A Lot On Your Plate - S3 Ep10: Touch Your Tiddies

Episode Date: October 17, 2023

This week we celebrate Jess’ birthday and are joined by one of our amazing pod pigs, Laura, to help raise awareness for primary and secondary Breast Cancer. It’s so important to check your boobies girls and boys, please please please do💖 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Happy Tuesday Podpiggies. I hope you're good. Did you all get your tickets? Was it fastest finger first? Are you excited? Because we are. We really hope that you all manage to get a ticket if not. Sorry, snooze you lose. I know there's just not really much we can do but that. So all I'll say is it's not our problem. It isn't.

There's not much we can do about it, guys. But we're so excited and we're nervous, aren't we? I think now that it's a real thing, I'm quite nervous. I'm just concerned I go mute on you. But you are, go mute on me. I've said this is over, you simply can't. Because sometimes I just stop talking. Yeah.

And nothing comes to me. Who was I speaking to about it this morning? I was like, the thing is, like, I've done a few things like this before, but not where people have paid to come and see me specifically. Yeah, you've just been part of something. Yeah. but you haven't done anything like this at all and I really hope you don't get overwhelmed

and then you just sit and say nothing well the thing is I did you just do performing arts just right okay so I've been on a stage a number of times however not for about 12 years

right so we could just erase that from ever happening it's been that long anyway we've got some nice guests coming on today but first it is Jessica's birthday this week and I have brought her card and a present for me and I've got a spurt of swallow as well

Oh my God, I'm excited so I'll go and get that right now Okay, so I open my card? Wait, someone. Also, I want to apologise to everybody on the podcast I feel like I swear so much in last week's episode so I'm going to get myself a swear jar and yeah, a pound for every time I say the F word

It's so bad It's getting out of hand What's happening here She's just run back in to get her phone Wow Happy birthday to you Happy birthday to you Happy birthday to you

Just come on Happy birthday to you Stop What am they? Oh my God! Where the hell did you get them? Make a question. Zoe, what the fuck? Oh, I swore.

Well, you just apologising for training. Zoe. I'd never seen anything like this in my life. Well, I know you like Baclaver or whatever it's called. So... What flavour are these? There's loads of different ones. There's like Oreo, I think. Bueno, Biscoff, white chocolate.

Yep. Do you say Kinda? Yeah, like Bueno flavour. Oh my God. Where are these from, please? It's called Baclava Bay. And is it like a Glasgow company? Yeah, it's Glasgow.

Because I remember you posting about like finding one. Yeah. Glasgow, whatever, and why is that not in highlight, Jess? It's called Pinch of Taste. I went through every single one of your highlights. Every single one. Even the ones that were like countries because I thought maybe she's put it in the wrong one.

I even asked some of your foodie friends and no one knew. But anyway, we found this one. And they did do just big normal ones, but they did the wee box and I thought that's kind of like a cupcake box. What are these cold? They're just like...

I can't see it, but it's like circle flat. Baclavas with loads of things piled on top of them. I'm gonna take a bite. Oh my God. It's like beclaver rolls. Mmm. Like we kind of like condensed versions with flavors on. Mmm, mm, mm, mm, mm, mm, mm.

Oh my God. Is it nice? Mm-hmm. Here's your wee napkin. I got party napkins I've got a card here happy birthday you lovely little sausage to Jess sis painting my ass hole

happy fucking birthday can't believe it's your 40th no thanks for being the bestest pal and giving me the best memories oh love you that's so sweet that's nice aren't it's really nice for you I've got a present oh my god 33 of thriving Hold your hands there

Oh my goodness Stop it! I'm not even open to look at it because I didn't want to ruin the box Guys I am a basic bitch I've got the Stanley Cup Oh my god It's like a fucking dumbbell in it

All day hydrant. No, Zoe, I'm actually so puzzled. It's a gorgeous colour as well. I know it's nice. Did you get one as well? No. But I might treat myself twice as well. Oh, thank you.

That's the best present ever. You're welcome. It's absolutely huge. Oh, wow. Well, thank you. I really appreciate that. It's my birthday in two days, and I'm celebrating for a whole month.

We're going out in Glasgow with all of my girlfriends And next Saturday? Yep, 21st. Yeah, we're going out in Glasgow. And then, Richard's taking me somewhere, I have no idea where, on Thursday, for a long weekend. And two days. So next week I'll tell you all about that.

Because I have no idea. Anything about it? Yeah, I know, we've got quite the plans ahead of you for your 40s. Also, just in case anyone isn't a weird dress, actually isn't 40. That was just a bit of, like, shit ban on me. I'm flirty-free. Just 33.

Cheers. Yeah, so, can we just discuss the amount of feedback that we got from the episode on Tuesday? With the overrated? I don't think we've ever had that many messages. I know, same. It was, you guys were loving it. I just think people like to hear our opinions and things. Yeah.

