lifeaftercancer

How it can feel when treatment finishes

If you have not had cancer treatment, it can be hard to imagine what it feels like when the day comes for your medical team discharge you. For me they never used the words 'in remission' with Inflammatory Breast Cancer, the best you can hope for is NED - 'No Evidence of Disease'. But I'll take that. 

Such mixed emotions, I was happy that the chemotherapy, mastectomy and radiotherapy all appeared to have done the job of getting rid of that disease. My fri…

5 GREAT steps to happiness

Some days are harder than others to feel happy. Life can be full of ups and downs, and we are all living in some very turbulent times. Energies are shifting and it can be hard to stay positive.

Everyone’s path to happiness is different, but research suggests these things can have a positive impact on your happiness and well-being.

Giving

Doing things for others, helping others is not only good for them, as well as being a lovely thing to do, it can make us happie…

It's easy to believe that every day is special when things are going well. Yesterday I had a big disappointment, no need to share the personal details here, but for a while I was very upset, then full of despair as my mind began thinking of all the worst case scenarios that could ensue from this event.

This is despite my years of training in coaching, and learning how to control those pesky unhelpful thoughts, I am only human and I still succumb to negative thinking on occasion. In the past thi…

How are you? If you are from England like me, your instinct is probably to reply 'I'm fine thanks'. That's good manners right? And as a recovering people pleaser, I always want to be polite. 

But really - how are you? I want to know.

I’m asking because there is so much uncertainty in the world right now, and a lot of people I talk to are struggling.

We’ve been living in turbulent times these past two years. It’s no surprise if you’re feeling shaken.

When you’re surrounded by circumstances yo…

Happy (almost) Summer, friend! It’s hard to believe that we’re approaching the halfway mark of another year.

How are you doing so far this year?

The midway mark is a good time in any journey to stop and take stock. Here are a few questions to help you self-assess:

•    What goals and intentions did you start the year with?
•    What wins are you most proud of from these first five months?
•    What’s been missing from your year so far?
•    Where do you need to reset and reprioritize for the re…

Wow, 16th May already. Is it just me, or is this year flying past?

This is a date that is very special to me, in 2008, just a few short months after my Inflammatory Breast Cancer diagnosis, and months of chemotherapy, a scan result showed 'No evidence of Disease' - not 'cured' or 'in remission', you never get that with IBC. 

But NED is good enough for me.

And many years have passed now, for me to look back at this scared woman, and I can feel proud that I have survived. And the guilt I used t…

 Happy Easter!

And may all your Easter eggs be 70% cacao.  There’s plenty of evidence to suggest that dark chocolate is good for you, and so you can munch away without even a scintilla of guilt.

Dark chocolate is especially good for regulating blood pressure and cholesterol, and it’s an antioxidant that’s rich in fibre, iron, magnesium, and copper.

Chocolate won’t be the only thing you’ll be eating over Easter that can give your health a boost.  To demonstrate the point, the Center for …

My #1 Effective Tool to Overcome Limiting Beliefs

I was talking with a coaching client yesterday, and she said something that I have heard so many times.

‘I don’t feel like I am worthy of love’

Wow – that phrase is something I could relate to all too well. As a survivor of abuse, and many challenges in my life, there have been times when I felt exactly like that. So how did I overcome this? Well, I tried many things over many years, but what was the most effective tool which helped me to stop…

Do you feel like you have the ‘sword of Damocles’ hanging over you?

Are you struggling to feel happy that you have survived cancer?

When you finish treatment it can be like the safety net has been taken away.

The healthcare professionals wave you goodbye. Your friends and family breathe a sigh of relief that it is ‘all over’. You may feel exhausted, confused and anxious. But everyone expects you to be happy.

The "sword of Damocles" is a modern expression, which to us means a sense of impending doom,…

Hello, my friend and Happy New Year!

You don’t need me to tell you —what’s happening in the world is increasing our stress levels day by day. We’re collectively facing fear, uncertainty, loneliness, and grief as we witness and experience the pain happening around us.

And on top of that, we don’t have access to all our usual comforts and coping mechanisms, like grabbing a coffee or lunch with a friend, enjoying a live band, or sweating it out at the gym. As a result, we may end up reaching for …