in your journey?
I think cancer can be
a lonely place if you're not careful.
It's very easy to feel that you don't want
to burden other people
or that they all just think you are oversharing
and be embarrassed.
From my point of view, it was always
important that I let my friends know
without making any demands on them.
Just saying, just letting them know
that there may be occasions when
I can't go out and do things.
I'm taking medication.
That means that I won't be having any
beer with a curry tonight.
From a family point of view, obviously
their support has been invaluable,
particularly when I've been having bad days following the
treatment and also
when it's been the unpredictable, bad days.
When I had problems with my mental health as a
cumulative result of what I've been going
through in the previous few years.
The family support was absolutely invaluable
because family support tends to be
pretty unconditional, to be honest.
The only problem that I had
with family support is feeling really guilty about being
offered it, which is my problem, I guess friends,
well, that's kind of when you find out who your friends are,
because if they want to talk about it, I'm quite happy
to engage in conversation
with you about it then so much the better.
If they just shut the conversation down, then you start
to wonder about the nature of the relationship.
But if you've got good, strong relationships,
they will be a massive help.
If you haven't got those networks, there are
plenty of places you can go to.
Plenty of people you can talk to.
I like the men in a shed concept, to be honest,
which is groups of men.
Often it's to address men who've been widowed or retired,
but also for men who will go through a cancer experience.
It gives you some male support,
and we all need a bit of bloke time occasionally,
so there are plenty of places out there you could get help,
but I think it's really important that you don't
sit there thinking, well, this is a death sentence
that I'm just going to wiggle away through it.
How do you refer to yourself, and possibly others, who are recovering from cancer?
It is very difficult to know how
to describe yourself really when you've got cancer.
People talk about being a cancer survivor
or battling with cancer.
I talk about myself as living with cancer in the same way as
I'm living with the beard going white.
It's part of me, I'm living with it.
Other people may have different ways of describing it,
but I think that's probably the better way of doing it
because you'd be going through different stages, and
unless you want to describe every individual stage
of your cancer journey in a different way,
I just say I'm living with cancer.
If people ask me, that's what I will tell them.
I don't expect people to ask me, have you got cancer?
Why should they? I don't look like I've got cancer.
I'm quite happy. If people say, how are you?
Then I will say, well, I've had better days. Actually.
The medication's being a bit of a nuisance at the moment,
and then the questions, it's back to them,
but they can either say, that's a shame,
or, oh, what's the medication for?
Leave it open.
Let the conversation flow
and develop by itself
rather than having it framed in specific questions
because you don't necessarily,
there's some days I want to talk about it.
Some days I don't want to talk about it,
and people are really, really embarrassed
and uncomfortable if they know you've got cancer
and they bump into you.
So I try not to make it a big thing,
but I'm totally open about talking about it if I'm asked.
Jo Knightâs breast cancer story
Jo Knight shares her breast cancer story. She stresses the importance of knowing whatâs normal for you and checking your breasts regularly.
Whilst it's powerful to hear about breast cancer from doctors, it's also powerful to hear about it from somebody who's been through it.
Earlier I sat down with Jo Knight, who's a breast cancer survivor and now a campaigner.
And I want all of you to hear her story too.
Hi Jo.
Hi So lovely to meet you.
Thank you.
So you are breast cancer survivor.
I am.
Mum.
Yep.
Campaigner.
Mm hm.
Absolute inspiration.
Oh, thank you.
What I'd like to do, first of all, is just ask where are you at the moment on your breast cancer journey?
I'm five years this year, cancer-free.
Yeah, I was diagnosed back in 2017.
Okay, so congratulations.
Thank you.
That's wonderful news.
It's a huge kind of milestone to hit within the cancer world.
It's, you know, five years free, so it's amazing.
But I imagine that five years has been, well, I mean you tell me, people describe it as a journey often.
How would you describe that is?
Yeah, it's a journey.
It's a real rollercoaster of emotions, physically, mentally.
It really is.
It's just a whirlwind.
I don't know where those, the last five years have kind of gone, really.
Yeah.
Yeah.
They've sort of just whizzed you by.
It really has.
It really has.
From sort of the start to now, it's like, in the distance, you know, where did that five years go?