Even my mum was like, that's my favourite episode yet. Really? I was like, and the Friday one. on those well, the TikTok one? Yeah. It's just an opinion on stuff, isn't it? Yeah, very true. Tell you one thing that I have found out

that's really overrated that I wanted to speak about. I forgot. You know the new GHD styler that everyone's posting about at the moment? Oh, yes, we were talking about this. Yeah, I got sent it a few months ago. Well, about two months ago.

And it's like a wet-to-dry styler and it's about £400. Guys, it's crap. It honestly is not... And I'm so disappointing because GHD is really good. Is that not like straightening your hair wet? yeah I just honestly my hair was like frizz it did not work for me whatsoever so I would definitely take careful consideration if you'd be an influence online for this because I've seen everyone posting about it it didn't work for me so I don't want you to fork out that sort of money I wonder can you try GHG products the way you can of dicing and send it back or like know how you can go into boots and you can try a dicing air up yeah but you're not going to go into boots with wet hair are you that is very true so yeah I didn't rate it at all so if anyone wants it you can have it

I wouldn't want to do that kind of tool on my hair wet like the only thing I want to do is dry it yeah do you know what I mean because that just gives me like you know if you straighten a bit and it's a bit and it's a bit wet and it's a bit yeah that's the fear so what's been on your plate

what has been on my plate well yesterday we went to the new virgin hotel in Glasgow oh my god guys that is so nice It's so nice. It's got like a terrace bit that's like right open, like so bright and nice, looks right across like the bridge at the Clyde. And then, and the kind of like seating area, like breakfast area, there's just all these comfy chairs. It was what a great vibe was. Yeah, the interior was spot on. It is. It's quite like Soho House vibes, I feel. Yeah. Kind of modern version. But we got breakfast there and what did they do with that bread? I think they deep fried it, I swear, because it was delicious. Unbelievable. I actually had a slice, sourdough bread, avocado and poached eggs on. You had the same bit with scrambled eggs.

But the bread was like nothing I've ever had before. It was really good. I felt like the whole vibe in there was amazing. I thought, I can't believe we're in Glasgow. The toilets downstairs were the coolest thing I've ever been in. Everything was thought out amazing. And I think we might have said this before, but you think with Virgin, not that it's a, the brand's great, but you'd compare it to something like

easy jet because it's an airline. And then you think of like the hotel group. You wouldn't imagine it to be as amazing as it is. Does that make sense? Yeah, because it's such a big brand. You would maybe just get, like, quite like basic does the job. Yeah. Like, if you ever thought that a Virgin was going to make a hotel,

you would never think it would look like that. It's so cool. It's very so-ho house, actually. It's really cool. The rooms are expensive, stay in. It's a few hundred four hundred pounds per night. I don't imagine I'll be staying there. I'll actually live 15 minutes from, you know.

But also, they had a wee room. What was that wee room like? What, like the little, seedy little room? It was so gorgeous. But it'd be cool for like a birthday drinks night or something. Yeah. Like a wee private space. I loved it.

Really cool. Anyway, that's really all that I feel that's been on my plate. Physically. Physically, to be honest. Apart from actually, I forget, on Saturday I just ate all day. Yeah, with your family, didn't you? Yeah, I was out with my family and I went to the Lai Chi Chinese in town, which is like sister restaurant

of the Boswell Shanghai Tea House which was delicious I've been before but it is great and then at night I went to Deale Park restaurant

which I would kind of forget exists but it was actually really nice I had haggs bonbons and fish and chips I don't know I think I was feeling quite patriotic and then as we were leaving

I realised there was a singer on and I was raging because we were already like taxis booked and all that and it was a singer that I used to go see all the time Pete and I used to like really like one's seen him. Pete? I was gutted, yeah

his name's Pete. Oh, right, okay. It's like a friend of a friend of a friend type thing so we missed him so I was quite upset about that but yeah, actually all that's been on my plate physically to be honest. What about you? I went to Manchester for mum's 60th. It was fun. How could you forget? It was intense. There's a lot of questions being asked a lot but I actually

had a really nice time but there's two places I want to shout out because you know how I'm passionate about my Sunday roast. I had one of the best Sunday roast I've ever had at a place called Firehouse. I look good. So I recommend it to everyone. Get the side of mac. I think it was mac and cheese with leek and the chippalata sausages and

extra gravy and get a seat inside because of the DJ and he's playing like really cool hip-hop, Motown. Wow. A service was excellent and also at night time I've had some groups of friends of mine that I've been there and they've gone out there on a Saturday night and it's got all the dancers like kind of like drag queenie acts.

