Hey there, I'm Georgina, a business analyst by day and studying to be a counsellor by night. I live with my partner, my 6-year-old son and our newly adopted kitten, Lolly. In 2018, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and completed treatment in 2019. Life is very busy, but I love to get out into some greenery for walks and hikes with like minded friends. I also host the monthly Life after Cancer Wellbeing Walk in Walthamstow.  The Waltham Forest Wellbeing Walk for adults who ha

Cancer can be a lonely and socially isolating time, finding your Cancer Tribe to share the journey with can be a game-changer in recovery

Meet Sadru Sadru (he/him) Diagnosed in 2012 - Brain cancer I am stronger than I ever imagined Sadru shares his story of hope after Brain cancer and what has worked for him in moving forward in his life after cancer. Sadru was diagnosed with Brain cancer at the age of 18. He has remained clear of cancer since treatment but does experience some disabilities as a result of his treatment. Cancer has changed Sadru's whole perspective on life and feels grateful for the perspective

Meet Allyson Allyson (she/her) - Mixed Diagnosed in 2019 & 2020 - Breast & Ovarian cancer I am strong, I am resilient, I am being the best I can be. I have a diagnosis of Ovarian Cancer (OC) received in 2020, a year after having breast cancer. I have a homologous recombination deficiency, which is a bit of mouthful, but more commonly known as HRD. In the early days, I could never recall what it stood for, and for me became ' Hope, Resilience and Divine Healing' , the healing

Meet Amrik Amrik (she/her) - Indian Diagnosed in 2020 - Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cancer doesn’t define who I am. My courage is stronger than my fear. I am a survivor. 2020 was a year that I will never forget. The world plunged into chaos, as a global pandemic struck and shook everyone’s lives to the very core. In this surreal world, I found myself in a nightmare of my own, when out of the blue, I got diagnosed with Triple Negative Breast Cancer in January 2020. In a whir

Meet Alison Alison (she/her) - White British Diagnosed in 2020 - Stage 2B (T2, N1) ER+ Breast Cancer My top affirmation - Self-care is not selfish. Thank goodness I went along to my routine mammogram appointment in October 2020. It would have been so easy to find excuses to postpone it – after all, we were in the middle of a pandemic! I quickly became an expert in ‘tunnel vision’, blocking out worrying world events and focusing all my attention on each next hospital appointm

Meet Cathy Cathy (she/her) - White British Diagnosed in 2018 - Endometrial Cancer I am, I can, I will. Live Life to the full. Do what makes you happy I was diagnosed with Endometrial cancer in the summer of 2018. To say it was a shock would be an understatement. I’d thought I was going through menopause and had been going backwards and forwards to various GP’s until I found one who took me seriously. She suggested trying a localised oestrogen treatment, which appeared to wor

Meet Kirsty Kirsty (she/her) - White British Diagnosed March 2019 / Recurrence December 2019 - Cervical Cancer - 1B2 I am capable. I am enough. I trust my body. I received my first cancer diagnosed in March 2019. One month before I turned 32 and three months before I got married. Surely this was too soon to test the ‘in sickness and in health vow’? Two Loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP) treatments followed and three month 'belt and braces' checks up followed. Fast

Meet Patrycja Patrycja (she/her) - White Diagnosed in 2018 - Breast Cancer I am brave, I am learning everyday, I am enough. I was diagnosed with lobular breast cancer (stage II) in 2018. My treatment included mastectomy. Followed by chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and hormonal therapy for 5 years. My life post-cancer treatment was very difficult. My body went through a lot of physical and mental changes. I was struggling with multiple side effects after finishing chemotherapy a

Meet Sophie Sophie (she/her) - White Diagnosed in 2019 - Stage 4b Hodgkins Lymphoma I am brave. I am strong. I am enough. I was diagnosed with Stage 4b Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in November 2019, during my final year of A-levels, and went through treatment from then until July 2020. Considering I was 18 during the majority of my treatment, I really felt like I was missing out on so many important times and experiences a young adult should have. However, what got me through treatment

Meet Victoria Victoria (she/her) - White British Diagnosed in 2020 - Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia I am a survivor. I am brave. I am deserving. I was three weeks into my second year at Lancaster University in October 2020, studying Geography when I had gone to get a blood test as I’d been having PCOS symptoms. Later that day I was contacted to attend a hospital appointment for the next morning. It was at this appointment that I was told I had leukaemia and I was asked where I

Meet Juliet Juliet (she/her) - British Diagnosed in 2019 - Hodgkins Lymphoma I can do anything I put my mind to. I can get through any challenge thrown at me. I have everything I need to succeed. I was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma in November 2019, just before the 'delights' of the pandemic began. As with everyone’s journey through treatment, I didn’t find it easy, and whilst the physical symptoms were tough, one of the biggest things for me was the mental ‘pause’ I had t

Life after cancer treatment can be an isolating time and one where you might expect friends to continue to offer support. But what happens if they don’t? How can we navigate this process to move forward? We all expect friendships to naturally drift apart throughout our lives, as busy schedules take over and we discover we have less in common. We usually aren’t hurt by this gradual filtering process, but losing friends because of a cancer diagnosis just hits different. Friends

Isn’t it about time we challenged and moved away from the tyranny of speed when it comes to healing and recovery? I’ve long asked myself this question, both in relation to working psychologically with individuals going through cancer, and also during my own recovery from treatment for breast cancer. I find myself frequently pondering on the somewhat unhelpful phrases such as ‘ get well soon ’ and, ‘ wishing you a speedy recovery ’, which are so dominant in our culture. Surely

Navigating the highs and lows of life after cancer treatment can feel overwhelming, but you do not need to navigate this journey alone.