After her own “Didn’t See That Coming” moment - a breast cancer diagnosis at just 39 - Helen Addis MBE tells the story that sparked this podcast in the first place.

A mum of three, working in live television, with no family history and no warning signs, Helen’s diagnosis came completely out of the blue. What followed was a whirlwind of surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and the emotional reality of navigating cancer alongside motherhood, work, and the question no parent wants to answer: how do you tell your children?

In this episode, Helen walks through that moment - from finding the lump in the mirror, to the corridor walk she knew meant bad news, to the surreal normality of life carrying on outside the hospital doors. She talks honestly about fear, resilience, dark humour, and the quiet moments that stay with you long after treatment ends.

Out of that experience came Change + Check - a simple idea that turned into a nationwide movement. From changing-room mirrors and pink buses, to climbing the O2, hot-air “boobloons,” Royal Mail postmarks, chart-topping charity singles, and performances at the Palladium, the Royal Variety Performance, and Buckingham Palace - Helen shares how lived experience became action, and action became impact.

More than 150 people - and counting - have since found their cancer early because of the campaign. This episode isn’t about medicine or statistics. It’s about what cancer actually feels like when it crashes into a real life - and what can happen when someone decides to do something with that moment instead of letting it define them.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After her own “Didn’t See That Coming” moment - a breast cancer diagnosis at just 39 - Helen Addis MBE sets out to explore what life with the Big C really looks like.

From diagnosis to treatment, from the mental toll to learning how to live with a new normal, this podcast goes beyond the medical story to uncover the lived experience of people affected by cancer - the raw, honest and deeply human reality behind the headlines.

Helen’s first guest, released on World Cancer Day, is the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting.

He speaks candidly about his own kidney cancer diagnosis, the difficulty of telling his partner, and why he’ll never be a swimwear model (!). It’s a very different side of Wes - more open, more personal, and more reflective.

Alongside his own “didn’t see that coming” moment, Wes also talks through the new National Cancer Plan being launched today - what it means for patients, where the system is falling short, and how the government hopes to improve cancer care in the years ahead.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.