It's a really cool place. venue and then I also went to a really nice tapas called El Gato or Gato. It's like a Michelin recommended tapas place in Manchester. I went there on the Saturday night and that was brilliant. There's two recommendations for you. I would say that's my ideal food for a weekend away, you know? Yeah. Like we tapas because you're going to be drinking quite a bit and then finish it off I like that roast. I did want to go for a pass on the Friday night but I got my table wrong. Something happened with the booking and the guy on the front desk was an actual prick. I can't explain to you how

condescending he was. Wait, where was that? It was actually Scottish as well, which is a shame. I've never heard the words. It was cool. It was a passive pace beginning with S. But I don't want to slam it too much because I've just said who he is. But he was honest, me, my mum and all her friends were jaw on the floor. Just because I got the time, well, something went wrong with the booking. I got the email saying half seven and he said, no, it's caught past eight.

I was like, okay, it's fine. It's a misunderstanding. He was like, what? So you really were just going to book a table and you only and you're expecting to stay for an hour and a half. We wouldn't be able to get you a pasta route in that time. I'm like, oh, really? Really? You wouldn't be able to get me a pasta out in an hour and a half. So I'm going to a pasta restaurant and waiting an hour and a half

my dish of pasta, I don't think so. And can I just say the whole concept is like Sugo, like really chill, quick. So you actually would be in and out in an hour and a half, never mind eating. And as I left, he was like, you know, in future, if you book her booking, can you just write in the notes that you want to be in and out? I was like you so much for telling me how to do a restaurant booking. I'll really make sure to take your tips next time. Thank you so much.

and walked out. And I was like, you are an actual prick. I don't even want to give you an inch of my money. I'm gobsmacked. So we were all just pissed, so pissed off, went across the street to a place called Dorsey Street, something. And that was nice. The music was really good. So that saved the day. We had picky bits. Fuck them. That's what I see. So, anyway, let's get into introduce our guest that's going to turn up here any minute now. So as we spoke about on last week's episode, So we want to raise some awareness for breast cancer. And we have one of our lovely podpigs that actually got in touch with us, which was interesting because we really wanted to get somebody on the podcast.

Her name is Laura. She is 33 years young, which really puts things into perspective, actually, with me turning 33 in two days. It's quite terrifying, actually. She's from Cumbernauld. Cumbernauld. Cumbernauld. She's lived there all of her life.

What's it called Cumbernauld? Cumbrenot. She works with investments for Barclays wealth, and she's currently on sick leave. And I asked her what her favorite food was before she got on the podcast. And she said she absolutely loves this because the reason is, that's why she loves our podcast. She was drawn to the page and the podcast simply because she's a massive food eat. And food has always been her hobby.

But it's now become more of fueling her body right. And her favorite thing ever is soup. It's so comforting. And Laura has been diagnosed with secondary breast cancer six months ago. So she's going to come on the podcast today and talk all things about how it's. been for her how the early stages and you guys also sent in some questions as well um just basically how you can touch your boobs properly and find out if you know this a lot of people have yeah because like you said in last week's episode a lot of people have that sort of like lumpy boobs

naturally anyway so how can you understand the difference if this is worrying or if you should go and get it checked up so i think it's super important i also think nowadays as well like and it's a good thing in a way because there is so much more awareness and like unfortunately you do hear about it so much more people are a bit more overly paranoid about it as well so like I think as soon as you felt anything at all you would panic yeah but it's going to be quite good to kind of understand how you do actually know if you know what I mean yeah a little bit more about it because then people won't panic as such either yeah hello Laura welcome to the podcast how are you yeah yeah I'm doing well thank you how we're used yeah we're yeah good we're fabulous actually

I'm excited to be here and you're a pod pig you love the podcast yes I do I love that I don't know if I'll keep the energy up as well as you guys I'm sure you will I'm sure you I mean you'll know from Leston that I get shut for not being that energetic so you'll be fine I do feel like Zoe's a good balance I need that do you know what I mean else I think it would just be chaotic as it already is you know me so yeah tell us a little bit, we've already introed you onto the podcast, so tell us a little bit about your diagnosis and what made you go and get a check of it in the first place. Just tell us a little bit about your story, please. So, um, I was diagnosed initially back in 2018. Um, so I'll go right

back. So basically my sister, I lost my sister who was 41. She had a sarcoma cancer. Um, and she passed away in March 2018. And then the April 2018, I was like, I've got burning under my armpits. Something. doesn't feel right and I couldn't quite work out what it was. So I went to the GP and I said, listen, I got burning under my armpit, I know that you'll just think that I'm like overthinking because I've already kind of had experience with cancer. I said, but I know something's not right here, but I just, I don't know what. So he referred me on to the breast clinic and they had a feel about and examined me because

there was no lumps. They were like, no, you're fine. And they said, don't worry, you're too young anyway. And I was like, well, I just lost my sister who was 41. I know it wasn't breast cancer. However, I think you should be a bit more careful. But anyway, I was thinking, at the time I was still grieving, you know. My sister had just passed away weeks ago.