Well, can we go right back to the start?
So how did you first identify that there was something wrong?
So, obviously I always checked my breasts regularly, probably not as often as I should, maybe every other month.
And I found a lump.
Right.
That was.
.
.
I wasn't sure of.
I'd had a breast reduction six years prior.
So I just assumed it was fatty tissue.
Didn't think anything of it.
It left it for a bit.
Then I checked again and thought not quite right.
I'll go and get it checked out.
So at that point, I then phoned and got a doctor's appointment.
My goodness.
Yeah, if I hadn't have done, I think my story could have been a very different one.
Do you?
I might not have been sat here now.
You just, you know, you don't know.
Well, that's the importance, isn't it, of self checking.
And you said maybe you didn't do it every month, but you did it, didn't you?
Which is the main thing.
You were checking.
Exactly.
Exactly.
That is so, so important.
So how quickly did you see your doctor, and how quickly did you.
.
.
How did things progress from there?
I think, 'cause I've mentioned on the phone to the receptionist that I found a lump, I need to see the doctor.
I'm not sure what it is.
I was in within that week.
And there was an appointment available.
And the doctor, she wasn't sure herself, obviously, not being a breast expert.
She said, "There is a lump, I'm not sure what it is, but I will refer you.
You know, don't be alarmed.
I'm gonna put you through on the rapid access which you'll see within two weeks.
" I was seen within 10 days.
Yeah, so I wasn't too overly concerned at that point because it was the unknown.
I didn't know what it was.
And that's the message that I always give to my patients.
You know, if you're concerned about something, if there's something there we're not sure, we need to get you seen within that two week period because.
.
.
That's what you guys are there for.
More often than not, it's not the breast cancer.
But if it is, then it's so important.
And detection is key.
Absolutely.
So how did things progress?
How quickly.
.
.
?
You said you were seen within 10 days.
Yep.
At the specialist breast cancer unit.
Yep.
At my hospital, yeah.
And then what happened?
So on that day, I was seen by the consultant.
He did an examination.
Obviously, they must have an inkling there and then because it was a bit like a one-stop shop for me.
Yeah.
So I saw the consultant.
I then had a mammogram.
From there on, I then had a biopsy on the same day.
And after the biopsy, saw the consultant again.
Again, obviously he'd seen the imaging, couldn't say anything because there had to be a few more tests.
The biopsies had to go off.
And then I was sent back with him within, must have been, within two weeks at least.
So it was really quick.
So I guess within a month then, is it?
Within, yeah.
For me, it was within a month.
Yeah, so.
.
.
Which was great.
And I think within a month, if people aren't checking, or you know, sometimes people might delay for more than a month.
They're just thinking, "Oh, you know, I'll just see if it goes away.
" But it's really important- I think that's what I hoped.
You know, I delayed it a little bit, not a lot.
But I think I was hoping, oh, it's nothing.
It'll be okay.
But I'm glad I went when I did.
Yeah.
So then your treatment started.
What treatment did you have?
Pretty soon I had to have, because of the nature of the lump, where it was, I had to have chemotherapy first.
So six months of chemo, then a mastectomy, then radiotherapy.
And then because my cancer was hormone-related, I had to have a full hysterectomy as well.
Right.
So been through the mill.
You have, you have.
And tell me a little bit about your family.
I'm a single parent to a 15-year-old daughter.
So she was eight at the time when I was diagnosed.
Yeah, and mum and dad, sister, brother.
Breast cancer isn't in the family history.
Right.
Prostate cancer, my dad had prostate cancer, but he's in remission now, which is great.
So how does that, everything that you've been through, how does that impact you or how did it impact you?
But also how did it impact your daughter?
Yeah, it's hard, isn't it?
Because your world just comes.
.
.
You're told, you know, I'm really sorry you have cancer.
You just, you become numb.
Your world comes crashing around and you just panic.
And for me, I'm an incredibly positive person.
I always have been.
But my fear initially was everybody else.
Not me, it was how are my parents gonna cope?
How's my daughter gonna cope?
Am I gonna die?
That's your initial reaction.
Do you think most people think that when they hear the word cancer?
Do you think most people.
.
.
?
Without a doubt, yeah.
I think I'm gonna die.