And I thought, it wasn't at the forefront of my mind. I guess I just got checked because I thought, well, it can happen to anyone. So I'm going to definitely get checked. So that was fine. And it just continued on as normal. and I think it was around the August that year 2018 I was lying in bed cuddling into my wee girl and my boob just above my nipple was so itchy

like just out and nowhere one time only never happened again came and went it was bizarre and when I itched I can only describe it as catching a little Maltesea that felt like a wee Malteseer under my skin and I know that's a daff but it's the only way I can describe it is like a wee Malteseer under my skin so I was like

I shouted in at Alan my husband and he was like go and get that checked. Alan lost his mum at 41 years old as well to breast cancer so he was like oh my god like what we're going through just now with my sister and you're finding that. So anyway the burning symptom is one that's not really recognised like see if you look at all these check your boobs things I never ever see anybody saying burning although when I'm on like all these Facebook forums and everything I've put it down and people have been like no I've experienced that else I don't know why they don't flag it. Yeah, so a lot of people are actually experiencing it, but they don't put it down.

It's not like one of the, you get these wee things and it's all check your boobs and it's like, you know, all the differences that you should look for and there's just not one, it's normally pain that they would say. Yeah. But even at that, then they go, the pain actually is a good thing if you've got a lump. So I don't know, it's all very confusing. But anyway, so I was diagnosed in 2018 with like the primary breast cancer and then probably about a year

this years went so fast about a year and a half ago I started not to feel right and I couldn't put my finger on it I was like really tired just didn't feel myself and I feel like I know my body quite well as well so I was like

what is this and I started Googling and it was like fibromoralgia I don't even know if I'm saying that right or you know all these kind of and even AMS came up when I was putting in things but not once did it come up saying you know this could be signs of secondary breast cancer

and people can actually go from not having cancer at all to go into secondary breast cancer as well so I don't know why it never flagged but anyway I had sore ribs really sore ribs I sore back to the point where I had been out a night before or kind of going back I kept getting really terrible hangovers and it turns out because it's in my liver

like that explains why but I was just thinking I'm getting old like I'm not old but I'm getting old and I'm like not able to handle drinking anymore so I kind of cut down on the drinking as well to see if that helped and I went out one night

and I must have had about three drinks, four drinks if you're lucky so I wasn't drunk there was no reason to and I woke up and I could not move out my bed I was crying like my wee girl was like oh my god mum what's wrong with you and I just you know that way I'd always normally put on a front for her

but I just couldn't the pain was crazy crazy. So I went to the, I went to A&E the first time, I went twice before I was diagnosed the first time. They told me I had bad muscle pain and I felt so patronised. I don't even know if that's the right word but I just felt really, it was just horrible. I begged and begged for an XRae. I said something's not right. Please Xion me. Do you know your body, don't you? You know it was different. And your history wasn't even enough to like allow that XRae. So anyway, She sent me away with Cocoa Mall, and I just, I don't know, I just had to laugh. I was like, I don't know what else I can do here.

And then I think it was like maybe the following month, I went back to Annie because I was just like, this isn't going away. I can't sleep now. I wasn't comfortable lying down. I wasn't comfortable standing up. It was all like flagging. And I had a bit of tingling in my legs as well that just didn't seem right. And I phoned one one. and then they sent me on and luckily I got an amazing doctor who just didn't doubt what I was

saying for one second she took me at face value asked me everything and then once she realized she was they actually um thought I had spinal compression because of the symptoms in my legs like the tingling in your legs but it turns out because the the cancer's basically grown out of the back of my spine um and that leans on your spine and that leans on your spine cord so that causes all these symptoms so anyway that's how I was diagnosed um that was back in April this year and um yeah I'm on treatment now I've done three rounds of treatment and we're just hoping for the best and what does the treatment entail what does that what happens with that so it's not chemotherapy so this is where I don't it's it's hard so my oncologist doesn't say it's chemotherapy

she she sees it as more of a targeted drug but the pharmacist came to get give me it the first time round and I was really taking aback because I didn't think I was getting chemo and she said right there's your chemo and I went I'm not getting chemo like as if I don't want that like I was really really scared and she was like no no she says chemo's basically an umbrella name apparently from what she says anyway I'm no expert but she said that it's kind of an umbrella name and then you'll have like your IV chemo you'll have immunotherapy hormone therapy targeted therapy underneath it and what I'm on is a targeted therapy so I'm really lucky in that the side effects of it aren't they're not as harsh as like an actual IV chemotherapy um and the the side effects are

get not as harsh they're kind of half of what you would get so you still get all the side effects all like losing your hair or hair thinning I'm getting yeah and really just a exhausted is the main thing as well and your blood's dip as well so but I feel really really lucky actually because just to add another spanner into the works. Exactly

a year before I was diagnosed on the same day in the same hospital my brother was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer as well I know and it's like it's like something out of horror movie I just keep saying it's like something you just couldn't make up but there's no genetic

links supposedly between them We've had genetic testing. Yeah. But I believe there's not enough research just now. They've not got enough cases like ours to take that and look at it and go, right, okay, this is what's causing it. So that's, I think eventually down the line they'll probably develop something that can link it all together. But right now, apparently, it's just bad luck. And I'm like, nah, you don't get bad luck three times in a row.

Yeah, that doesn't seem right at all, doesn't it? No, no, not at all. So, yeah, the treatment I'm on. just now is like a tablet I take for three weeks on, one week off and then I get injections as well a big horrendous injection I'll tag he's in it on Manston. I don't know if you

want to see it is horrible. It's really thick needle but that kind of suppresses your hormones and sort of puts you into chemical menopause. One of the other injections build your bones back up so because it's so prominent in my bones when it starts to shrink which you hope for

there's obviously a gap left in your bones so they need to build it back up especially in your spine. Yeah. Because, obviously, it holds you up. My weak girl keeps saying to me, can we not just get an operation and get your spine away?

And I'm like, oh, I wish it was so easy like that. But she laughs. She knows it's not possible. Yeah, she's 10. Yeah, so she's very aware. Cancer's been around her a lot in her wee life. And she's obviously been around my sister. Like me and my sister were really close.

And then when my brother getting diagnosed as well, it's just, it's a lot for a wee mind like that. never mind an adult's mind as well, you know. Can you tell us a little bit about the difference between secondary breast cancer and other stages? Like life expectancy and everything with the difference with that. Me and Zoe have no education on this. I had no idea either. And I'm still learning a lot just now because there's just not enough awareness about secondary breast cancer at all.

Everybody, so there's a thing called like pink washing, right? so see during the month of October a lot of companies and things like that make a lot of money from just saying oh look here and putting a wee pink breast cancer ribbon on something right and you go and buy it to support like my friend might go out and go oh there you go I bought that and they say that they're donating money

but something like one pence or ten pence or something ridiculous goes towards it but it ups their sales so there's a big kind of thing with that primary breast cancer is very well known like yeah and there's this whole month dedicated to it in October and there's one day dedicated in October to secondary breast cancer the 13th I'm sure it is um where apparently that's like secondary breast cancer awareness day which is insane because if you think about it primary breast cancer is curable there are some cases out there

like freak cases where yeah I think it gets to a point where it can take your life but I think the majority, like 99% of primary breast cancers can be cured. Not to say that it doesn't recur and come back again, but primary breast cancer tends to be in the one area. So it's normally in your breasts or that kind of surrounding area. Whereas secondary breast cancer is not curable. Once you get that diagnosis, that's you. You can get to a point, though, that you have no.

evidence of disease, act of disease, but you'll always have secondary cancer. That goes for all cancers, like not just breast cancer as well. So secondary's class is like stage four. Like that's like, I guess, the worst you can get before you are terminally ill. And I think the class terminally ill is like you're on the road out basically, not got long to go. But stage four is a terminal illness, you know, because you're never getting rid of it type thing. secondary can go anywhere in your body as well so I was diagnosed with secondary breast cancer but I don't actually have any cancer in my breasts anymore

it's actually travelled so normally it can travel in your lymph nodes through your body but it appears that mine must have travelled in my blood because there's no trace in lymph nodes and there's no trace in my breasts anymore either so the main sort of places it will travel to for secondary breast cancer anyway the most common is like your bones so your spine

your ribs and things like that mine says in my spine my ribs my pelvis my shoulder it's just like went a bit crazy but it's very very common um your bones your liver like i was saying so i've got a tumour in my liver as well um and then your brain your lungs that's the kind of places that likes to live. I don't know what must be a good breeding ground for it or something, but it's not very nice. But yeah, so secondary breast cancer, you can actually get diagnosed with that as well without having an initial breast cancer. So something can happen in there and the wee sales just decide to travel. I make that sound nice on a wee sales. Like it's not nice at all, but they decide to travel through your body in whatever way. And that's called something called de novo. I

don't know if I'm pronouncing it right to be fair but um there are people out there that have like you know went with these symptoms rib pain back pain you know tingling in their legs and all that and then I'm saying that that's because that's my symptoms you know that's the ones I know but and then they've been told no you've actually got secondary breast cancer so I think that's really important as well because people are like oh check your boobs check your boobs it's lumps and bumps and changes and yeah 100% but at the same time people can miss that

that don't have to go through those stages to get a secondary cancer diagnosis and surely when secondary cancer is the one that kills you yeah that should be more right and when it should be raised with that yeah and you're never going to come back like you're never going to fully come back from that I'm determined

I'm coming back from it but you're never going to fully fully recover you know so I think there is there is a big difference between primary and secondary and I'm not taking it away from because when I got that initial diagnosis it was horrible. Yeah. Like, especially after just losing my sister

you just fear the worst but there's lots of people who have lived like they've managed to go on and not get breast cancer again and lived their full life and being fine. Did you say your sister passed away from breast cancer? No, that was sarcoma cancer so that's like a bone and muscle kind of cancer so apparently it's not related.