And that's what the scary thing is.
And I think until you know exactly what you are dealing with and you get your head round it in the diagnosis, and the worst thing that people do is go home and they'll Google it.
Yeah.
Do not Google, you know, your diagnosis.
And it's the hardest thing not to do.
It's hard.
It's really hard.
'Cause you feel that you need that information.
You get so much negativity.
And I think exactly until you know what you are dealing with and you are.
.
.
I didn't know there were different types of breast cancer.
I just thought there was breast cancer, that was it.
But there's so many different grades, so many different types of breast cancer that are treated in different ways.
And was yours.
.
.
Were you told that yours was a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer?
Or were you given those statistics that I think sometimes people want, you know, what are the chances of survival, et cetera?
Yeah.
It is hard, isn't it?
Because you want to know, yeah, am I going to die?
What's my life?
You know, the prognosis.
.
.
That's what people wanna know.
But I'm scared to kind of ask that.
But because mine was a grade two, if my consultant said if I'd left it any longer, it would've been that next step, next further slightly different treatment.
It wasn't as aggressive as others.
Yeah.
So in that respect, I was lucky, if lucky is a word you use when you've got cancer.
Yeah.
But to me, I was lucky.
I'd gone early enough and.
.
.
But you had to, like you say, through the mill with the treatment, chemotherapy.
Yeah.
Literally, chemotherapy Therapy, surgery to remove your, you know hysterectomy, as well.
Yeah.
So that- Yeah.
So my cancer was (indistinct) receptive.
Right.
And did you have your ovaries removed as well?
Yeah.
Full hysterectomy.
So that's instantly into menopause as well.
Surgical menopause, yeah.
So not easy.
Yeah.
No, not easy.
And hence I think that's been.
.
.
My hair hasn't grown back properly.
So people may be thinking, why has she still wearing a head scarf?
Why she's not got a lot of hair?
That's probably, my hair hasn't grown back properly.
I kind of expected full head of hair after five years.
So, but now you're at this five year point.
Five years cancer-free.
Yeah.
That is a massive milestone.
Yeah.
Because that's like, you know, you can now think about moving on with the rest of your life.
Yeah.
Moving forward.
How do you feel about the rest of your life now?
Positive.
Yeah?
I can't be any other way.
And when you're going through treatment, you're at the hospitals.
You're seeing your nurses, you're seeing specialist.
It's like, you've got a comfort blanket.
Yeah.
And you're seeing somebody all the time.
When you finish your treatment and you'll see, "Bye!
Off you go, your treatment's finished.
" Now that's when the scary thoughts come in.
You've lost that comfort blanket.
You're not seeing anybody regularly.
And that's when the kind of fear comes in of recurrence.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And interesting that you decided to not have reconstructive surgery.
Yeah.
Can I ask you about that?
Yeah.
Because when I finished my treatment after radiotherapy, I was left for a year with having had a double mastectomy.
So living with no breast.
I kind of got used to it.
I think I decided not to.
.
.
I just didn't want any more surgery.
And for me, having had a breast reduction, then going to having nothing, I just, I felt comfortable in my own skin and my body, and I want other women to understand and to be happy with who they are.
And that boobs don't define you as a woman.
Absolutely not.
I agree.
They don't define, well, they didn't define me.
And I just want to promote body positivity.
And it is okay to remain flat.
And I want that to be an option for other women who are going through.
'Cause you automatically think you're gonna have reconstruction.
Yeah.
And do they talk to you about reconstruction as if, you know, it's.
.
.
What's gonna, it's what's gonna happen?
It's not talked about massively at the time of the appointment.
I think it's just initially, all your treatment, you're gonna have.
And I just assumed that I would have reconstruction, immediate reconstruction with my surgery.
But because I had to have radiotherapy afterwards, they wanted my, to heal properly before if I decided to have reconstruction.
And it's a huge surgery.
Yeah.
Well, your positivity is contagious.
It's amazing.
Thank you.
I think the body positivity, your positivity of mind, it's amazing.
What would be the one message you would want to share with other people?
Is just to not be scared of your body.
Check yourselves regularly.
And early detection is key.
And it's all about educating from these younger generations.
My daughter's 15, so it's so important for me to educate her and the younger generation, not to scare them, but to know their body.