However, my breast cancer has traveled to my pelvis, and that's where her initial cancer started as well. It was in her pelvis, so I'm like, there's too many similarities here. There's, like, got to be something I'm not sure what, but, um, yeah, yeah, hopefully, hopefully they'll come up with the sort of research. But I used to always think, why we're pumping so much money into cancer research and we've not got a cure and I could never get my head around it. obviously losing my sister as well I was thinking oh that's a load of rubbish like they're not curing people they're not saving their life so so why punt the money but now I'm realizing because I'm on an amazing drug that's doing amazing things for people and now I'm thinking to myself right okay that's why you raise the money for that yeah that's it's all science and in the background it's not

really like oh there you go there's your pop that pill and you're cured you know it's not like that I think that's a good thing to say as well because there are so many charities and sometimes you do feel like almost like bombarded and you're like I don't know like I want to give but what do I choose and like you want to give to them all kind of thing but you do kind of think what what do you see from like yeah not just me personally but you can imagine a lot of people think that but so it's good to raise awareness for that as well that it's it's in the background and that's what actually then does get given to I think that's a good point as well because um like cancer research and stuff does things all in the background like you're saying right

but then you get like different charities that are very in your face pink and fluffy and throwing afternoon tea parties and you know and it's like oh wait a minute what's that really doing yeah it might be raising some money in the background but this is what I'm saying about the whole pink washing thing it comes up all pink and fluffy I'm not saying that the charities are specifically doing that but just in general for me I'm more like factual and wanting to help people like get better through charities which I'll mention later but a charity that I'm going to be kind of working with as well who are doing that they're trying to get the GPs and the doctors to understand or just have something there to look at that they've developed and they've got it in

England they've got it in Wales but have they got it in Scotland no so that's my mission but I'll tell you about that as well I feel like I'm going so much so you know just when we ask you the question about food so you're now taking and better care of yourself you're eating better things do you drink alcohol anymore or no so well i'm saying no as if like i'm teetot i'm not teetot like i don't mean that but i think the alcohol thing is quite prominent for me because it's in my liver yeah and i just think well if my body's doing its best to try and repair that and trying to because your liver can repair it's like one organ that you can't live without but it can repair itself and it's amazing what it can do

So I want to give my liver, my wee liver, a fighting chance to, like, repair. So I was on holiday and, yeah, like, I love a baillies, like, I love a wee baillies. It's, like, one thing you can't get the same taste of, like, any of else. You love a bind is at Christmas. Yeah, like, and I just love it. So loads of ice and a wee baillies. And I had a wee baillies, like, one a night, like, really. And I was in an all-inclusive hotel, which you'd normally overindul.

Go wild, yeah. crazy but um so no i've i've not like drank back home or anything like that it was more i was on holiday and you know i was just enjoying myself and had a way but food wise i've kind of tried to really turn that around i joined a wee membership um as well which i've it's like talks about just changing one percent every day yeah rather than because i was really overwhelmed i found it really overwhelming um and just doing that little change every day has got me three weeks four weeks down the line has got me to a point where i'm like right okay i'm living my life differently now you know i'm not i'm not taking in it's more sugar so like refined sugars like your juices

and your chocolate and all that but see when you're buying things off the shelf when you look at the ingredients i'm i mean i feel like i'm teaching you to suck eggs here right but like when you buy something off the shelf and it's got like everything's got added sugars yeah everything's got all these crazy rapeseed oils and everything and it's so hard to it's the preservatives it's the chemicals that they're basically putting in to make sure it's still fresh for you so I'm trying my best to avoid all that and my husband does an amazing job I'm making me amazing dinners and just kind of like making sure I mean I think it actually might go off his head at me at some point because was that what did you but he was making like homemade gravy the other day and he was like what did you

use and he was like I've used an organic stock cube and I'm like oh my god I'm turning into that person that I never ever thought I would be yeah but I feel better for it as well definitely I just feel like I've got more energy I've got more focus I guess on things as well so yeah it's crazy that when you sort of dealt these cards in life it takes you something like this to then make a real big change like I think I would be the same if this ever unfortunately happened to me I would probably go vegan I don't know I would just be just do everything which it's crazy that I wouldn't do that now to prevent that but I don't know just I know but it takes a shock and even that shock that I had losing my sister me being diagnosed and then my brother being diagnosed it's still

it's until you're in those shoes you don't really know the changes that you would actually make but you can get lots of wake-up calls along the way but this is basically being right okay well you do this or you don't and you don't help. I feel like it's helping my treatment as well yeah like in hand in hand with each other. Yeah, I definitely think that if I hadn't started making these changes

because I've been making the changes for months but the main thing is been the last three or four weeks but if I hadn't been making the changes I don't think in my head anyway I'm not saying that changing your lifestyle cures cancer like maybe one day i'll believe that if it does you know but um i do think that it helps your immune system it helps you energy levels uh-huh and it helps you like have a fighting chance that definitely your bloods aren't so low you know there's loads of you factors that i think

it works with but yeah soup's my favourite thing i like i've known in my work and i've written what you have to do a lot of soup and i'm like yeah so i've done a few of yours as well like a few of your recipes and yeah it's amazing I love that it's such like a cosy like comfort and meal as well yeah I can have it any time of the day and any part like any time of the year as well it's just

so just quickly we want to talk obviously because it is breast cancer awareness month we want to ask you how our listeners can properly check their breasts right so I'm not an expert so this is a question that is obviously

I'm sure there's somebody that will tell you proper ways but from what I've found and from what I've found when I've been checked myself quite often they're always using like the I would go to say the palms of your fingers that's not the right like

the base of your fingers right the feely part I don't know it kind of has the palm of your fingers right we'll go with that the palm of your fingers right and what you're meant to do is you're meant to bend your knuckles up and down so it's like you're all almost like squeezing and pressing. See if you were pressing the couch, right?

Like needing it sort of thing. Yeah. If you were, I love it. If you're pressing down in the couch and see if there was a lump under there, you would feel it, right? If there was like, I don't know, a bolt or a, you would feel that. That's what you're kind of pressing about to feel. I find that sometimes, like, kind of moving in a wee circular motion is quite good because you kind of catch things. But they do say pressing is when you're like, right, okay, I can feel something there. it's not kind of moving away too much then that's when you kind of go right okay wait a minute but that's like for checking you need to check like all your chest you need to check round your collar I got armpits as well isn't it?

The armpits are a huge one and obviously I had the burning under my armpits but I didn't have a lump there the lump was like sort of above my nipple on my left breast too much information but there you go so I had the burning sensation there to start with but that's where all your lymph nodes and stuff are yeah so that's where it's quite calming for them as well and stuff like we were saying wasn't me in that in that episode that we struggle to like i find like quite like quite textured like see because i've got a bit of boo on me right so i feel like when i do do it like they feel quite textured anyway right but from what you said i'm assuming you know the difference yeah so they say to do it halfway through your cycle as well because that's when it's most obvious

yeah um because your boobs do go quite big when you're on your period as well and i think that's when you probably feel yeah and also at our kind of age your boobs can be quite dense in tissue like i've got a really dense area here that i've been worried about for quite a while um but they said it's fine they said there's nothing to worry about but i think you always overthink it and think i'm not going to spot this but see if you're doing it like in the shower you wash yourself with shower gel like that's probably the best time because your hands are moving about that area anyway, aren't they? So, like, you just give your, like, honestly,

just give them a feel. Like, it's probably something that, like, you do regularly. And if you ran your hands over your boobs, you would be like, oh shit, there's something there, do you know what I mean? But, yeah, like, I don't, there's no perfect way of doing it. I think if you know in your head that you're checking regularly, just even go, right, okay, well, I'm in the shower every morning.

like what's taking me there's nothing stopping me yeah and if there's anything just different and then looking at them in the mirror as well as a big thing like i know i don't like my mind's i've always been like i hate my boobs but um like i really hate them now but um they like i think it's like all the coloring and texture and shape and like your nipples as well like you need to press really hard behind your nipples because that's like i know it's the tender and you're like oh my god i hate doing it i'm like oh everything but like yeah they can hide away in behind there because you've got a lot of lymph nodes and or glands I think it is and behind your nipple and stuff as well so yeah like I just think

you would know if you're checking regularly it's not about going am I doing it right if you're feeling about regularly and you feel certain different you're going to go right okay and I think that's why they say mid cycle as well because that's when you'll probably feel the most change and like your boobs might be a bit harder but oh you're like that right okay but they're always hard at this time of the month yeah yeah so it won't be too much of a shock yeah yeah I think so amazing so do you have any advice

um for anyone going through the same thing as you or they have a loved one going through it yeah so I think for the people that are going through it especially a secondary cancer diagnosis it's easy to jump to I'm dying that's it this is the end and there's so much breast cancer are wise that there is so many treatments available now and the like the science and everything they're coming out with all the trials and things like that everything behind it all there is a lot

more hope now yeah um i think actually you touched on life expectancy before so the the statistics things are really, really outdated, especially for secondary breast cancer patients. And you won't believe this, right? It's absolutely insane. But when somebody gets primary breast cancer, they are logged on the system in the NHS. She's got breast cancer or he has got breast cancer. And when you're diagnosed with secondary breast cancer, they take no-no. So yeah, they know that I've got secondary breast cancer.

know that they're treating me for it, blah, blah, blah, and all that down the line. But there's like, they record and take numbers and build like a kind of, I guess, a portfolio of, you know, how long somebody's been on treatment, how long it took for them to recur, things like that. There's nothing for secondary breast cancer to say they were diagnosed then, they've been on this treatment for this long, and then, you know, unfortunately, if they've passed away, then this is when they pass away. There's no record

for secondary best cancer patients. So that's something else that I'm going to try and work with the charity with to implement up here. And why is that? Is there a reason? I don't know. I don't know. There will be a reason, but...