Not to be scared to touch your body, to feel it, to know you're normal.
It's so, so important that once a month, as women, we are checking.
And men too.
Yeah.
'Cause men get breast cancer too.
Yeah, and it's important we do it in front of our children, don't we?
You know, we brush our teeth in front of our children.
It's so important.
And this is no different.
It's just part of self-care.
It's important not to be embarrassed about your body.
Yeah.
We're all different.
It's your body.
It's my body.
It's your body, yeah.
Be proud of who you are.
Yeah, exactly.
Well, thank you so much for sharing your radiance and positivity.
Oh, thank you for having me.
With us.
But also hopefully for inspiring lots of people out there.
I hope so.
To check themselves.
Yeah.
Look after themselves.
And you know people, you're not alone.
Yeah.
There are hundreds of women, men out there who have been diagnosed.
If you are struggling, get help.
And just, if you find a lump, get it checked.
Jo, thank you so much for sharing.
I think it's so important, as Jo said that we're checking regularly, and if we find anything we're concerned about, we act on it straight away.
Prostate health and getting checked out
Does a prostate exam hurt? What are PSA levels? Former rugby player Ugo Monye and clinician Tim Woodman answer the tough questions.
Tim, so we got some pre-submitted questions that we're going to get our way through and here comes our first question.
(light music) Kinda depends on how you define old.
I would say it's definitely an older man's disease.
Yeah, it's pretty uncommon under the age of 50.
Once you get to 55, the instance goes up quite steeply.
Once you're into your 70s, it's pretty common.
So, it's definitely an older man's disease.
Not unheard of if you're a younger man.
If you're 40 and you've got symptoms it might be related to your prostate gland.
Go get 'em checked out.
Prostate examination (light music) Prostate examination shouldn't be painful.
It's an inter examination, so yeah, it's embarrassing for some men.
Totally get that.
You wouldn't choose to have it done.
It doesn't last long.
It's possibly a little bit uncomfortable.
There may be reasons why you could have pain if you've got other issues down there like piles, haemorrhoids, that sort of thing.
Speak to the doctor beforehand.
There's stuff they can do to get rid of that, but it really shouldn't be a painful examination.
What they're looking for is have you got a prostate gland that's the right size for your age?
Is it bigger than you'd expect?
Does it feel normal?
A prostate gland's normally quite soft like most body tissues.
Are there any lumps in it?
Is it painful?
All of those things can guide the conversation about what you need to do next and what the possible problems are.
(light music) What is PSA First of all, let's be clear, what is PSA?
PSA, prostate specific antigen, or in other words, a chemical that your prostate gland produces and it produces it all of the time.
Obviously, if your prostate gland's bigger than normal, it will produce more PSA.
If you've got cancer, cancer is rapidly growing cells so you'll produce even more PSA.
So yes, if you've got prostate cancer, your PSA may well be high, but actually in one in seven men with prostate cancer, it isn't.
So, it's not an accurate tool on its own for diagnosing prostate cancer.
Okay, so don't do what I almost did last year where I went online.
You can buy these PSA checkers for about 20 or 25 pounds.
That information is inaccurate.
We're trying to reroute everyone's either pick up the phone to beep up your GP, or even better still, go and see them.
Yeah, absolutely.
Genetics (light music) Undoubtedly there's a genetic element to it, but not 100%.
For example, certain ethnic groups, black men, definitely there's a higher risk of prostate cancer in black men, between two and four times the risk of a white men.
But for Asian men, the risk is actually lower than it is for white men and we don't know what's behind that.
But the assumption is it must be something genetic.
There are some very rare types of prostate cancer that are linked to certain genes, but really they're very uncommon.
So yeah, it can run in families to a degree, but there's no absolutely solid genetic link to it.
I guess if there's someone in your family that has suffered from it, it will heighten your awareness to it so you're more likely to go and get checked.
But what we're saying is if it hasn't been in your family, that doesn't mean that you are free from potential prostate cancer.
Absolutely.
And the fact that it has been in your family doesn't mean you're definitely gonna get it either.
(light music)
Helping children understand cancer
Eating well with cancer
How to cope with uncertainty
Guidance from our experts
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