Yeah, there will be a reason and there's probably the girls in the charity could probably go right in depth. I'm just learning, as I said, like I've only been diagnosed six months ago. even know secondaries existed you know so yeah um i think eventually down the line i'll be able to answer your question i'll come back and answer that one but no i think like when you're initially

diagnosed it is really hard like i was depressed for a good couple of months like it and yeah i can kind of go like have wee dips in it as well but you kind of you get through that you can kind of get buy that part if you can you know i know there's some people out there that would just crumble and they can't keep going on with it but there is light and i think that's important to focus on there's treatments and although it's incurable and you'll never be cancer-free it is treatable and they're trying to see it more as a chronic condition so that's what i keep thinking in my head you know somebody with maybe crones or something like that they live with the condition and yeah it's it's life altering yeah or eventually maybe take over and you know cause complications and they might

pass away from it but it's it's a chronic condition and somebody doesn't turn around and go oh my god you've got crones like and you think it's the end so they are trying to kind of adjust it again that's what the charity is doing as well is trying to change the mindset on it and try and get the NHS more on board with treating it as a chronic illness that it's not like this is the end of your life And I think for people round about, people that are diagnosed, it's just important to be patient and know that it's a very, very lonely journey. I mean, I've got the most incredible family support of and friends around me, but I've found myself really lonely at times. And it's not until you've got somebody that maybe has went through something similar. So there's like groups on Facebook and all that that I've joined and it's like you can just put hinting on.

like oh I'm feeling like this or have you experienced that and some of the whole community behind you yeah that's nice now isn't it it's a shame and I know a lot of people say it but like the cancer community and like the breast cancer community itself like there's so many supportive

people out there that's great I think it's important to reach out because otherwise you'll be sitting on your own and feeling extra lonely especially if you don't have that support system around the way as well so yeah but just be patient because it's an absolute rollercoaster and you just have

no idea until you're in those shoes like what somebody's going through anybody's going through but like particularly going through this yeah so i saw on your instagram yesterday that you were posting about some test results can you tell us a little bit about that please yeah so um like i was saying all the treatments and things that are up and coming and you know all these new trials and things like that there are amazing treatments out there and i am one of the lucky ones i don't know if i'll say this out crying but um so i had a CT scan um i'm lucky and i'm lucky and that I've got private health care through my workplace so I got the results back within hours which was amazing brilliant and I had just said to my husband a few minutes before I mean

I've got a really good feeling about this I was scared to say it but I've really got a good feeling I'm feeling good within myself and then she called and she said that the tumour and my liver is reduced significantly and my spine and my bones are showing like signs of starting to heal Wow, that's amazing. I know. That's such great news. I know. So there is light at the end of the tunnel. Like, it doesn't mean that it's not a death sentence.

It doesn't mean you're going to die in the next year or whatever. Stats will say that it's like two to three years. But with these drugs now, it's not accurate. Like I say, they don't record it properly. So how can they be accurate? What are they going off of? Yeah. So, yeah, so I'll just continue on my treatment now.

and I'm hoping to... Fjoling your body. Keeps working. I've only been on treatment for nine weeks out of six months just the way it's all worked out. So I'm thinking if that's what it can do in nine weeks, then what can it do? Exactly.

Oh, I'm so happy for you. Thank you. I know. Yeah, I know. And I feel like it's important to leave on that note because there's hope. There is hope and there is light. And you just need to try and focus on that

because I don't think if I didn't focus on that, then I'd be curdled. in a wee ball somewhere and there's no point in that. It just ruined your life now, doesn't it? Yeah. You're going to tell us a little bit about the charity just quickly that you're working with? Yeah, so it's Met Up UK, so I'll, I can send you the link for them. Yeah, and we'll share them on our story and everything at your page.

So they're like non-profit, a charity that's just really, really getting into Parliament and going and trying to make change and bring like red flag symptoms of secondary breast cancer in and they're going to try and they've managed to get it in England and Wales, but I'm going to do my best to try and get it in Scotland. So I know he's just always to support me and like share it and get it out there. So I'm working with them and yeah, I just kind of raise awareness on my own me page as well just trying to help out everybody and anybody that wants to come along. Oh, you're amazing. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much for coming on. Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it. Well, thank you so much for listening, guys. I hope you learned some things today on the podcast, just like me as every day. and you will follow Laura and follow her journey going forward. Thank you so much. Bye. Bye.